Sir Alex Ferguson | Global Football Today

United Thoroughly Dominate Everton!

Posted by Ivor Irwin on February 12, 2013 at 1:42 pm England, EPL, Everton, Manchester United

Feb 122013

Manchester United 2-0 Everton
“I can sometimes be a slow learner,” Sir Alex Ferguson said in a rare interview with the BBC broadcast on Thursday. It was an interesting comment, not so much because it showed the old warrior’s unique mode of integrity or the hurt he feels at only having won only two European Champions’ Leagues. The utter humiliations of last season’s second-place finish to Manchester City accompanied by a 6-2 home loss to the Abu Dhabian sky-blue rent boys genuinely left a scar. United have a 12-point advantage with just 12 games to go, but last season’s choke at the very death of the season seems to have genuinely pushed Britain’s greatest veteran manager to reassess his status and methodology as a coach. The loss at Old Trafford to City was painful, but, worse, in its own way, was a humbling draw at home to Everton after his team had been leading 4-2 going into the last five minutes of the match before finishing 4-4. That game and a nightmare first fixture this season at Goodison Park in which the Toffees were allowed to bully and intimidate a passive, mentally detached United team still slowly awakening from a Summer of sloth. Even the most vocal pro-United pundits, like The Guardian’s Daniel Taylor began pushing the panic button early this season.

Well, it has taken awhile, and United have been far from brilliant all season, but on Sunday night Everton were comfortably dominated and defeated by a team playing like a team. The cliché may indeed be that there is no ‘I’ in team, but United were well and truly kept on a tight leash by their boss. And for those expecting something sloppy and lackadaisical after last week’s shoddy victory over Southampton, it was no such thing. With Phil Jones given the single, urgent errand of marking the awkward, troublesome Marouane Fellaini, Everton’s star performer never got into the game. Indeed, the Moroccan midfielder was so frustrated that he was hacking down any United player in his vicinity and more than a little fortunate not to see red from the referee Mark Halsey. Forced to drop deep to see any of the ball, he was not a factor in the game at all.

Meanwhile, playing out of his skin, the awesome 39-years-young Ryan Giggs ended up scoring for the 23rd season in a row. A thorn in Everton’s side all day, the wise Welsh wizard was, like Wayne Rooney, all over the field throughout proceedings. Taken along with Manchester City’s defeat at Southampton, United did not look like a team capable of self-destructing and losing their twelve point cushion at the top of the Premier League. And although many fans are praying for United to self-destruct once again, no such thing is going to happen.

United dominated from the very beginning. and the Toffees were never even close to finding their rhythm when their usually foolproof offside trap went awry only ten minutes in as Phil Neville went after a hard-running Wayne Rooney a second too early, which allowed Robin Van Persie the time to round Tim Howard and stare at an open goal before forcing a massive collective ‘Ooooh!’ out of the crowd by shooting awkwardly with his weaker right foot and hitting the outside of the post. But, only three minutes later , John Heitinga, only playing because of a late injury to Sylvain Distin, failed to stop a header from Valencia after a superbly passed set-up by Rafael Da Silva. The ball fell to Van Persie who tapped it sideways to an unmarked Ryan Giggs who rolled the ball in off the post with a neat poke from his right toe.

Still, even though they were severely blunted without the bustle of Fellaini up front, Everton were still a threat and both Leon Osman and Kevin Miralles forced yeoman defensive work out of David De Gea and Nemanja Vidic. Then, right on the stroke of half-time, United beat Everton’s offside trap once again as a beautiful seeing-eye pass, again from Rafael beat Neville, found Van Persie and the ruthless striker rounded Tim Howard again, making no mistake this time, firing home despite a desperate diving move from Heitinga to block it.
United held on to their lead well in the second half, playing a superb game of reactive football throughout. and both goalkeepers made a series of splendid saves throughout. Instead of worrying about Real Madrid on Wednesday I am relishing the prospect of a football feast. Now that they are playing their best football in two seasons, United are clearly about as ready for this fixture as it;’s possible for them to be.

As Everton’s manager David Moyes put it after the match. “It’s only our fourth league defeat this season and I would say it is the only game where a better team has beaten us.“

Ruthless Rooney Helps United Retain Momentum

Posted by Ivor Irwin on February 5, 2013 at 2:24 pm Blogs/Media, England, European Champions League, From the GFT Blogs, Fulham, Global Football Today, Manchester United

Feb 052013

Fulham 0-1 Manchester United
Often fragile this season, Manchester United showed a strong sense of confidence and resilience while helping themselves to a narrow 1-0 away victory over a determined, diligent Fulham side at Craven Cottage. Despite a massive twelve minute power brownout, the Red Devils’ shrugged off the difficulties of flickering floodlights, the bitter cold and a stuttering strike force to create an intimidating 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League over their main and local rivals at Manchester City. On a night when even United’s talisman striker Robin Van Persie seemed hesitant and slightly off-kilter, job number one was carried out with a ruthless acumen and efficiency by Wayne Rooney.

With the wind-chill off the Thames registering temperatures way below zero, United arrived in southwest London in an attacking mood. With both Antonio Valencia and Nani having both been a disappointment this season, it was a surprise to see Sir Alex ferguson throw the dice and put both wingers on the field simultaneously as part of a 4-4-2 lineup. And it only took eight minutes for United to twice come close as a Carrick corner ricocheted off Brede Hangeland’s shoulder and an unmarked Patrice Evra somehow botched firing home in front of an open goal. His anemic shot was blocked by Philippe Senderos, followed by a brilliant block on the part of John-Arne Riise on the goal line from a blistering Rooney volley.

But this was a completely different Fulham side to the one which had faced United at Old Trafford in the F.A.. Cup a week back. Unburdened of the presence of their shiftless, ball-hogging striker Dimitar Berbatov, the Cottagers’ warmed up their freezing fans with a surprisingly untypical game of pressing, fast-break counterattack. Led by the big Norwegian redhead John-Arne Riise down United’s left flank, United were caught with their pants down more than a few times. Only a brilliant reflex save from the much maligned David De Gea saved United from falling behind. Then, only minutes later, De Gea’s reflexes were successfully tested again as he tipped another Bryan Ruiz shot away off the post.

Consequently, the pattern of the game was set as Fulham kept ten men behind the ball while double making and pressing Carrick and Cleverley. Yet just as Fulham were holding their own, United executed a lovely bit of business in midfield as Nani dribbled into the box, located Cleverley and he set the table for Rooney to smash another unstoppable shot that somehow hit the post.

