Great second half

Portsmouth 1 Man Utd 4

I demanded character during my half-time post and I got it: in abundance. The early goal in the second half settled the nerves and Portsmouth were down and out when we got our second penalty to go 3-1 up.

Rooney played much, much better in the second half. Valencia played his best match so far for United, Kuszczak proved that he is a better shot stopper than Foster who must now be considered as the third keeper.

I can't remember the last time we had 2 penalties in a match. The ABUs will of course forget the very dubious penalty awarded to Portsmouth but I am not too much bothered about the ABUs. I am in fact more bothered with our defence that seems to be suffering too much - probably due to the ever changing central duo and the so-and-so season of Vidic so far plus Rio being on the way down.

Anyways, we did our job today and I will be enjoying the London derby tomorrow, whatever the result.

Carling Cup against Spurs this week...

1-1 at HT as United suffer in all senses

We are definitely suffering the new manager syndrome as the Portsmouth players seems more hungry to get something out of this match. The likes of Scholes, Carick, Giggs and Rooney have been below par and only Valencia seems lively enough to cause any serious damage.

I think SAF must realise that Giggs, Scholes and Neville playing together is nowadays more of a liability. The penalty awarded to Portsmouth by Dean seems to support the notion that there seems to be some plan to punish United for the outbursts of SAF. I mean, if he punished Vidic's holding of the shirt then we should start expecting about 5 or 6 penalties every match. That happens in almost every corner. The ABUs may argue that our penalty was a bit dubious as well..;

Be that as it may, we must show character to win this and Rooney must be aided up there and he must show the usual fire - mysteriously missing in the first half. Another striker for a midfielder is a must, in my opinion, but I doubt very much that SAF will do such a change unless we go behind or the clock has reached 75 minutes.

Any loss of points today will be very damaging but I think we will play better in the second half. Rooney to wake up and score the winner?

Keep the faith...GO ON REDS!

Beware of the new manager syndrome

Under normal circumstances, we should be able to win at Portsmouth but we very rarely play in normal circumstances these days. There is always some story going on when United are playing, be it a ban to SAF, a new baby, an injury and so on...the latest being the arrival of a new manager for our opponents.

Avram Grant has been appointed the new manager at Pompey...you guessed it - on the eve of their match vs United. All their players will be fired up to prove their place but I still expect us to go there and get three points. I would not dare say without too much hassle...that is too much to ask for in recent months.

SAF has opted for one up-front. This 4-5-1 thing is a bit of a nuisance really, even in the CL, so let alone in the EPL vs Portsmouth! Foster loses out to Kuszczak in the absence of VDS. Will we need one (or both) of the strikers sitting on the bench to win at Portsmouth? And if we do, will they deliver??? Fingers crossed...

CONFIRMED MUFC TEAM:

Kuszczak

Neville
Brown
Vidic
Evra

Fletcher
Carrick
Scholes

Valencia
Rooney
Giggs

SUBS: Foster, De Laet, Anderson, Park, Nani, Owen, Berbatov.

...GO ON REDS!!

Besiktas win at OT

Man Utd 0 Besiktas 1



A poor second half display made sure that United lost for the first time in nearly 5 years in the CL. I expected better, much better from the likes of Welbeck, Macheda, Rafael and Obertan. SAF risked big time with too many changes and this time it backfired. There was no urgency in the United play and it is disappointing to lose, especially against a side that seemed vulnerable if attacked with pace and consisitency. We did too little too late and found a great Rustu in top form when we tried to do something about it late in the game.

Only time will tell but this result could yet jeopardise the first place in the group and if we do... I can see us suffering tremendously in the knock-out stage in the current form but there is still a lot of time before the CL resumes in February and the match at Wolfsburg comes first.

Portsmouth away next...with a new Manager that could possibly be Darren Ferguson!

0-1 down at HT

It was a deflected goal but I still think the keeper should have done better from that distance. After that, Besiktas have placed 8 players behind the ball and we are finding difficulty breaking down their defence. I am positive though...

Keep the faith - GO ON REDS!

Another chance for the second string vs Besiktas

Having already qualified for the second round, SAF has opted for a few young faces and this will give them a great opportunity to do well in the CL and claim a first team spot. I can't, for the life of me, see how Gaz can play at left back but we'll see. Kiko, Welbeck and Obertan have a wonderful opportunity and Foster will have an opportunity to put himself in the shopping window, given that I am convinced he will not be with United next season. I may be wrong though!

foster
rafael brown vidic gaz
park ando gibbo obertan
kiko welbeck

It would be interesting to work out the average age of this team but if we had to take Gaz out, it would probably be just around 20 years. Go on lads...make us proud!

