Manchester United after Gameweek 1

With EPL title campaign started this weekend, a few surprises were seen. First of all, Arsenal won 6-1 against not-so-lowly side Everton. Fantastic game for their captain, Fabregas. Secondly, the team which boasted of record goals [EPL] last season started their title hunt with a loss to Tottenham. Manchester United, predicted to suffer after the departure of Ronaldo and Tevez, won 1-0, though this win wasn’t so much convincing one. Rooney on the score-sheet as predicted by lot of Football Pundits. The team which remained in Top-4 of the last season, Aston Villa lost 2-0 to Wigan. Seems as if the departure of Antonio Valencia didn’t had any hard impact on Wigan Athletic. Manchester City, the team with highest amount of money spent this transfer season, even opened their campaign with a victory, with Adebayor and Ireland [sheer class goal from him, but could have even scored easily] scoring. Though, just as a matter of fact, situation of Tevez remained the same. A substitute at Old Trafford to a substitute for a team from Eastlands.


I, as a Manchester United fan, though somewhat satisfied from the performance given by the young lads, enjoyed the match pretty much. Fabio and Evans were really good throughout the match except 2 or 3 chances. Foster was amazing as he stood strong in front of the United goal. Valencia needs to learn quickly as he too much relied on his pace rather than his skills [which we’ve seen he is too good at]. Nani recovered from the injury quite fast and it was good to see the Welsh Wizard on the flank for the second half. Wazza, as he claimed being in goal scoring touch once he is offered the CF position, was the best player of the match and always posed some threat for the opponents. The most interesting match for Gameweek 1 for most of the football fans was the Manchester United – Birmingham City match. Supporters wanted to be sure their club can perform without Ronaldo and Tevez and Rivals wanted to see the performance of United without the duo.

Here are some points in my opinion which Manchester United needs to take care of in case they want the 4th EPL title on the trot and a Champions League trophy as well:

1] As we have turned back to the customary 4-4-2 formation [after the departure of Ronaldo], Valencia has to be really fast, skillful [which he is] and deceiving [he needs to learn this] on the right flank for providing the through-balls and assists. In short, he needs to personify some maturity in himself. Playing for Wigan and Manchester United are two different things. You get noticed here at OT in case it is not your day.

2] Defence is always the reason for a team to win any trophy. Last season we had 13 consecutive clean sheets and with Vidic injured for the initial 2 weeks of the season and VDS out for 2 months, Evans and Foster have to really be on their toes and make sure to the Gaffer he can’t rule them out lightly.

3] In a football match, you win the battle in midfield. [Xavi and Iniesta from Barca clearly showed it to the football world last season]. The best part for Manchester United is we have a lot of depth in our mid-field. And with Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Anderson and Gibson being there, it would again be a problem for Sir Alex to put which ones in the mid-field. Anderson has to start maturing as a player. Gibson has been a sensation in the pre-season.

4] The left flank has still be undecided as Giggs is getting old and slowing in pace, and Rooney being placed in the CF position. Rather, from the preseason and initial matches, we have seen, SAF has turned his eyes on Nani for the left wing position. Though, in the pre-season campaign, Tosic has showed to the football world he is ready to take the left wing responsibilities for Manchester United.

5] The major problem for Manchester United from previous 3 seasons has been the RB position. It was Neville, then Brown and now Rafael. All three injured and we have a utility man in the name of John O’Shea who has played in Manchester United for almost every position. With Vidic, Ferdinand, Evans and Rafael injured, O’Shea is almost assured to play as the CB for some matches. And it is our to-be Left Back Fabio [twin brother of Rafael] playing for us RB. Hopefully, he’ll live upto the expectations but we need to get our Right-Backs fit in time before quality matches against other teams in Big-4 and UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.

6] Our strike force also remained in a bit of doubt except Wayne Rooney. Berbatov performed to some extent but is again failing to score for Manchester United whereas Michael Owen missed a sitter which isn’t expected from a player of his class. Both Berba and Owen need to get better as the time passes by and make sure Manchester United are a force to be reckoned with. After all, United fans don’t really want to miss their previous No. 7

The best part for Manchester United has been Rooney in scoring touch as soon as the Premier League has begun. He promised to score goals in case he is given the CF position, and I do hope, he keeps on hammering opponent more than often in the upcoming season.


