Manchester United » Manchester United

A Quick Review/Preview

Ryan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:22:32 +0000

With my favorite Holiday coming yesterday, I didn’t have much free time to write my thoughts on Wednesday’s game. And with EPL action coming up tomorrow, this will be a pretty hefty post. I hope everyone likes reading…

First, a quick summary of my thoughts on the United vs Besiktas match. In case you somehow hadn’t heard, United snapped a 23 game unbeaten stream at home with our 1-0 loss to the turkish side. Their gloal came off a long range effort, which needed the help of Rafael’s face and a Foster special to find its way into the net, but it did.

The squad we went with was pretty much along the lines of what I was thinking except for Neville would be featured. Also, the youth movement up top (Macheda and Welbeck) was not what I was expecting, but hey, that’s why I’m not in charge. Overall, they did decent. Obviously with a loss, it leaves a lot to be desired, but there were moments that showed some promise. SAF talked about the youth, saying that he liked what he saw because “They’re young and you expect them to make mistakes. It was a strong showing in terms of the flow of the game.”.

If you ask me (and you are because you’re reading this post), the biggest problem was patience. I saw a lot of balls that were trying to be forced into places they had no business going (and yes. That is what she said). Also, the crossing from the right wing left a lot to be desired. Most of the balls played in from that side were not even close to threatening, rarely finding any sort of United player. Basically, the play in the last third of the game was well below par; fortunately they are young, and have lots of time to learn.

But, United did not go without a fight. And we did it in typical United fashion, stoppage time. Two insane saves denied us, as well as a typical denial of a late penalty, but you cannot lay blame on the loss on the ref. Highlights (in french, only video I could find, sincere apologies) can be found below:

Now, instead of thinking about the past, let’s look towards the future…tomrorow. United away to Portsmouth.
Recent Form:

Portsmouth: W-L-D-W-L-L
Manchester United: D-W-L-W-L-W

With the youth getting their shot to prove their worth, expect this game to be a statement game from the first choice players, giving a model as to what the youth should strive to be. VDS still has his knee “knock”, but expect him to get the start.

With the Irish defensive duo (John O’Shea and Johnny Evans) still doubtful for the match, it looks like we will see a very similar defense we’ve been getting used too, with the addition of Neville. Expect to see something like: Neville – Brown – Vidic – Evra

Many problems from the weekend came from a lack of creativity in the midfield, so lots of changes will be coming down the line. Anderson played in his typical I-can’t-do-anything-productive form, and Gibson thought the goal was three miles higher than it was. Obertan had the best game (I felt) of any of the midfield starters, despite the crossing, except I think the club needs a good result here. I could see something like: Valencia – Carrick – Fletcher – Giggs, except Nani could easily get a start over Giggsy.

Up top, its not hard to figure that out. Rooney will obviously start, the question is who with him. The media, myself included, all thought that Berbatov would make his return in the Besiktas match, but that clearly did not happen. I think its because SAF wanted extra days of rest for him before this fixture, leaving it Rooney – Berba as our top 2.

VDS
Neville – Brown – Vidic – Evra
Valencia – Carrick – Fletcher – Giggs
Rooney – Berbatov

As my free time this week is scarce thanks to responsibilities with the family, our Five talking points are turning to Three.

Boss~~nass~~ Grant

News out of Portsmouth this week, Hart is out, ex-Chelsea manager Avram Grant is in. Couple that with the fact that Portsmouth have claimed a staggering 10 points in their last 6 meetings means that this bottom-table club could be a dangerous, dangerous trap. Grant has significant experience facing SAF, and the Portsmouth players will undoubtedly be more energetic with the introduction of a new manager.

Park that car

I am not a huge fan of Park. Wednesday was the first time he was featured since the Manchester Derby, and I thought that was a good thing. I hope SAF realizes that with the bountiful options we have at our disposal, he will not be getting a regular feature during the remainder of this season. Feel free to debate this point.

Can we get Rooney a goal ?

