home

11 points about the Arsenal match

1. A great result.  First things first: what a great result.  Sure, United weren't at their best, more on which below; Arsenal looked deeply impressive at times; and our goals came courtesy of a penalty and an own goal.  But the simple fact is: we beat a team which had scored ten goals over their previous two league games, and which we drew and lost against in the premiership last season.  It will be a great confidence boost for the players, after an uncertain start to the campaign.  And while they may have only earned the points rather than the plaudits, as Rob Draper puts it in the Sunday Mail, that might have something to do with why we've won the league for three seasons running, and Arsenal haven't won anything since 2005.

2. Thank you, Wayne.  We expected more goals, and he's delivering; that's now 4 goals in 4 league games for Wayne Rooney.  He was unusually quiet in the first half yesterday, but came to life in the second and, of course, banged in that crucial penalty.  We could well have found the answer to the great penalty-taker question:



3. Thank you, Diaby.  Yeh, yeh, it's a bit cruel to revel in someone else's misery, but Diaby's own-goal really was something.  What was he trying?  A cushioned header back to the keeper?  A strong header to put the ball behind for a corner?  In the end, we ended up with a bit of both, and it came to a perfect goal in the corner of the net.  Any striker would have been proud...



4. A crucial save.  Still a bit of shakiness with the ball at his feet, but let's not forget Foster's main contribution yesterday: that awesome save from Van Persie, six yards out, which prevented Arsenal from going 2-0 up.  Pure, instinctive, preternatural goalkeeping - and an early contender for save of the season.

5. Penalty controversy.  It just had to happen, didn't it?  After Eduardo's midweek theatrics, penalties - both given and denied - just had to enter proceedings yesterday.  Let's get the Rooney one out of the way first: it was a clear-cut penalty, the ref was right to give it, and Almunia hardly complained.  But, it we're fair, Fletcher's tackle on Arshavin was also a penalty, and you've got to wonder whether the whole diving controversy influenced the ref's decision not to point to the spot.  Either way, Arsenal can't complain too much about it not being awarded, as they still scored from the same move.

6. Super Fletcher.  Aside from the tackle-that-should-have-conceded-a-penalty on Arshavin, Fletcher was flawless yesterday.  We all know he's a big-game player, but now he's becoming the mainstay of the United midfield: solid and combative in defence, and increasingly incisive in attack.  He's even honest, admitting in a post-match interview with Match of the Day that he probably could have conceded a penalty:

"At the time, I didn't think it was a penalty, I thought I got the ball.  But now I've watched it, it's debatable.  But I think I'm due a bit of luck with penalties against Arsenal."

Great stuff.

7. Valencia Watch.  Here's how the Valencia scorecard looks now: great in preseason; underwhelming as a substitute against Chelsea; anonymous against Birgminham; our best attacking player when he came on against Burnley; great against Wigan; and, now, fairly poor against Aresenal.  It's a mixed bag, and has set tonuges wagging about whether he's worth the £18 or so million we paid for him.  We'll keep an eye on the situation, but there's certainly enough there to think he'll develop into an effective performer for United.

8. Taking a dive.  So Arsenal don't dive do they, Mr Wenger?  The prosecution presents Exhibit A: Emmanuel Eboue being given a yellow card for, erm, diving in yesterday's game.  After the Eduardo controversy, Eboue certainly could have picked a better weekend for his amateur dramatics - especially when they're quite so blatant.

9. Comedy Arsene.  Another of the game's main talking points, along with Arshavin's penalty-that-wasn't: Arsene Wenger being sent to the stands for kicking a water bottle in frustration at Robin Van Persie's late, disallowed goal.  The Arsenal manager didn't know where to sit, so he ended up standing in an alcove above the dug-outs, surrounded by thousands of United fans, all pointing and laughing.  Classic.



10. Lack of spark.  As I've said above, it's superb that United ended up with three points - it's the mark of champions that they can still win despite not playing at their best etc. etc.  But if you're going to take a worry away from this game, it's that we're still lacking a certain spark.  Aside from the dynamic Darren Fletcher, the midfield lacked cohesion and penetration.  And it showed in a performance which registered only two "shots" on target by the 64th minute - Rooney's penalty and Diaby's own-goal.  Late misses from Berbatov and Nani, both from very promising positions, added to the sense that this team is quite firing on all cylinders.  I expect it will all come together soon enough, as it has on occasion already this season - but there were times yesterday when you half wished Ronaldo was still around.

11. Final word from the manager.  Here's Fergie's take on the game:

"When you are 1-0 down at half time it’s an uphill task against a team of the capabilities of Arsenal. We had to dig deep.  This result can make a difference and the players will gather momentum from this win.

Last season we dropped four points to Arsenal and six against Liverpool. We were a bit unlucky there, but you have to correct these things. Already we’ve made a better start this season in that respect."

Pete

11 points about the Wigan match

1. The perfect response.  Even though there are still some doubts and worries (see below), you can't really argue against 5 goals, scored away from home, and with all of your main strikers getting on the score sheet.  This was pretty much the best response we could have expected after the Burnley game, and sets things up nicely for the Arsenal match next weekend.  We've got six points now, only 84 more to go by Fergie's reckoning.

2. Well done, Wayne: goals #100 and #101.  Remember that debut against Fenerbahce?  Goals 1, 2 and 3 in a United shirt for Wayne Rooney?  Well, four years on he's the Old Trafford hero we all thought he'd be, and he just smashed in goals 100 and 101.  Here, for your viewing pleasure, is the magic hundreth:


Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

3. Owen's goal.  To my eyes, Owen's goal was the pick of the bunch.  Not just for the crisp pass by Nani and the pinpoint finish from Owen himself, but for what this could mean for our season - a confident Owen could well start banging them in from now on.



