Feeling sick after United lose to Villa

I’ve gone most of the day today moping around with a knot in my stomach, compliments of the poor performance United displayed today at Old Trafford. Having watched the early game draw between Chelsea and Everton, I was definitely pumped up going into today’s match.

After Chelsea’s draw with Everton, Man Utd were only 3 points behind Chelsea in the table, and would break even with them upon victory against Villa. While United’s defensive injuries still remain a major concern in Manchester, it was really an all around poor performance today. Unfortunately, United fans did not see any late stoppage time goals as they did last April when Macheda helped clinch the league title against Villa. Macheda today was on the injured reserve list, amongst several other teammates.

So instead of talking more about today’s matchup, I thought I’d talk about something completely different to help take my, and everyone else’s minds off the lose. Let’s play “what Manchester United player is the best at…” Remember these are my opinions and would love to hear feedback as to why I’m right or wrong. Here we go:

• Best ball control: Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs
• Best ball protection: Anderson, Evra
• Most potential: Darren Gibson, Obertan
• Most reliable: Darren Fletcher, Wayne Rooney
• Best Utility Player: John O’Shea, Darren Fletcher
• Biggest game changer: Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney

I’m sure I can think of a few more categories, and will perhaps touch on a few more in the near future. What does everyone think of my picks? If you agree or disagree, tell me why and maybe you’ll convince me!

Macheda scores against Aston Villa (April 09)

Watching today’s game against Aston Villa, I am constantly reminded of that sublime goal last season to win the league for United.  It was truly a goal that no Manchester United fan will ever forget.

United’s makeshift backline holds at West Ham

Well this week’s EPL match was definitely one for the books at Fergie’s United team traveled to London, visiting a struggling West Ham United team.  Going into the game, United found themselves 5 points behind Premier League leader, Chelsea who took the reverse traveling route up to Manchester City this week.

United started the game with a rather unusual back four consisting of Darren Fletcher, Neville, Brown, and Evra (right to left).  With several defenders on the injured/ill list including Ferdinand, Vidic, O’Shea, Fabio, Evans, and Van der Sar, this back line would be a true test of United’s strength in depth.

Five mid fielders made up the front force for United, with Wayne Rooney the lone striker. After Gary Neville pulled up with a calf injury near the end of the first half, United were forced to throw another mid fielder into the mix to represent the back line.  Michael Carrick quickly entered the match for Neville as the 7^th mid fielder to be on the pitch for United.  If West Ham ever had a chance of beating United, it was today at Upton Park in front of their home fans with a broken United back line.

With goals coming from Gibson, Scholes, Valencia and Rooney, United easily took out the Hammers with a 4–0 victory.  Goal of the match for me was without question Gibson’s 20 yard strike to make for his 3^rd goal of the week (2 goals scored midweek in the Carling Cup).

Strength in squad depth certainly was the primary contributer to United soaring passed West Ham today.  Back up in Manchester, Man City did a stellar job knocking of leaders Chelsea.  United are now only 2 points below Chelsea in the table!

Giggs nets 100th Premiership Goal

It was indeed a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon in the south of England as United took the pitch against last place Portsmouth, with newly hired ex-Chelsea manager Avram Grant on the Pompey sideline.

Sir Alex Ferguson definitely went with experience and dependability in his starting lineup with the likes of Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher. While some fans may look at the Wayne Rooney hat-trick as the talking point of the game, my vote undoubtedly goes to the Ryan Giggs free kick goal – his 100th Premiership goal with Manchester United.

Since Giggs’ first goal back in 1991 in the Manchester Derby, Giggs has continued to win over both crowds and fans all over the world. He is without a doubt a true legend to the soccer world and will be greatly missed when he decides to hang up his boots for United.

Giggs, now 36 years of age, reached his league goal climax in the 1993-1994 season with 13 goals in the EPL. While league goal counts have understandably tapered off with age, his dedication, loyalty, and love for the game have remained a constant.

What will life at Old Trafford look like in the post-Giggs era? United fans can only hope not to discover that answer for at least another season or two!

Carling Cup: United advance

Last night’s Carling Cup match at Barsley saw United advance to the next round of the tournament.  Win or loose, competitions like the Carling Cup are a great chance for us United fans to almost ’scout’ the youngsters and reserves of United.

Unfortunately, many of us don’t get to see any of the reserve games, and see how great of a job Ole is doing developing players for the top level.  For me, I look to spot players that have the potential to play at the highest level, and then pray that Fergie does not transfer them to another club.

Based on last night’s performance, the players I believe to have the most potential for United are Zoran Tosic and Gabriel Obertan.  Likewise, the players I have the least faith in and wouldn’t mind seeing transferred are Danny Welbeck (despite his goal last night) and Ritchie De Laet (even know he’s not had much time to perform on the 1st team).

If I had to pick the first player to move away from United, I think it would definitely be Frederico Macheda – Villa fans will be glad to see him leave United after what he did to them at the end of last season.  I suspect Macheda will want to return to Italy to play in Serie A.