Rooney has hit a rare dip in form, with only 1 league goal over the past 10 fixtures. Someone needs to bring some energy to the squad, and start leading us around the pitch. If there is anyone of the current roster that is capable of doing that, and continuing to do it in this post-Ronaldo era, I think its Wayne. Expect to see him do some serious damage tomorrow coming off of an entire week’s rest.

Despite our recent struggles when facing Portsmouth, and the great respect I have for Grant, I think United will have this well in hand. I feel like I’m starting to be a broken record, but again I can’t see anything but a 2-0 Win for United. Portsmouth have looked absolutely dreadful so far this campaign, and I don’t think Grant has had enough time at the club to make that much of a difference. Goals will be coming from Rooney and Rooney.

In another note – There will be a LiveBlog (if people show up, otherwise its just me talking to myself, and that’s awkward) for the game. Kickoff is at 15:00GMT / 10:00am EST / 9:00am CST / (dear god) 7:00am PST. I hope everyone joins in.

Happy Thanksgiving

Ryan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:35:44 +0000

I’m sure I’m speaking for all of us from the Manchester United offside, but I’d like to wish everyone in the US a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Personally I’d like to thank everyone who regularly visits and comments here. Being the new guy, y’all have helped me become a better writer, and the conversations going on through comments etc. make me feel right at home. I’m very thankful I have the opportunity to write for such a great community.

I’d also like to say I am very thankful for the wonderful sport of Football, and the Red Devils. There is nothing else that brings cultures together in the same way football does (only the Olympics stand a chance in this argument).

So again, from us to you, Happy Thanksgiving!

CL Preview : United vs Besiktas

Ryan — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:04:30 +0000

I am in no way any sort of expert of Turkish Football (the most I know is that they make Euros fun as shit to watch), coupled with the fact that United have already assured qualification to the knock-out round, makes Wednesday’s match somewhat of a mystery. Fergie will undoubtedly give our youth a good go, and also give some playing time to our returning injured players. However, a win means we will need one hell of a screw up to not qualify at the top of group. Decisions, decisions…

Last time we played, Scholes, as I’m sure you all remember, netted the winner to lead us to a 1-0 finish. This time we’re in Old Trafford, so you think that, coupled with all but assured top-o-group status means we will see, albeit young, very competent squad. This also means that there are a lot of decisions for Sir Alex to make as he draws up the starting line…

The only assured part of our formation tomorrow will be The defense, as Evra, Brown, Vidic, and Rafael were the only defenders in practice (Neville is expected to practice tomorrow, which sets him up for a nice bench job, with hopes of coming back for Portsmouth). So, for ease: Evra-Brown-Vidic-Rafael for tomorrow.

In the midfield, SAF has noted that he plans to give youngsters a chance with heavy playing time against Besiktas. For me, this means Obertan and Park are definitely getting starts (yeah Park isn’t young but he always starts for these games), with potentially Gibson also getting playing time. I would try and predict this, but the hell if I know, so: Park-Gibson-Ando-Obertan. But honestly, it could be anything.

More injury news out of the gates, expecting to make a big return is everyone’s favorite not-so-fat-fatty, Dimitar Berbatov. He was in training this morning, and I would not be surprised (actually, I’m expecting) that Berba gets the start against Besiktas. Which would make our front-line: Owen-Berbatov with papa wazza getting rested for Portsmouth.

And finally, we have goal-tenders. VDS was not expected to play this fixture coming into the weekend, and after picking up a knock on his knee against Everton, we can expect to see either Foster, or the Polish failbot. With Foster complaining about being our 3rd choice, I’ll say Kuszczak will get the start this time around, even though (read below) I’d prefer Foster.

That makes our formation look something like:

Kuszczak
Evra-Brown-Vidic-Rafael
Park-Gibson-Ando-Obertan
Owen-Berbatov

Since they actually started some sort of discussion last week, I return my 5 talking points for the game:

SAF Doghouse. Population: Nani ?

While I hate to be the type of person that “reads too much into nothing”, Nani did not play against Everton, after having been regularly featured previously. His lack of choice could be coincidence, or the fact that he is currently occupying the doghouse (with potentially Foster as well). Either way, I don’t expect to see Nani start.

