POST LIVERPOOL NOTES!

Manchester United suffered yet another Cup exit, this time at the hands of the bin Dippers at Anfield.

Well first of all, I thought we did well enough on the day to win. It's not often that United dominate the midfield of such a big game but we did.

The issue I have with the performance though is that we failed to trouble Reina enough. We were a bit short in the final third.

Now whilst De Gea will take a large chunk of the blame for the opening goal, none of our defenders managed to get off the ground with Agger, which in my opinion is as much culpable.
I also thought that De Gea could have dealt with Kuyt's winner because, let's be honest, it wasn't in the corner. If he had spread himself , he could have probably got a hand on it. Then the fact that he went for the save with is feet was also a tad worrying.

It's always gutting to lose at Anfield and it was more gutting that after getting past more difficult opponents in the third round, we failed to get past a Liverpool team that didn't play well on the day.

That leaves us with the Europa League and the League for glory this season, so I hope with the returning players and the relatively less congested fixture list, we shall give the title a real go, besides, it has always been priority for me.

We've got Stoke at home in the league tomorrow, so here's to three points and a return to winning ways.

POST LE ARSE QUIKIE!

Manchester United recovered from the shock of seeing City go 6 points clear in the most cruel fashion to record an important 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Emirates.

Okay; This blog is not one to gone on about the praises of heroes on the day because the media and fans alike have already done that. I usually save my space to point out one or tow things that I think are being overlooked.

Firstly, as far as the goalkeepers go, it's a case of choose who and forgo what. De Gea is by far better than Lindegaard when it comes to ball distribution but the Dane can argue that he's better than the Spaniard when it comes to catching balls even amidst a crowd of players. Okay, the Dane has not caught one or two in his time but he is marginally better.
Given the rigours of the EPL and the little or no protection keepers get from the man in the middle, Lindegaard is the less risky option.

Chris Smalling is now the next best thing we have to Vidic. It's fair to argue now that the young Englishman is ahead of Rio in the pecking order.
Paul Scholes was worth the gamble. It went unnoticed at the weekend that he switched play to Valencia's wight wing that was devoid of Arsenal players and that gave the null a chance to skin Arshavin and beast his way into the box to tee up Welbeck for the winner.

The rest of the talking points have already been exhausted by Her Majesty's press.

The importance of the result at the weekend couldn't have been overstated. We've given City that much to think about over their 'FA Cup break'. But of anything, they'll now be aware that the Champions are not going to give up their crown without a fight---whether they have the temperament to see out the job remains to be seen.

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!

PAUL HELPS UNITED TO THREE POINTS

I was talking to a colleague the other day and we came to the conclusion that Paul Scholes is doing what he's doing simply for United. I don't buy the stuff of missing the game and all. I think he's seen his club in big trouble as far as the midfield is concerned and thought that he'd see them through the season as the midfield completes its morphing. I think its down to his sole love for the club.

The Ginger Prince opened the scoring on Saturday on the cusp of half-time with one of those famous late runs in the box that found him at the far post unmarked. His tackling undoubtedly remains the same but it was nice to see our midfield boast some authority with Carrick and Scholes in a sort of competition to spray as many passes as possible. Carrick, for me got that particular accolade with the pass of the game to Welbeck midway the first half. It was simply majestic.

Carrick would of course go on to get himself on the score sheet as well after Welbeck had sealed the win for us. Welbeck himself was the toast of many fans once again and it's easy to see why the manager has opted to put him ahead of Chicharito in the pecking order.

That said, Valencia was the man of the match. The Ecuadorian endured a tough start to the season but he is fast re-establishing himself in the United first team squad with a string of fine displays out on the right wing side. It's just that the lad has regained his appetite to beat his man and put that cross in the box. As such, his assists would be much more than the 5 he has if the forwards were putting away most of the chances he creates. Wayne Rooney in particular passed up an open goal in the second half---wasn't a particularly good day for him anyway.

It was nice to assert more pressure on City ahead of their game at the DW stadium tonight but more importantly because the next few fixtures will not be as easy as we found it on Saturday.

Onwards and Upwards!

POST DERBY NOTES!

