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| Moyes needs to keep his A game on point ahead of the trip to Liverpool |
Do not be deceived. The game against Liverpool remains the very tasty affair it has always been between United and the Dippers. The second most important thing to United fans domestically every season behind winning the league is getting one over our arch rivals. Admittedly, it has become more important to beat City of late given the fact that they've taken Liverpool's place as far as challenging us for the title is concerned. However, that does not take away a near century old rivalry.
David Moyes had his first opportunity to show the world what he's about on Monday against Chelsea and I thought that he did well enough to buy himself another 7 days or so before the media has another opportunity to pull out the knives. The fact that he did not beat Jose means that he did not quite win them over though, and that is why Sunday's game took on that much importance after the final whistle on Monday.
For starters, a win would go a long way into ensuring that the former Everton manager gains a lot more respect from the fans and the opposition. I mean you cannot rule out the possibility that Jose went with a 4-6-0 because he thought Moyes is not the kind of manager to ruffle his feathers. It might not b the case but again you just cannot rule it out.
On Sunday, he'll be up against a manager who equally wants to stamp his authority on the English game and o it will be all guns blazing from Liverpool to go with all the passion that the fixture will demand.
The bookies have Liverpool as favourites for this one so its another 'prove them wrong' mission for the Reds. Given the nature of our fixture list right until October, its is important that we do not lose so much ground on our rivals. Chelsea are currently 3 points ahead of us and this is our game in hand. City dropped all three last week so we have to make that count to our advantage.
David Moyes would not have dispelled any fears if we had started the season with bottom half opposition and won all. I think the fixture list has given him an opportunity to get as many fans on his side as possible by navigating the hardest start to the season that I have ever lived through. If he pulls it off again, he'll be one hurdle from ultimate respect. If he doesn't then it just makes his work that much harder. He hasn't made it easier for himself by strengthening the team so any dropped points will be rebuttal to his assertion that the side is good enough to win the league again.
The Champions League draw was made yesterday and although we're not in the horror of a group that Arsenal are in, we've been served up plenty of banana skins. All the sides in our group are capable of beating us on their day and if we do not make the midfield addition that we desperately need, we could be shown up in Europe once more as Sevilla (who are only good enough for the Europa league) showed us up a couple of weeks ago.
The other draw we were involved in saw us drawn at home against Sunday's opponents in the League Cup. Our U-21s couldn't have asked for a better draw! Labels: PREVIEWS, THE LEAGUE CUP, UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE