International breaks... perhaps a blessing this time?

I seem to remember me cursing the international breaks a lot last season, why should we interrupt the flow of our all conquerring United team to watch a mediocre England team eek out a 1-0 victory against a country with little over 500 people? This time last year we were sitting pretty at the top of the league and every time internationals came around, the following couple of couple of games we seemed to spend trying to find our form again.

Why is it any different this year i hear you ask? Well our strength and depth is greater now. We have cover in almost all postitions, meaning we don't need to worry so much about one of ourt key men getting injured (although I can't help it). The other more important reason, is it gives Rooney and Hargreaves time to recover from their injuries.

I know we beat Blackburn quite convincingly last week with the absense of Rooney, but it seemed as though we lacked that killer edge. ROoney is the kind of player that brings others into the game. He makes the link between midfield and attack, he draws players into an attack, relaeasing them at just the right moment. Sure we have enough firepower to cope without him, but with him we have the confidence that we wll score 4 instead odf 2.

So as we endure another week of dull internationals, let's look forward. We have a run of fairly easy games, before the big one against Liverpool. We all know how important this game is. We are at Anfield and nothing other than a win will do. We win and we put distance between us and them... we lose and they are hot on our heels. Anyone for a John O'shea last minute special?

Manchester United V Middlesbrough match highlights and review

Morning people, so that’s 4 successive games that we have scored 4 goals, who said United were struggling to score? With our sluggish start now out of the way, we now boast the best form in the league, can we maintain it? Based on Saturday's performance the signs are looking good!

Middlesbrough for all their fight simply could not contain a rampant United who have set their sights on nothing other than domination in all competitions. Yes Middlesbrough could have taken the lead after their fight back but you really get the sense that United will always score more goals than the opposition. It's a very continental style of play, often demonstrated by none other than the Brazilian's. You started to see it towards the end of last season and now that the team has gelled, we seeing it again.

The link up play between Tevez and Rooney was one of the points worth highlighting. It's hard to believe that this pair has only started 5 games together. What is more astonishing is how their understanding of each others game and movement dramatically improves every minute they are on the pitch together. Rooney's back-heal for Tevez was simply sublime, Arsenal be afraid, be very afraid.

A great comment I heard on Sky Sports news this morning that I'll leave you with "Wayne Rooney loves playing for Manchester united." Isn't it just great having players that love the club?

p.s here's the goals

Internationals bring injuries!

Internationals say one thing to me. Injuries and boy we could do without any more of those at the moment. It's not been long since Rooney returned from yet another broken foot and I for one would hate to see him pick up another injury. Having said that I think that we are better placed to cope this season than this time last year.

Let's have a quick look at the injury list. Carrick is out with a broken elbow, John O'shea has a strained hamstring, Louis Saha has yet another knee injury, Wes Brown has a knee injury, Owen Hargreaves has tendonitis, Van Der Sar has a dodgy ankle/foot and Park, Fost and Silvestre are out for the long term. For many other squads this would represent a crisis but Fergie has built a squad with real depth and strength, our first team still looks strong.

But what if we lose Ronaldo and Rooney? We all know how the results went when these guys were out and we cannot afford for this to happen again. These two add a new dynamic to the attacking line, they provide the movement and pace that we remember so well from last year and most of all they bring a desire to win.

Rooney's desire to play as well as he possibly can was demonstrated aptly on Saturday against Estonia. It was evident that he was a player desperate for a goal and lacking a little confidence. Some players would shy away from fully committing themselves, but not Rooney. He stayed late in training and practiced in a solitary fashion, testament to his drive to reach the top of his game. Then during the match I remember him giving the ball away with a sloppy pass, he ran all of 60 yards to put in a tackle to win the ball back. I remember thinking to myself, "that is Rooney all over" and of course his efforts were rewarded with a goal.

So onto the fixtures tonight, I hope our boys perform well, but more importantly I hope that that don't get injured. For there are more important battles to be faced in the weeks to come! Roll on the Premiership.

The Man Utd blog is back, read it now!

After a long break I thought I would post again. Sorry that I have been ever so elusive over these past few months, I've been so busy with work that I've let the blog slip. I will try and update on a weekly basis from now on, more if I have the time. I have also noticed that the forum is offline.. I'll see if I can get that fixed and up and running as there was some pretty good discussions going on in there last season.

Well back onto our beloved united. After a stumbling start (our worst in 18 years or something ridiculous) we are sitting second in the table, second only to a bunch of kids from the Emirates stadium who are yet to play any of the top 4. Despite our stuttering start we find ourselves ready to pressure the gunners all the way to the end and boy am I excited about that. It seems like the clock has rolled back five years and we are about to witness yet another season of Fergie Wenger mind games as the season draws closer to its ever exciting climax.

What about the whole Mourinho affair. It seems the Russian sugar daddy had finally had enough with the "special Ones" demand for absolute power and decided to do away with one of the worlds greatest coaches. Never mind hey… at least he has Grant, the big man from Israel, who's achievements I can count on one limb, to take Chelsea to Champions league glory.

I think more of this post needs to be dedicated to United and not Chelsea. Let's look at the team. We had problems early on trying to find goals. Rooney was injured in the first game and Ronaldo decided to take out one of Portsmouth's players with a head butt, resulting in a 3 match ban. We were solid at the back, controlled much of the possession, but lacked that killer edge.

