In eight of our last eleven title wins we have had somewhat dodgy
starts to the season, dropping points in at least two games, and in
half of those the dropped points included a defeat. Losing 1-0 to
Burnley is a dodgy result and this is certainly a dodgy start to
another season.
1. Burnley's day. As Fergie suggested in his post-match comments, it was simply Burnley's day. United looked distinctly our of sorts; the Clarets gave the kind of bustling performance that you'd expect in a third round cup tie; and we missed chances galore (including a penalty). Although the result was disappointing for Utd fans, you can't knock Burnley's effort - I'd rather lose to them, a small town club on their Premiership debut, than to the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool.
2. Burnley's goal. Let's be fair; it was a belter:
3. No lack of effort, but a lack of inspiration. Looking at the teamsheet, there was no reason to expect a lack of creativity. I mean, Rooney, Giggs, Anderson, Carrick - and folk like Berbatov and Valencia on the bench. But for some reason, however hard they tried, it just didn't come off. I imagine it's partially down to the Utd players finding their feet at the start of a new season, and after a summer of changes too. But, to my mind, it also strengthens the case for investing in a new creative midfielder.
4. Carrick's penalty. Yep, I was puzzled too - why Michael Carrick? But look at his penalty taking stats, and it makes some kind of sense: the lad scores more than he misses. After last night, though, you doubt whether he'll be taking any more, and whether it leaves anyone else in the team prepared to take them. The obvious choice would be Rooney (or Owen?), but he hardly seems to volunteer himself.
5. Alastair Campbell. Burnley's most famous - or is that most vocal? - supporter is in dreamland today. He's posted about the occasion over at his blog, here.
6. Owen Watch. Oh dear. Another game, another couple of missed chances. It's early days yet, and the fans certainly seem to be on Michael Owen's side - not least because he has a preternatural ability to get into goalscoring positions, and should bang some in soon enough. But this can't be good for the guy's confidence. 7. Valencia Watch. There's been a bit of mumbling about our other high-profile summer signing over the past few days. Nothing much, mind - but folk I've spoken to are certainly worried that Valencia's pre-season form isn't continuing into the season proper. He looked uncomfortable against Ashley Cole in the Community Shield, and was pretty anonymous against Birmingham last weekend. Yesterday, though, was more encouraging. Coming on in the 59th minute, he added a spark that had been missing from the performance previously - although his deliveries into the box were a little erratic.
8. Credit where it's due. If United hadn't been on the receiving end, The Sun's back-page headline - "Sick as a Claret" - would have been mildly amusing. 9. Burnley's best player: Brian Jensen. The keeper was the opposition's best player on Saturday, and the same could be said of last night - only doubly so. Brian Jensen was immense, and stopped pretty much everything that came near him - including Carrick's penalty. Sure, our attacking players should have put some of their chances away, but that they didn't was frequently down to Jensen's magnificence, rather than their negligence.
10. A settled midfield? I know injuries aren't helping Fergie put together a settled team at the moment, but I suspect he may be shuffling the midfield more than is necessary or desirable at the moment. Here are the starting midfield combo's for our last three matches:
(v Burnley)
Anderson Giggs Park Carrick
(v Birmingham)
Nani Scholes Fletcher yellow card Valencia
(v Chelsea)
Park Carrick Nani Fletcher
Which means only two players (Fletcher and Nani) have started two matches in a row, and no-one three in a row.
11. Don't panic! The season is, of course, still young. There's plenty of time to make things right, and one of our main title rivals - Liverpool - have also lost a game. So there's no reason for undue concern. But, having said that, last night did suggest that the team and the manager are still getting to grips with life A.R. (After Ronaldo). How quickly they manage that process will have a massive bearing on our title chances this year.
Turf Moor has changed a lot since I was last here, for a League Cup tie 25 years ago. And it's not easy to work out which side of the ground is which. My first visit was a 1-1 draw in 1971-72.
A great atmosphere on a warm summer evening, with nearly every Burnley fan dressed in claret, special scalves on sale to commemorate the game, and a plane flying overhead, sponsored by the Lancashire Telegraph, with a banner emblazoned 'GO CLARETS'.
But the Burnley management badly misjudged how many programmes they would sell. I got to the ground 50 minutes before kick-off and haven't been able to find one on sale anywhere. Indeed, as I write, the club has just announced over the loudspeakers that they are doing a reprint, something I've never heard announced like that before.
Owen starts for the first time in a competitive game. Giggs also starts, looking to make it the 20th successive season in which he's scored.
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