Then:, out of nowhere, darkness on the 42 minut mark as, just when Rooney was taking a corner, there was a brownout. After a tedious, cold ten minutes, the teams played out the game’s last four minutes before trooping off the field for a second time.

United carried on dominating possession in the second half, but with Carrick and Cleverley repeatedly unable to bolster up action through the middle, the Gaffer forced a tactical change on Fulham’s defense when Chicharito Hernandez replaced Valencia and Rooney took over the left flank in front of Patrice Evra. Yet, just as United looked to be at both their most casual and comfortable, Fulham squandered a couple of fine opportunities as Ashkan Dejagahteed set up Sascha Riether for a low drive, which De Gea did well to save before a brilliant flying Rafael leapt to deflect Ruiz’s header off the line.

Finally, in the 79th minute, Fulham’s slow-footed Philippe Senderos overran a long Evra pass. Then came Rooney’s moment: a clearance by Patrice Evra was misjudged by Senderos, allowing an unmarked Rooney tons of space to hoover the ball up on his left side and shift on the fly to his right, before coolly slipping the ball past a an oncoming Mark Schwartzer.

The one goal, proved to be just enough to suffice for United. Having kept a clean she without any slight sign of nervousness, David De Gea’s ownership of the goal keeping position looks to be back on track. With an in-form Wayne Rooney crackling like bacon in a cast-iron frying pan, England’s international team ought to give Brazil a run for the money on Wednesday.

The Blame Game!

Posted by Ivor Irwin on January 21, 2013 at 6:58 pm Blogs/Media, England, From the GFT Blogs, Global Football Today, Manchester United, Tottenham

Jan 212013

Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Manchester United
The secret, they said, was to contain Gareth Bale and Moussa Dembele. Sounded good. Contain those two, every so-called pundit and expert insisted and, just like always, you’ve got the same old weak-willed bunch of North London sob sisters. What every one hadn’t counted on, however, distracted by the obnoxious desire for attention of the club’s abrasive, street hustler/ Spiv Chairman Daniel Levy. is that the club has finally hired a brilliant , worthy manager in Andres Villas-Boas.

Late in the game, with an exhausted Manchester United team no longer able to control the match’s tempo, Sir Alex Ferguson gambled on playing rope-a-dope from the 80th minute on. Knowing exactly what Dembele and Bale do is intellectually do is one thing, dealing with it in practice is something else again. Left to his own devices, Aaron Lennon is the most predictable overrated winger in the Premier League. Carefully marked, he has been little but an ooh-ah distraction against the likes of Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers for years. One on one in a foot race with the stubborn Peter-Panish Patrice Evra, Lennon got his own bit of pay back for at least seven seasons of getting his head handed to him, by rubbing the faded French left back’s nose in a giant pile of poo for final thirteen minutes. Revenge, in the case of Aaron Lennon, is sweetest when served dim-witted and cold!

Despite the onset of early senility in many athletes, however, Evra at the age of 31, has finally been gobsmacked by the vicissitudes of time and fate. As the French say, “?Cette fille sexy et jeune est maintenant une grosse, négligée femme au foyer!” A team-player of the first order, a hard worker, and a real gentleman, Paddy is much loved by the fans, the Gaffer and most of his United teammates. Unfortunately, although he still succeeds with many aspects of his attacking game, including his admirable leapimg ability for corners, his legs have gone. When you can no longer run with a player who has no more to his game than speed, sudden stops, and step-overs, the end is no nigh. The prospect of Paddy facing the combined switcheroo antics of Angel DiMaria, Mesut Ozil and CR7 against Real Madrid has me reaching for my trusty bottle of Johnny Walker Black!

Consequently, United exposed themselves to the cruelty of a late late dagger into its tubercular defensive underbelly, when United’s thus-far heroic goalie, a partially blocked David De Gea weakly punched a cross towards Lennon and Evra. The speedy little Yorkshire pocket-rocket simply had to skip around the knackered veteran before tapping the ball into Clint Dempsey’s path. Poor De Gea, awesome all afternoon, was totally exposed as the whole back line, petrified of Gareth Bale, shifting right with the Welshman and the one who likes to have himself called ‘The Texacutioner,’ despite being utterly, toothless throughout the rest of the match was there on the spot to spare his club defeat and destroy United’s seven point lead over the Abu Dhabian rent boys of Manchester City.

In spite of the incompetence of Chris Foyle, United should have been leading by three or four goals, so dominant and brilliant was their counterattacking play. Unfortunately, chance after chance was squandered. For me, however, despite the dreadful ineptitude of Evra, this was the best team performance by Manchester united this season. If the team’s major weakness on the left flank can be solved, however, the big picture is much improved for the club.

Of course, the obvious will hold true if you look at Spurs’ statistics,. The north Londoners controlled possession for close to 60% of their home match, but their finishing was so repeatedly, inexcusably dreadful that United always looked the more likely to get a second goal throughout. With David De Gea pulling off three fantastic saves from Defoe, Bale and Lennon (and Emanuel Adebayor off playing for Togo in South Africa), striker Jermain Defoe simply never seemed truly up to the task against Rio Ferdinand. After what was probably his worst display ever in a United shirt in the 3-2 loss to Tottenham at Old Trafford in September, the Peckham Kid has learned to keep his perimeter tight of late and the proximity of a fit Nemanja Vidic didn’t hurt, either. The way Ferdinand has adjusted to doing less better of late ought to have been both a lesson and a warning to Patrice Evra, but the Frenchman has not yet adjusted to the cruelties of time.

And just how good is Robin van Persie? RVP’s 22nd goal of the season midway through the first half was a little bit of burglary out of Mission Impossible. After Kagawa picked the ball up in midfield, he pushed it into Carrick’s path. Carrick hit an exquisite Pirloesque cherry to Danny Welbeck on his left and the young Manc striker cut inside, seeming to dither a moment about taking a shot before cleverly locating Cleverley. Just how Cleverley’s cross was found by the flying Dutchman, who was double-marked by both Dawson and Caulker, managed to get to the ball is a miracle us mortals can only contemplate upon. Once the cross reached Van Persie there was an inevitability about where it would finish. Shrugging the Spurs center backs aside, Van Persie headed the ball home. Wow! He now has 10 goals in his last 10 league matches.

Just how well both teams performed is the snow is to their credit as professionals. The pitch was only passed fit for play an hour before kickoff. Two of the more amusing sights on the sidelines were Spurs’ boss Andres Villas Boas, swathed in blankets, attempting to remain warm and still and Sir Alex Ferguson, so absorbed in the game’s second half, that he didn’t notice his woolly club tam was then wrong way round on his head.