Red Devil Till Death!!!

...chase for '19th Premier League' Title is on...

Hello everyone. I'm back, though, after a long time, but guess, just in time :) . The season for Manchester United begins on the 16th of August against the team from midlands, Birmingham City. Just over with a decent pre-season, [where all performed and claimed their place in playing XI] the only thing which made me upset was the Community Shield loss to Chelsea, the match which we truly deserved to win and were a better side at Wembley. The best possible outcome we got from these pre-season matches was Rooney performing consistently well at the Center Forward position, first scoring against Valencia and then against Chelsea [what a through-pass that was from Giggs]. Though with some initial Defense worries, still there is a hope that Foster might just rise to the occasion and fill the void which VDS has left [due to injury] and Evans will surely not let us feel Vidic's absence. O'Shea has been there and will be there till the time we get a proper RB [be it Neville or Brown or Rafael] fit for that position and he is doing the job as good as any other RB in the business.

After having won 18 titles and standing at-par with Liverpool, we still do remember the time of 1994 [during the time of Cantona], when a Liverpool fan had a banner being shown at Anfield, which stated 'Come back when you've won 18', the Manchester United vs Liverpool match at Anfield surely would be the most awaited one of this season. And ya scousers, we'll be there, just for you to know, the hunt for the 19th is out of your reach.
'Ooh Aah Cantona!!!'

Here I wish you good-bye till the next Manchester United match. The quest for the 4th BPL title on-the-trot will begin from 16th August and we really can hope to bring the title back to OT. For, In SAF we TRUST!!!

MUFC TiLL DeaTh!!!

Money does all the talking---Man. City demonstrates how!!!

Hello everyone. In this article of mine, we move from one end of Manchester to the other end i.e. from Old Trafford to Eastlands. While I was surfing the Internet for the latest transfer News in this year's transfer season, there was one thing, which caught my eye. It was the ridiculous way in which Manchester City was signing the players. They are behaving as if any player who needs a change in club, Manchester City is available to give them so called 'shelter'.

In the later part of the previous season, all the hard-work that was being done, was done by Stephen Ireland and Robinho [count Given as well]. The surely felt a necessity for a Striker so as for Ireland to play a mid-field role and a striker to perform some scoring duty. They relied on the likes of Benjami, Bojinov, Bellami and even, Caceido [all assisting Robinho]. When the summer transfer season began, a striker signing was sure on cards. But to everyone's surprise, the very first signing was in the name of Gareth Barry, an English midfielder.

The signing spree then eventually began, as Mark Hughes, manager of Manchester City signed Roque Santa Cruz. A real good buy in my opinion. A perfect goal-poacher for the likes of the club of Manchester City. Speculation began as if Manchester City were to sign another striker in Samuel Eto'o but to everyone's surprise, around 20 days later, Manchester City signed Carlos Tevez, a striker who was said to be ignored by Sir Alex in the later part of his contract at Old Trafford. Everyone just though, Mark Hughes had something else in mind, maybe playing a 4-3-3 strategy with Robinho, Santa Cruz and Tevez and Ireland+Barry+Elano/Petrov combination working out the things in midfield.

PS : Be it Santa Cruz [£17.5 million], Gareth Barry [£12 million] or Carlos Tevez [around £25-30 million], all were said to be signed for a fee more than they actually deserved to. Money doing all the talking. Thanks to their Rich Abu Dhabi Group owners!!!

But Mark Hughes, again showing the strength of money, did, which even Manchester City fans weren't able to visualise in thei dreams. He signed Emmanuel Adebayor, striker from Arsenal, for a hefty fee to be in the region of £25m. If even a Arsenal fan is asked, Adebayor never deserved a transfer fee of around £25m.

