County

Was Derby so strong, or were we so weak? I’d say it was a combination of both. We missed a couple of opportunities early on and it’s just one of things in football. Missing early chances somehow gives your opponent inspiration and they start believing they can get something from the game. And that is just what happened. In the first fifteen minutes we basically went through their defence like butter, but we didn’t punish them for it. As the game went on, their defence tightened and it was always going to be difficult to break them down once the first half went without a goal. And of course, they one Roy Carroll in goal who wanted to prove something. But in the end, class prevailed and the RoRo-combination found a way through, and luckily so …

Besides that, I’d like to lift out two players. One in a positive way, one in a negative. The positive is without a doubt Michael Carrick. In the past games he has been very impressive, distributing play, giving long, raking, pinpoint passes with both right and left and meanwhile intercepting a lot of balls in midfield and protecting the defence. This is the Carrick I always believed he could be. I don’t know why or how he suddenly found the confidence he needed, but I’m happy he did. I’m not sure if it is because of the extra competition for places or just that he only now starts feeling completely comfortable at Old Trafford, but to me, he is proving he is most definitely a worthy successor to Paul Scholes if he can keep up this kind of form.

The negative, it pains me to say, is Ryan Giggs. The Welshman has been in awful form lately. No goals, no assists, no surging runs through the opposing defence. Against Derby it was obvious yet again. I remember he went through a period like this last season and he came back to perform at his old level, but I have the feeling that it’s been going on for a longer time now. I’m not saying we should get rid of him, far from, because his experience alone is very important the team, but at this moment I really prefer seeing Nani on the wing, who’s showing why Ferguson was so keen to get him during the summer.

LIVE @ THE DERBY

One of my readers went to the derby and sent me a story. Since I’m short on time, I gladly post it, as I think it’s much more interesting to see it through the eyes of someone who was actually there. During the week, I’ll post an update about the latest games, since finally my gruelling schedule at uni has come to an end.

February 10th; DERBY DAY
Having had tickets purchased for us 6 months ago, this day hit us like Christmas morning. The sun beaming in our faces. We jumped up and were ready to go in minutes, dressed in our jerseys and makeshift black armbands. Lee and Carrie arrived at Mike’s to pick us up and we were off to the metro. Over the course of our 4-stop trip from Brooklands to Old Trafford, even though we were almost two hours early for kickoff, the metro filled with supporters from every corner of human demographics. Adults with young children, senior-citizen couples, grandmothers with grandchildren, adult children taking their elderly mum and/or dad, a few lads who resembled junior members of the firm, most in some degree of club colours.

If the train was busy, then going down Warwick Road made you think an exodus was at hand. As we proceeded towards the ground down Warwick Road, it became more and more difficult to stay with Lee, Carrie and Jordan. Dreams of getting into The Trafford Pub or The Bishop’s Blaze for a pre-kickoff pint were immediately wiped out.

The Flowers of Manchester were laid out on the opposite side of United Road. Heaps of flowers were grouped with scarves - mostly United, some foreign - teddy bears, poems written in marker on bristol boards. A Manchester City flag laid amongst the flowers was a particularly classy and appropriate element of the display. Hundreds of supporters cued for their turn to look and take pictures.

Immediately after ?United Road? was played over the PA, it was time for the teams.

With the warm sun beaming into Old Trafford, the teams were escorted from the tunnel by a lone piper playing ?We will never die?. The Stretford End lead the stadium in song. The ceremony was respectful and appropriate. We held up our commemorative scarves. City fans raised theirs. The moment of silence was announced. Howard Webb blew his whistle.

Although the ?fireworks’ were loud and completely dispicable, they did nothing to distract the 75,790 paying respects inside the ground. Not a sound made. Not a word spoken. Howard Webb’s whistle blew again. The stadium exploded in applause. Sir Alex walked over to the visitors’ corner and applauded their supporters. Unprecedented. Amazing. Deep inside I think Sir Alex knew they had it in them!

As the match progressed, our play started to remind me of a particular United that sometimes show their faces. A United where we cannot get anything going. I’ve seen this game before, I thought. Wolves vs United at the Molineux. Four years ago now? When Wolves scored and soaked us up until full time it became a unique and special day for them. To beat United at home. I was in the third row then. This day began to remind me of it.

