Two penalties enough to see off Stoke

Man Utd 2 Stoke 0



Two penalties (which should have been three) were enough to see off Stoke. Chichi and Berbatov dispatched the penalties and the three points were secure. Evra should have got another penalty and Berbatov missed a sitter at the death but I am not complaining given the injury list.

Amos showed enough to convince me that he should be the second keeper behind Lindegaard. I was disappointed with Smalling who probably needs a run in the team to find his fitness and affinity with the ball again. My man of the match was again Valencia who is back on form. Scholes did well through the 90 minutes and for the first time today, I saw glimpses of Pogba who may as yet convince me that he is United quality.

But the night should probably be dedicated to Gibson, who wearing the blue shirt of Everton has scored a goal that means a lot for his new team...and his ex-team as well!!

One match at a time....the dream is still alive!!

Numquam Moribimur...

Chichi penalty gives us the lead

Despite a lot of possession, we have not tested Sorensen enough for my liking. Stole have parked the bus outside their penalty area but we should still be moving the ball with the necessary accuracy and speed to give their defence more work to do.

Berbatov and Valencia have been positive and provided the little quality seen so far. Park industrious as usual and Chichi is finding no openings. Scholes on a yellow is a risk and Carrick should have done better after a good run into the box.

We need to go for the kill and get a second.

GO ON REDS!

Again, we have to bounce back

It is not a good sign when we have to 'bounce back' too often. Of course, this is bound to happen when you have a catalogue of injuries and a dodgy keeper! With one objective left to play for till May, SAF should have no need to tinker with formations. The best 11 players available should play. This means that DDG should not be utilised again until the pre-season friendlies start in July and hopefully we can recover some players for the run in. Amos, in fact, gets a match as Lindegaard is apparently injured and De Gea is 'sick' (surely not half as sick as he made me last Saturday, that's for sure!!) Smalling at RB instead of Rafael (why?), Rio and Evans in the middle of defence. Scholes starts again...so why not Rafael who could be his son!!! Valencia and Park on the wings. Chichi and Berba up front. No sign of Roo and Nani yet.

Amos
Smalling Ferdinand Evans Evra
Valencia Carrick Scholes Park
Hernandez Berbatov

GO ON REDS!!!!

SAF and De Gea at it again

Liverpool 2 Man Utd 1



SAF and De Gea are becoming a devastating combination...for the opponents, of course. No disrespect for the gaffer - he is the man who made us the most successful club in England - but he has made a lot of mistakes this season. True, injuries have hampered our progress but the exit from the CL and now the FA Cup can be attributed to wrong choices by SAF. Add to that the Blackburn defeat as well, and add a few occasions were we managed to just scrape through.

Today, SAF had few choices for outfield players although he could have played 4-4-2 which arguably and with hindsight, could have better, but made a big decision in terms of keepers. You do not play a dodgy keeper at Anfield - full stop. And if he keeps insisting that De Gea is OK, he should give an explanation why he sent Lindegaard to warm up after De Gea had gifted Liverpool a goal.

Again, after 55 minutes, it was plain clear that we were losing midfield. Giggs and Carrick started giving the ball away and Park and Valencia vanished inexplicably from the match. KK made the changes, 3 of them to try and win it but SAF waited till 75 minutes to make the changes. And Giggs and Carrick who had made a catalogue of errors stayed on, and Scholes, who was giving us some composure when we had the ball, comes off! Baffling...

From than on it was just a matter of us hanging on in my opinion. I would argue that even the second goal was not impossible to save as De Gea went to the ground too early. But then again, Evra lost his man completely and so on and so on.

Only one objective left now till the end of the season, which could work to our advantage if we keep De Gea away from our goal, recover a few injured players, and SAF decides to avoid tinkering too much and making irrational decisions. A tall order indeed, but we have to keep the faith. In the meantime, bragging rights to the scousers, of course....courtesy of De Gea and SAF.

Numquam Moribimur....

1-1 at HT

It took 20 minutes for De Gea to confirm my fears. He remained firmly planted to the ground and made no attempt to go for a cross that should have been punched away...and Liverpool scored. 3 minutes later he was challenged again and the ref gave a foul in his favour but he again showed how weak is his physical presence in that instant.

Despite a lot of possession, we are not finding any decent opening in the Liverpool defence as Welbeck is isolated and we need a bit more precision up front. Rafael is having a blinder and it was thanks to his cross that we equalised with a good goal from Park. The Valencia - Rafael partnership down the right is working much better than the Evra-Giggs one on the left. SAF should have the courage to throw in a second striker as I think we will win it if Welbeck is supported up front. I would put on Chichi after 60 minutes instead of Giggs.
Fingers crossed...GO ON REDS!!