In the cruel postmortem which has followed this match, the Bury accent of Gary Neville has communicated itself loud and clear. The tying goal is the fault of an eccentrically passive/aggressive David De Gea, he insists in all of his pundit gigs for television and radio. His opinion does indeed count for something and he’s gone out of his way to show how the ‘body language’ of Vidic and Welbeck after the equalizing goal was scored showed ‘anger’ at the Spanish custodian. At the same time, another teammate, Javíer Hernandez, has been Twittering that he and other teammates beg to differ. Coupled with Rumor Mill-mongering from the usual pool of hacks who make their bread and butter out of conjecture, the repeated word is that the Gaffer has fallen out of love with the young goalie. This is inevitably bound to become a self-fulfilling prophecy; and, ultimately, perhaps one which will be best for all concerned, if a more seasoned veteran is signed. Mark my words, however, David De Gea will eventually be a superstar! Such is life lived in the goldfish bowl of playing for Manchester United and the need to be in the good graces of a London=biassed, barracuda-like press.

*”That sexy young girl is now a fat sedentary housewife!”

United Draw & Start A Blame Game!

Posted by Ivor Irwin on January 21, 2013 at 6:04 pm European Champions League

Jan 212013

Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Manchester United
The secret, they say, is to contain Gareth Bale and Moussa Dembele. Sounds good. Contain those two, every so-called pundit and expert insists and you’ve got the same old weak-willed bunch of North London sob sisters. What every one hadn’t counted on, however, distracted by the obnoxious desire for attention of the club’s Mephistophilean Spiv Chairman Daniel Levy. is that the club has finally hired a brilliant manager in Andres Villas-Boas. Late in the game, with an exhausted Manchester United team no longer able to control the match’s tempo, Sir Alex Ferguson gambled on playing rope-a-dope from the 80th minute on. Knowing exactly what Dembele and Bale do is intellectually do is one thing, dealing with it in practice is something else again. Left to his own devices, Aaron Lennon is the most predictable overrated winger in the Premier League. Carefully marked, he has been little but an ooh-ah distraction against the likes of Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers for years. One on one in a foot race with the stubborn Peter-Panish Patrice Evra, Lennon got his own bit of pay back for at least seven seasons of getting his head handed to him, by rubbing the faded French left back’s nose in a giant pile of poo for final thirteen minutes.

For those who appreciate footie ironies, both started playing in the Premier League in January 2006. Lennon, eighteen at the time, one of Levy’s usurious bargain purchases from the diseased bankrupt body of Leeds United and Evra from Monaco as a replacement at left back for the brilliant, but constantly injured Gabriel Heinze. In combat for six seasons, it was never any contest. The contest for fastest but least brightest between Jermaine Jenas, Jerome Thomas, Aaron Lennon, Matty Etherington, Ashley Young. Theo Walcott and Lennon was always won by the spring-heeled latter. Despite the onset of early senility in many athletes, however, Evra at the age of 31, has finally been gobsmacked by the vicissitudes of time and fate. As the French say, “Cette fille sexy et jeune est maintenant une grosse, négligée femme au foyer!” *A team-player of the first order, a hard worker, and a real gentleman, Paddy is much loved by the fans, the Gaffer and most of his teammates. Unfortunately, although he still succeeds with many aspects of his attacking game, including his admirable leapimg ability for corners, his legs have gone. When you can no longer run with a player who has no more to his game than speed and step-overs, the end is no nigh. The prospect of him facing the combined switcheroo antics of Angel DiMaria, Mesut Ozil and CR7 has me reaching for my trusty bottle of Johnny Walker Black.

Consequently, United exposed themselves to the cruelty of a late late dagger into its tubercular defensive underbelly, when United’s thus-far heroic goalie, a partially blocked David De Gea weakly punched a cross towards Lennon and Evra. The speedy little Yorkshire pocket rocket, simply had to skip around the knackered veteran before tapping the ball into Clint Dempsey’s path. Poor David De Gea, awesome all afternoon, was totally exposed as the whole back line, petrified of Gareth Bale shifted right with the Welshman and the ‘Texacutioner,’ despite being utterly, toothless throughout the rest of the match was there on the spot to spare his club defeat and destroy United’s seven point lead over the Abu Dhabian rent boys of Manchester City.

Sir Alex Ferguson may have barked at the officials and the press about the dreadful refereeing of Chris Foy and his awful assistant Simon Beck, but it just seemed to be more of the same of what the fiery old Scot. always does after tight draws and losses. Doubtless United did deserve the penalty call they did not get when Steven Caulker blatantly upended Wayne Rooney to the turf in the penalty box in the 61st minute. The truth is, however, that despite often being surprisingly imperious in midfield and deserving a one goal lead from a superb Robin Van Persie effort in the 25th minute, United just did not take advantage of the scores of counterattacking breaks they had in both halves. In spite of the incompetence of Chris Foyle, United should have been leading by three or four goals, so dominant and brilliant was their counterattacking play. Unfortunately, chance after chance was squandered. For me, however, despite the dreadful ineptitude of Evra, this was the best team performance by Manchester united this season. If the team’s major weakness on the left flank can be solved, however, the big picture is much improved for the club.

Of course, the obvious will hold true if you look at Spurs’ statistics,. The north Londoners controlled possession for close to 60% of their home match, but their finishing was so repeatedly, inexcusably dreadful United always looked the more likely to get a second throughout. With David De Gea pulling off three fantastic saves from Defoe, Bale and Lennon, and Emanuel Adebayor off playing for Togo in South Africa, striker Jermain Defoe simply never seemed truly up to the task against Rio Ferdinand. After what was probably his worst display ever in a United shirt in the 3-2 loss to Tottenham at Old Trafford in September, the Peckham Kid has learned to keep his perimeter tight of late and the proximity of a fit Nemanja Vidic didn’t hurt, either. The way Ferdinand has adjusted to doing less better of late ought to have been both a lesson and a warning to Patrice Evra, but the Frenchman has not yet adjusted to the cruelties of time.