In the end, my gut feeling came to pass. For the past five years, Manchester United have gone into every game as favourites (with the exception of last years' European Cup final). That favourites tag does put players under immense pressure to get a result lest the hell will break loose.
After THAT defeat to City at home in the league in October, our noisy neighbours suddenly found themselves huge favourites for Sunday's Cup fixture. In fact, many United fans were looking for a performance in this one, and not quite the result that seemed out of reach.
But alas, it's the FA Cup and being underdogs in this competition, in many ways, does make you 'favourites' in a twisted sense. Playing as underdogs in a huge fixture for the first time in quite a while was always going to work in United's favour---I mean, haven't we always been at our best when our backs are up against the wall?

The team News going into the derby couldn't have been more dramatic. I had ignored the Paul Scholes story earlier last week because I dismissed it as one of those from which lazy journalists sought to make quick money so I was caught dumbfounded by the news that he was on the bench.
Then the manager who is an expert at giving journalists misleading team news in his Friday press conferences, named Chris Smalling in the starting lineup again----meaning Valencia could finally play in his customary right wing spot.

Wayne Rooney rose well to send us wild within the first ten minutes and then kissed the club crest to send a message or two to City. Then Vincent Kompany got himself sent off by going in the tackle with both feet off the ground. Now, whilst the ABUs will tell you that it wasn't a red, it should be pointed out that Chris Foy acted to the letter of the law and hence cannot be faulted for not exercising his discretion.
We would go on to dominate the first half and add to our tally through a brilliant take by Welbeck and Wayne Rooney from a re-bound off his spot-kick.

The second half however told of a different story as we became slack in possession and let City force us into mistakes that they profited from. the manager was displeased about it-----calling it carelessness but I hope we somehow improve our ball retention for the remainder of the season because it has cost us possession far too easily over the last few games.
To be fair City did put up a good show in that second period but Roy Keane summed it up brilliantly when he said that you can give City all the credit you like but they're out of the Cup! Couldn't have put it any better.

It was even more pleasing to get Liverpool away in the fourth round of the Cup as that is another big one that requires no player motivation---much the same way as this game didn't need the manager to rally the players after the Newcastle defeat. Looking forward to that.

Finally congratulations to Wayne, Sir Alex and Vidic upon their FIFA honours last night.


Onwards and Upwards!

OF THE FESTIVE PERIOD AND THE NEW YEAR SLUMBER!

Forgive the inactivity on this blog. I spent my festive season in a part of the world that is yet to fully appreciate the phenomenon that is the Internet.

The last time I blogged, United were heading into the busy Christmas period and I warned of the difficulty of playing against QPR and Fulham in tight pitches but much to our credit, the lads showed up in those games and we duly won, handsomely at that. Now, I worry about narrow pitches because United have traditionally relied on wing play as the source of their attacks. It was thence shocking to see us lose against Blackburn on our very own expansive pitch. It seemed bigger for us than it did for Blackburn who were able to combine attack and defence much better or at least more effectively than we did.

And just when we were about to write off that defeat with a blip, we allow Newcastle United to stand in our faces and claim all three points against us last night. Its not often that United lose two games on the bounce but if this team does not show the hunger and variety of play to solve problems brought by different teams, we might just lose three on the bounce given that our next stop is at the Etihad Stadium.

It would be unfair for me not to point out the catastrophic injury list that we have at the moment but I can't help but ask why our players seems to be out in numbers during the season proper. I mean, take time and think back. For the past four seasons or so, we've been with at least half a dozen players in the hospital for just about every week. The 2008 season seems to be the last time we've been at full strength for most of the season. Is it ill-luck or is there something that we don't know about our medical team?

Apparently Sir Ales feels that there is no need to panic and although many fans are disagreeing with him, I'd like to think that he's the one who is answerable to every performance after every match so if there is anyone that does anything in the best interest of Manchester United, it's him. I'll trust him, as I have always done and look out for what he has to offer post match.