The Lesser of Two Evils

With VDS definitively not playing, we are stuck with a choice that is going to provide heart-attacks for myself on a regular basis, who the hell is the better backup. I honestly can’t say I have a clear choice, because neither have proven (granted, they don’t get much playing time on the first team) that they can confidently play in front of the net. Both clearly have talent, don’t get me wrong, but their play while VDS was out at the start of the season caused my roommates to think the only words I knew how to say were “What are you doing?!?!”. However, seeing as I have to be an opinionated blogger, I’d say Foster, just for the simple fact that Capello has stuck with him, and you can’t argue with that man’s results.

A Tale of Two Owens

First, Mikey Owen. Before the Everton match I asked when will we see the vintage Owen goal scoring. Martin came back saying that those days are long gone, and we’ll only see them on youtube. So I guess this week, I’m going to make a broader question on the same subject. Is Martin right, and Mikey’s glory days are long gone, or will we see some form of vintage Michael Owen goal scoring while he is at Old Trafford.

Second, Owen Hargreaves. Hargo has made progress in his recovery, and is even back in Manchester (old news: as of September) finishing his rehabilitation. This time I feel a lot more confident asking this exact question, so: When will we see Hargo back in the line-up. And when we do, who do you feel is the best midfield available (assuming no players are injured).

The Future Are the Children

Speaking of the future, I get questions sometimes about why I love the FA cup so much and its a pretty simple answer. The chance to see the future of united take the pitch in a big situation. This game, is going to be a similar sort of spectacle. Rebecca will have to confirm this, but I’m pretty sure a Champion’s League home fixture is just about ecstasy in Old Trafford, and nobody wants to let down the faithful. This means we will get a chance to see our up-and-comers in this atmosphere. Player to watch for me: Obertan. He looked comfortable and happy during his time Saturday, I’m curious to see if that will continue on.

How Crazy is the Champions League ?

Yes yes, I’m aware this actually has little to do directly with United, but it is worth bringing up. We are on the cusp of potentially having a Champion’s League Knock-out stage without big names such as Liverpool and Byern Munich, Barca are currently in 3rd place in the their group, AC Milan still have a lot of work to do, and before the collapse of Kiev, it looked like Inter would even have a hard time getting through (and that group is still all up in the air). Van der Sar recently came out in the press and was quoted as saying: “The other groups are crazy, it used to be the case that you always wanted to be first in your group but there are a couple this time where you know already that the runners-up would bring a difficult draw in February.”" If Juventus win tomorrow, that eliminates Munich. If Fiorentina win tonight, that eliminates Liverpool. This year’s Knock-out will be much more exciting (for me at least) due to the variety of names we will be featuring.

**EDIT: Almost forgot the most important part. I’m predicting, again, 2-0 United with goals from Obertan (don’t let me down), and Mikey Owen.

All in all, today and tomorrow are great days for Football, which brings us to a final question. There is always a Champions League live-blog covering all of the day’s matches, but would anyone prefer us to have our own, super-biased Manchester United focused blog for the game tomorrow? Leave a comment and let us know.

United hits a Set; Back in Second Place

Ryan — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:21:22 +0000

First off, let me apologize for not having a live-blog for the game. I had to drive back to my parent’s house for the Thanksgiving holiday, and was not able to get back until the game was well under way, and my current internet (damn you parents) is spotty as all hell.

Second, I was wrong. I said “United would win 2-0″. My bad, they hit 3. Everton came out in a 4-5-1 formation, with former Red Devil Saha sitting as the lone striker. Basically, Everton threw down a challenge, ‘we’re just going to defend, just try and score’. Worked out great, didn’t it?

Here’s all the match highlights, with player reviews following:

Edwin Van der Sar — 10

Clean Sheet, including a couple impressive saves. ‘Nuff said

Rafael — 8

Solid play for the young Brazilian. Great job defending both Saha and Fellaini, while providing decent crosses from the right flank to Rooney and co. Also, gotta love the rugby tackle on Saha, prefect form.

