Simply unbelievable...

Sunderland 0 Man Utd 1

In an incredible twist of events, United were practically champions with Citeh losing at home 1-2 to QPR but Citeh scored 2 goals in the injury time to practically clinch the title with the last shot of the season. What seemed ineviatble at kick off today, seemed possible in the last half hour, indeed a reality with QPR leading 2-1 at the 90th minute but, alas, it was not to be. Losing the title to Citeh hurts, losing it this way hurts even further.

We have to concede defeat - full stop. And apart from the incredible events of today which obviously had a huge slice of luck going Citeh's way, we have no one to blame but ourselves. A month or so ago we had an 8 point lead which we literally threw away. Many would argue that this side did not play like champions throughout the season but the fact is that we finished with the same points as the champions of England and lost out on the title on goal difference with Citeh gaining as much points as we did with 2 goals in injury time of the last match. And this is a squad assembled with a limitless amount of money, over 400 million spent in the last 4 years, when it was evident that SAF had very little purchasing power to compete financially.

I could go on forever but the harsh reality is that for the first time in my lifetime, the noisy neighbours are champions. One could say it was inevitable with so much money going in but bloody hell, we did give them a helping hand along the way!!!! And to cap it all, today, lady luck was wearing sky blue!!!

A deserved rest from this blog is now due. Will be back for the pre season friendlies in July. To all those who followed...Numquam Moribimur!!

Rooney gives United the lead

Rooney scored, missed a sitter and we should have scored at least another goal. To a certain extent, this half mirrors the problems of this United team this season. We have not managed to kill opponents off when they were down and there for the taking and consequently, dropped important points along the way. In fact, we risked conceding an equaliser in a rare Sunderland attack and this could happen because we have Rio who is on the verge of collapsing and Evans who despite having had a good season, is always a whisker away from calamity. Not to mention the keeper of course!!

Irrispective of what happens elsewhere which is easily predictable, let us finsih off the season with a win...GO ON REDS!!

Last 90 minutes of the season...it's gonna be a long and painful summer

For the first time in my life, I am staring in the face of a summer full of crappy headlines and blue moon nonsense. And what is most painful is that it was all in our hands and we blew it away! The STOM seems to set the tone with some bullish headline about shift of dominance bla, bla, bla...

SAF has made sure that the season ends with the usual controversies about 4-5-1, Giggs in midfield with Scoles again, Nani droppend, Jones at RB, and so on and so forth. I just wish to close my eyes and find myself at the beginning of a new season...GO ON REDS!!!

De Gea,

Jones, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra (C),

Valencia, Young, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs,

Rooney

Subs: Owen, Berbatov, Park, Chicharito, Nani, Rafael, Amos.

United win and take it to the last match

Man Utd 2 Swansea 0

No, I have not gone underground and I'm not hiding in shame. I had to deal with a dodgy internet service during my stay in Manchester where I was in the past couple of days, following our beloved reds from the Stretford End.

This was an anti-climax as the 75+ thousand new that Citeh has won their away match at Newscaste and this was our last home match as champions before, unfortunately, handing over the title to our noisy neighbours. The United supporters tried to spur their team on early in the match but as time went by the support slowly fizzled out as the harsh reality started dawning on the United supporters and the United players.

And believe me, there is no harsher reality than knowing that despite the gulf in financial resources available and the injury list at United being much worse that that of Citeh throughout the season, we had it all in our hands up to a few weeks ago.

In reality, this United team have over achieved in taking their defence of the title to the last match and no one would have really complained if we had been chasing all season and it ended up like this. But Wigan away, and even worse, the Everton match are a difficult pill to digest. You simply cannot throw away a league like that.  I think that any talk of hoping that QPR take anything from their last match is simply clutching at straws. We are talking about the team with the best home record this season, needing a win against the team with the worst away record...nuff said.

Scholes and Young supplied the goals against Swansea and some of the deficiences of this team are even more visible when you are watching from the stands. Creativity in midfield is a problem and we are too predicatble to defend against. Our defence always seems to concede too much space and although we should have scored another 3 or 4, we could also have conceded one or two. Chichi disappointed again and next season will be a big challenge for him to prove himself. Some are even claiming that it will also be a challenge for SAF as rumours tht he is mellowing down and that this would never had happened a few years ago, continue to circulate in the pubs around Manchester.

Anyways, I have a feeling that next weekend is going to be very painful...roll on next Monday!

Numquam Moribimur!!!

United down, and possibly, nearly surely, out.

Man City 1 Man Utd 0

The title is staying in Manchester, but unfortunately it seems heading to the blue side of the city! As SAFs tactics backfired again, not for the first time this season, the 8 point lead that semed unassailable a couple of weeks ago is gone. We have now not scored in our last 2 away matches, and conceded 4 goals at home in between - hardly the stuff of champions, some would say, and I would agree!!

SAF has once again opted for the 4-5-1 in a big match and once again we witnessed a mediocre display. He must by now have realised that we do not know how to defend properly and that he has a dodgy keeper that panics whenever a cross comes in. Last season we had VDS and Vidic in defence and that, in essence, is the big difference. The pic above shows how close the citeh defender was when he headed in just on the stroke of HT - surely, surely, the keeper should have come out to punch it away!!