We were difficult to watch this Derby day. Wayne Rooney banned, an all-attacking midfield with Scholes and Anderson unable to find their rhythm and Ryan Giggs (rating 4) and Nani (4) virtually ineffective. Rio Ferdinand’s (4) two sloppy turnovers were more than I’ve seen all year, and John O’Shea, who although is quite solid, lacks the attacking ability of Patrice Evra and gave us virtually no overlapping option down the left flank behind Giggs. Giggs was isolated most of the match and often gave the ball away, not to mention missing from six meters to put us in front early on. Our bright spots, as always, Van der Sar ( did everything he could to keep Darius Vassell’s effort out, but with no immediate defensive assistance, he could not save the second effort. City deserved the lead. They were energetic and were not put off by the occasion, venue or their opponents. Deep inside, I did not mind the goal, since I was certain it meant we would have to start to play now. The beast must awake. We’re certainly not losing at home on derby day. City’s fearless play continued such that a colour-blind fan would have difficulty distinguishing City from United. They made positive runs and were composed in defense. They played simple football involving pressuring for turnovers and making the simple pass. The calm in their play made Sven-Goran Eriksson look brilliant, for the team talk must have prompted these tactics. ?Be relaxed, play simple balls, get the ball into the danger area, don’t be afraid of them.? Carlos Tevez (6) was our brightest star. He showed well for the ball and held it up well. He was energetic and creative. However with little support and creativity from the players around him, he was rendered ineffective. Ronaldo (3), appeared tired, under-motivated and threw up his arms in a show of frustration when we lost the ball, rather than tracking back to defend.

My mind slowly began to deal with the idea that there may be no comeback today, not as a result of a lack of time (who would we be kidding), but rather at the lack of improvement in our play over the course of the match. That the calibre of the event, the importance of the day, the build-up and the distraction from pure football would all combine to let Sven-Goran Eriksson get the better of us at Old Trafford for the first time since 1974. And as the noise from the Stretford End receeded, the sounds from the visiting corner continued to grow. In the end, the several thousand United supporters that remained, joined the City fans in applauding the Sky Blues off the pitch into the tunnel. Something I never imagined possible!

A day like this helps us remember how trivial football is. When we think about those whose lives football took, it’s easy to see this derby loss as nothing but a bump in our road to the title. For it cannot be compared to the adversity the club has faced in the past … as far back as 50 years.

From Old Trafford,
Alex Zaslavsky

The derby

Our last game against Tottenham was disappointing, but snatching that point deep in injury time did give a sense of relief. It was one of our worst matches in a while, which was in large part due to a good performance of an ever improving Spurs-side. Luckily Chelsea couldn’t win either, so that difference remains the same and I’m sure Arsenal will slip up somewhere along the line so we can regain top spot.

About tomorrow’s game. I’m reading Ferguson is contemplating to let youngster Danny Welbeck play - and even start - with Rooney unavailable through suspension and Saha out injured. I’ve seen him play last year in the European Championship U17 and while he made a good impression amongst the boys from his age, I’d be very surprised he made so much progression in a couple of months to be really ready for first team football.

I’d go for the easy solution and play Tevez in the centre and put Giggs, Ronaldo and Nani in the team, and just let them freely rotate. All three of them can play through the centre and on either flank, and nothing is more difficult to defend than an ever changing front line.

We’re only a couple of hours away from the big bad derby now, and you can see everywhere the build-up has well and truly started. For many people - especially City fans - it’s the biggest game of the year, while for me it’s definitely more than just another game, but not more important than games against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool, or in the latter stages of the Champions League. So of course I will be in the pub tomorrow to cheer on the boys, but I won’t have to cry myself to sleep in the unlikely event we don’t win.

Romp

The game against Newcastle must have been one of the most fun I’ve seen in quite a while. We won 6-0 and it could easily have been so much more. They saved three balls of the line, we could have had three penalty’s and Given made a couple of outstanding saves. United playing like that is just the best team to watch in the world, at this moment. We shouldn’t get too carried away just yet, because the season is still so long and being in excellent form in the middle of the season wins you nothing if you can’t play at your very best anymore come April and May.