I think much of this was down to the lack of experience of playing together. We need to remember that Anderson, Tevez, Nani and Hargreaves had never played together before and it will take time for them to understand each others game. Against Wigan we saw glimpses of what this team is capable of, but I think the best is very much yet to come. What do you guys think?

One last thing that I am keen to find out is… who do you think our best player has been so far? For me it has to be Vidic, he has been solid and consistent and has even scored rescuing some vital points for us. Well that's it from me today. I look forward to reading your comments, if there is anyone left reading this blog!

Can Tevez fill Rooney's boots?

Can Tevez fill Rooney's boots? That is the question on most United fans lips today as we face the prospect of being without our star man for 2 months, possibly longer. There was a lot of talk before Tevez signed for us that he was too similar to Rooney and that there was no way that they could play together. Now that is not a statement that I agree with, but if there was ever to be a time for Tevez to endear himself to the United fans, now would most definitely be it.

Tevez has vowed to win over the United fans hearts and minds, he is the kind of player who is easily adored. At West Ham last season, he took the burden of a relegation threat upon his shoulders and made it his personal crusade the club from impending disaster. Now he must do the same, take over the mantle from Rooney and keep the front line alive and well & truly kicking. We have faith in you Carlos, we know that you can do it.

It seems that Tevez will make his debut against Portsmouth tomorrow night, earlier than Ferguson had anticipated. It promises to be a fiery encounter, where nothing less than victory will suffice. Can Carlos Tevez carry on where Rooney left off, let me know here?

Manchester United V Reading highlights and review

Good morning fellow United fans. It seems a while since I had to post on a regular basis, but the new season is now upon us and let's be honest, it wasn't the greatest of starts. It seems that we will now be playing catchup with the other boys, but we seem to do that pretty well! The more concerning bit of news is that Rooney has fractured a bone in his foot and will be out for 2 months, possibly longer.

The Rooney injury is a great concern. It comes at the worst possible time. Just as he was getting his confidence back, our star striker gets an injury that will see him out until October at the latest! All is not lost however, Ferguson's strengthening over the summer periods has been done with exactly this kind of incident in mind. I think we can expect to see Tevez making the starting line-up quicker than we previously thought.

The game yesterday leaves us 2 points behind all of our rivals. It was a day of trying, but never really threatening. Of course it is always difficult to play against a team that puts 11 men behind the ball, but we are United and we can expect a lot more teams to do that to us throughout the remainder of this campaign.

The best chances fell to Giggs and Rooney. Giggs had a shot from a tight angle, but it was directed straight at the keeper. Minutes later Rooney made a break with some trademark movement only to see his shot drift agonisingly over the bar.

The game ended in a drab 1-1 draw, despite Reading going down to 10 men after a shocking tackle from Dave Kitson. It was a case of huffing and puffing, but Reading's house refused to come down.

Onto Fantasy Premier league… I promised I haven't rigged it, but yes I am top after a glorious week of points. Congratulations to Xth-United who is only 1 point behind. FC TKK started the defence of his title with a good week of points, scoring 54 along with Kaki Bola Kajang who is on the same score. Those of you further down the league, remember that it's only early and there is plenty of time to catch-up, well up to 2nd place that is lol!

Here's some quick highlights of the game, as always please let me know what your thoughts were on the result!

Manchester United V Reading highlights and review

Good morning fellow United fans. It seems a while since I had to post on a regular basis, but the new season is now upon us and let's be honest, it wasn't the greatest of starts. It seems that we will now be playing catchup with the other boys, but we seem to do that pretty well! The more concerning bit of news is that Rooney has fractured a bone in his foot and will be out for 2 months, possibly longer.

The Rooney injury is a great concern. It comes at the worst possible time. Just as he was getting his confidence back, our star striker gets an injury that will see him out until October at the latest! All is not lost however, Ferguson's strengthening over the summer periods has been done with exactly this kind of incident in mind. I think we can expect to see Tevez making the starting line-up quicker than we previously thought.

The game yesterday leaves us 2 points behind all of our rivals. It was a day of trying, but never really threatening. Of course it is always difficult to play against a team that puts 11 men behind the ball, but we are United and we can expect a lot more teams to do that to us throughout the remainder of this campaign.

The best chances fell to Giggs and Rooney. Giggs had a shot from a tight angle, but it was directed straight at the keeper. Minutes later Rooney made a break with some trademark movement only to see his shot drift agonisingly over the bar.

The game ended in a drab 1-1 draw, despite Reading going down to 10 men after a shocking tackle from Dave Kitson. It was a case of huffing and puffing, but Reading's house refused to come down.

Onto Fantasy Premier league… I promised I haven't rigged it, but yes I am top after a glorious week of points. Congratulations to Xth-United who is only 1 point behind. FC TKK started the defence of his title with a good week of points, scoring 54 along with Kaki Bola Kajang who is on the same score. Those of you further down the league, remember that it's only early and there is plenty of time to catch-up, well up to 2nd place that is lol!

Here's some quick highlights of the game, as always please let me know what your thoughts were on the result!