When all is said and done, we're still just three points behind City. Now we'd have taken this position back in November when the five point gap seemed a mountain as City kept winning. However, I doubt we can afford to lose any more ground on them. The unfortunate thing to take in is that we've let point slip during our honey-moon time in the fixture list. January and February are particularly difficult months for us in terms of opposition. We have to go to White Hart Lane, The Emirates, Stamford Bridge and a couple of other uneasy ones. It means that we have a job on our hands to stay in touch with City who will have it slightly easy in the meantime.
The reward for staying in touch, that is if we do it, is an easier run in in March and April that could see us wipe out City's lead in the same we did over Christmas.

The Question therefore is: Can we stay in Touch?

I'm sure the performance, not the result, on Sunday will go a long way in helping u find that out.

LOOKING AHEAD TO LOFTUS ROAD AND THE CHRISTMAS FEAST OF FOOTBALL

Sir Alex has talked about using the depth of his squad over the busy Christmas schedule. No doubt that he has always used it to the club's advantage as statistics will show that we've usually done well over this period compared to our neighbours. In fact, since 2007, no club has taken more points in the six game December schedule than us.

Much as I respect the manager's take on this, if there is anything that we've learnt about this current Manchester United squad over the last few weeks is that we don't have a lot of depth in terms of quality. There will be a temptation of sending out a squad like the one we sent out against Crystal Palace---with all of 9 internationals but unable to get the result we shall need. Suffice it is to say that that is my major concern over this period. 

In the past, we've had the February effect of the Champions League forcing us to save over players' fitness over this period. This season however, is different because we're not involved in the Champions League and I'm sure there are quite enough Europa league games to go around the squad players such that everyone is happy. The Premier League is effectively the biggest trophy that we can win now---yes even bigger than the Europa League so I'd rather that we keep our best weapons for it.

Part of the temptation will herald from the nature of the opposition that we're up against during this period. Granted, it looks like, at least on paper, that we have the easiest run of fixtures in the festive period compared to our title rivals. However, as we did make our Champions League group, complacency could make these easy looking games nightmares. 

QPR have one of those old pitches that is a tad too narrow and the fans are right on top of you. The atmosphere can be a living hell for the opposition largely because it is likely to also influence the man in charge.

It means that you only do well there if you manage to silence their fans and cool their players by giving them nothing to work with. Chelsea for instance approached this fixture casually back in October and ended the game a goal and 2 men down. They left empty handed. Before their defeat at Stamford Bridge, City's hardest EPL fixture turned out to be at Loftus Road. The point being that Sunday may not be one of those games where we can afford to let the opposition build steam or take the lead hopping to mount a late comeback. 

We take on Fulham on Wednesday and needless to say we should know what they're all about. This is likely to be the first game where the manager will tinker abit but it has to be said that Fulham are a well established force in the EPL now. They are very much in that B team category in the league. They now have players that have European experience given their two campaigns in the Europa league so that makes them unafraid of taking on teams like us, especially given our recent run of form.

Wigan and Blackburn remain North-West derbies and are the only games where even on a bad day, we might just be lucky enough to walk away with the loot. However, stranger things than them beating us have happened in this sport.

With City hosting Arsenal and Chelsea away at Spurs, we really cannot afford to let this chance of putting pressure on City go to waste. Fans have been talking about a blip that City will face at some stage this season but that can only be engineered by us constantly putting pressure on them in the weeks we play before them. Sunday is one such day and this time, the pressure could be bigger than ever before as a win would take us top of the league by a point. It is very likely that if we cut them loose, we might never get as close for the rest of the season.

That underlines the importance of playing our best team in this period and showing the hunger to keep our trophy.

SO COME ON UNITED! 

MORE LIKE IT!

Yes the opposition wasn't the sternest around but at the moment, we've been limping regardless who we're up against so I have to say that it was more like the Manchester United we know that turned up on Saturday. Quite frankly, we couldn't afford anything less.

City have been close to perfect this season and that has meant that we've had to step up our title charge even earlier than we usually do. We've been moaning about how they've not yet really been tested domestically but December is the month in which they come up against the kind of teams in the league that make your afternoon longer than you want to. That we had the opportunity to pile pressure on them going into the Chelsea game was a blessing because we blew one such opportunity against Newcastle. I'm pleased that we can now watch them with our feet up.

