Still Following the Trawler

I don’t think its outrageous, or disrespectful for that matter, to claim that today’s Carling Cup final is insignificant in comparison to recent results. Sticking with the competition, many fans are united in their view that the real  final has been and gone. The semi-final second leg was so beautifully executed – the performance, the result and of course the opposition – that regardless of who we got in the final out of Villa and Backburn, it would pale into insignificance. And in terms of proximity and immediate relevance to us, yesterday’s results in the league can again be considered more vital. Just as they sat back and allowed us to play glittering football in the semi-final, our massive neighbours again did us a, well, massive favour at Stamford Bridge by ridiculously beating the league leaders 4-2; so thanks to the incongruous and highly ironic nature of the league, city are now my new favourite team…and my favourite player? Yep, you guessed it! Anywho, back to today. We’re...

A slow, often lethargic start from both sides suggested that a token 'scrappy win for United' would be the final outcome; regardless of which United would come out on top. But this nonchalant encounter was suddenly and rather unexpectedly transformed into a masterclass of forms. Berbatov's vision, Valencia's ingenuity and Rooney's sheer clinical finishing ability saw us take the lead beautifully; rejecting the preconceived sloppy aura of the match and suddenly sparking us into gear. As soon as the deadlock was broken, you felt there was no coming back from West Ham; and equally no stopping United. Our next, most meaningful chance came literally seconds after the restart. A sweeping, free-moving attack eventually ended up at the feet of the wanting Park, who's curling effort was unluckily smashed against the woodwork. That undoubtedly set us up nicely for the rest of the match, and so the second came 10 minutes later to all but end the tie. The exact same format ...

Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. Enjoy! Football Talent Spotter: How United Will Beat West Ham

As has regularly been the case for United this season, all eyes were on Rooney; our most important player, our most improved player and the man to seemingly save Ronaldo-less United. But as always when he visits Goodison Park , the universal gaze was fixed on Rooney more than ever. In Everton’s last league game, we saw them do us a mighty favour by beating Chelsea ; with United old-boy Saha the hero. How fitting it would be if Saha was to do one over his old team, but even more fitting you felt was for Rooney – already prematurely tipped to win Messi’s Balon d’Or for 2010 – to have a shocker against HIS old team. As soon as the game kicked off, you severely got that sense. Rooney was barely in the game and seemed as distant from the attained inspirational frontman persona as possible. Yet as much as everyone loves to claim it, the fact is that United never have been a one man side. If someone as pivotal as Rooney isn’t at his best, you would simply expect others to somehow capitalise ...

All the noise before was about Beckham vs. United. For me it was nothing to do with Beckham. It was all to do with 2007. I’ve talked about that night before ; the night I saw my championship-potential team, striving confidently in the quest for domestic glory, have their crown of un-entitled arrogance torn off them and be humiliated and taught that things aren’t quite the same in Europe .  Well tonight, we exorcised those demons spectacularly. We started off shockingly and deservedly found ourselves trailing for the majority of the first half after Ronaldinho (who incidentally is still a bit good) slotted in on 3 minutes. The assist? Although it took a deflection to reach the goal scorer, it was of course from Beckham’s free-kick. I hadn’t even started tucking into my pancakes and the headlines for tomorrows back pages, describing Milan’s Beckham inspired and utterly (*something completely over-the-top*) victory against his old team, had already been written. As the half drifted an...

A lot’s been made in recent weeks about our players apparent inability to score goals; choosing to rely on the opposition to finish the job instead. Apart from the obvious fact that that’s not entirely true – with Scholes, Park, Carrick, Berbatov and of course Rooney all contributing to the 16 goals we’ve scored in our last 5 games – is o.g hitting top form and scoring 5 in three games for United really something to be ridiculed? Or is it instead a direct result of our fine attacking form? Giggs and Rooney celebrate o.g's 10th goal of the season against Villa As much as I defiantly attach the ‘realist’ tag to my fan status, even I can’t deny our form of late has been shockingly good. The Hull game on the 23rd January, where we didn’t play particularly well regardless of what the handsome 4-0 score-line implies, has seemed to spark a sort of mini-revival. At times this season, I have rued Ferguson ’s (or the Glazer’s) decision to insufficiently replace Ronaldo as well as his constan...