All in all, not a performance to write home about last night, but a great chance for us to soak in the upcoming United stars.

Ghastly display at Anfield

Well I’ve put this off the entire day, not wanting to think about the ghastly performance the red’s put on today in Liverpool.  Walking back and forth passed my computer all day not wanting to sit down and have to relive the match.

All I can really say is that I am without words.  I mean the squad as a whole played like absolute rubbish.  Of particular poor play was that of Evra, Berbatov, Ferdinand, and as always Nani (well thats probably just because I’m biased toward Nani).

Berbatov and Evra really pushed my buttons today.  Nothing angers me more than losing the ball and not hustling back to try and win it back.  One instance in particular stands out in my mind when Evra lost the ball deep in his own half, then was literally jogging back to recover as Liverpool headed toward goal.  Evra seriously lucked out on that; if Liverpool would have scored there, he would have never lived it down.

I thought for sure with the return of Giggs and Rooney combined with the absence of Gerrard would surely see United prevail at Anfield.  This game was definitely not one to be remembered – especially seeing that Chelsea pulls ahead by 2 points in the table.  Bollocks…

Berbatov disappointing against Russian Champs

Sitting here after tonight’s champions league performance against Russian Champs, Moscow, leaves me feeling quite disgusted.  Apart from coming alive in the last 10 minutes of the match, Berbatov’s performance and attitude tonight was a dismal.

The lack of effort, hustle, dive, and constant waving of the arms to both his teammates and the referee definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.  Had it not been for his assist on the winning goal by Valencia, this blog post may have contained some otherwise vulgar language.

Stepping aside for Berba, I thought the whole team’s performance was rather lack luster and static.  I don’t know if this was due to the absence of Rooney, Giggs, Fletcher, Park and Evra or if Fergie thought it best to play conservative ahead of this weekend’s clash with Liverpool.  I lost count of how many crosses went into the box and found no one.

A few points that left me wondering:

1. What was with the strange formation?  If I saw correctly, they were playing a 4–2–3–1 with Berbatov the lone striker. 
2. Did Ferdinand come off to be subbed or did he pick up a knock?
3. How many times can Fabio get injured?
4. Is it my imagination or was that pitch natural grass for the 2008 champions league final?

EPL International break weekend

Like all other international break weekends, I am quite bored this afternoon without being able to watch the Reds in action.  On the plus side, there are a few quality international matches on the tele this afternoon, one in particular I’d like to watch is the Portugal match.

I suppose I can also go out and buy the new Fifa 10 game for xbox360.  Has anyone purchased this game yet that has an opinion one way or the other?  I wonder how it will stack up against PES 10.  The day that the Fifa games get incorporate the Champions League into their game will be unbelievable.

Scanning through a few news articles today I was very happy to hear about Michael Carrick’s starting role in the England World Cup qualifying match against Ukraine.  I think Michael has been a bit off as of late and this international cap will hopefully give him the confidence he needs to come back with a bang at Old Trafford.  With Owen Hargreeves’ return nearing, Carrick will really have to fight for his spot in the center of the pitch.

Best of luck to all the lads in this weekend’s fixtures, and please no injuries!  (Have a look at some United player photos on international break).

Man United silence the howling German champs

UEFA CL match day 2 and already I am on the edge of my seat.  What a game United played tonight against German champions, Wolfsburg.  One can never say enough bout United Legend, Ryan Giggs.  Giggs once again proves that despite his ripe old age, he’s still got a few years before he hangs up the boots.

A deflected free kick strike by Giggsy saw United Level midway through the second half, followed by a breathtaking combination play orchestrated by Berbatov, Giggs and finished off by Carrick.  Hands down one of the top 3 goals of the 2009 campaign.

Not quite sure what went on with Michael Owen early in the first half.  It looked as though he took a knock from the diving header attempt early on in the game.  What seemed a bit confusing is that he did not go off to the trainers room after coming off – rather he took a seat on the bench amongst the subs.  For Owen’s sake, I really hope that he can put in a stellar performance one of these days in front of Fabio Capello.

The last point I want to make before closing, and is a point I’ve been going over in my head since the start of the season, is Valencia constantly taking the outside route when getting past defenders.  I cannot think of one time this season where Valencia took on a man on the wing, and cut inside like we used to see Ronaldo do time and again.  Valencia a replacement for Ronaldo?  Let’s start with beating our defenders by cutting to the inside first!

United Advance to 6th Round of FA Cup

United put quite a lashing on Derby County today in the 5th round proper of the FA Cup. With a 4-1 victory, United now await the 6th round draw where they could potentially face ‘managerless’, Chelsea.

I personally love to watch these FA cup games when United can call upon their squad depth to take care of business. Players like Fletcher, Gibson, Welbeck all got the chance to shine today, and shine they did.

Danny Welbeck has potential written all over him, and he showed that today in his perfectly placed goal.

4-1 victory without the like of Rooney and Berbatov? I call that a hugely successful day!

Next Page »