A trip to scouseland

This is always a big game with tense atmosphere and it should be even worse today with the Evra - Suarez thingy! No two ways about it, we have to perform or go out. The scouse will be up for it...

De Gea in goal gives me the jitters, so does Evans in the centre of our defence. Two weak points there in my opinion. SAF has opted for a 5 man midfield with Welbeck alone up front. The boy can run but can he keep the ball and wait for the others to arrive? I can't really see many goal scoring opportunities being created with this line up so we'll have to be clinical - something which we have not been at all this past month or so. Not confident with this line up but not too many options for SAT to be honest. I would have started with 2 strikers and have had a right go at their defence but we'll see...Keane and Pogba on the bench!

De Gea
Rafael Smalling Evans Evra
Valencia Giggs Scholes Carrick Park
Welbeck

Lindegaard, Ferdinand, Berbatov, Hernandez, Fabio, M.Keane, Pogba

GO ON REDS!!

Welbeck keeps us in the title race

Arsenal 1 Man Utd 2



Valencia turned from scorer to assist-man to present Welbeck with a chance he could not miss. I have to be honest and admit that Arsenal deserved a draw for their second half display. But we really should have wrapped it up in the first half when we were dominant.

With Giggs and Carrick evidently out of fuel in midfield after the break, SAF titubated for too long to make the necessary changes and Arsenal got a deserved equaliser. It was left for our best player today, i.e. Valencia, to practically win it for us. Rooney and Nani were poor again - very poor! Welbeck scored but is not a polished player and at times seems to be thinking one thing and his body responds in another way. What on earth was he doing on the 94th minute alone in front of the Arsenal goal and opting to dribble instead of shooting?? He runs for 90 minutes though and just for this fact is an asset at this moment in time.

We remain 3 points behind City but need to improve our performances in the run in as we are struggling in practically all areas of the pitch. With the current injury list, I would go for the transfer market and get a defensive midfielder who can play in defence. Easier said than done, of course....FA Cup next weekend, guess against who???

Valencia with the lead

A frustrating first half ended with Giggs having to go to roll back the years and deliver a pinpoint cross for Valencia to head in. Nani had been in that position for at least 8 times and made a mess of all of them. It's been frustrating because Arsenal are there for the taking with a dodgy defence but Rooney, Nani, Welbeck have all made the wrong decisions and failed to create scoring opportunities.

We need to get a second as Arsenal can be dangerous going forward and our defence is not exactly the safest in the world at the moment. Pity about Jones being stretchered off - his ankle just gave way! We continue to lose players and that, at the end, could be crucial for any team in the run in.

Full focus is needed for the second half and Rooney must wake up and be sharper. Getting another goal is crucial to avoid any loss of points today. We must keep within touching distance...GO ON REDS!!

A must win game

It's not going to be easy, but we must win this one to remain in contention given the incredible happenings elsewhere. SAF is going for a 4-4-2 with Giggs and Carrick in the middle. There are of course huge risks in having Jones and Evans at the heart of our defence, with little defensive coverage from midfield. Fingers crossed Valencia maintains his form and Nani improves his drastically, and they can contribute to open up the Arsenal defence. Arsenal will be pout to avenge the 8-2 drubbing in the first round.

Lindegaard;
Smalling Jones Evans Evra;
Valencia Carrick Giggs Nani;
Welbeck Rooney

I have not got a good feeling about this but must keep the faith and BELIEVE. Going 6 or 5 points behind could be a killer blow today...GO ON REDS!

United back to winning ways in the EPL

Man Utd 3 Bolton 0

This was not of the best nx matches but the 3 points were the important objective. Scholes came up with the opener just before HT, with Welbeck and Carrick ensuring the points were home and dry.
The goal befe HT was important and before Welbeck got the second, I was getting edgy. Carrick's goal was just the icing on the cake.

Nani was useless and Rooney tried hard to emulate him. Rafael, played well and so did Valencia which seems to be getting back to form. The back 4 were not really tested but still had a few hesitant moments.

Scholes to the rescue

3 great saves by the Bolton keeper, including a penalty save and an industrial amount of errors in the final quarter seemed the story of the first half but on 46 minutes, up pops Paul Scholes with a goal! Some errors I've seen are worrying - a simple pass or control for a professional player should be simple stuff. Nani did very little in the first half, As he has done this last couple of months and Rooney has tried hard but committed more mistakes than you'd expect from him. We'd better get a second quickly as with Rio and Evans, a calamity is always round the corner.
GO ON REDS!