GO ON REDS!!

United too strong for Everton

Man Utd 3 Everton 0



No pre match and HT comments for yesterday's match as I was invited to Mark's den where the 3 United musketeers were reunited. We had to dispel the negativity of 3 consecutive losses (Liverpool, Barca and Liverpool) when watching United together (Mark was missing vs Liverpool this season) and so we did.

Everton seemed the ideal sacrificial lamb for us to get back to winning ways an after the first goal by Fletcher we seemed to be slacking a little until Carick made sure of the points. Carlos was in form with his predictions - getting it right that we would be 2-0 up by the 75th minute - only just, given we scored the 3rd in the 76th minute!!!

It was indeed refreshing to see all our goals coming from midfielders and Fletcher had confirmed that he is the most improved United player in the last 2-3 years. I am sure that we'll see quite a few changes for the midweek match in the CL.

Let us hope we can keep the momentum going and put a few wins together. Our away form needs to improve as we have won 3 and lost 3 so far. Admittedly we have had Liverpool and Chelsea amongst the three losses but we could have done better in any case.

Keep the faith...

Chelsea widen the gap

Chelsea 1 Man Utd 0



As usual, the match had a few controversial moments. The clash between Evans and Drogba will be a talking point and my opinion is that the ref was right in awarding a free kick for United. Drogba had no chance of getting to that ball and went in to challenge the player. The fact that Evans went in with his studs showing is unsporting and he should have probably got a yellow for his challenge but it was something that the ref messed up to the best of his ability.

Anyone who follows English football knows that Drogba was not having a cardiac arrest when he fell to the floor. It was a painful kick in the ribs, no doubt, but typical of Drogba he overreacted. The law of compensation should not be applied in football but there was a hint of it when the ref awarded Chelsea a foul when Flecther seemed to be winning the ball fairly. To add insult to injury, from the resulting free kick, Drogba fouled Brown and was in an offside position when Terry or Anelka headed in what proved to be the winner for Chelsea.

The fact that Chelsea are also resembling more and more a typical 70's and 80's Italian team in the way they try to con the ref in awarding fouls and provoke opponents by holding on to the ball when the ref has blown his whistle is slightly irritating. But maybe it's just me seeing these things in the aftermath of a defeat!

All this preamble was just to let off steam, more than anything else as I am not one who likes to blame referees for the woes of my team. The fact is that this time round, SAF got his tactics right and we were on par with Chelsea, if not better, for most of the match. The problem is that when you play with a 4-5-1, you need your 5 midfielders to get in good scoring positions and more importantly, to hit the target. Rooney had a great game but we were over-reliant on him to score against a Chelsea defence that does not give you many opportunities. When you have the likes of Giggs, Carick, Fletcher and Valencia all failing to test Cech with their efforts, it means something is not on. A young Paul Scholes would have done some serious damage to Chelsea today but alas none of our 5 in today's midfield possess the natural scoring instincts needed to win big games and Scholes is not 25 anymore!!

It is not time to panic yet but there is a trend building up. Berbatov has played in very few of the big matches since joining United and never scored. Does this mean that SAF has no option but to play a 4-5-1 in future big games simply because he does not trust our 30 million striker to deliver? A few might argue that Berba picked up an injury and that is why he was missing. I am not so sure about that!

When you bring on the likes of Owen and Obertan to try and save a result, you are not really terrorising your opponents are you? I think that that is something that, come next May, could be a deciding factor. At this level, quality does count and by my standards, Owen and Obertan have a few points less than Ronaldo and Tevez in terms of quality. And that is putting it very mildly indeed!!!

There's a lot of matches to go though, enough for SAF to prove me and many others wrong once again....keep the faith.

Still wide open

This match could go either way but I am satisfied with the way we have played in the first half. Just one moment of magic could win this and I am hoping this will come from a United player.

Carick, Ando and Fletch are doing their job but our main problem is that we are relying on Anderson to get in the box and be our second striker when Rooney drifts off on the wing. We all know that Ando is hardly a threat up there but maybe SAF wants Fletch and Carick to sit deep and stop going forward. I expected Giggs to trouble their full back more although he did get away once, only to see his lob go over the bar. If Giggs and Valencia can be more of a threat and our defence holds on, we can win this.

I am keeping the faith and hoping that one of our midfielders could give the telling pass to Rooney or get the important goal himself.

GO ON REDS!!!

Massive, but not decisive.