4. Berbatov's genius.  Lazy?  Doesn't add much to the team?  Geddaway.  Especially in the second half, Berbatov's neat touches and cushioned passes were the impetus behind many of United's best attacking moves.  The goal - complete with a chip over the keeper - capped what was an impressive performance.



5. Valencia Watch.  Now, that's more like it.  Against his old club, Valencia looked much more like the player we all got excited about in pre-season: a danger down the flank, peppering the opposition box with plenty of threatening crosses.  There are still question marks about whether he can pull it off against stronger oppostion - Ashley Cole, for instance, coped easily with him in the Community Shield match - but this was encouraging stuff.

6. The New Nani.  Last week we had the Old Nani: wasteful, frustating and lazy.  This week we're mostly back to the New Nani we saw against Chelsea: controlled, constructive and central to much of United's best play.  Again, a player who capped an impressive performance with an equally impressive goal.



7. Solid-(ish) defence.  Aside from a few wobbles - and, yes, a goal conceded against Burnley - one of the great positives that Fergie can take from the opening three games of the season is how our defence has coped with the injuries which have decimated it.  Vidic was back yesterday - which immediately made us look more solid - but none of the stand-ins, from John O'Shea to Wes Brown, have particularly embarrassed themselves or the team.  Special mention must go to Patrice Evra, who has been our player of the season so far, and Jonny Evans, who is one of the most composed young defenders that these eyes have ever seen.

8. The great Wigan run.  Don't you just love it when United play Wigan?  In nine league meetings now, United have come out winners every time - scoring 26 goals, and conceding only 4, in the process.

9. Doubts and worries.  Ok, so everything above has been a positive.  But there's no masking the fact that United looked distinctly off the boil in the first half of the match yesterday.  The main problem was the same one we had in the last two gains: an inability to convert chances into goals, the lack of some vital spark (or the 'X-Factor', as Piers Morgan puts it in the Sportsmail pages today).  Hopefully, the second-half performance will give the team the encouragement it needs, but there's little doubt that a better team than Wigan would have punished us before the first 45 minutes were up yesterday.

10. Where's Carrick?  Like the Birmingham game last weekend, Michael Carrick didn't even warrant a place on the United bench yesterday.  You do wonder what's going on with him.  He's not injured, so far as any one knows, but he does seem to have been the target of some cryptic and critical remarks from Fergie.  Whatever's wrong, let's hope it gets sorted out soon - our central midfield is already looking a little thin, without us effectively losing Carrick.

11. The final word from Fergie.  Here's how the manager summarised the match:

"Overall I thought they played very well. We had six good chances in the first half, and you'd like to take one or two of them, but the important thing was to be patient, and keep playing the way they were playing."

So now back to Old Trafford, and the Arsenal next weekend.

Pete

11 points about the Burnley match

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.

Pete

Rooney goal against Birmingham

So: one match, one goal, one win.  We'll have more coverage of the Birmingham game on MustBeRed shortly, but - for now - here's footage of Rooney's winning goal:


Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

Pete

Hat-tip: Republik of Mancunia

The Berbatov dilemma

In the wake of our loss to Everton, the limelight has now fallen squarely on Dimitar Berbatov.  In yesterday's Sun, Stephen Howard said that Berba's lazy penalty summed up his United career so far, and many United fans across the Web seem to agree with him.  The Times runs a cracking article today, summarising that sentiment and outlining the good points and bad points of the Bulgarian's first season at Old Trafford:

GOOD

"Berbatov has been responsible for setting up a sixth of United’s 54 goals in the Barclays Premier League — only Frank Lampard, the Chelsea midfield player, Robin van Persie, the Arsenal forward, and Steed Malbranque, the Sunderland midfield player, have as many assists — while four of his 13 goals in all competitions have been winners."

BAD

"Dig a little deeper, though, and the picture becomes less flattering. Only one of his goals has come against a team in the top six — in the 3-0 win at home to Chelsea in January — while he has found the net once in his past nine matches and has not scored in the Champions League since October 21, the one arena in which Ferguson felt the forward would bring an added dimension to United’s attack.

Delve farther still and an alarming trend begins to develop, one that helps to explain why United have failed to replicate the fast, free-flowing football of last season.

Partnerships have been a fixture of Ferguson’s teams, but in the 20 games that Berbatov and Wayne Rooney have started together, they have combined to score only once, in the 4-0 demolition of West Bromwich Albion in October. Rooney has not set up one of Berbatov’s goals, while the Bulgarian has been involved in only one of the England forward’s 17, a troubling statistic that becomes all the easier to understand when you consider that of the 551 passes United made against Sunderland in December, only four were between the front two, Berbatov and Rooney. That was by no means an isolated statistic. No wonder this may be the first time in four seasons that United do not finish as the league’s top or joint-top goalscorers."

I understand completely why he's one of the most polarising players out there - I still can't make up my own mind whether he's a good thing for us or not.  In which case, my default position is: give him time.  Strikers don't often take off in their first season at a new club (just look at Drogba), and striking combinations take a while to finesse.  Sir Alex has certainly got faith in him, and we've seen enough flashes of Berba's brilliance to suggest that he could become a great asset for United. 

Just to ram that point home, here is Berbatov's moment of magic against West Ham:

Pete

That goal

More on the victory against Porto soon.  But, for now, just savour the Ronaldo wonderstrike which put us into the semi-finals of the European Cup:

Ronny claims it's the best goal he's ever scored.  And Sir Alex?  Here's what he had to say after the match:

"I’ll need to go into my memory bank to recall a better European Cup goal than that one. That was fantastic, and from all of 35 yards. It was a great, great strike. We wanted to show our intent, to show that we’d come here to win. But to get that sort of start, well, nobody can expect that sort of goal."

Now, bring on Arsenal.

Pete