Vidic — 8

Sooooo glad to have him back.

Brown — 8

Solid play, as always. Not too much to write about.

Evra — 10

I read the comments everyone left during the game, and it seems we were in unison; Evra is a beast.

Valencia — 9

Played well (ignoring the couple of wayward shots), and made one of my pre-match predictions correct.

Fletchdinho — 10

The only way Fletcher wasn’t getting a 10 after that goal was if he scored an own goal. Then again if that own goal was in the same ridiculous fashion, he’d probably still get a 10. Bravo

Carrick — 9

I am a huge Carrick fan, there’s no secret about that. Smart player, pristine passing, and showed it all yesterday. Even got a goal for his efforts.

Giggs — 9

Whatever kind of water Giggsy is drinking to let him play the way he does at his age, cannot be man-made.

Rooney — 9

Always a threat, shame he couldn’t get a goal (now 1 goal in the past 10 fixtures).

Owen — 7

Had a couple through-balls played in, took a bad angle and Howard was able to save. Besides nit-picking, did a great job spreading the ball around and creating chances. I hope to see more and more of Owen.

The Subs

Gibson — 8
Obertan — 8

Everyone asked for it and got some Obertan (unfortunately no goals). I am REALLY starting to like this guy. Played comfortably and kid has got some moves.

Scholes — 9

35 Years old, and he can still play football with the best of them.

More Fletch love, absolutely brilliant strike.

Not only is a 3-0 win huge for United morale (after the “loss” to Chelsea), but also other league games. Arsenal lost to Sunderland, which means United re-took second place in the league table (which can conveniently be seen below):

Team	Played	Goal Diff	Points
1 Chelsea	13	+25	33
2 Man United	13	+14	28
3 Arsenal	12	+21	25
Aston Villa	13	+8	22

Manchester United vs Everton Match Preview

Ryan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:42:46 +0000

Alright well I promised it so here it is: Manchester United vs Everton preview (fancy pictures included):

This match marks the return of the EPL after one hell of an international break. We saw Russia fail to qualify for the World Cup in 2010, and Ireland being ~~cheated~~ defeated out of a birth. Tomorrow, at 17:30 GMT (12:30 EST) United will take on Everton, who sit mid-table through 12 games, while united are in 3rd, behind Arsenal and Chelsea.

Previous Match Form:

Everton
W L D L L

Nov 8 (W): West Ham 1 – 2 Everton
Nov 5 (L): Everton 0 – 2 Benfica (Europa League)
Oct 31(D): Everton 1 – 1 Aston Villa
Oct 27(L): Tottenham 2 – 0 Everton (League Cup)
Oct 25(L): Bolton 3 – 2 Everton

Manchester United
L D W W L

Nov 8 (L): Chelsea 1 – 0 United
Nov 3 (D): United 3 – 3 CSKA Moscow (Champions League)
Oct 31(W): United 2 – 0 Blackburn
Oct 27(W): Barnsley 0 – 2 United (League Cup)
Oct 25(L): Liverpool 2 – 0 United

While United have not been as dominant defensively as we were last season (Pod People, we will take our Rio back now, thanks kindly), United played well defensively versus Chelsea. I’m expecting a natural 4-4-2 feel for tomorrow’s match, something along the lines of:

VDS
Rafael-Brown-Vidic-Evra
Valencia-Fletcher-Anderson-Nani
Rooney-Berbatov

However, there has been a lot of off-the-pitch action recently surrounding United, which may affect the performance of players. I highlighted 5 of the “biggest” issues (in my own personal humble opinion) coming into this match:

Injuries, Injuries, Injuries

Both teams have had their fair share of injures, but in my totally biased opinion ours will be more important in regards to the result of the match. Our main injuries come in our defense line, with Fabio and Rio both ruled out, but O’Shea and Johnny Evans have both picked up “knocks” and Sir Alex called them doubtful. Besides the obvious implications, this also means no “battle of the afros”. The good news? Vidic is back and healthy, having played 75 minutes for Serbia this past week in a friendly. It will be interesting to see what kind of defensive options we will actually have available tomorrow.