It has happened to so many teams before, just think of how many times Arsenal played jawdropping football during the season, but when the Champions League quarter and semi-finals came, they ran out of steam. Or when Newcastle was 12 points up during the winter of 1996 and ended up losing the title to us. Or just look at last season in Spain, where Real Madrid somehow managed to snatch the title from Barcelona’s claws.

Anyway, let’s not be too pessimistic, everything is looking bright for us and we have a great future ahead of us, considering the core of our team is no older than 25 on average. In the current squad there is only big worry for me: Louis Saha. I’ve said it before, but his run of injuries is just becoming too much. We only have three strikers - not counting Goncalves because I have no idea how good is - so we can’t afford one of them being injured all the time.

Up against Reading this week at the Madejski. Of course we should beat them and they’re not in great form at the moment, but they’re always dangerous to play against. With Kitson, Hunt and Doyle they have three players who can score a goal from nothing, but I feel they have looked a bit suspect in defence recently, which of course is not so good when you’re playing a team which is that rampant and full of attacking poise at the moment …

After the party

Wow, has it been a month already? Time flies when you’re having fun and holidays. Sorry about that peeps.

In a month, a lot happened. We overtook Arsenal, only to be overtaken again ourselves a couple of days later.

Fulham @ home: we started off absolutely brilliant, with high tempo, a lot of attacking intentions and great awareness at the back. Even though we scored early, it already felt like the goal was inevitable. Ronaldo volleyed it in brilliantly after Vidic’ header on after a poor clearance from Davis. About Ronaldo’s penalty shout: I’m absolutely convinced he didn’t dive. I mean, he was on a hattrick and it would have been the first time in his Manchester United-career he’d score three goals in a game. He’s not going to sacrifice that possibility to win a penalty, which he could miss of course.

Derby County @ home: not a lot to say about this one. Derby just weren’t good enough. Good day for Tevez who scored two and of course Giggsy got his 100th goal. Great achievement for a midfielder.

Roma away: I must say I was very impressed with our reserve team’s achievement against a near full strength AS Roma. Well done to the kids and I’m sure Rooney was the happiest man on the pitch. Why? Because he finally got to wear that captain’s armband of course.

Liverpool away: not the greatest game we’ll ever play, but you have to admit we held Liverpool brilliantly. They barely got a chance and never really looked like scoring. And what an awful mistake to leave Rooney standing all alone at the edge of the penalty area. They really should know better, don’t you think?

Everton @ home: all I can say is “thank you Steven Pienaar”. We probably deserved to win it anyway, but without his silly foul in the penalty area, I sincerely doubt we would have won it. Ronaldo took the penalty, cool as you like and had already scored with a quite beautiful long range shot. Our Portuguese maestro is really starting to stake his claim as the best player in the world.

Sunderland away: this game was only important for one thing really: Saha getting back among the scorers. The two goals will have done his confidence a world of good and he needed it. If he doesn’t start performing in the remainder of the season, I think this could well be the Frenchman’s last in United colours.

West Ham away: they are really starting to be a bête noire, aren’t they? Three losses in our last three meetings with them. The fact we lost was not that bad, the way we lost was far more concerning. This game was one of the worst I’ve seen in recent years. We were so lacklustre, it was like we didn’t even want to win, and conceding two goals from set pieces is just horrible. Yes, Ronaldo missed a penalty - his first one since he’s taking them (ok, he also missed his first one against Wigan, but he scored the rebound) - that turned the game in the Hammers’ favour. But just think were we’d be without him. It’s painful, but I just can’t hold it against him. There’s no one who has never missed a penalty and he has done excellently so far.

Birmingham @ home: comfortable win, that should have been far more convincing. The goal though, was an absolutely beautiful interchange between Ronaldo and Tevez. Tevez did very well to get the ball to Ronaldo and his flick on to put the Argentine alone in front of the keeper was quite simply world class.

Aston Villa away: you have to love the teamwork between Rooney and Ronaldo. They really know each other and can predict what the other one is going to do and how he will react to certain things. When Rooney came on, it was obvious straight away he had a real impact on the game. In the end it was a good win, and I was especially impressed with the way we contained the likes of Carew and Agbonlahor.

Next up: Newcastle United: we really should win it. Allardyce’s boys have been in terrible form lately, but playing against the champions will undoubtedly give them some extra motivation. With the form our top players are in, even an extremely motivated and dogged Newcastle should be conquered.