For one of the few times this season, United played truly well for 80 minutes and were always dangerous. Danny Welbeck, although not much of a scoring threat these days, was a worker bee throughout, and, along with the twinkle-toed Shinji Kagawa, who was in his element in a winger-less midfield next to a frolicsome Tom Cleverley and a marvelous Michael Carrick who, although he always plays well against his old club, seems to be at a career high level of confidence.
And just how good is Robin van Persie? RVP’s 22nd goal of the season midway through the first half was a little bit of burglary out of Mission Impossible. After Kagawa picked the ball up in midfield, he pushed it to Carrick’s path. Carrick hit an exquisite cherry to Danny Welbeck on his left and the young Manc striker cut inside, seemed to dither a moment about taking a shot, before cleverly locating Cleverley. Just how Cleverley’s cross was found by the flying Dutchman, who was double marked by both Dawson and Caulker, managed to get to the ball is a miracle us mortals can contemplate upon. Once the cross reached Van Persie there was an inevitability about where it would finish. Shrugging the Spurs center backs aside, Van Persie headed the ball home. He now has 10 goals in his last 10 league matches.

Meanwhile, after the inevitable post-mortem on the match. Super Gary Neville

*That sexy young girl is now a fat housewife!”

Rooney’s Rough Return

Posted by Ivor Irwin on January 18, 2013 at 12:20 pm England, F.A. Cup

Jan 182013

Manchester United 1 -0 West Ham United
Football is funny game. Rife with ironies and sometimes implausible behavior from many of it’s millionaire performers. Who would have gone out on a bitterly cold Wednesday night in Salford if they’d have known they’d get fifteen minutes of superb, speedy hell-for-leather football followed by 78 minutes of utter drudgery? Still, it was surely nice for Sir Alex Ferguson to win get a second clean sheet in a row. Kudos for United’s back four, especially as they have been the subject of so much scorn and derision this season, especially when Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have been missing in action. United’s back four–Rafael, Büttner, Jones and Smalling–got a little awkward and panicky every now and again, but acquitted themselves more or less well.

It was a particularly strange night for Wayne Rooney. Having recently suffered a knee problem and then the terrible loss of his wife’s Colleen’s sickly younger sister, Rose, Wazza did not seem to have his head fully screwed on. His ninth minute goal may have been all United actually needed, but he also skied a 79th minute penalty into the Stretford End. It was Rooney’s fourth penalty miss this season and the Gaffer was visibly apoplectic, still angry enough at the post-match press conference to dwell upon it at length. Still, although Robin Van Persie is the likeliest player to take over penalty-taking duties, the old warrior clearly misses having Dennis Irwin oe even Ruud Van Nistelrooy to rely upon. My Aunty Joan has already sent her email messages out to the appropriate authorities insisting that Anderson be given the dirty job. It’s actually a good idea, if the lad is fit enough to play.

The Red Devils were dead jammy for certain, although West Ham threatened a lot in the second half, but always seemed too anemic up front and even Rooney’s spot-kick miss went for naught. With a fourth round cup tie looming against Fulham, even a striker as shiftless and stupor-bound as the one-and-only Dimitar Berbatov will surely be yearning to show something special to his old colleagues. Never in my memory have United been the beneficiaries of both pure luck and equally dreadful defenses throughout their division. A quick holiday frolic in bankrupt Spain might be nice, but, if the Gaffer can’t get his boys a dose of sunshine, Mike Phelan standing by with some oxygen and a mask might have to suffice.

Rooney’s ninth goal of the season came in the ninth minute as Anderson, yet another player back from injury, fired a perfect left-footed seeing-eye laser pass, splitting the complete Hammers defense as if it were a rotten apple. Perfectly placed to Javíer Hernandez, the ball was hoovered up by the Mexican striker. Caught at a questionable angle, Chicharito took one deft touch before tapping the ball into the six yard box where Rooney hared in, sliding forward at exactly the perfect moment to push the ball home off his studs past goalkeeper Jussi Jaskalainen.

United sparkled for another five minutes or so, but then the blown bubbles West Ham fans like to sing about abandoned the champagne. West Ham were utterly lackluster and poor Anders Lindegaard, back after more than two months on the sidelines, had nothing to do whatsoever between the sticks. Although United were definitely the dominant force on the pitch, only Nani truly came close to scoring when West Ham’s newly-blooded right back, Daniel Potts, blocked a beautiful rocket from Nani. after it beat Jaskalainen. The Finnish goalkeeper did do a little better just before the whistle, however,when he made a clean save of another Rooney pile driver.

Just how bad the second half was going to be became obvious almost instantaneously. When Chicharito stole the ball from Alou Diarra in the middle of the box, all he had to do was tap it past Jaskalainen. Instead he blasted a sitter over the bar.

Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce’s relentless caterwauling from the sidelines started to take effect at around the hour mark. Like a man waking from a coma, Ricardo Vaz Té, for four seasons the greatest thing that almost happened at both Bolton Wanderers and West Ham, started to dribble like the proximity of the Welsh wizard, Ryan Giggs, was a call to magic. And with both Alexander Büttner and Rafael Da Silva trying to shore up the mediocre runs into empty space on the flanks by a mediocre Nani and a distracted-looking Antonio Valencía, the Portuguese forward was free as a hummingbird to flit and flicker about. None of it came to much, although a loose ball he failed to control around eight yards out accidentally touched the arm of Rafael Da Silva. It surely gave the crowd a scare and had Allardyce close to an apoplectic fit, but it was never on for the referee Phil Dowd to call it a deliberate handball. Minutes later, when Phil Jones botched a pass, an advancing Matt Taylor scooped it up but failed to pass to a lonely Carlton Cole as he waited in vain, unmarked at the far post.

Rooney then made a bollix royale of a penalty United were extremely fortunate to receive when a clumsy Jordan Spence handled a Ryan Giggs cross. Subsequently, Rooney botched his task, but, in all my years of observing Ferguson going about his business, I have never before seen him react with such unfiltered anger at one of his own players as in that moment. At any rate, despite United seeming to be collectively tired out and bereft of all ideas, Ferguson did not succumb to what must have been temptation to bring on Robin Van Persie to sharpen his attack and West Ham just did not seem to own the will or moxy to press the Red Devils’.

Clearly, every game from now on is an important one if United hope to stand any chance of winning a fantasy treble. Getting some get back against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane is a tall order, but not impossible. Sussing Wayne Rooney’s state of mind before this big big game will be a challenge for the fiery old Scot.

Carrick Has a Career-Day at the Expense of the Scousers!

Posted by Ivor Irwin on January 14, 2013 at 4:05 pm England, EPL, European Champions League, Liverpool, Manchester United

Jan 142013

Manchester United 2 -1 Liverpool
Victors by the hairs of their chinny-chin-chins, Manchester United kept their fans hanging on and praying to the football Gods until the very last second of injury-time on the watch of football’s real King of Showbiz, referee Howard Webb. Nevertheless, at the end of the match, United had retained their ten point lead over champions Manchester City and 24 points over their savage Scouser nemeses Liverpool F.C. Goals from Robin van Persie and Nemanja Vidic proved just enough to keep the advantage after a fight back over the game’s last thirty minutes led by their brand-new striker, substitute Daniel Sturridge.