In any case, Rooney was isolated and Nani, as always, failed to deliver on a big night. Valencia should have played instead - simple as that. And what was exactly the point of having Giggs in midfield today?? The squad has limitations, fine, but I think that this season was characterised by too many wrong choices.

To all the United fans who were celebrating on Easter Sunday as if we had already won the league, I have a message - learn from your mistakes - and it ain't over until the fat lady starts singing!! Now is the time to show your true colours and support our belovd reds in our final 2 matches - whatever happens! Such is the greatness of Manchester United, that coming second to a 400 million squad will be deemed a failure. Many other clubs would celebrate coming second, but for us, this would be considered a failure. But it's not over yet cause I can't hear the fat lady singing so until then, I'll keep the faith.

Numquam Moribimur!!!!!

It is time....

Our beloved reds need to come up with one of two possible results to retain the EPL. A win to our noisy neighbours will practically hand them over the title as I really cannot see them losing any points in the last 2 matches if they beat us today.

The players should be up for it and I hope that experienced players will not just throw the ball away. We need to keep the ball and not defend for 90 minutes - Chelsea can do it, but not us!! Chances will be rare so we need to be clinical up front.

de Gea

Jones Smalling Ferdinand Evra

Nani Carrick Scholes Giggs Park

Rooney

I've never seem Citeh win the league since I was born...let's keep it that way please!! No HT posts for me today...I'm off to the MUSC to suffer with the others. At least, if I get a heart attack, I won't be alone...and the missus will surely throw me out today if I stay here!!

BELIEVE....GO ON REDS!!

United throw it all away

Man Utd 4 Everton 4

In an incredible match, United threw a two goal advantage out of the window. Not once, but twice! At HT I posted that our defence was vulnerable and how right I was!! Our full backs were abysmal and Rio and Evans lost it completely in the last 10 minutes to allow Everton back to 4-4. Quite frankly, if United are going to win this league with the current squad, it will be an achievment of titanic proportions.


Having gone 3 -1 up with two goals from Welbeck and Nani, we allowed Everton back with a soft goal. Another undistrurbed cross from the right and Evans, caught in dreamland, allowed Fellaini to reduce to 3-2. The United faithful thought it was over when Rooney scored the fourth with a great move but no, we had more presents for Everton. How on earth we managed to let them score 2 in 2 minutes is anyone's guess. Our defence was a shambles and the rookie keeper has no idea how to organise the four guys in front of him! True, the defence should have been protected by the midfield who gave the ball away too often and was not covering enough for my liking but come on...

Anyways, we now have to go to City on Monday and get at least a draw or the title will go to the blue part of Manchester. They will no doubt score another handful today against the weakest side of the premier and will be all up for it against us as they sense that they are in with a good chance. Had someoene anticipated this scenario last August, I would have signed for it. But  not after leading with 8 points and letting it all slip away with such crappy displays as today's and Wigan's!!

Numquam Moribimur....

Poor first half

We have managed to get the equaliser despite a poor first half. Everton are playing well and Carrick and Scholes are struggling in midfield with our defence simply unable to close down Jelavic. Everton's goal was due to Evra's poor positioning (Nani waas defending instead of hin!!!) once again and Rafael losing his player. Nani is back to his frustrating best, doing all the wrong things but then providing the assist for Rooney's equaliser. Valencia has gone off the boil and Distin had had him in his pocket all the half. Welbeck has ben poor as well. Unless Valencia and Welbeck wake up and start troubling the Everton defence we are going to struggle. I'm curious to see what SAF comes up with if we are still at 1-1 with 20 minutes to go.

Not too many midfield options available and this is our weakness. Our defence seems vulnerable and we may need to score a couple of goals to see this through. It can go any way but I am hoping SAF will be using his hair drier at this very moment and we will go out for the second half with the right attitude.

We have to keep the faith...BELIEVE!!!!

Crucial 3 points at stake in title race

SAF will know that unless we get 3 points today, the title race will be wide open again. It will not be easy as Everton are no push overs but I expect the OT crowd to be up for it today and push our beloved reds all the way to victory.

Nani comes in for Young (punished for diving too much??) and Welbeck starts with Roo up front. Otherwise, pretty much as expected. BELIEVE!!!

de Gea

Rafael  Evans  Ferdinand  Evra

Valencia  Carrick  Scholes  Nani

Rooney Welbeck

SUBS: Amos, Jones, Cleverley, Giggs, Young, Berbatov, Hernandez.

8 points to go

Man Utd 4 Aston Villa 0



Two late goals added gloss to a United win that seemed already done and dusted when Welbeck scored the second just before halftime. Rooney's penalty had set us on the way, and Welbeck settled the nerves of the OT faithful and all of us all watching from all over the world. We throughly deserved our win today with some instances of good football.

This is not the say that our display was impeccable - far from it! Seeing so many misplaced passes is frustrating and some players are really struggling to find their form. For most of the second half this seemed a photo copy of the QPR match. The two late goals, however, will hopefully serve to lift Rooney after he scored again from open play (boy was she poor, today!!) and Nani to contribute more in the final 4 matches.