Bump in the road

Well, that serves me right. For once I’m actually confident about a victory and we lose. Losing against Bolton? How did we do that? Okay, they were gradually improving, but they hadn’t won a game for three months in the Premier League. Being tired from international football and the travelling involved can’t be an excuse. They’re professionals and should be able to cope with it. It’s not like it’s the first time it happened. And anyway, Bolton have their fair share of international players as well, they were just as tired as us.

No honestly, I can’t understand how we didn’t come out of that with at least one point. We definitely didn’t play our greatest game of the season, but it wasn’t that bad. Being Manchester United, you can’t afford losing points against teams that are in the relegation zone, but apparently, some players think about this sort of games too easy. Every single team in the Premiership will punish you if you’re not playing at your best level, it doesn’t matter if it’s one from the top four or from the bottom three. Of course it’s only natural to feel a bit more confident, a bit less stressed and a bit more relaxed when you’re playing a ‘lesser’ team, but that’s one of the most important things you must learn to cope with when you’re a big team. You don’t win a championship by beating your direct rivals, you win it by not losing points against the small teams.

Anyway, I’m writing this during the closing stages of our Champions League game against Sporting Lisbon and we don’t seem to suffer from the defeat during the weekend too much. It’s a pretty good game, at least in the second half. During the first, I feel Sporting was the better team and they came close to a two goal lead, which they would probably have deserved as well. As a matter of fact, Cristiano Ronaldo just scored the winner in injury time, with a free-kick no less. One can only hope he start producing a couple more of those swerving balls that end up in the back of the net. That puts us top of the group, being the only team with five wins out of five. That’s a very good achievement and one which must inspire confidence in the entire squad we have what it takes to really compete in the Champions League this season.

Up against Fulham next weekend, I’m going to make another ‘bold’ statement. On the back of our victory against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League and the fact we lost our last Premier League game, Fulham should be scared. I expect the players to come out firing from all cylinders and really take the game to them. Fulham have had a rocky start to the season and are now starting to play a little better, but if we get an early goal, I expect us to put four or five past Antti Niemi.

Rooney loss

Our strikers seem to be cursed. It’s as if it’s impossible for all three of them to be 100% percent fit at the same time. It’s especially frustrating since Rooney was in a rich vein of form and he and Tevez really started to click. It does give Saha the chance to play himself back into the side, but is he fit enough to last 90 minutes every time for the next four weeks? Knowing Rooney, it probably won’t take him four weeks to get fit, but still, I can’t even remember the last time Saha was fully fit or an entire month, let alone him playing all the games during that period.

Against Blackburn, I expect a stern test. The Rovers are performing very well, play good football and are mentally very strong. But they concede a goal almost every game and that should be encouraging. The fact Liverpool couldn’t score against them doesn’t really mean that much. You can hardly say they’ve been in scintillating form. I do feel Blackburn could cause an upset, but almost every time I said that, we trashed the opposition. I’ll be quite surprised if that happens again, but I’d be absolutely ok with it of course.

By the way, has anyone thought about names for a long term replacement for Ferguson? I’ve thought about it a couple of times and although I can’t decide on one name, I do feel Mark Hughes should be in the running.

Scoring boots

Finally, we found our scoring boots again. Twelve goals in three games is a great way to prove all the doubters wrong. I said before it’s good to win any way you can, but it’s definitely more satisfying to win by a big margin, even if that means you concede a goal from time to time.

The goal we conceded against Aston Villa was awful though. Ferdinand had to cover at the left back area, which is perfectly normal if you play with attacking full backs like we do. Evra took over his place in the centre like he should do, but instead of keeping pressure on Villa’s right wing, Rio also went back to the centre, which meant Craig Gardner could hit an easy cross because there was nobody there to make life difficult. Luckily, Gardner didn’t put in a great cross, but Ashley Young could easily pick up the loose ball and could cross the ball without anyone putting pressure on him. Nani didn’t get back to defend all the way and Brown never really tried to get out and prevent the cross. Instead of overhitting it like Gardner, Young placed it perfectly on Agbonlahor’s head. The clean sheet run was never going to last forever, but the way it ended was very disappointing.