Yet despite decades of rancor, gamesmanship and flying handbags between both teams players and supporters, the two managers, Sir Alex Ferguson and Brendan Rodgers kept their troops on a short leash. Indeed, the red Scousers were shockingly passive throughout a first half as United pressed them tight in midfield and Michael Carrick, freed up by the clever running bursts of both Tom Cleverley and Shinji Kagawa, waited patiently for passing lanes to open up. Then, nineteen minutes in, with the ball buzzing around Liverpool’s box, Carrick, Kagawa, an energetic Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley, threw together a flowing sequence of one-touch passes before feeding a flying Patrice Evra as he moved at express speed down the lane between the throw-in line and the penalty box, keeping his usual low sense of gravity before firing a low Bangalore-style cross that the predatorial assassin, Robin Van Persie, seized on before giving Daniel Agger the slip and shooting past goalie José Reina.

A flat Liverpool’s response was to barely hang in there. Minutes on, Cleverley was desperately unlucky not to double the lead with a a superb left-footed volley as he picked off a soft spinning header from Joe Allen and was centimeters away from the net. And, later, just before the half time whistle, young Rafael Da Silva dummied Glen Johnson before picking up a pass from Carrick. The little Brazilian tripped, but kept on his feet before passing to Van Persie. The Dutch striker, ever alert as always, had the presence of mind to back heel past Reina. A brilliant block by Martin Skrtel saved the Scousers and then a brave dive from Pepé Reína saved Kagawa’s stinging rebound.

For the second half, Brendan Rodgers added Sturridge to aid a lonely Luis Suárez. Yet, despite Liverpool’s improvement up front, United drew first blood in the 55th minute as Nemanja Vidic headed home yet another beautiful Robin Van Persie free kick after a Skrtel foul floated up to the high-flying Patrice Evra, whose header was touched further toward goal by Vidic as each flirted with the margins of being offside.

Four minutes later, though, there was a game-changer moment as Liverpool’s skipper Steven Gerrard picked off a weak pass by Cleverley, and a flying David De Gea made his first save of the match. All reflex, De Gea could only parry the ball away, and Sturridge was on the spot to speed past a flat-footed Rafael and fire home his second Liverpool goal in two appearances since his £12m transfer from Chelsea.

From then on, United fell into a state that verged on the cusp of panic. Meanwhile, it was impossible not to notice a hooded Jose Mourinho animatedly making notes as the tired pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand labored to contain the slippery Luís Suarez. Yet, with the the diligent, but often awkward Danny Welbeck pulled back to support the ebbing center back pairing, the biggest worry was that of anyone in defense committing a stupid foul to the Machiavellian Uruguayan Liverpool striker. Indeed, outside the relentless threat offered by Robin van Persie in Liverpool’s penalty area, Mourinho surely drew lines under the names of Shinji Kagawa, quick-footed and impressive with a very deft touch getting better and better at making connections with Cleverley and the more delicate leadership of Michael Carrick. Yet, just as impressive as United’s central core was behind Van Persie, the Real Madrid manager will have noticed how weak and vulnerable a slowed-down Patrice Evra will be to the shifting flank wizardry of Angel Di Maria and CR7. It doesn’t require the help of a soothsayer to predict that Ronaldo will hone in on Paddy’s weakness like a school yard bully. Although Rafael and Evra played well against Liverpool’s wingers, Raheem Sterling and Stewart Downing, they are about to have their plates overflowing from competition with Spurs’ Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale as an appetizer before the fun games begin in Madrid with DiMaria and Ronaldo.

Despite the danger from Sturridge and Suarez, Liverpool remained more or less toothless and United deserved their win. There is no substitute for hard work and preparation. Sir Alex Ferguson did his homework on this one, getting his first half tactics dead right. Indeed, although our goalkeeper was savagely criticized by the usual crop of Haters after the match for fisting the ball into the opposition’s path before Sturridge took a goal back, I thought the young man–with so little to do throughout the match–kept his concentration well and needs to emphasize being in psychological tune with his fellow defenders. It’s called communication! I don’t want to talk too much about Carrick, who was brilliant on the day. This was the position he used to play in for West Ham United and Spurs. He is not a natural defensive midfielder!

Finally, there are the injuries. Jonny Evans seems to have hurt his right knee during pre-match warm-ups. Ashley Young got on the team bus wearing crutches and Nemanja Vidic did not look happy about his hamstring before being taken off for Chris Smalling.. With Wednesday’s looming F.A.. Cup replay fixture at Old Trafford against West Ham, United look like they won’t be getting any respite for weeks to come.

Roberto! Roberto! Why the Long Face?

Posted by Ivor Irwin on January 2, 2013 at 2:27 pm England, EPL, From the GFT Blogs, Manchester United, Wigan

Jan 022013

Wigan Athletic 0-4 Manchester United
“Doesn’t ‘e look like somebody stuck ‘is ‘ead in a vice?” My Aunty Joan said on the phone as she made her happy way out of the Warwick Road side of Old Trafford among friends.
Well, he did, didn’t he? Poor Roberto Martínez has got one of those long Patagonian faces that could well have been damaged by abusive parents early on; but, on the day, I’ll wager he was just plain miserable. Manchester United handled a tired-looking Wigan Athletic side with an assured, clever display such as fans haven’t seen since the double season of 2007-2008. More than equal to the task in the first half of the first half, the Latics, definitely United’s equal in central midfield, seemed to genuinely have the stuffing knocked out of them by Javíer Hernandez’s first goal in the 35th minute. Toothless up front, Wigan had nothing to offer once they managed to make it past United’s forty yard line. Ironically, their upcoming loaner of United’s brand-new Chilean teenage goal scoring wonder boy, Angel Henríquez, may be exactly what the doctor ordered to get their manager, the long-faced Roberto Martínez’s Jekyll & Hyde team over the relegation hump for the rest of the season.

Sir Alex Ferguson is surely ecstatic to see his team keep things at the back tight for two games in a row; not bad, although a run of clean sheets over the rest of the campaign is the true objective. It was a very good sign to see center back Jonny Evans, ploddingly clueless and repeatedly and ridiculously caught out of position so often, getting it right. Well, along with the ineptitude of Wigan’s Franco Di Santo. To see Evans and goalkeeper David De Gea screaming at one another–and sometimes geed up from a distance by barks from the old warrior Rio Ferdinand –was wonderful. How and why it’s taken so long to deal with something so obvious makes me ponder the observational nous of United’s goal keeping coach Eric Steele and Fergie’s coaching Frick & Frack, Mike Phelan and René Meulensteen.