How will the Irish Rebound ?

It would be naive to think that that “The Hand of Henry” is not still burning fresh in O’Shea and Gibson’s minds. If O’Shea is able to go tomorrow, we all need to hope that he has not only forgotten the aforementioned event, but also rocketing a golden chance over the bar from six yards out that would have all but sealed Ireland’s ticket to South Africa.

The Circus that has Become Manchester United

Between Sir Alex’s criticism of officiating and the recent remarks by Nani and Ben Foster, United look like they could have too many distractions off the field. As with any sport, it can become very hard to be productive on the pitch when mentally, you are thinking of all these off-the-field issues at hand. And in case you had not heard, Sir Alex will be in the dugout for this match due to some crazy rule that will allow him to be present during this match, but missing Portsmouth and Tottenham. It will also be interesting to see how much playing time Nani gets, seeing as history has shown us SAF tends not to put up too much with his players bad talking him to the press. I expect him to start and play most, if not all of the game, but will the trend continue as other players become healthy.

When will we see vintage Mikey Owen ?

Let’s be honest, Owen has not been in the form he is capable of. Obviously he’ll need time to get back into that form, considering the past two years he has been either injured, or arguably just as bad, at Newcastle. Owen has shown sparks of what he used to do on a regular basis, the question is how much time does he need to find his form, and if he does, who will Sir Alex pair with Rooney up top ?

Pappa Wazza

Speaking of Rooney, he played well against Moscow, just after the birth of his son. Now that he’s had more time at home with the tyke, will we see visible signs of those sleepless nights that come with having a kid. Obviously having a son is not going to affect Rooney on the pitch, but he does have just one goal in the past nine fixtures. Look for Rooney to get back on pace by netting (at least)one against his boyhood club.

Those are some of the burning questions in my mind, obviously there are more issues that we face coming into this game. Regardless, I’m going to start predicting the results of the game (because I’m American and predicting the future is what we do), and for this I see a confident 2-0 Win for United at Old Trafford; goals coming from Rooney and Valencia. What does everyone else think ?

International Break Roundup

Ryan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:04:45 +0000

This past week(s) we’ve have a couple united boys playing for their countries, attempting to qualify for South Africa. While its not directly “United Related”, there’s no way I cannot bring up the most blatant handball since Maradonna’s “Hand of God”.

So a quick roundup of the scores and the United personnel playing before I get to more on to what is going to be the single most discussed play in recent times:

France 1 – 1 Ireland (2-1 Aggregate)
France : Patrice Evra
Ireland : John O’Shea, Darren Gibson

Portugal 1 – B&H (2-0 Aggregate)
Portugal : Nani

Okay, so the handball (seen/touch/heard) ’round the world. By now I’m sure you’ve all seen the videos (if you haven’t check here), and its blatant. Henry admitted it, the French national team as a whole admitted it, and even the Refs eventually admitted they screwed up. Now, I’ll get this out in the open, a large portion of my family is Irish. I wanted Ireland to go though, so needless to say I was not “thrilled” about the events that transpired, which got me to thinking. Even when the refs admit they DID make a mistake, it doesn’t change anything. FIFA law clearly states that all referee decisions are final, which means for Ireland, they’re out of luck. But is this policy actually working when you look at the the recent questionable calls ?

Football does not have any replay system (which I believe is good, and should stay as such), but we can’t keep ignoring these problems, mostly instances like the handball (missed/muddled calls) and the future Olympic Sport of Football Diving. Our acronym governing bodies need to come up with some system (COUGH MORE OFFICIALS PLACED ON GOAL LINES COUGH COUGH) to combat the issue, the real question is will they ?

All in all, as much as I enjoy international breaks (this one is going to be stricken from my mind), I’m glad we get some good ‘ole fashioned EPL action this week when we take on Everton (preview will be coming shortly).

The Best of SAF Referee Rants (Officials avert your eyes)

Ryan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:24:47 +0000

If you haven’t heard by now, Sir Alex Ferguson has received a 2 match ban (and a 20,000 pound fine) for comments made about Alan Wiley, the official for our 2-2 draw with Sunderland. Sir Alex may have implied that Wiley was “fat”, simply by stating that he was not “fit” to officiate the match.