SAF has, as expected, opted for a 5 man midfield that will hopefully protect the weakened defence. It will be a massive test for Brown and Evans and only a great game by Carick, Ando and Fletch will see us getting anything from this. A draw, given the circumstances, will be a good result in my opinion. I have a niggling feeling that we'll do well to day despite everything....

VDS

O'Shea
Brown
Evans
Evra

Fletcher
Carrick
Anderson

Rooney
Giggs
Valencia

subs: Vidic, Owen, Scholes, Fabio, Obertan, Gibson, Kusczak


GO ON REDS!!!

As usual, United do it the hard way

Man Utd 3 CSKA Moscow 3



The initial line up suggested that it would be another edgy night but going 3-1 down after just 2 minutes of the second half was probably not expected by anyone. The easy way in which we conceded the goals tonight is very worrying. It is true that the clear penalty on Fletcher could have made the comeback much easier but there were too many players who were not up to it.

At the end, the impetus provided by Rooney, a headed goal by Scholes and a lucky deviation from Valencia's shot was just enough to guarantee a spot in the KO stage and avoid defeat at OT. There is little doubt that we will see a completely different team on Sunday but I expected better from the likes of Macheda (extremely unlucky with header that hit post), Owen, Nani, Valencia, Fabio, Brown and Evans.

Chelsea away next...massive match...keep the faith!

1-2 down after a sloppy first half

Time for SAF to take out the hair drier. Ok, it is a second string line-up but I feel we haven't been anywhere putting the Russians under pressure and forcing them back. Instead we let them play and making our defence look laughable in both goals conceded. Vidic and Rio will feel that despite their recent mishaps, they will hardly be threatened by the likes of Evans. Despite the plaudits, the boy has so much to learn and his weaknesses are clearly exposed when he comes under pressure.

The likes of Nani, Fabio and Owen confirmed that they cannot really be considered as making a strong claim for a first team spot. Owen needed three attempts to score and Nani continues to make the wrong decisions even when he has acres of space. Fabio makes silly mistakes.

I still think we can win this but we really need to hassle the Russian and deny them space. I am not sure Scholes and Fletcher are the best combination to do this!! If we start pegging them back in their own box, we will get back into it. I think one or two substitutions may be needed though!

Keep the faith...GO ON REDS!!!!

Second string United to face CSKA for a place in the second round of CL

So, SAF has decided that the Chelsea match this coming weekend gets the priority and has named a second string line-up. No Rooney, Carick, Berba, Vida, Rio, Evra, Giggs.

I just hope that the likes of Macheda and Fabio take the opportunity to claim a place in the first team. Enough option on the bench to address the situation if the going gets tough, I hope!!

VDS
Nev
Brown
Evans
Fabio
Valencia
Scholes
Fletcher
Nani
Macheda
Owen

SUBS: Kuszczak, O'Shea, Evra, Anderson, Gibson, Obertan, Rooney.

GO ON REDS!!!

Back to winning ways

Man Utd 2 Blackburn 0



At the end it was a comfortable win that allowed us to keep the pace with Chelsea but we did have a few frustrating moments. The inability to finish off Blackburn earlier was down to inaccuracy and Nani was as frustrating as ever but the debut of Obertan must have had Nani laughing his socks off. Rooney's goal showed that even on an off-day, Rooney is better than most strikers in the EPL.

Obertan's 30 minutes may make him a contender for the worst debut ever under SAF. His first action saw him carrying the ball out of touch. It was downhill from then on. Contrary to what most are saying, he is not fast. His height makes him lanky and for an attacker that is not a bonus. The atmosphere at OT was too much for him - he could not handle the pressure and his confidence just dropped.

The icing on the cake was the sitter he missed. This was the chance that could have made his debut memorable despite the bad start but he fluffed it! That is the difference between a great player and a normal player. I will risk saying that he will never make the grade at OT.

We now have Dinamo at OT next Tuesday. A win will see us through to the next round but we need to show much better quality when the going starts getting really tough.

One match a time though...bring on the Russians!

Finishing touch needed

Despite having most of the possession, we have not been able to break the Blackburn defence. The chances have fallen to Berbatov, who continues to prove his inability to resemble anything like a proven goalscorer. Rooney is slowly finding his position and I think he could be decisive in the second half. Carick and Ando are doing well in the middle but I expect more quality from Nani and Valencia when feeding their strikers. We may need another striker to change things round if we are still at 0-0 after 60 minutes. It is no use complaining that Blackburn have raised their game - they have been as poor as last week against Chelsea but we have not taken our chances. In matches like these, you always fear calamity if you continue losing chances.

