Manchester United Soccer

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!