3 points needed

Bolton should not be an insurmountable opponent at OT but you never know. For the first time in ages we are playing with all players in their position and that is positive. Lindegaard keeps his place (I like), Evans plays at centre half (no like) and incredibly Scholes starts....will he last the 90 minutes?

Lindegaard
Rafael Ferdinand Evans Evra
Valencia Carrick Scholes Nani
Rooney Welbeck

GO ON REDS!

United win 3-2...just!!

Man. City 2 Man. Utd 3



Manchester is red again....but only just. We raced to a 3-0 lead at HT, great header by Rooney, sublime volley by Welbeck and a rebound pushed in by Roo from a clear penalty on Welbeck. However, we took our foot off the pedal at HT and when City got one goal back through a free-kick, we again opted to keep the ball rather than going for the kill. A clear penalty on Valencia was not given as Foy tried to make amends for sending off Kompany after just 10 minutes, a bit harshly in my opinion. In fact, it was evident that Foy was applying the rule of compensation during the second half. Only poor refs do that, but the EPL is full of them so no surprises there!

Their second goal could be attributed to a Lindegaard mistake, but Smalling was nowhere near Aguero, both in closing him down for the shot, and for the rebound. It all started from a short return ball from Scholes who, in my opinion, came in too early around the hour. He did seem a bit rusty but could perhaps give a helping hand till the end of the season.

Strangely, despite going through to the next round, a feeling of disappointment that we did not kill them off prevails. Coming back to 3-2 from 3-0, with 10 men, could end up giving them a moral boost in the sense that they were not only not humiliated, but could have got a draw at the end.

There is no doubt that SAF has a lot of work to do in the coming weeks to maintain any sort of challenge for the title. Jones has gone off the boil, Nani has been very poor lately, and Rio is getting slower and slower. Evra needed a right telling off from Rio because he cannot defend to save his life. Valencia was OK but needs to be more enterprising going forward.

Bolton at home should provide us with the opportunity to return to winning ways in the EPL but honestly, I do not know what to expect any more as we have been blowing hot and cold in the last month.

3-0 up...with a little help from Chris Foy

A great goal by Rooney, followed by a harsh red card for Kompany paved the way for another two goals before HT. No doubt it was double footed tackle which is clearly an offence, but I would probably have extracted a yellow. In any case, Welbeck scored a great second and Rooney headed in the rebound from his own penalty. Clear penalty, no doubt. Lindegaard made a great save at 1-0.

Can we score more? Jones is having a nightmare of a match and his own goal against the barcodes seems to be effecting him. He needs a rest. Rafael can come in and Smalling moved to the centre. How about introducing Scholes after 75 minutes??

GO ON REDS!!

We need to bounce back - Scholes on the bench!!

Let's face it, we are facing an uphill struggle today. With all the injuries, playing away, and the poor form of most players, a third successive defeat is a concrete possibility. I am just hoping that we react the same way we did over the years in the face of adversity and pull off a result. It would do wonders for our morale, no doubt!

Lidegaard keeps his place, Smalling returns and the dodgy Ferdinand - Jones pairing at the centre of defence is given the nod. Valencia return on the wing and Nani is on the other side. Carrick and Giggs in the middle makes me edgy, to say the least. Welbeck and Rooney should trouble the City defence, but only if they are on form. The big news, of course, is Scholes brought out of retirement to help our ailing midfield.

Lindegaard
Smalling Jones Ferdinand Evra
Valencia Carrick Giggs Nani
Welbeck Rooney

Subs: De Gea, Rafael, Evans, Anderson, Park, Chicharito, Scholes.

GO ON REDS!!!

Second successive defeat

Newcastle 3 Man Utd 0



After 10 years of waiting, Newcastle deserved their win which was obtained through 3 goals, all from set pieces. We however also failed to test Krul throughout the match as our players were harassed all over the pitch and were never really given time to settle down. SAF will perhaps now realise that we need a decent central midfielder during the January transfer window.

Today, we were out-muscled in midfield, and players like Nani, Rooney and Giggs just failed to turn up. Rooney's first touch is at times abysmal - definitely not world class! The injuries are being felt, and how. Cleverley, Fletcher, Young, Vidic, Smalling and so on are not easy to replace but I still expected better.

We have very few options in midfield and apart from having to rely on a 38 years old winger turned midfielder, we had to rush Anderson back. Add to that the poor form of Rooney and Chichi who seems to have lost his touch and there you have it.

We may be down, but I am hoping that we are not yet out. Defeat on Sunday against City in the FA Cup would mean 3 successive defeats and the panic button will probably need to be pushed. Will SAF use the January transfer window to strengthen the squad?

Numquam Moribimur....