Other than that, the injury to Paul Scholes is bad news. With two experienced central midfielders already out, Scholes was more than ever the midfield boss. Due to Anderson’s attacking game, he even played a bit defensive midfielder like.

I was also surprised to learn Fletcher was Evra’s replacement when he sustained an injury during the warm-up in Kyiv. That means O’Shea was going to play alongside Anderson in central midfield, while in my mind it’s clear Fletcher is the better player in that position. Both are just coming back from injury, so a lack of match fitness couldn’t have been the decider between them. O’Shea is a valuable player for Manchester United because of his versatility, but please only use him as a last resort for the midfield.

This weekend against Middlesbrough should be an easy victory. Southgate’s team can’t keep a clean sheet and can’t score. Even with an injury ravaged team, I’m confident we’ll come out on top.

Grinding out wins

Right, fielding so many youngsters certainly came back to haunt us. I do think Sir Alex exaggerated a bit. I know I asked for a lot of youngsters, but I would have liked two or three senior players in there, not counting Kuszczak and the from injury returning O’Shea. Anyway, the League Cup adventure is over and it’s clear which players will not play again this year and would be wise to look for a transfer in January.

Yes Phil Bardsley, Dong Fangzhuo and Chris Eagles, I’m looking at you. Those guys are all 22 years old, and if you don’t break into the team or look at least close to breaking in, it’s time to go and look for football elsewhere. All three of them aren’t bad players, but not good enough for a club which wants to compete for all the prizes every year. Lee Martin, Fraizer Campbell and Danny Simpson, plus Darron Gibson, Kieran Lee and Craig Cathcart will probably face the same future. One or two years lingering around the team, but not being able to command a regular place in the squad. Of the youngsters playing, only Evans and Pique have a real future at United in my opinion.

Both Birmingham and Roma were yet again close affairs, but we managed to win. Yep, I would prefer seeing the goal gluts from last year, like any football fan, but winning is always more important if you want to challenge for titles. If we were a midtable team and I’d have the choice between finishing ninth with boring football or twelfth with five goals a game, I’d choose the latter in the blink of an eye, but we’re Manchester United and trophies will always be our main objective. If that means we’re going to see some more nailbiting games with just one goal in it, then that’s what we must endure. A fan’s life is always hard, no matter which team he supports.

Regaining confidence

Four 1-0 wins on the trot, before Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea. I can’t say I remember this happening before, scoring just the one goal in four consecutive games and winning all four of them. United has a history of scoring lots of goals, but as long as we keep getting clean sheets, I’m not too worried about the lack of scoring. With Ronaldo, Rooney and Saha back in the frame, and Tevez opening his account, I’m sure the goals will start coming much easier in the next couple of games.

I can’t say I was very impressed about our play against Everton and Sporing Lisbon, but both games were away against teams with a very good home reputation. The Chelsea performance on the other hand was impressive. Of course it was made easier when Mikel was quite harshley sent off, but the fact the boys in blue didn’t have a single clear cut chance and Van der Sar had literally only one save to make, well, more a pick-up than a save really, is downright sublime. If we can take that confidence and assured play into our next games, Birmingham and Wigan shouldn’t be a problem. The Roma-game next week will be very interesting though, there’s no way we’ll hammer them as we did last year. You can be sure the Italians will have only one thing on their mind: revenge.

As for tonight, I’m curious who’ll be in the line-up, Ferguson has promised to give a lot of youngsters a chance and I definitely hope he will. Kuszczak will be in goal, no doubt about that. With all the injuries, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give the likes of Jonathan Evans and Gerard Pique their chance as central pairing, with Phil Bardsley and Danny Simpson, or maybe John O’Shea, as the full backs. In midfield, I hope to see Gibson and one experienced player (Carrick or Scholes) in the centre and Nani, Lee Martin or Chris Eagles on the flanks. Anderson can then pick up the role of second striker, with Campbell or Dong in front of him. I know that would be a very inexperienced line-up, but while I think our youngsters are not quite as talented as Arsenals, it’s not like we’re playing Premiership opposition at near full strength. We have a lot of youngsters in the squad at the moment and I feel we should really give them an opportunity now that they’re not loaned out.

