The Devil In Me

Blackburn are hard to quantify under Ince, one match they look great and the next they capitulate, so this was hard to call. They barely fought and I found that a little surprising. Berbatov played very well and the team is starting to click a little but I doubt any of us know the best 11 on any given day. I hate to say it but we really don’t look 100% at the back at the moment. The great positive is that Rooney is scoring and that was important. The opportunities missed against Chelsea and Liverpool were big and we need to keep our eye on the ball now, behind is where we are and the work will be gruelling from here on in. I expect the attacking to get better, the signs are there, and the flapping at the back should clear itself up too but this run needs to continue.
Incidentally, when was the last time Ewood Park was actually full?

I would love to know more about the Danish language. The last time I saw the letter ‘a’ written ‘Aa’ I was in primary school. But our opponents on Tuesday night like it so much they have written it twice into their club’s name. Perhaps this is an attempt to improve the literacy of their players, if so - Wayne Rooney’s speech therapist please take note.

What was not in doubt is that these guys were expecting to be a taught a footballing lesson, and United were supposed to be the ones holding the chalk. It is true to say that any 3 nil win away in Europe is a decent result but as Mattybonce has said, this was a far cry from 1998 when we put the dunce cap on Bronby during our 6-2 rout in the same country.

       Dimitar Berbatov

Berbatov is the Steven Seagal of football, never does he have a hair out of place, nor a bead of sweat on his forehead, but he is completely and utterly lethal if he wants to be. Not since Big Norm’s chunkier years have I seen a United player stand motionless, hands on hips as often as he does, it is like he is waiting for a bus sometimes. On the plus side, he is amazing at making space for himself, and from the looks of things tonight he can play a mean through ball.

There was a growing suspicion at the start of the year that this was going to be a big season for Anderson. It is going to have to be now because Scholes is rather seriously crocked. I think he is up to the job but he has looked a little off the pace so far this season.

Next up the mighty lambs of Blackburn, time to release our wolves. Tevez, it is time to score.

All of this ‘United are perrenial slow starters’ business is utter nonsense. The season before last we began by putting five past Fulham, it was completely neccessary that year because of Mourinho’s presence. Scholari’s Chelsea remains an unknown quantity but nonetheless it was time for us to put our scoring boots on.

This fixture usually goes one of two ways for us, either a romping four nil victory or a frustrating afternoon when they nick a late goal. As the game wore on I feared this may fall into the latter category.

Oh deary me. That penalty was extremely embarrassing, we should be better than that. The main problem with this sort of thing is that it is not the players, or even the referees who bear the brunt. It is us fans who have to put up with the angry accusations of opposing fans.

The second goal was a work of art, great to see Rooney responding to being dropped, but no-one will remember it and all we will have to do is kop grief for the ref’s decision.

I was vaguely happy to see Gary Neville attempt a ludicrous 20 yard shot with his left foot early in the game. As it sailed past Halley’s Comet and off into the cosmos I felt confident he was close to returning to the player he once was.

Thirty million pounds is a lot of money, when do we start asking questions of Berba?

Well, at least Ronaldo scored. Sorry to those who were ‘forced’ to go by the automatic cup scheme.

After being read its umpteenth bedtime story the energetic whippersnapper that is the ‘Ronaldo to Real Madrid transfer saga’ has finally been put to bed. Creeping quietly out of the room so as not to reawaken it, the natural parent, Ronaldo himself, has popped downstairs to have a no-holds-barred chat with a Portugese newspaper.

Thedevilinme was recently given 90 minutes notice to leave the country where he is currently working and is not an easy man to surprise nowadays - yet that boy Ronaldo seems to have done it again. He came across as honest, forthright, apologetic and, dare I say it, even a little intelligent.

This interview has been a massive eye-opener. Of course the plankton in London, Liverpool and elsewhere will still boo him and make hideous accusations about his character but he has gone up in my estimation immeasurably. What other modern player would state frankly ‘this has all been my fault?’ Who would state their gratitude to the club who have reared him? Certainly not Gareth Barry, and he doesn’t get anything like the abuse Cristiano gets.

MUTV are currently showing a program entitled ‘42’, unsurprisingly a highlights reel of the boy wonder’s goals last season. The range of the goals is stunning, even on the third or fourth viewing, and it watches not dissimilarly to a ‘best of’ selection of George Best’s work.

In the interview he also said that it has been a childhood dream of his to play for Real and that he would also like to be closer to his family. Those are the precise pretences that we used to bring Owen Hargreaves over from Bayern so fair enough really.

We now know for certain that he is staying and that he will go to Real at some point. I don’t think that changes the situation at all from 12 months ago but one thing has. Even after all he has put us through this summer, I completely forgive the guy. Having the guts to talk-straight with the newspaper boys and be honest shows that the man has character, Cantona-esque character. Welcome home Cristiano

At the end of last season it seemed as if the club was in as strong as a position as it ever has been. We were champions of Europe and with enough young players, and competition for places, to look at next season’s campaign with something approaching quiet confidence. That feeling lasted about eight hours.