What's left to say about this game? We dropped points but it's ok cos Chelsea lost and we done well seeing as we played with 10 men for most of it...? Well, seeing as that about wraps it up, I thought I might as well at least break down the sequence of last nights events. Nani start his 4th in a row (first time ever for United) . Still no Vidic though. They come out with confidence; knowing this would be the first time they have done the double over us for over 50 years. Deservedly, Villa get the lead on 19 minutes; with a solid, well placed header by Cuellar. We respond perfectly, netting only four minutes later. Out of the 6 goals we’ve scored in the last two games, 4 have been o.g’s, now making o.g our second top scorer on 10. Nani’s off with over a third of the game left. Our ‘other’ player of the moment makes a shocking challenge – in real time – that is annoyingly revealed after a reply to show him getting the ball. Having said that, it’s undoubtedly red. Chelsea  1 up at...

As much as I admire the current Green & Gold campaign – remembering the roots of United, in the form of Newton Heath – I have been reluctant to give in and sport the scarf. Not because I tend to sit on the fence when it comes to the more political matters in the game, and not even because the colours clash horribly with my trainers (which they do), but because the irony of all this is that we are being forced to spend more money in order to protest about the Glazer’s handling of United’s finances. And something about that really p*sses me off. I was first alerted to this grim realisation after reading Jim White’s piece in the Telegraph.  Up until that point, I just completely assumed this was organised by United's supporters trust; but in reality, not a penny made from the selling of those scarves or those fancy new green yellow and green t-shirts is supporting MUST. So lucrative is the selling of all things green and gold that I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest...

On the day we remembered the legacy of the Busby Babes for the 52nd year, and the horrific moment we lost the core of that golden team, it was fitting that we performed to those legendary setting standards set by United's most influential leader. OK, slight exaggeration perhaps, especially as the opposition were for the entirety of the game nothing short of shocking. However at times, I felt we swaggered across the Old Trafford turf with the arrogance of Champions. So much so in fact that we could afford to take 3 of our best, attacking players off with just under a third of the game left; giving the blend of youth on the bench, as well as players-with-a-point-to-prove, a run out. We switched off a bit for the final 20 minutes mind, yet by that stage, the damage was well and truly done in utterly resounding, devastating fashion. Once we found our rhythm (pretty much as soon as the game kicked off), our football glided with the fluidity and reasserted, entitled confidence ...

In a week where a disloyal thug, who also plays football, dominates the headlines with the will-he-wont saga surrounding his England captaincy (incidentally, he wont), a far more shocking piece of news that has  genuinely  put the game into disrepute has been completely overlooked. Well let's face it, the nation's heroic captain cheating on his wife with his best mates bird is unfortunately considered far more newsworthy than anything going on in a completely different continent. No matter how disgraceful. Either way, thanks to John Terry being a twat for the hundredth time in his career, it has conveniently ignored the fact that the Togolese national team have recently been banned from playing in the next two ACoN's. Why? Because they shockingly decided that playing in this years competition was a tad disrespectful seeing as some of their reserve team and back-room staff didn't make it out of the horrific machine-gun attack alive. Here is my mate Luke Doran , a Liverpo...

WtSFtF: You've been quite vocal in your blog about the Glazer's - which is good to see; opposition fans caring about it seeing as it doesn't negatively affect any other club other than United. So what are your thoughts about the mess, then? And what do you make of Kroenke and his plans? Dave: I was against the Glazers buying the club in the first place. United are a British institution and I didn't want to see a family of businessmen using it for profit, or starting a trend by turning it into a franchise like their NFL team - even for the most disinterested supporter of another British club, that could have eventually had repercussions. But more importantly, they clearly couldn't afford to buy it without creating enormous amounts of debt, and they simply shouldn't have been allowed to. I'm not sure how United can get out of it without being bought by the proposed consortium which includes Keith Harris. To buy the club and pay off the debt, a figure approachi...