I have a feeling that we'll eventually win this but as usual, we'll probably do it the hard way.

No need to panic yet...GO ON REDS!!!

Must win match vs Blackburn

Despite the injuries, this is a match we must win to keep the pace with the top teams.

I just hope we go out of the blocks firing and get the early goal to settle down. Rooney may not have contributed anything against Liverpool but people suggesting that he should be dropped and Berba and Owen should start are simply lunatics. Rooney needs to play to rediscover his form and Berba still needs to convince me he is good enough for United.

Line Up:

VDS

o'shea
brown
evans
evra

valencia
carrick
anderson
nani

berba
rooney

3 points are very important...fingers crossed.

GO ON REDS!!!!

Into the QF of the Carling Cup

Barnsley 0 Man Utd 2



The fact that I am posting about this match with such delay shows that despite trying, I still cannot take this cup seriously. Having said that, the match vs Barnsley did send a few messages. The fact that Wes Brown and Johnny Evans struggled to deal with the aerial threat of Barnsley is worrying whilst the debut of Obertan was very positive as was the fact that Michael Owen scored, although I must say that his contribution during the match was nothing to shout about. What was Gaz exactly thinking about when he left his foot so high after getting the ball is still something I am trying to fathom!

Spurs next in the QF.

More serious stuff awaits this evening.

United succumb to second defeat

Liverpool 2 Man Utd 0



For once, SAF followed my suggestion and the result can be seen by all. The decision to opt for a 4-4-2 did not work out as it could be seen from the start that Carick and Scholes did not have the muscle and energy to outplay the 3 central midfielders fielded by Benitez. What really annoys me is how long SAF took to realise this, if he ever did! This was a game that cried out loud for a player like Anderson in midfield - I would have brought him on at HT, but SAF opted otherwise!!

Credit to Liverpool who played better than us for most of the match (as hard as it is to admit it) and who tried hard to get Torres into a one against one with our defenders and finally managed to do so after 65 minutes, exposing Rio's weaknesses to the maximum. There is no arguing that Torres and Drogba are the 2 best strikers in the EPL, and the last thing you want to do is let one of these strikers take the ball away from you and set himslef up for a shot. At that point, Rio should have had enough experience to know that he had to make a decision rather than just stand his ground. Go for a tackle, a slight nudge, whatever...even at the risk of conceding a penalty.

It is slowly becoming evident that Rio and Vidic are not the guarantee they were in the last three seasons. Some cracks were already showing last season with Rio missing plenty of matches and Vida having more off days than usual, including the home match vs Liverpool and the CL final, 2 massive games!

I will not even start the discussion about whether Carra should have been sent off or not for bringing Owen down. The ABUs will perhaps learn that every team will have decisions in favour or against throughout a season and shut their fat face the next time one goes in our favour.

I am sure we will pick ourselves up as we have always done in the past. We have to, as apart from the midweek Carling Cup match, which is just an inconvenience in my opinion, we have Blackburn and CSKA coming to OT in quick succession before going down to London to face Chelsea.

One match at a time though, Barnsley away on Tuesday....keep the faith!

Line Up vs Liverpool

VDS
Oshea Rio Vida Evra
Valencia Carrick Scholes Giggs
Rooney Berb

Would have loved to see Ando with Carick in the middle but seems the right line up for me...
GO ON REDS!!!!!!!

Big match at Anfield

The fact that Liverpool have lost 4 on the trot is of no significance today. If anything, it should have them more fired up to win and kick start their season again. Nor does the fact they they will be missing Gerrard and Torres.

Before even seeing the line up, I think that if we play with the right attitude we can win. It will of course be tough as we'll have a full crowd against us but I really would like to see us taking the game to them, playing a 4-4-2 and let them worry about us.

SAF may be tempted to play with one up front if Rooney is missing but that would mean giving them the initiative in my opinion. If we play 5 in the middle we'll be sending out the wrong message and the Liverpool players will be encouraged.

Having said that, SAF will probably opt for the 4-5-1 and here's to hoping that I will eat my words after the match and confess that I know nothing about football. The back four and VDS should be on the alert to avoid the calamities that we had to suffer in both matches last season. If the defence is firm, we have a very good chance of getting 3 points. These matches, however, can easily be determined by special instances such as free-kicks, errors, sending off, etc. So it could go both ways.

No HT post from me today...I'll be watching the match at Carlos's home, with full support from Daniel and Andrew of course!!

Fingers crossed....GO ON REDS!!