Moving up the table

I can’t say I’m not a bit disappointed we didn’t bring in an extra striker after Ole’s retirement. Look at it how you want, we’re thin up front. Saha, Rooney and Tevez are the only recognised strikers in the team, with only the first one 100% comfortable playing the role of main striker. Both Wayne and Carlos are more at ease playing in support of a striker and like to get the ball in their feet, instead of over the top or from a cross. Yes, we also have Dong Fangzhuo and Fraizer Campbell, but they’re not good enough for the Premiership. Not now, and I’m afraid not ever, although I wouldn’t mind one or both of them proved me wrong. I’ve seen them play while they were at our feeder club Royal Antwerp FC and while they really stood out there and scored quite easily, the Belgian ’second class’ is more or less equivalent to League Two, maybe the lower half of League One in England. I’m keen to see what happens in January, although that will undoubtedly depend on the position we’re in and the fitness of our other strikers at that moment.

Tottenham was a game from which we should only remember one thing: the three points (and maybe Nani’s strike). Ironically, it was probably the worst game of the campaign so far, but the only thing that really matters is we won it. It was obvious what was missing, maybe even more than in previous games: an out and out striker. Luckily, Saha’s return proved to be very near.

Against Sunderland in the first half, it was the same story as the previous games. We were dominant - not great, but ok - and the crosses came in, only nobody was there to put them in the back of the net. Tevez is really not going to head it in - even if he wanted to - and Anderson is more an attacking midfielder than a second striker, so he’ll definitely not get in there. About the Brazilian kid, his debut was decent enough, he showed a few nice touches and made a couple of passes, but missed that out and out striker before him. Don’t forget the lad is just 18 and has only been in the country for a month, don’t expect too much from him just yet.

With the introduction of Saha, it became all the more obvious what was lacking in previous games. He managed to stretch the game and make the Sunderland defence think. By going deep often, he also managed to create space to set up an attack when he dropped back which opened up the game and saw us create a couple of good chances. The goal eventually didn’t come from a good attack, but being able to convert from set pieces is essential if you want to win titles.

With Saha back in the frame, Ronaldo returning from his suspension and Neville closing in on fitness, the new players like Nani, Anderson and Tevez will be able to play with less pressure to perform. Things are looking up and can only get better.

Manchester City away

It’s been a couple of days since the loss and honestly, I still don’t know what went wrong (apart from not scoring of course). We dominated the game from start to finish, played good football, created oppurtinities and even when it looked increasingly likely we weren’t going to score, we didn’t give any chances away on the counter attack. I mean, City’s goal wasn’t even a chance, Geovanni just hit the ball hoping it would go somewhere near the goal and he was lucky enough to get a slight deflection which left Van der Sar sprawling.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not minimizing City’s effort. You know you’re coming up against a new team, which is going to defend its heart out to try and steal a result - when your opponents’ striker is throwing tackles near your penaltybox, it’s quite clear what the outset of your opponent is - it’s our job to break down that defensive wall and walk away with the points. The fact we didn’t do that, just means we failed to live up to the required standards.

As for this weekend, Tottenham is an absolute must win game. If we don’t win it, we can already forget about defending our title. How premature and pessimistic that may sound after only four games, I’m afraid it’s reality. We’re not up against one title pretendent, we’re up against three or four. I could see one team failing to take advantage, but not all of them. And although Tottenham made a good impression against Derby County, it’s only Derby of course. With their number one, two and three central defenders injured, I’m confident we can score against them. Gardner - Rocha is not exactly the most stable defensive partnership.

I don’t think there’ll be a lot of changes in our line-up, I’m even guessing it’ll be the same eleven as against City. The only other attacking option we have is Anderson, who quite probably will make his competitive debut, but I’d be surprised if it is as a starter. There’s also a lot of rumours Saha will play, but I’m not sure I’m so happy with that. Because, even though he could solve part of our scoring woes, I’m not a fan of rushing players back from injury, and definitely not Saha. He’s been injured so often, it would really be a big gamble to put him in the team. Not only because he’s not match fit, but because it’s so likely he’ll end up either aggravating his injury or picking up a new one.

Another bit of bad news. Gary Neville has picked up a thigh injury, which leaves us without our inspirational captain for a further two weeks. These are the times you really want him in there, not just for his ability to incite the other players, but also for his attacking runs. Brown does a good job of replacing him in the defensive area, but he offers a lot less going forward.