Scholes continues to be inspiring, and when he fell to the ground injured, OT fell into a deafening silence and there was great relief when he returned on the pitch. So much depends on him, in my opinion, and the OT crowd seemed to beleive so as well.

Exactly the point of bringing Berba on is beyond me. His body language suggested that he is already out of OT so what's the point!! Young and Valencia did not impress as well but getting forward and dong their job in defence.

In any case, we need 8 from the remaining 12 points to be mathematically sure of the title. Our faith is still in our hands and the next match is Everton at OT on Sunday. Mission 20-20 continues.

2-0 up at HT

Another penalty, again on Young, paved the way for this HT lead. I think it was a penalty but Young has to learn not exaggerating in his falls as even the fouls that should be given will start looking dubious. Rooney stepped up to despatch the penalty and give the much needed early lead.

As has happened so often, despite our possession, we are not sharp enough up front to create the necessary goal scoring opportunities. When opposing team get everyone behing the ball, you need a combination of creativity, speed and sharpness to get through. We are very often found wanting in one or more of these and that is why we are finding it so hard to score. And it is frustrating to see our defenders giving the ball away when not under pressure. Rafael and Evans are the main culprits.

Welbeck's goal on the stroke of HT should not only give the boys a bit more confidence, but should hopefully open up some spaces for us to exploit during the second half. We need Rooney to score again as he often goes on a run when he does...and the time is NOW!!

Fingers crossed, keep the faith.....BELIEVE!!!!

Need for the final push

With Citeh revitalised by our loss at Wigan, and making sure that their goal average is better than ours, we have to get 6 points in our next two matches. Luckily, they are both at home, starting today against Villa. But nothing can be taken for granted and Wigan us showed that in the EPL you cannot just turn up and not perform.

I expect the boys to be up for it today and send a message that we intend to see this mission through. A lot of United supporters have a feeling that if we go into the Citeh match with less than 3 points advantage, they will simply be too motivated for us to handle and overpower us.

Scholes returns in midfield and Welbeck starts up front near Rooney. If Valencia and Young are alive, we should get teh 3 points today. Rooney also needs to step up as our other strikers are simply not finding the net. We have to bounce back...and get 3 points in some way or another today. Hope the OT crowd will get right behind the boys...GO ON REDS!!

De Gea,

Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra,

Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Young,

Rooney, Welbeck

Bench: Amos, Jones, Berbatov, Giggs, Hernandez, Nani, Cleverley

Wigan deserved their win

Wigan 1 Man Utd 0




Depite the embarrasing refereeing of Dowd & Co., the result is nevertheless fair. Wigan took the game to United, harassed every player for an hour and so and after taking the lead, defended their goal with great determination.

Quite simply, we did not turn up and deserved to lose today. It took us 83 minutes to have a shot on target by Welbeck and it was the only one. We very nearly conceded a second at the end and quite a few of the deficiences which SAF has managed to disguise so well, emerged again. It is hard to understand why Valencia picked today to have his worst match of the season, and what was the reason of Nani replacing Rooney. Carrick and Giggs never got hold of midfield and at the back, Evans nearly got himself sent off as his idiotic look emerged once again!

It was of course predicatble that we would drop points in the run in but perhaps few would have said that Wigan away would have been the place. We now must win our home matches and not lose to Citeh who today managed to turn goal difference in their favour again.

For all those who were celebrating last Sunday and declaring that the league has been won...think again. Underestimating any opponent will cost any team points and let's face it, we are not exactly playing the kind of football that can guarantee anything!

Let's hope we can bounce back on Sunday against Villa at OT. It is hard to foresee another abysmal performance and quite frankly, anything will be better than today. Maybe, some United players were thinking that they just needed to turn up and win. SAF should make sure that all his players are really focused for the last 5 matches.

We need 11 out of the remaining 15 points...Numquam Moribimur!!

Abysmal first half - we should be 1-0 down.

The first few minutes were indicative as we were already under pressure with SAF visibly concerned. Wigan have take the game to us and with Giggs and Carrick never getting hold of midfield, we were second best throughout the first half.

Wigan had taken the lead but Phil Dowd and his assistant saved us for no apparent reason. There is no doubt we are having our fair share of luck in this run in as the goal seemed perfectly legal and exposed once again Evra's inability to defend and De Gea's fragility in handling (or getting near, at least!) crosses.

I hope SAF is using his hair drier at this very moment. Unless we wake up and/or Wigan tire out, we are going to lose points today. Anyone thinking that the race for the premiership is over after last weekend's matches, may be thinking otherwise. It can't be over with United's unpredicatbility this season.

A tactical change may be needed. Chichi is unrecognisable and Welbeck should be introduced. Nani should also play some part as Valencia seems unable to make any impact.

We have to keep the faith...GO ON REDS!!

Wigan away

de Gea

Jones
Ferdinand
Evans
Evra

Valencia
Carrick
Giggs
Young

Rooney
Hernandez

SUBS: Amos, Smalling, Pogba, Cleverley, Park, Nani, Welbeck.