Still Following the Trawler

The best thing about being pessimistic in football, or realistic as I would obviously call it, is that if you’re right, then you’re right; but if you’re wrong, then, well, you’re right! Last night United casually saw off Wigan in a brilliantly convincing manner, knocking 3 past Kirkland in the first-half and 2 past Pollitt in the second, as we performed with the nostalgic excellence of old. From the start, the passing, movement, ambition and finishing was superb; a rare and dangerously fading sight from the majority of United’s performances this season.  I have previously lambasted nearly every United display - regardless of whether we leave the match with 3 points or not, as was the case with the last match against Hull - as sloppy and generally, for the overall talent and potential still well and truly inert in our team, well below par...so when we DO play with a modicum of perfection, I am all open to 'I told you so'-style criticism, as above all, I f**king love my tea...

It’s not even 1pm and I’m just about to head off to Old Trafford for tonight’s game against Wigan …ahh the joys of being a London red. But before I set of for the marvellous 5 hour journey through the snowy midlands, I thought I’d try and highlight a few pointers of how we can, and inevitably should, improve from the Hull game a couple of days ago. Midfield pairing. Ferguson opted for Fletcher and Carrick on Sunday, which was obviously refreshing after seeing those two stuck annoyingly in defence for the 4 games previous (including away to Wolfsburg in the Champions League); however with Anderson presumably fully fit, why was he overlooked as a partner to Fletcher? Carrick’s main strength is his passing, of which is generally impeccable, however I feel Fletcher can also adequately pass the ball, thus allowing Anderson’s pace and resolute, mildly aggressive spirit – traits not entirely shared by Carrick – to develop and strengthen us in the centre. Berbatov. The problem with Berbatov i...

It has been reported   that Edwin Van der Sar has been granted "indefinite compassionate leave" as he visits his ill wife in Holland. Annemarie van Kesteren, 36, suffered a stroke on 23 December and is now severely ill. Sir Alex has said that " I have told Edwin to stay over there. There is no point in him being here. The best thing is for him to be with his wife. Hopefully she will make a good recove ry " Our thoughts are with Edwin, Annemarie and children Joe and Lynn. http://therepublikofmancunia.com/thoughts-and-prayers-with-edwin/

A flattering and at times thoroughly undeserved 3-1 victory at the KC stadium saw us finally  capitalise on Chelsea ’s poor recent form to joyously close the gap at the top to 2 points. However, before we get too carried away with the score-line, let’s bring a bit Scrooge's miserly wisdom into the proceeding as we focus briefly, yet solely, on the ‘flattering’ and ‘undeserved’ parts. The team-sheet encouragingly suggested that our injury woes were rapidly becoming a thing of the past; as the more familiar backline of Rafael, Brown, Vidic and, of course, Evra, took to the field; with Fletcher and Carrick thankfully back to their more natural roles in central midfield. Even our latest potential injury victim – Berbatov, after it was revealed earlier this week he needs knee surgery – played through the pain barrier to start up-front with Rooney and give our attack an utterly intimidating feel. Yet, as was to be expected given our poor run of form (and by ‘run of form’, I mean pretty ...

Well, as all who have read my blog so far this season should realise – from the avid readers (my mum) to the likely majority who accidentally stumble upon it while looking for ‘cockney rhyming slang’ or something – I have not been best pleased at our football this season. In the words of pretty much every one of my school teachers at this, the half way stage of the academic year, United also: "could do better and SHOULD do better" . No, I’m not blind and yes, I do understand the logistics of the points system in football; so I get that technically , being second place – only 4 points off the top – by Crimbo, as well as being in the semi-finals of the League Cup and through to the knock-out stages of the CL isn’t too bad. In fact, it may be considered quite an envious position to be in by most. But unfortunately, we are not most. At Manchester United, we have consistently prided ourselves on the highest, elite levels of footballing excellence and superiority. Why? Because we h...

2008/09. Que Sera, Sera... After the magical over achievements of 07/08, the following season was always going to be difficult in many ways. The summer brought another International tournament and yet more controversy circulated around the 'great one'. Although not quite on the same level as the blinking antics of World Cup '06, Ronaldo was the centre of Euro 2008's attention because of his inappropriate flirting with Real and Real's consequent 'we'll get him no matter what' approach. As it was, it all appeared to be in the name of jest (well, sort of...) as he remained a United player through to the new season. It took a wee while for him to get going due to injury though, as his first appearance was the home draw against Villareal on September 17th; where he was undoubtedly greeted with rapturous applause and adoration by his faithful fans. Oddly enough, I never thought at any continuous period during the season that we were amazing or even AS g...

Four Four Two has a pop at the top 10 goals of the Noughties. RoM looks at Fergie's   best and worst signings of the decade . ManUtd24 looks back at the decade's top 6 moments. Harsh but completely fair reviews of the awful performance at Craven Cottage by   United Rant   and   A Kick In The Grass . The Times's Oliver Kay   assesses our season so far. I was also alerted by Between the Lines about a brilliant article in the Guardian by Jonathan Wilson , about the Noughties tactical revolution that seemingly emancipated during United's Champions League defeat to Real at the beginning of the decade.

2007/08. Follow, Follow, Follow… The years of rebuilding, restructuring and redefining Manchester United had finally come to this. By maturely ignoring the post-Abramovic Chelsea hype in the brilliant professional way that only Sir Alex knows how, he instead brought in new youthful talent (Anderson and Nani), solid holding players to bolster our defensive-midfield (Hargreaves and Carrick the season before), aggressive attackers to complement Rooney (Tevez)…and in the mean time, let Ronaldo blossom and flourish into the best in the world. I can't really say a lot more about this magical season, as words will truly never do it justice...so I'll let the pictures do the talking and remind us of the greatest season in the decade (as if we'll ever forget it). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...