Now we all know that officiating is a very hard job. And we also are all aware that Sir Alex expects nothing but the best, from his players and the officials, and in case you were not aware, he is also not afraid to make his displeasure public. Of course this is not the first instance where SAF has been in hot water with the referees union, so let’s look at 11 of his best rants, in no particular order:

** : Indicates SAF received some sort of match ban for his comments.

Martin Atkinson (November 8th, 2009: Chelsea 1-0 United)

“The referee’s position to make a decision there was absolutely ridiculous. He can’t see it … It was a bad decision, but what can you do? You lose faith in the refereeing sometimes. That’s the way the players are talking in there. It was a bad one. That goal should not have been allowed.”

Mark Halsey (November 28, 2002: United 1-2 Sunderland)

“A more capable referee would not have sent Dwight [Yorke] off, realising the type of player he is”

Alan Wiley (October 6, 2009: United 2-2 Sunderland) **

“He didn’t add on any time for the goal. He played four minutes and two seconds. He was also walking up the pitch for the second goal needing a rest. He was not fit enough for a game of that standard. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous”

Steve Bennett (January 14, 2003: United 1-3 Manchester City)

“The referee’s decided it’s a red card and I think he should look at it again really. He [Cristiano Ronaldo] has not touched the player, he’s not got near him”

Howard Webb (November 3, 2007: United 2-2 Arsenal)

“I think Howard Webb has a great chance to be the top referee but today was a big game for him and, at times, he favoured Arsenal. Their second goal came from him not giving a free-kick for a foul on Louis Saha on the far side. It should have been a foul for us”

Peter Walton (April 22, 2009: United 2-0 Portsmouth)

“That’s the disappointment because they [John O’Shea and Gary Neville] were both injured by bad tackles and the referee did nothing aboout it. I’m disappointed in that because you normally expect a really firm display from Peter Walton but not tonight”

Chris Foy (August 9, 2008:United 2-2 Chelsea)

“[Michael Ballack] elbowed him [Patrice Evra] clearly. The referee’s in line and had a clear view so Ballack’s lucky. But he’s made a rod for his own back. He’d stopped the game twice already. The referee didn’t get it right today. You have to be consistent and he blew twice but not the third time”

Mark Clattenburg (November 28, 2008: United 0-1 Bolton) **

“Some referees don’t like it. They don’t like the truth but I just told him how bad he was in the first half”

Andre Marriner (October 25, 2009: United 0-2 Liverpool)

“It is a very difficult atmospher here [at Anfield]. There was a wounded animal aspect to the game and it affected the referee. Whether he had enough experience or not, I don’t know”

Mike Dean (November 18, 2008: United 4-3 Hull City) **

“It should have been at least a yellow card, in which case the player would have been sent off. It made a difference”

Phil Dowd (April 20, 2005: United 0-1 Everton)

“Paul Scholes was sent off for a late challenge. How many late challenges were there in that game from Everton players? It was amazing. Everton knew it was a weak referee and they exploited that to the full. I don’t blame them. Right from the first whistle, there was no protection”

Now even though most of these comments stem from a loss (which honestly, it would be really weird if the ratio wasn’t in that manner) SAF is statistically equal on the critiques regardless of the outcome of the game (I did a…Z-Test?…Yea that sounds right. Take my word for it). While I in no way support the lambasting of officials, at least SAF is a non-prejudicial ranter. If a referee makes a call that Sir Alex does not agree with, expect to hear it from him first hand.

Nani – A Step Too Far??

Rebecca — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:24:22 +0000

Over the weekend, Nani was keen to stress that his outburst against Sir Alex Ferguson last week did not constitute a ‘bust up’ with his boss.

Speaking in a Portuguese newspaper, he was quoted as saying:-

“Ferguson is a very complicated man. He’s tough. If things are all right, then they are all right. But when he thinks something is wrong, everything is screwed. He can go from complimenting you to just plain trashing you in a matter of minutes. Has it happened to me? Hell, yes! He’ll say ‘Nani, how could you miss this or this’?”