It was great to see Wayne and Nani get on the score sheet again. Wayne has possibly started a run and I hope he keeps shooting at goal rather than looking for that pass in the six yard box. To be honest, the one reason why I adored Cristiano and still do is because regardless of how many players are in the box, he will shoot at goal, if not with the aim of getting a deflection. Against Basel the other night, there was obviously no way we were going to pass that ball through their 2 layered wall of a defence and expect to score. Such games need players that are willing to take advantage of the little space outside the box and shoot at goal. If anything, the keeper is likely to be unsighted and that can heavily determine the outcome.

Next up is the very hectic Christmas schedule that has, overtime, come to be a very good indicator of who will come out on top come May. I hope we'll traditionally be up for it.

THE NADIR!

Suffice it is to say that at the moment, it can't get any worse---or could it?

This late review is brought to you by the failure of a bus to hit me on my way home after the match and a couple of other failed suicide attempts.
It wasn't supposed to be like this but we made it be like this. Manchester United have the habit of doing things the hard way, but that comes with the danger that in the event those heroic stunts fail to come off, the disaster is as great as the success in times when they do come off.
Thursday morning's papers could easily have been filled with the great escape of United going two goals down but rallying late on to equalise, but it wasn't to be and as such, the club's name and reputation has taken a pummeling.

The Europa league is a competition that in the past we've taunted Liverpool fans about; Now we have to eat humble pie.
In truth, our only failure on the night was that we couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. But the one aspect of the game that I thought angered me most was the way we stood off Basel when they had the ball. It speaks volumes that both crosses into the box that resulted into goals against us, the crosser had all the time and space to pick out his man. None of our defenders made effort to close him down. We might be getting away with it at home but in Europe, against top class opposition, we've been punished heavily for it. That is as far as I'm getting into the game;

Moving on; it will be interesting to see the response that the players put up over the nest month as we have some winnable league games coming up. At the moment our season's saving grace is just the league title so you hope that now that our players have been given a harsh lesson, they'll be up for it. The one factor however that is determined to undo our season are the injuries that we're picking up. It's really bemusing that we went to America for pre-season, played six games, won all six games, with no player injured and then picked up a knock from the Community Shield right through to Wednesday. The Captain's season is now done with that Basel injury so we now have Mr. Evans and co to look to to keep our young goalkeeper sound. I think now is the time for Evans to show what he's made of---starting Wolves this Saturday.


   

NOTES FROM VILLA PARK WITH A LOOK AHEAD TO BASEL

Another win, another 1-0 win, another drub performance albeit with an exhibition of defensive solidity----Manchester United went into the tea-time fixture at Villa Park under pressure as City had opened up an eight point lead earlier. The challenge therefore was to get the three points, which we did to keep up the pressure.
It was our fifth away victory of the season--equaling last season's total but the harsh reality is that last season can no longer be used as a yardstick to win this year's title.

Thing is, we were ''okay'' last season and that was enough to win us the league. This season, as did happen in 2005 with Chelsea, City have raised the bar. It means that ''okay'' may not be enough for us to win the league this year. We need to up the ante a little bit.

It was nice to see Jones get his first goal for the cub. His celebration with the manager was the highlight of the game. The one worrying stat that possibly explains our goal drought is that Wayne Rooney spent more time in our half than in the opposition penatly area. Why he's dropping deep even with two holders in the middle beats me. It was sad to see Javier join an already long list of casualties but equally god to see Danny return. What a chance for him to once again stake a claim.

Got a crucial game coming up in midweek in Switzerland---a game we cannot afford to lose. It was unthinkable that we would fail to make the last 16 in Europe in 2005. I'm entitled to think that its impossible to fail again this time round so I do hope that the players do themselves justice and get the win.

SO COME ON UNITED!

TEA AT VILLA PARK!

Few things, if any, ever make my tea taste awful; In fact, I'd argue that just about everything in my life goes well  at tea-time. It's why I've always enjoyed United's 5.30pm games on Saturday. If we play as well as we did last week against Newcastle, I think I'll have another good round of tea tomorrow.

