Satan has not risen from hell to assume control of earth. No nuclear missiles have been launched by the world’s superpowers, nor is there a large asteroid on a collision course with the planet. In short, Armageddon is not here yet, this is not the end of the world. However, United have now served up two pretty stale performances in a week and a mild inquest is in order.
Congratulations if you saw this coming because I certainly did not. A month ago we did draw attention to the large number of games we were playing and the result against our beloved neighbours marked the end of a month in which we played two games a week. It is the second such period we have survived so far and understandably I think the players are all knackered.ÂÂ
The results up until now have been stupendous but seasoned United watchers will have observed that we are yet to hit anything like top form. I suppose we all expected that to kick in at some point or other but unfortunately the opposite has happened.
A wounded animal would have gone straight at Fullham and torn them to shreds yesterday. In the first half United looked like prisoners recently released from a Taliban cave. They wandered around blindly as if the sight of sunshine was something they hadn’t seen for a while. Fulham are a well organised outfit and took advantage of this. Scholes, great man that he is, behaved like a bit of a pillock.
The rabid hyperbole that has accompanied the result against Liverpool last weekend may have seeped into the players minds a little and I would say, from the looks of things, that they are more angry with themselves rather than anything else. Fergie should be able to get them back together again and we are still in with a shout in all the competitions but Aston Villa’s role in this championship is now critical.
This is a blip we are going through and certainly not a pleasant one. But we need to get out of it straight away because frankly, teams that start stuttering in March are teams that throw away league titles.
I told you they would make us suffer some time and boy are they doing that. Self-destruction? Perhaps, but your are right, they are physically and mentally knackered, this the “best team I have ever managed”, quote, SAF. A previously manageable looking run-in now seems full of pitfalls and there is a real chance that we could end up third never mind runners-up. Look at those home games: City, Villa, Arsenal, Spurs, none of which are nailed on certainties (were they ever?). Look at those away games: Sunderland, Boro, well-known for raising their usually mediocre game against top clubs and who beat the mighty Liverpool not so long ago, Wigan, who will fight to the death for a point, Hull who are desperate for survival. All tough games.
I suppose there is a consolation – Liverpool and Chelsea have a couple of tricky ones too (e.g. Pool have got Fulham away!) but I feel for the team at the moment. They had clearly been in awe of their own publicity but now they are rocking as even moderate teams feel they can take them on and win. They look leaderless on the pitch, perhaps the worst aspect of these last two games.
Nothing is certain any more.
TMUS indeed.
bet your old man wishes he could write as well. the last two defeats have been on the cards, its the way with the boys they like to put us through it,hang in there it will all come good in the end. the trouble is not staying with a winning team,mr ferguson likes to change things round and its not always the best thing.keep the faith all will be right by the seasons end.
well mr payne ibet your old man wishes he could write a match report like that. i had the misfortune to hear your dads audio recording for jono once of a man u game dont think the drink helped. keep faith with the boys nows not the time to be faint hearted,alex needs to stay with his best winning team and the rewards will follow,bring on villa and porto.come on you reds.
saf need to learn from his mistakes.scholes giggs on same field is a no no.if your opponents pack the midfield ,do the same.ando and carrick had to work against three midflielders in masch ,lucas and gerrard.this made defense look bad .evra looks bad because park is in his way and he is used to having rooney/tevez to help covering with two players on the right side
Annoyingly I wrote a whole synopsis of the game on Sunday night and accidently deleted it so I’m giving my shortened version. I am worried because this is not a case of two bad results whilst our opponents continue to sniff around. Liverpool were awesome against a good Villa side on Sunday and in Gerrard they currently have the worlds outstanding footballer. Like it or not that man is pure class, and who’s he feeding the bullets to? Fernando Torres, the best centre forward in world football (alongside Eto’o). Put simply, they have it in their locker to win every league game remaining.
Whilst we are still favourites, the players are not above criticism. Rooneys petulance is getting old, he is not a kid any more and lets hope this is a one off cause if he is going to get sent off every week he’s no good to us.
A final point is Berbatov, don’t get me started on this guy. First off, he is a coward. Arjen Robben is a coward, but is also a tremendous player. Berbatov has shown me nothing yet. I am finding it increasingly difficult not to criticise a guy who spends his whole time looking like he can’t be arsed. He needs to start delivering or he will become one of the flops of the season.
Still, we’ve got it in our own hands and surely can not play as badly against Villa as we did against Fulham!
Mattso, fully agree about Berbatov. Just not doing it for us. Shows no sign of game-changing ability and is absolutely not a grafter for the Cause. 13 goals in 33 games is not quite what we paid £30mn for.
I too am a little worried that this might be more than a blip. I remember we threw away a good lead against the Arse not that many years ago. Arse returned the favour last year and other teams have thrown good leads away (Toon, anyone??). But I agree Liverpool have hit top form and they really really want it, which might just make the difference. Some of our players, Berba and Ronaldo amongst them, are just not pulling their weight.
Hopefully the international break will do us good, but the game against Villa has become alot more important that it seemed it would a month ago, it is now vital and you could argue that it will shape the rest of the season.
The thing that kills me about Berbatov is that he obviously has class, but he is a coward. He is a similar player to Eric (not as good of course) but at least Eric would kick a few people! Any centre half worth his salt will rattle Berbatov in the first 5 minutes and most of the time that keeps him pretty quiet. The jusy is well and truly out on him I’m afraid.
In other news, I’m off to the pub later to see David Beckham win his 109th cap. Love Beckham.
I thought it was only possible to commit suicide once, but United have managed it twice in a week. Yet another achievement for SAF. But, believe, boys, believe. The year is 1996 or 2003, not 1992 or 1998. Er, that’s right, isn’t it?
I want to put in the fact that berba also has 8 assists. He did some nice moves a couple of time also. I don’t personnaly like him, but i will no go to far and say he showed me nothing yet. 20 goals have been directly or indirectly from him, and maybe goals isnt what fergie’s looking for in this guy.
- but 30 mill for his boots… i’m not in favour at all.