Well firstly, I have to apologise for the 'no show' in the past week. My server, for some reason, could not contact Google Accounts so I was, well, stuck! During that time however, United went to Denmark and collected 3 points without losing much sweat. More importantly, Dimitar Berbatov got his first goals for the club--the second, a spectacular volley that was worth celebrating(though he didn't). Then it was the 'small matter' of a trip to Ewood Park--a ground we had not won at since the dawn of the new Millennium. The appointment of Paul Ince as manager of Blackburn made it a more feisty encounter as the lad is one of those graduates from The Sir Alex Ferguson University. Now I never cared much about the physical approach of Blackburn during the era of Mark Hughes because United know how to go about that--what bothered me though was the presence of a certain Mr. Brad Friedel in goal for Rovers. The American always kept his best performance of the season for the visit of Manchester United. In fact, but for his contribution, Ewood Park would be one of those ;happy hunting grounds' for United. We always created the chances, but somehow, they couldn't just go in with this giant of a goalkeeper within the sticks. More painfully, the same colossal figure would be easily beaten by any other team that shot at his goal. So nobody was more happier than me when Friedel changed address to Villa Park. Paul Robinson can be beaten anywhere, anytime--he is the reason as to why we have had good times at White Harte Lane in the past. A certain Brown replaced the former England number 1--and how fitting that it was Wes Brown who got the opener. It's always nice to see Brown score as he is the only true Mancunian in the squad--born and bred in Manchester, for Manchester United. He is certainly worthy of challenging the captain for a place in the starting line-up.
Wayne got the winner and usually three in three is enough to send the English media into a frenzy of praise for their MVP and yet only days ago, they were criticising his 'sacrifice' for United as it was costing him goals (for club and country). Ronney benefited again from a Ronaldo assist but the Portuguese is slowly diminishing in terms of being a fans favourite. His step overs seem to have got a little bit slower and his failure to help out defensively after losing the ball is slowly but surely angering the United faithful. He has a battle on his hands now as United have got Berba! The Bulgarian takes the FLOM Man Of The Match Award for the second game in a row as he did just about everything but score. For once, we saw the hit-man fall back and help out defensively and also complement Rooney's' sacrifice'by trying to bring everyone else in the game. He was not a striker yesterday but rather a playmaker. I think that his performance made United tick--especially in the second half. That is more like it Berba and long may it continue. Off the pitch, United have secured the services of Paul Scholes and Fletcher for longer periods. Paul will do well playing as an impact sub just as Giggs is appreciating his part-time role. Giggs was impressive on Tuesday--getting an assist and linking well with the front two on Saturday--he remains vital for United. United have now picked a credible amount of points from places they dropped them last season, so maybe, this could be one of those years when IT IS INEVITABLE...
Labels: PRE-VIEWS