United were slow to get going. Like an engine needing a light tune-up, United’s deadly duo for the day of Hernández and Van Persie each managed to botch a few beautiful setups, particularly from Ashley Young, who seemed to genuinely revel in the absence of Valencia and his more direct rival Nani. After being caught painfully offside three times and squandering a handful of half-chances, Chicharito’s ruthless acumen could not be denied. His first was an atypical beauty. With Wigan’s goalie Ali Al-Habsi already a complete nervous wreck at the behest of the relentless threat from the flanks of Young and Giggs, the Mexican striker was waiting like a blood-sniffing vampire as the Omani weakly parried a Patrice Evra shot, all coiled, cocked and ready to fire the opener home, he pounced on the chance gratefully , making no mistake, side footing it home.

Then, with Wigan suddenly holding on desperately two minutes before the half time whistle, Robin Van Persie hoovered up a beautiful pass from Hernández. What followed was a moment of pure elegance as the brilliant Dutchman switched the ball seamlessly to his right foot, fooling defender Iván Ramis who was completely committed to the striker’s left, delaying execution for a frozen moment as the whole Latics back line followed Ramis to the left before firing a curver inside the post to make it 2-0. Truly a thing of beauty. A great great goal!

More relaxed in the second half, United’s third goal came about as a nervous Wigan defense panicked, expecting a left-footed curver of a free kick from Van Persie, a short free-kick from Giggs was played into Van Persie’s path. His shot hit the wall. The ball then took an awkward bounce to Hernández, who pivoted brilliantly on his left toe before firing home on the turn with his right instep to make it 3-0 in the 63rd minute.

United may have yawned their casual way through the rest of the match, but you always felt they were good for one more goal and it came in the 88th minute when striker substitute Danny Welbeck, on for a tired Ashley Young, slalomed his way through Wigan’s tired back line in the box before turning a sweet tee-up into Van Persie’s path from the right. Just six yards out, Van Persie brutally slammed home a final ruthless dagger to bring his total for the season thus far to seventeen.
Having won eight out of their last nine league matches, the Red Devils maintained their grip on top spot in the table still seven points ahead of Manchester City at the end of a challenging Christmas schedule. A super way for manager Sir Alex Ferguson to celebrate reaching the grand old age of 71 on New Year’s Eve.

Fred Karno Lives!

Posted by Ivor Irwin on December 28, 2012 at 12:21 pm England, EPL, European Champions League, Manchester United, Newcastle United

Dec 282012

“Fred Karno’s? It was a circus that came around. A working class circus in the Twenties. Any situation that’s vaguely out of control, innit? Any situation which is daft in Manchester.”——–Joan Louiza
Manchester United 3-2 Newcastle United
Yet another comedy of errors at Old Trafford. Having been unable to score against a dogged Swansea city defense last week, fans clearly went into this one worried that United’s defensive back line, who have been playing in an inexplicably bizarre manner that brings together both a nonchalant meekness and a stultifying arrogance, would once again be rescued by its fantastic forward line, which surely couldn’t hiccup in front of goal for more than one game in a row. Over an angina-inducing afternoon of thrills and reverses, during a dog-eat-dog match played in the torrential rain on a soggy pitch, the whole thing came down to a last minute flash of 90th minute brilliance, as Javíer ‘Chicharito’ Hernández, who had squandered at least eight good opportunities from setups of varying degrees of quality, slid in brilliantly to connect with a perfect Michael Carrick pass and fire it past a flailing Tim Krul into the Newcastle net. An emotional moment for fans indeed, but one that had United’s usually reserved and semidetached manager Sir Alex Ferguson so pumped up that he jumped into the open arms of his joyful assistant Mike Phelan to celebrate.

Another goofy aspect of this comedy of errors was the eccentric behavior of the game’s referee Mike Dean. The whistle-happy Dean seemed to be in his element. Inconsistent throughout, turning a blind eye to a number of blatant tackles while penalizing far more ticky-tacky bits of gamesmanship, Dean may have been petty, but he was also absolutely unbiased. His worse bit of meddlesome interference, however, involved his wishy-washy reaction to Newcastle’s second goal when an arguably offside Demba Ba tussled with Jonny Evans, who accidentally pushed the ball into his own goal with the Senegalese striker bearing down on him. Having called the goal offside initially, Dean discussed the matter with two assistants before overruling himself. Additionally, there was a long drawn out unnecessary piece of drama late in the game involving Rio Ferdinand, Fabio Coloccini and Newcastle’s assistant John Carver, which United’s captain Patrice Evra seemed to need to solve while Dean stood explaining himself ad infinitum to the four as if he were a celebrity judge in a talent contest.

With Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck all incapacitated for United and the Magpies’ star midfield of Yohan Cabaye, Jason Guttíerez and Cheik Tioté all out, too, both sides’ benches were bound to be tested.

Just four minute in, a long clumsy attempt at a crossfield pass by Hernández went in the direction of Michael Carrick, who overran the ball, allowing Demba Ba to pick it up. Ba’s shot was easily saved by David De Gea, although for some reason the young Spanish goalkeeper forgot his fundamentals, palming it forward instead of gathering it up or punching the ball sideways. The ball then bounced straight back into the path of a marauding James Perch, who proceeded to hammer home his first ever Premier League goal.

In the 26th minute United equalized as a Robin van Persie free-kick swung in from the right. It was then headed on softly by Ryan Giggs. A panicked Newcastle defense then failed to clear the bobbling ball, before Tim Krul made a hash of gathering up Hernández’s close range shot and Evans threw his body into the six yard boss to force the loose ball in.

Two minutes later, the slapstick was ratcheted up as a Danny Simpson cross was turned in by a panicked Evans as a big Papiss Cisse bore down on him. While the Belfast boy clasped his head in despair, clearly not thinking anything about an offside call, across the field, the referee’s assistant James Collin had raised his flag, doubtless thinking that the last touch of the ball was from an offside Papiss Cissé. Then Dean, surrounded while being verbally harangued by Newcastle players, consulted his assistants and changed his mind to allow the goal after all.