This weekend, we play last on Saturday and as a result, by kick-off, in all probability, we could be eight points behind City and third behind Spurs as well. Last weekend was one of those we should not have let pass without the three points and quite frankly, because of that result, neither can this one. In fact, we play teams at the bottom half of the table throughout December---a good opportunity for us to make up for the poor rub of form in November.

The manger has been talking about how he wants to be top or within a point or two of the top at the start of the year, so I guess that means he'll do all in his power to see to it that we do not let City off the hook anymore than we've already done.

We travel to Birmigham to take on Villa without Tom, Michael, Dimitar, Fabio and Rafael plus Anderson of course. That still leaves us with a strong enough team to get the three and still be in the right shape to travel to Basel.

Here's to a good evening's Cup of Tea.

QUESTIONS FROM OLD TRAFFORD LAST NIGHT!

I'm not getting into the details of the game because by now, unless you live under a cave, you've learnt that United lost their Carling Cup quarterfinal fixture against Crystal Palace. The following is not a knee-jerk reaction to the defeat but rather a few 'interesting' questions that have been playing on my mind for the last few weeks. Firstly, I'd like to categorically state that the young lads who came in last night did a job to keep us hopeful for the future, but I couldn't help but notice that there were 9 internationals out there as well.

So here goes; Do United train these days? If so, I'd like to find out how much emphasis is put on ball possession. How fit are the Da Silva twins? Is it possible for them to play 90 minutes for 2 straight games? Was Fabio signed as a long term replacement for Evra? If so, why are we desperate to get a left back in to challenge Pat? Has Valencia been the same player to you since the Champions League final? When was the last time we won at Old Trafford? When was the last time we won a game of football? Do our players understand the challenge ahead of them this season?

Again, just to point out, these questions have been doing the rounds in my head over the last few weeks during the matches that we've been playing.

Fair play to Crystal Palace, and it will only make this less hurting if they somehow go on to win this Cup.

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY!

You get some, you lose some; Fair enough, but Saturday's penalty decision was all that much harder to take because the ref could and should have overruled the linesman's decision. Si r Alex quickly pointed to the game against Sunderland when the ref did overrule the linesman for what would have been a controversial penalty. I thought the ref was sure Rio got the ball and hence should not have bowed to the pressure of his assistant.

That said, we were bound to get punished for failing to be clinical infront of goal sometime. Winning 1-0 i great and says a lot about your defensive solidity but its never a safe lead. We missed the load of chances against Benfica and paid the price and did the same against Newcastle. After finding or feet at the back, I think its time we found that clinical touch infront of goal that we had at the start of the season.

It wasn't for a lack of trying though as Newcastle did defend resolutely when they could and rode their luck when they were dead cut through but that was after they drew level. Earlier in the season, we used to kill off games in the first half so that no sort of comeback was possible for our opponents. The number of chances that we put to waste before Ba scored the penalty came back to haunt us.

It was great that Hernandez got his first OT goal of the season but it speaks volumes that he got it in such lucky circumstances. Ultimately we've been lucky that this slip was not punished by City yesterday and we only remain 5 points behind. It will hurt that we could have been just three behind today.

The challenge remains for us to keep in touch for as long as possible.

OF SWANSEA, BENFICA AND NEWCASTLE!

Two different results, two different performances.

United's fixture in Wales last weekend was pretty much like what we've been treated to in the past few weeks---a laboured show largely devoid of flair but with some grit at the back that has seen us on a run of five straight clean sheets. That run was also accompanied by the return of Captain Nemanja.

On Tuesday, against Benfica, the flair and mojo was back in the side and saw us post our best performance in over 2 months but the result was undesired. Vidic was suspended for the tie but seemed the grit of our game went with him cue the two gifts of goals the Portuguese outfit scored. The manager and coaching staff have to work out a way to keep our flair upfront without compromising the grit behind--you know, like its always been.

It has to be said that United deserve the position they find themselves in. At the conclusion of the Champions League draw, I thought, and indeed blogged here that we could have won the group by the end of October. Looking back now, I couldn't have been any further from the truth. It seemed the fact that the group was a plum one did get to the heads of those at the club. Sir Alex has so far, chopped and changed his side for Europe so much so that he himself has admitted that it has had an unsettling effect on the side.
It is sobering that we now have to go to Switzerland to book a place in the last eight and even then, we can only finish second.