“People expect more from me and it’s not easy. But they are also not doing what they said they were going to. I can have a spectacular game but nobody guarantees me I will be starting the next match. It shatters your confidence. I did not play the important matches, against Liverpool, Manchester City or Tottenham. Not playing these games, I am a bit sad. But for now I am not considering leaving.”

Just who does he think he is?!

Sir Alex Ferguson is probably the best manager ever to have walked this earth. His record at dealing with players of all mentalities is second to none. Speak to any of the current squad (obviously aside from Mr Nani) and they will wax lyrical to you about how he knows instinctively when a player needs an arm around the shoulder and when they need a kick up their proverbial backside.

I think most fans would agree that, at the moment, the Portuguese winger definitely needs the latter. His performances strike of a man who believes he is ten times better than he actually is, of someone who shouldn’t have to ‘deal with’ playing in lesser games. He almost has the attitude that we should be grateful that he graces Old Trafford, rather than the other way round…and as far as I’m concerned no-one, no matter who they are, should have that mentality, let alone a player who has rarely, if ever produced anything to back up those claims.

His comments of last week, almost intimating that it was a travesty that he was omitted from the bigger games, are laughable. I’m sure most United fans were glad that the selection did not include a player who can be wasteful in possession, lightweight on the ball, and ridiculously inconsistent from one minute to the next.

There is no doubt that he has the potential to improve. He has shown occasional flashes of brilliance – his goals against Liverpool and Middlesbrough have shown that. But they are so few and far between that they stick out like sore thumbs. Something you cannot say about his numerous lacklustre displays.

I will always support anyone chosen to wear the red shirt, but there is nothing more irritating than a player with ideas above their status. The only way Nani is going to realise any potential he has, is to knuckle down to work and improve. And realise that he is NOT anywhere near what we require as a finished product. And in order to be where he thinks he already is, he could do a lot worse than listen to the man he dares to criticise. A man with a proven judgement of players.

“ I am a bit sad. But for now I am not considering leaving” states the 23-year-old. Oh well thanks Nani, that’s very big of you. But, unless you change your attitude, unfortunately for you there are few of us who would shed a tear if you did. And if I were taking bets on who would make that decision, at this moment in time I wouldn’t be making you odds-on favourite for the job!

Please leave your comments here, or go to my twitter page.

A quick “Hi” before I start

Rebecca — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:18:13 +0000

Just a note to say Hi really. You’ve probably read the biog that Taylor posted on me, a couple of days ago. So you probably know most things about my professional life and that I’ve had strong links with the club for many years.

Obviously a lot of you are based in the States so I hope I can bring a bit of Manchester to you as often as possible, to keep you in touch with what’s going on right here in ‘God’s own country!’.

I’ll keep you in touch with the latest news, as well as giving my (occasionally) constructive and (always) passionate opinion and of course I’d always welcome your comments on what I write. Obviously you can add your comments under the post, but don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, as amongst my random thoughts, I always post live from all the games – including some pics, so you can feel like you’re there however far away you are. It obviously also gives you another place where you can agree or disagree with my thoughts and keep in touch with what you want to read more (and less of).

Hope you enjoy my posts.

Happy Birthday Paul Scholes

Ryan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:22:45 +0000

A Very happy 35th Birthday to Paul Scholes

While he looks like funnyman Simon Pegg, Scholes has been anything but a joke to United’s opponents. With ridiculous passing that tears through defenses all the while making it look simple, a niche for shooting long range rockets into the back of the net, and a surly temper (75 bookings in the EPL, 24 in UEFA CL play), Paul Scholes has wrecked havoc on any pitch he steps on.

Since 1994(1991-1994 Youth Squad Member) Scholes has been a key to our middle, helping us to 9 Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups, and 2 Champions League titles. Needless to say, he has been a huge part of our squad. Hell, in 2008 he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. So Happy Birthday Paul, and thank you for everything!