1-0 down

Newcastle took the direct route to goal - keeper's kick was not dealt with in the air by Jones and Ba anticipated Rio to score a great goal. Our midfield and attack have been disappointing. Carrick and Giggs are struggling as Newcastle have based their game on aggression. Park and Nani have not got past their markers and Berba and Rooney have not been able to combine at all. Rooney seems out of sorts and on the 42nd minute he summed up his half when he failed to return a simple pass and after that was dead slow to react and win the ball back.
SAF needs to find a solution to get behind the Newcastle defence. We have 45 minutes to score 2 goals and turn this round and unless the likes of Rooney, Giggs and Nani wake up, it's looking bleak!
We have to keep the faith though...GO ON REDS...BELIEVE!!!!!

3 points needed from tough away match

SAF has made some sensible changes to the spastic line up he came up with against Blackburn. Lindegaard is rightly preferred, Rio returns at the centre of defence and is partnered with Jones whilst Carrick is back in midfield with Giggs. Park and Nani provide the width and Roo and Berba play up front. Would have preferred Rafael at RB rather than Valencia but this line up makes some sense at least! We need to bounce back from defeat with a win that would see us level again with our neighbours.

Lindegaard
Valencia Ferdinand Jones Evra
Nani Carrick Giggs Park
Rooney Berbatov

SUBS: de Gea, Fabio, Lingard, Anderson, Pogba, Welbeck, Hernandez.

GO ON REDS!!

SAF decisions and De Gea hand Blackburn 3 points

Man Utd 2 Blackburn 3



First it was SAF, who rather arrogantly left Rooney and Giggs out of the squad, and after that an abysmal and amateurish performance by De Gea handed Blackburn an unexpected win. The tampering with line up and positions finally backfired spectacularly on SAF.

Having said that, a decent keeper could have changed the end result and spared SAF his blushes. The second goal by Yakubu went right through De Gea and after having done all the hard work and crawling back to 2-2, De Gea showed once again that he is not United quality when instead of punching the ball away using the advantage of his hands, he gifted a goal to Blackburn.

SAF must now admit that Lindegaard should be the United keeper for the rest of the season. His insistence with De Gea has cost United a Champions League qualification and now had handed Blackburn a win when it was crucial to get 3 points to keep level with City. Whilst it is somewhat true that we need to play Newcastle in 3 days and therefore players must be somewhat rotated, the keeper position is one that must be decided..NOW! And leaving Rooney and Giggs out of the squad was complete madness.

We also need to strengthen our midfield. A half fit Anderson showed that you need midfielders in midfield as he managed to spark a revival by driving the team forward when he came on. Nani was terribly frustrating today. Just when you need him to perform, he invariably lets his team down despite his talent. Today, he was more concerned with sporting his haircut and trying to do the impossible than with helping his team.

Valencia played well though. Pity that both his assists to Berba did not serve to anything at the end! He should have a quite word with De Gea tonight and suggest that he takes up golf or something else but not goalkeeping!!

2011 ends on a sour note and a clear message. We still need to replace VDS in goal and the answer may already be sitting on the bench. It is time for SAF to swallow his pride and admit that De Gea is not ready yet and hand Lindegaard his chance till the end of the season. We also need a class midfielder to come to OT to fill the gap left by Scholes.

A happy new year (duh!) to all!!

Spark needed from somewhere

The early goals in the previous matches paved the way for easy wins but we need to do it the hard way today as Blackburn have taken the lead through a penalty committed by Berba and have consequently parked the bus outside their penalty area. And with no proper midfielders, creativity to open up their defence is evidently lacking. Nani is having one of his frustrating matches when he makes even the simplest tasks look difficult. We are having to rely on Rafael in midfield as SAF is evidently afraid to play him at the back and move Carrick into midfield. Chichi continues to disappoint as he is struggling for form and Welbeck needs to play as striker to be effective.

Is it going to be one of those matches where we drop points due to not having any solution to turn the result around? On SAF's 70th birthday, we should find the determination to crawl back and get 3 points but we need to go out for the second half with all guns blazing and get an early goal. If we are still down with 20 minutes to go, I can see us struggling. SAF needs to shuffle thing around and the players need to send quality crosses in - something clearly missing in the first half.

We need to keep the faith...GO ON REDS....BELIEVE!!!

Blackburn visit OT

Another emergency line up against Blackburn and quite frankly, I have no idea how we will be playing in midfield. Disappointed that Lindegaard does not keep his place but glad to see Rafael back. I hope he can last the 90 minutes as none of the twins seem able to do so unfortunately! Fingers crossed we can get 3 points (1-0 will do) and pile up the pressure on the noisy neighbours!

de Gea Rafael Carrick Jones Evra Valencia Park Nani Welbeck BerbatovHernandez

GO ON REDS!!!