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:
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
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