Portsmouth away

Disappointing is not so much the word as frustrating to describe the Portsmouth game. Fratton Park is always a difficult place to visit, but this time it didn’t show. We completely dominated Pompey, defended with poise and created plenty of opportunities, but the lads managed to convert only one of those chances. A good goal, but only one, and then you know you’re vulnerable for the counter attack or free kick goal.

The Portsmouth goal was - not surprisingly - a soft one. Benjani came in from outside the box and wasn’t picked up by Scholes or (I think) Nani, the two players closest to him. It’s probably not their job, but if you’re in that position, you have to take your responsibility, especially when you’re one of the most experienced players in the Premiership like Scholes. With so much routine, he shouldn’t be caught ball watching like he was, Nani can be forgiven for that.

It’s painful to already be four points behind Chelsea, but it makes it less painful knowing we’re playing decent football. If we’d be playing bonkers and not creating any opportunities, I’d be really worried, now, I’m just a little. My only concern is, who will score the goals? The attacking flow is there, the opposing defenders are kept on their toes, the crosses come in, … but there’s no one to turn them in. We only have two players who instinctly try to get on the end of crosses (Saha and Solskjaer), one who’s learning (Rooney) and all of them are injured and won’t be back for a while. That leaves Tevez, who’ll have to learn to get on the end of a couple of the crosses that’ll definitely come in. It’s not his natural style of play, but whe’ll need him to learn quickly.

You probably noticed I haven’t said anything about Ronaldo’s red card. Well, I’m not going to go into it too much. He makes a movement towards the player, which means he deserved the red card. No matter what happened before, what happened during the game or how hard he touched him. You’re one of the best players in the world, you know you’ll get fouled dozens of times during the game. It’s plain and simple you have to keep your cool no matter what.

The Manchester derby then. I don’t like to say it, but they’re playing good football. They have something they’ve been lacking for years: stability and creativity. You can say what you want about Sven, but the players he got in are all doing a very good job. None of them had Premier League experience, but it looks like they’ve been playing in England for years. I still think we’re going to win though. West Ham and Derby are hardly the best sides out there, which means this will be their biggest test yet. We’ve seen how difficult that first derby is for foreign players (remember Evra last year) and this game will show how good they really are.

Reading @ home

Well, that was a disappointing first game, with even worse consequences.

I didn’t quite get the defensive line-up and why Ferguson put two defenders and no attacker(s) on the bench. Especially because you knew Reading would come to Old Trafford for a draw, without a lot of attacking intentions. They were at the beginning of the oh so difficult second season in the Premier League and a drubbing against Manchester United could have put them in a downward spiral from the off.

Anyway, while the result was disappointing, I thought the play and flow of the game was pretty good considering it was the first real game of the season. You shouldn’t yet expect the same high level of performance now as the biggest part of last season. Yes, it’s a bad start, but it’s not a disaster like some people make it out to be.

By far the worst thing of the evening was Rooney’s injury. It’s undoubtedly a big loss, but maybe it’s good it’s so early in the season. Now, he can come back by November and give us a boost at that time when usually things are starting to get a bit rough. And it’s a good way for Tevez to get a lot of minutes under his belt, instead of having to start his United career as a substitute. Yups, it’s seeing positives where there really are none, but there’s nothing we can change about Wayne’s injury, so we’ll have to.

As for tonight, Portsmouth away is very difficult, but we have to win. If we don’t, we’ll probably start the season with a 4 point deficit in comparison to the other title challengers and even though it’s still early, that would be something you very much wish to avoid.

Table prediction

Always a bit silly to do actually, but hey, I enjoy it.

1. Manchester United
2. Liverpool
3. Chelsea
4. Tottenham Hotspur
5. Arsenal
6. Everton
7. Newcastle United
8. Blackburn Rovers
9. Manchester City
10. West Ham United
11. Portsmouth
12. Aston Villa
13. Bolton Wanderers
14. Reading
15. Sunderland
16. Middlesbrough
17. Birmingham City
18. Fulham
19. Wigan Athletic
20. Derby County

More difficult than I thought actually. A lot of teams have spent big, very big.