When it was time for the second half, United were first out, playing grinning keepy-uppies as the rain still fell and a furious, ruddy-jowled Sir Alex Ferguson argued animatedly with Dean, Collin, and the fourth official, Neil Swarbrick, still obsessing over Evans’ own goal. When the game finally did begin again, Newcastle seemed slightly deflated when, in the 58th minute, a Van Persie volley was only lightly blocked by Mike Williamson. The ball bounced to Evra–who has a history of blasting the ball wide in such situations–but the Frenchman, possibly having his worst single defensive performance ever in a United kit–fired a perfect left-footed daisy-cutter home to beat Krul and make the score 2-2.

Ten minutes later, as United abandoned all joke attempts at defending null and void for good, they were sucker-punched royally yet again. This time, Gabriel Obertan–formerly hip-hop partner in anarchy with Ravel Morrison and Bebe in United’s bench riding squad–on as a second-half replacement for the Magpies, sprinted down the left wing completely unopposed before gently passing into United’s box for no one in particular. Unattended by Carrick, Evans or Ferdinand–who may well have been discussing their Christmas presents or the new Tarantino movie–Papiss Cissé, free as a bird, took three quick steps before hammering home a left-footed thunderbolt past David De Gea. At that moment, with the Geordie team leading 3-2, the rain temporarily slacked off and the Stretford End faithful sang “You don’t know what you’re doing!” although I’m genuinely not sure who their singing was directed at.

But all that Geordie passion and bravery only remained in ascendence for three thin minutes as an Antonio Valencia pass from the right was dead on the money to Robin Van Persie. Van Persie–who had been United’s Mr. Everything on a night on which everyone was convinced Wayne Rooney would surely be missed, was brilliant, making scores of superb slide rule-passes and repeatedly firing in dangerous, accurate free kicks and corners–had a thumping shot saved by Krul, before collecting the rebound and this time converting to force the score to 3-3.

Seconds later, a Sammy Amoebi shot rebounded off the post into De Gea’s arms. Yet, with ten minutes to go, there were Rio Ferdinand, substitute Nemanja Vidic and temporary right back Chris Smalling all marauding upfield. With baited breath, sensing the kill was coming from one side or the other, United fans breathed a sigh of relief as both Ameobi brothers made a successive hash out of runs down the wing.

The final coup-de-grace, however, came out of an inocuous throw in from Evra to Carrick. when Anita missed making a connection to James Perch, Carrick was in there. Striding forward, the Newcastle-born midfielder let fly with as good a quality slide-rule pass as he’ll ever make. Right into the path of a sprinting Chicharito, who slid into the ball exquisitely, forcing it into the net for the winner.

With Ferguson going nuts on the sidelines, the crowd singing and the clock ticking down, the whistle blew accompanied by a last bit of drama as Vernon Anita made a meal out of a hard. late tackle bestowed upon on him by an unbelievably amped-up Antonio Valencia. Yet, as Anita was being taken off on a stretcher, he rose miraculously and, set down by the bewildered emergency workers, was energetic enough to run and confront a deliriously happy Patrice Evra in mid celebration. It was as crazy a professional football match aas I have ever witnessed and surely, somewhere out there, the ghost of Fred Karno was grinning.
Thanks to the miracle of my trusty Blackberry–the Hummer of cell phones–I was connected to my beloved Aunty Joan as she was attempting to make her exit from the stadium. It had, she informed me, finally quit raining simultaneous to the blowing of the final whistle.

“Craziest game ever,” I said.

“Fred Karno’s got nothing on this!” she said. “I am an elderly woman and I believe they are out to kill me.”

Van Persie Shows Us Why

Posted by Ivor Irwin on December 18, 2012 at 2:58 pm European Champions League

Dec 182012

M a n c h e s t e r U n i t e d 3-1 S u n d e r l a n d

The expensive purchase of Robin Van Persie by Sir Alex Ferguson has been fodder for the pundits for close to six months now. The very idea that United invested 30 millions pounds plus on a player theoretically at the tail end of his prime, not to mention owning a predilection for niggling injuries, was a shock to the system for not only for his cheap, greed-riven old club Arsenal, the media in general, yours truly in particular and millions of United fans throughout the world. Indeed, for the first couple of months I was still in a sort of shocked coma at the very sight of RVP in a United kit. Now I say, How brilliant? What a coup! The very fact that Robin was offered more and ‘better’ deals by the likes of Anzi, Juventus and our hometown nemeses, Manchester City, renders his success all the sweeter. Better yet, for all the nay sayers who insisted that, although he is indeed brilliant, the Dutchman is too self-absorbed a performer to cooperate with an equal force of nature in Wayne Rooney: You are wrong! Thus, not only is Robin Van Persie a brilliant footballer and a shining star of the first order, he is a creature of destiny! He wanted to play for Manchester United! Unlike that greedy little cocaine-snorting comet, Ronaldinho, or Paul Gascoigne, or Alan Shearer, or, lately. Lucas Moura or Eden Hazzard, not to mention the vast inflated ego-driven departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham, football is rarely a sport where there is a true meeting of minds. This late-bloomimg love affair between Sir Alex Ferguson and Robin Van Persie, however, is a thing of beauty and, perhaps–only time will tell–destiny! . This meeting of mind and body between a player in his late prime and a manager on the cusp of old age is absolutely the football story of the year, it seems to me.

Having already scored fifteen goals of his own this season, Van Persie set up the third for Rooney with yet another flash of brilliance on a day when he was transcendant. Indeed, Rooney and Van Persie were both brilliant to the point of untouchability for most of the match. So brilliant, if the truth be told, that two of the best young strikers in the world, Javíer Hernandez and Danny Welbeck sit stewing on the bench. As Sunderland’s overwhelmed manager Martin O’Neill put it: “The two of them are linking up and keeping some excellent players out of the team. No matter how many times you think you’ve covered the space. These players can do something with the ball.”

Not that it was all Van Persie. A much energized Ashley Young seems more comfortable with his ability to make diagonal runs into the box since the well publicized demise of Nani. Well supplied by the eternally tackle-shy Michael Carrick, who much enjoyed the protection offered him by the proximity of Wayne Rooney, United truly glittered for much of the first half. The first dagger to wound the Mackems waset up by a Young run at a blistering pace past a floundering Cuellar, before jinking inside Sebastian Larsson and snaking a cross into the box. With the ball deflecting off the leg of a stretching Johnny O’Shea, Van Persie stepped in to trap the spinning ball and then smash home high past the long reach of a flying Simone Mignolet. This goal was the 1500th scored at Old Trafford under manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Yet another landmark in a glittering career.

Three minutes later, a second goal had a misbegotten Mignolet flailing once again. as a tiny Tom Cleverly, all snake hips and tiptoed balance, was in the box to scoop up a long Carrick pass. Right on the penalty spot, Cleverly leaned low before curling the ball home..