The real punishment will be realised around February 2012 when you can surely expect a second round tie to look like this United vs Barca/Real/AC Milan/Inter/Bayern. . . when its not expected that such potential final fixtures should not be subject of a second round show.  

Back home, we've got Newcastle United in the league this Saturday. We've been moaning about how City have not really had a rough run of fixtures but they go to Anfield on Sunday---a day after we play. This is the part where no other result other than three points will do. We've had our est start to the league since the 1993/94 season but like Chelsea did in 2005, City have raised the bar so we have no choice but to either step up or watch them buy our title.
Newcastle United have done well enough to have us worried for this one, but I do hope that the players understand that if we are to be where the manager wants us to at the start of the new year, we cannot afford to drop any further behind the leaders for that will give them room to recover fro whatever blip we're hopping for without doing much to their title challenge.

SO COME ON UNITED!

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE WEEKEND!

Its been a long  but much needed International break---so long that the media has found it necessary to print stories like 'Vidic to Madrid' or Ferdinand to MLS just to keep up their sales.
Thankfully for them, and armchair viewers of the incredible series that is the EPL, the drought comes to an end this Friday.

We're back in action on Saturday against Swansea City with us having to make the trip to Wales. Now the importance of this fixture cannot be overstated. For starters, nobody has won there so we have a jinx to break come tea time Saturday. City and Newcastle United play each other just before our game so we have to make the fixture count because either way, we'll finish Saturday either clearer of Newcastle or closer to the summit.
City don't look like they'll be giving away any points that easy this season, so its up to us to make sure that in the games they have stern opposition, we make them count.

The biggest plus for us that we should reap from this break is that we get to have Ashley Young and Tom Cleverley back for us. The team has looked short of ideas at times without them and the absence of Clev has made Wayne drop to the middle which has in turn taken something away from our attack. I do hope that on Friday, the manager blesses us with the news that we'll have them both available.

Finally it's also been refreshing to have an International break with most of our players afforded a bed rest. Rooney, Vidic, Rio, Clev, Young, Ando, are among the many that have not taken part in International duty for one reason or the other so we should be fresh enough for this mid-season kick-off. You just hope that the rest does them a world of good.

To be fair, its hard to imagine that we could dip in terms of performances after the break because we've been very poor between this and the last one. So far, the manager has got us to the basics of keeping things tight at the back after the City horror show and that has yielded four straight clean sheets---a remarkable feat given that we've not done that since the 2008/09 season. Hopefully we can now combine defensive solidity with flair performances that saw us win 5 out of 5 at the start of the season.

BRIEF NOTES FROM SATURDAY

Manchester United treated us to another limp performance on Sir Alex's 25th anniversary at the club. Perhaps the sense of the occasion and the celebratory mood ahead of kick-off could have had an effect on the performance but it's not like we've been doing any better recently.
Luckily for us, Wes Brown forgot the identity of his current employers to see us through. I guess the one positive we can take from the match, besides the three points is a fourth consecutive clean sheet. Nemanja Vidic has surely addressed the rot at he back---long live the captain.

In truth, the International break could not have come at a better time for us. Between this one and the last, we've put up some limp displays but crucially picked up the points in those games (bar the City one). It bodes well for us that after starting the season in fine scoring form, we have come good at the back as well. What now remains is to find the right balance that we should carry along for the rest of the season.

So far, the team have looked anything but inventive without Tom Cleverely in the middle of the park so hopefully we get to see him in the side more often after the break. It is vital that he improves our midfield show lest the manager will have to shop in January to match the class of City---on the pitch at least.

Our main title rivals have recently faced stiff tests from minnows Wolves and QPR and the worrying thing is that they have gone on to win those games when it looked like they would drop points. At the moment you hope that we don't give them any more breathing space than we have already afforded them.

In the meantime, I can't believe that I'm saying this but, thank God for the International break; It gives us one last time to regroup and charge again---this time with no finger nails in the mouth.