Hi All,
Ronaldo and Tevez have already left us, so are we still strong to fight the 4th consecutive title race? Well, it is not very sure so far. We were not very much comprehensive against newly promoted Birmingham City. We should have atleast 2 more goals. Fletcher and Owen should have got one each.
So if we really have to win, then we will need to raise the bar indeed. Anyways, it is just one game so we still have plenty more to settle down.
United were "Fortunate" to get rid of Birmingham with one goal. Birmingham substitute debutant Benitez almost had scored one, hadn't Foster have made a fantastic saves.
Preview:
We started well, and in the first half, Birmingham were on the back foot. They always looked in a defensive mood. They hold the defense very very tight. Scholes tried with his traditional firing shot for more than five times. But he was never able to atleast pass the Birmingham defense wall. They really deserved an applaud and atleast one point out of the game. United passed the ball well in the first half and they dominated the possession as usual.
Rooney scored in 35th minute, just after Jerome missed by fraction of distance with an excellent strike from outside the penalty area. For rest of the game, United defenders didn't allow Jerome a second chance. McFadden also played good, and he was hungry for a strike. Having Rio Ferdinand and Vidic out due to injury, Evans and OShea took the initiative of center defense. Fabio and Evra were the full back for United. Fabio has got good speed but he moved too forward sometimes and allowed opposition to move near to the goal. On the other hand, Evra was quick smart and intelligent. He played fantastic and when Nani showed laziness so many times, he took the charge and played more upfront than usual. Nani was lazy. He played so good in Shield, but not yesterday. He was back in his poor style where he loses the possession so many times. Fletcher was rock hard in midfield through out the match. Scholes showed that he has still some magic left in his legs, and when Giggs started in 2nd half replacing Nani, he also showed that he also plays like a 25 year old at the age of 36. Both were instrumental. Rooney was very very good.
He is the one who is most benefited from Ronaldo's departure. Not even Madrid would be happier that much. He would certainly be the center of focus this season. If he can play for the complete season w/o any injury he would definitely produce more than 25, or even 30 in the entire season. He created a chance for himself to open United's Account and scored first goal for us. I was happy for the lead we got. Fletcher could have easily converted it to 2-0 but he missed. Missed such a simple open goal.
In the 2nd half, Birmigham came with a different set of mind and they attacked too often as compare to first half. Their attack was even sharper after Benitez replaced Jerome. United were lucky to escape through the few chances they created. Foster was the hero at the end. He saved a crucial shot. He jumped at the right time and saved after he was left alone in front of Benitez.
On the other hand, Foster's counterpart in B City Paul Hart was equally impressive. He showed why he is considered the Eng future no 1 goal keeper. He made a crucial save when Owen was clean through to the Goal after Rooney made an excellent pass. Owen was quick to grab the pass quickly and left the defender back to find Hart alone in his front. He was looking to open his account for United in BPL but Hart denied him with excellent save. I am really thrilled to see Owen play for us. I bet, he would score somewhere 10-15 in this season. I am sure he will. My best wishes are with him.
Berbatov was again, a little chippyu but he was unable to break the defense. He needs to step up now and shows some more capabilities.
After this weekend performance, United has to start worrying for their Title defense because other teams like Spurs and City have showed in their game that they will not allow any team to take them as granted. Especially spurs, they were outstanding against Liverpool. I never saw Gerrard or Torres Playing at all. It was always Palacios, Modric , Defoe, Lennon or Keane. I could only see Carragher, Skrtel clashing each other's heads or involved in a fouled. They were not liverpool. The looked like loserpool. But lets see how they perform on mid week fixtures.
Also, United will play against Burnley on Wednesday and then with Mighty Wigan on the Weekend.
Thanks,
Vikas Bhandari
Glory Glory Man United
No comments:
Post a Comment