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...