Van Persie was the magician who created the third exquisite goal in the 59th minute. It was made out of nothing. Ashley Young had fired a pass too hard in his direction and the winger had manfully waved a hand in supplication as an apology. But with both Titus Bramble and Carlos Cuellar waiting to see which way the miscreant pass went, the Dutchman was already off to the races. RVP zipped in between them both, hoovered up the ball, took two diagonal steps and slid a soft shoe toward Wayne Rooney who, having sprinted twenty-odd yards was there to tap home his fifth of the season. About as deliriously happy as he’s ever been on the field, lurking one moment next to Michael Carrick and the next in tandem with Van Persie, Rooney exhibits true signs of an effortless grace heretofore unknown.

United mostly called it a day in the second half. Yet, Sunderland, relentlessly driven from the touchline by Martin O’Neil, kept trying. Indeed, early on, James McLean might well have scored after nicking the ball from a lead-footed Rio Ferdinand, but could only shoot straight at an underemployed David De Gea. Later, Evra headed a vicious Stephane Sessegnon shot over the bar. With the Mackems’ looking well worn down. United’s club captain, Nemanja Vidic,made his return in the 57th minute. After three months on the sidelines with a knee injury, it was good to see the Serb’s smilimg face. And only three minutes later, Sunderland got one back as United old-boy Frazier Campbell jumped high at the back post to head home a fine Sessegnon cross from the left.

All in all, it was a fine effort by United. Still,.in the 91st minute, when Wickham tested De Gea after speeding past a flat-footed Vidic, the Gaffer was surely reminded again that his back line is brittle and slow, whether with or without Vidic.

Chicharito: Villa Killer!

Posted by Ivor Irwin on November 12, 2012 at 3:02 pm Aston Villa, England, Global Football Today, Manchester United

Nov 122012

Aston Villa 2-3 Manchester United
Once again, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United pulled off yet another scintillating second half display to come back from an angina-producing two goal deficit at a packed, raucous Villa Park stadium over a talented young Aston Villa team that looks way superior to its current sixteenth place in the Premier League table. Having come back against Fulham, Southampton, Liverpool, Cluj, Stoke City, Braga (both home and away) and now Villa, this is clearly, for worse or better, seemingly simultaneously, a season bound to memorialized.

Easily the youngest squad in the league, Paul Lambert’s industrious team were in it to win it, including a debutante center back, 22-year-old Irishman Enda Stevens. United. led by 37-year-old Paul Scholes doing his now familiar metronome passing thing from midfield, may have controlled the lion’- share of possession but, nevertheless looked flat and uninspired against an energetic, quick-to-counter-attack Villa. At any rate, despite the animated, noisy partisanship of the Villa fans, United were relaxed in spite of their flatness until the claret-and-sky-blue Brummies struck on the cusp of half time. Their Austrian striker, the small, mostly unobtrusive Andreas Weimann, found his strong, barrel-chested Belgian forward line partner Christian Benteke. Benteke, shunted aside the lax-marking Jonny Evans, pulling back a strong side-footed return pass to Weimann who fired it past a stranded David De Gea seconds before the whistle blew to make it 1-0.

For anyone expecting a reinvigorated United to miraculously appear for the second half, there were more surprises in the offing. Four minutes in, Stephen Ireland, who was both selfless and diligent all day, made a tricky run past Scholes and Carrick before passing to the speedy Gabriel Agbonlahor on the left flank. Agbonlahor took advantage of a slow reacting Rafael before firing a low seeing-eye beauty to Andreas Weimann, who was sprinting in to the six yard line. where he met the pass, fooled Rio Ferdinand and then side footed the ball home.

Then, with United seemingly at their lowest ebb as three consecutive long distance passes from Scholes and Carrick were picked off by Barry Bannan, it was no surprise that Ashley Young–who seemed emotionally overcome by the passion of the fans on his return to his old club-, was replaced by a third striker, Javíer ’Chicharito’ Hernandez. A tired-looking Paul Scholes, clearly showing his exhaustion, was, nevertheless, quick witted enough to see a gap where center backs Ciaran Clarke and Stevens had left too much space. An exquisite long pass from the Ginger Prince found a sprinting Hernandez, who, despite almost stumbling over the ball, reached back to recover, staggered like a falling dancer to regain his balance and then fired it past goalie Brad Guzan in in the 58th minute.

It was a superb virtuoso effort from the Mexican. Villa’s debutante Stevens and their center back, Ron Vlaar, had been very effective, regularly switching off on marking both Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. Handling a third striker was perhaps the last straw which broke the donkeys back for a weakening Villa defense, however. Eight minutes later, as Valencia and Rafael executed an exquisite bit of double give-and-go eye candy, the Villa defense was breached again. After a clever Rafael lob found Chicharito, his hard-hit volley bounced off a flying Vlaar as he tried to make a block, deflecting the hard hit ball into the net to make it 2-2.

From then on, Villa fell into a kind of animated shock. First a long distance rocker from Rooney was fisted clear by Guzan and then a smashing header by Van Persie from a Valencia cross hit the post, before, only seconds later, a Van Persie volleyed thunderbolt again rattled the cross bar.

Yet, United, now playing hell bent for leather attacking football, left themselves clearly susceptible to the counterattack. And Barry Bannan–the ginger Scotsman, who may yet prove a fine successor for Scholes in the United squad–made a marvelous cross to Weimann, which De Gea saved with a supreme piece of reflex brilliance.

Yet United were in no way going to be denied. Two minutes later, Ireland made a rash tackle on Rooney. The resulting Van Persie free kick span and skittered through the air before dying at Guzan’s far post. Diving recklessly, Chicharito was once again the right man in the right place to steer his header into the net to make it 2-3.

Afterward, Sir Alex Ferguson was very complimentary to Paul Lambert’s noble team. “Villa played fantastically, they’ve run their socks off. It was an amazing game. We were careless in the first half, there was no tempo to the game.” But then on came Chicharito. “He does his natural thing. He’s fantastic in the box, his movement and his getting into space has got him three goals today. He’s fresh this season. He’s had a good summer break and it’s made a difference to him.”

With Van Persie and Hernandez each scratching only the surface of their lethal best, and Rafael Da Silva having raised his game tremendously as a full back from last season, fans are still waiting with a baited sense of expectancy for the rest of the team–Rooney, Valencia, Young, Anderson, Cleverley and Welbeck–to start to catch up. The best is s clearly yet to come.

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