A combination of mixed messages and media frenzy has clouded the summer for all United fans. I should imagine there is not one of them who can’t wait to put it all in the past and get back to the games again. Despite the glories of Moscow, its immediate aftermath means that this European victory is unlikely to be remembered as fondly as the previous two.

With that unfortunate business aside, attention turns to the campaign ahead and how United will fare. The playing staff in comparison to last year’s has not changed a great deal. The Red Devils have not experienced much transfer movement yet and the most significant progress has been made by father time. Van Der Sar, in what will be his last campaign, should begin game one between the sticks - but you would expect more run outs for Foster and Kuscak as Fergie tries to blend in his replacement stopper. This competition between the Pole and the young Englishmen should be healthy in general, but, it is a tricky position to change personnel for. Therefore you would expect VDS to still start the most important games.

The defence is older in general than the rest of the squad but they do have true class. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic seem to be both playing well together and the best football of their careers. Gary Neville will be back and despite Wes Brown’s often exemplary showing last term he should expect some jostling for the right back spot from the most fiercely red Mancunian on the planet. I would expect Brown’s season to see him deputising for either Gary or, at centre back when the call comes.

The midfield is bristling with adventure and steel and is almost a ‘choose your own adventure’ prospect. Last year’s great strength lay in being able to pick the right players for the right opposition in the middle of the park (Hargreaves on the right in the CL Final-brilliant), this season should be no different. Whilst at the back and in the middle strengthening will be neeed in the summer of 2009, next year the mixture of young-gun energy and the class of Giggs and Scholes will be too strong for most opponents.

Unfortunately, our opponents have not stood still either. Lamentably for the game you can expect the top four to remain the top four next year. Chelsea were within a Rouble of us last season in both of the big competitions. It becomes the change in coaching staff that could make the difference.

Scholari certainly knows what he is doing and he will bring a lot of confidence to a group of players who could hardly be described as shrinking violets in the first place. United on the other hand have lost a thoroughly capable first team coach with Queiroz moving to the Portugese national team. The manager is reportedly loathe to rush into a hasty appointment and is expected to take on extra duties himself. It is, of course, folly to question the man’s judgment but at 66 he is hardly the youngest manager on the block.

In the plus column Fergie knows this league like the back of his hand. It is certainly his experience that has kept the trophies coming up north since Ambramovich arrived whilst Scholari is in new waters. This is not to dismiss the chances of Liverpool and Arsenal but they both seem to be a little bit behind the other two, although one should never write off Arsene Wenger.

Up front it is generally agreed that Berbatov would be a good addition, even if he arrives merely to plug a Ronaldo shaped hole, and his style of play should still have a positive effect on our dynamic. Tevez and Rooney will both reap the benefits of being older, wiser and more decorated and, if Spartacus stays, the attack will be healthy. That is though, rather a sizeable ‘if’.

I expect the battle for both the Premier League and the European Cup to be brutal this year, the head to head games will see people slice lumps off each other. As such I can see neither team winning both, but I do expect it to be good to watch.

-AC Milan to win the UEFA Cup in a final against Tottenham Hotspur.
-Mark Hughes to be fired at the end of the season.
-This to be Benitez’s last year on Merseyside.
-Arsenal to play brilliantly again and not be taken seriously as contenders by the press.
-Chelsea to finally lose at home, probably before Christmas.
-Keegan

And so it comes to pass, the hybrid creature that is Fergoz has struggled for too long and must tear itself back into separate entities once more.

Well what do we think of Carlos? He has been made the scapegoat on many occasions for United’s brief, fallow, period of 4-5-1ness but the facts look upon him kindly. The only league titles we have won in recent years have been on his watch and as such he should be judged favourably.

It has taken time, but his pragmatism has finally found a way to marry itself to Fergie’s ‘all eggs in the striker basket’ approach and it has brought us Europe again. I wish him all the best and etc. but am more concerned by how this effects our club in the immediate future.

The papers have instantly latched on to his Portugeseness and how that ‘may’ alter the home address of Mr. C. Ronaldo, but they’re just looking to put more miles into that story.

The key thing is that our 66 year old manager gets a replacement in to help him run the club soon and prefereably, obviously, somebody good. Carlos has been making ‘I want to move up in the world’ type comments for a year now so you hope that The Wizard has a few files ready to be looked at. I, for one, had the notion they might hit up Hughesie when this happened, but his dreadful alignment with with Mordor now rules that out.

So what to do? Here’s an idea, promote Mike Phelan to the bench and have Giggsy and Neville do a year as part time player-coaches, grooming them for future things. It is not as if they are ever going to leave United, and it is a good solution because Carlos is pretty much gone.

Martin Tyler is not all bad.
I suppose we should probably look at ‘this’ again too.

Oh just watch it.