Berbatov and Fulham performance

It always gives me a surprise to see Berbatov’s name in the starting line up along with Rooney. Reason being that we are playing beautiful football with a 4-5-1 or a 4-3-3 whichever way you want to look at it and if Rooney plays in that formation, there is no place for Berbatov in the starting line up.

And the game against Fulham was another of those surprises where Berbatov started. We won the game 3-0 in the end but the game wasn’t as comfortable as the scoreline says it. Its not that we were not controlling the game but its that we had to wait pretty long to be sure of the 3 points.

Hate midweek fixtures

I hate midweek matches. Why? coz they make me wake up at midnight to watch the match. I slept at 2130, woke up at 100, watched the game till 330 and went to sleep. Then woke up at 600 to get ready for office. Weird sleeping schedule I must say and as my wife says ‘Just to watch a bloody game’. My wife is a fan of Manchester United but not a die hard fan like me and the way United were performing till the new year made her lose interest in United games and therefore she is never able to understand my obsession with weird sleeping schedule just to watch a game.

It was a first and the best

Games featuring Manchester United and Arsenal are always a joy to watch no matter what the position and condition of both teams is. Manchester United haven’t won at Emirates Stadium since Arsenal moved to their new stadium. Considering the form of Arsenal team, many pundits were not considering a United win and definitely not an easy win. I for one considered this to be a good opportunity for Manchester United to make a statement that we haven’t lost sight of our title and are right in the race. But did I think it would be such a performance by United against Arsenal at their home ground? No but was it a joy to watch? Definitely yes.

The men who performed but didn’t make headlines

Manchester United had a chance to go top over the weekend and they took it beautifully with Wayne Rooney scoring 4 goals. But in my opinion the talking point of the game was not Rooney’s performance (we always expect that out of him), it was performance of few other men on the pitch that is worth mentioning.

One being Rio Ferdinand who returned on to the pitch in this game after being out injured for so long. And before that lay off, there were talks of him being no longer a good defender and out of his league due to his age. There were no signs of that age or those weaknesses in this game except for 1 instance where I felt he didn’t do enough to help Van Der Sar but the incident was closer to the corner flag than the goal. Other than that he had a very good game and provided a lot of solidity to the defence which was missing for so long.

Frustrated, but still relieved

Frustration has become a part of Manchester United fans’ this entire season. Performances by the team have most of the times left us frustrated and wanting for improvement and reinforcements. And when Burnley were visiting Old Trafford, I thought it would be similar to Hull City’s visit last season but I still had the belief that United would be able to fashion out a win – maybe in traditional United style or maybe the hard way.

Where are the game changers?

One of the biggest reason I like Manchester United is because they play entertaining football. A kind of entertaining football being bettered only by Arsenal and Barcelona.

But yesterday’s game with Birmingham City was devoid of all that entertainment. First of all didn’t like the formation we started with: 4-5-1 with Rooney the lone striker up front. I felt it was way too defensive. Even though we were dominating possession but we were not creating much. I love Rooney but somehow I do not like him in the lone role up front. I always feel he is lot more creative in a free role right behind the striker.

Reminds me of Fabien Barthez

When a fixture like Manchester United v Hull City comes up, what should a Manchester United fan be expecting? I am sure no fan would have expected so much loss of possession by United players and definitely not a horrendous back pass from Wayne Rooney which results in Hull City being awarded a penalty from which they equalized.

What would have been going through Rooney’s mind all this time?

Whats up with United fans?

So Manchester United have lost again. This time it was the banana skin fixture against Fulham at Craven Cottage and United lost it 3-0.

I have already read the rants at many places about various things: like the lack of chances being created, need for new signings, Berbatov and Scholes being bad players and Sir Alex Ferguson being a poor manager. Personally speaking, I was devastated seeing the performance on Saturday and I haven’t been that devastated since the 4-1 loss against Liverpool last season.

Missed opportunity coz of 4-5-1

When Aston Villa come to Old Trafford you start to think ‘thats 3 points in the bag’ specially considering their record in the premier league against Manchester United.

And when Chelsea dropped 2 points against Everton before the start of the United game, it was a great opportunity to go top of the table with a 1 point advantage. But it was all a missed opportunity on Saturday.

Fletcher shows how to hit a sweet volley

It was a sad beginning to the international break as Manchester United lost 1-0 to Chelsea (even after a good performance) but it was definitely a happy ending to the break as Manchester United rampaged to a 3-0 win against Everton at Old Trafford.

The game after the international break always gives me jitters due to the tiredness of all the international players we have in the Manchester United line up but the display in this game definitely made those jitters go away.

The line up boasted a return of Vidic to the center of the defence and there was no place for Nani, not even on the bench which pleases me. It was a start for Michael Owen and Berbatov didn’t feature even on the bench (injury?). Carrick and Fletcher started in the center of the midfield. I think Carrick is good in a game only when he is free to roam around and Fletcher provides him that freedom. It was a return for Saha to Old Trafford for the first time since his move to Everton.

In the first half it was all Manchester United and Everton were barely getting any of the ball. It seemed United meant all business and wanted to make a statement with this game improving their goal difference along the way. There was loads of crisp passing movement but the end product was not showing. Rooney and Giggs went close with the shots from outside the box but the scoreline was still 0-0.

In the 35th minute Patrice Evra crossed the ball into the box which was headed by Valencia into the path of Fletcher who hit a sweet volley into the top corner of the goal.

Fletcher Goal (Image Source: Soccernet)

What a shot… Bang 1-0!!! To be honest Fletcher would be the last man I would want to be at the end of such a chance. He has missed some easy chances with his feet. He is awesome at scoring with his head but I don’t trust his feet when it comes to scoring but didn’t he surprise me and for the good.

2nd half started with Yakubu coming on for Everton and for the initial few minutes it seemed that they would be no pushovers today. Yakubu went close with a shot.

In the 67th minute, Rooney had a shot which would have gone out for a throw but Giggs was there to collect it and provide a pass right to Carrick’s feet who slotted home a low shot into the goal. Whatever thoughts I was having of a nervy 2nd half went to dust.

Michael Carrick (Image Source: Telegraph)

After that it was smooth play for United and Valencia added a 3rd to the scoreline with a deflected shot. Valencia seems to be having a knack of scoring through deflections.

Overall it was a very convincing performance by Manchester United which kept the gap limited to 5 points at the top. And for a change the midfield pitched in with goals instead of the strikers which is a good thing but would have loved to see Michael Owen making the most of the chance he got since he had a full game today. Other than that almost everyone played well in the game.

Also loved what David Moyes had to say after the game “The fact is when we went 2 up front we conceded 2 goals, so there is no guarantee we would have done any better. “

To add to a good win was Arsenal’s loss to Sunderland courtesy a Darren Bent goal (that would have hurt but I am happy). Also Liverpool and Man City drew 2-2 – not sure which manager should be happy with that result.

And Tottenham scoring 9 against Wigan and 8 of those coming in 2nd half? Don’t we all miss EPL so much…