Secondly, with high-profile strikers such as Robinho, Tevez and Santa-Cruz, there wasn't any need for signing a strikers such as Adebayor. At the moment, Manchester City has following strikers---Robinho, Santa Cruz, Tevez, Adebayor, Bellami, Bojinov, Benjani, Caceido and even Ched Evans. That makes it 9 strikers who can play for Manchester City. With Santa Cruz and Robinho virtually assured to be playing in the playing XI almost each and everytime Manchester City come out on-field, we'll have to see, who amongst Tevez and Adebayor makes it into playing XI. With the likes of Barry, Ireland, Petrov and Elano present in the midfield, I hardly doubt if any of the strikers would be made to play on the wings. But one thing is for sure, that it was all a talk when Tevez accused Manchester United that they didn't made him play in the playing XI for much, and that was the reason he was leaving Manchester United. Money drives everyone crazy, and maybe, so was the case with Adebayor and Tevez.

Mark Hughes has a tough job at hand. Who to play and who to leave. But then, no-one would mind sitting on the bench for getting such hefty salaries.

Money does all the talking!!!

Midfield Problems for Manchester United---Headache for SAF???

Ronaldo has left to Spain, Tevez has joined the Rivals, Owen has arrived but Strikers are not the only ones who United are cared about. They still have to sort out their Mid field problems which may provide even more head ache for Sir Alex.

Before really starting on with this article of mine, I'll like to mention the names of midfielders, the Manchester United team currently possesses. So, here I go with a list of United mid-field options :

4] Owen Hargreaves

8] Anderson

11] Ryan Giggs

13] Park Ji-Sung

14] Zoran Tosic

16] Michael Carrick

17] Nani

18] Paul Scholes

24] Darren Fletcher

28] Gibson

and the latest signing being Antonio Valencia

With Gibson having renewed his contract recently, he surely looks to be heading in playing XI. But the problem rises for Sir Alex Ferguson [as United usually play with a 4-4-2 formation] so as to decide which 4 midfielders to play amongst these 11 players. Leaving aside Tosic and Gibson, rest 9 can't be ignored a position in playing XI for long. And then, you can't really manage 9 to 11 midfielders on a rotational policy.

If you you tend to ask United fans, they'll say be it Hargo, Ando, Scholesy, Fletcher, Park, Carrick, Giggs and even Nani are all important for the team which they surely are. But one thing that amazes me in this whole situation is MUFC fans expecting SAF to so some more signings such as even Ribery, just because they see the money in the United funds after the Ronaldo Transfer. Being sure, Valencia is going to be in the regular starting XI this season and even having high expectations from Anderson, I do believe, he, as well, is going to play many matches as expected to other mid-fielders.

Many of you might not agree [which I do], that if SAF has signed Valencia, there has to be something special in him. You can't really compare him to Ronaldo, but then, we have several strikers by the name of Wayne Rooney or Berbatov or our new No. 7 Michael Owen, we don't need a winger anymore to score goals but to provide assists. We've got Nani, who can provide unbelievable assists sometimes [though he is made to play sometimes :P], we have a-guy named Fletcher, our unsung hero, who is considered amongst the most sensible mids the team posseses currently alongwith Michael Carrick. We have an amazing passer of the ball with name of Paul Scholes. Anderson and Hargreaves belong to different breed as both can play attacking football, as well as, can even do real good man-marking. The problem might just be, who takes the freekicks for us, but with the good news just reported by BBC, that Hargo is coming back in Spetember, I see even this problem evaporating for Manchester United problem-book.

SO, In my opinion, its just the end of the road for the signings for this season. But we all know, SAF has been the best manager ever to have a managed a football club, and this time, with another challenge, it needs to be seen, how and in which positions does he play all these mid-fielders. Who to leave and who not to? Will the man from Scotland do it right yet again? Surely, Time will tell, but in SAF we believe!!!

Michael Owen...a deserving No. 7???

Hello to everyone. Today I came back from my playing routine, opened my laptop, checked out the Internet only to find the most prestigious jersey No. ever in the history of my beloved club, Manchester United, has been given to an ex-scouser, Michael Owen. I still felt, is this guy a really deserving candidate for the No. 7 jersey???

Well, going by the statistics and the current situation at OT, you surely would be saying it’s the Gaffer’s call and whatever he decides is for the benefit of the team. But still, speaking statistically, we surely need to see that is he the appropriate guy for No. 7 jersey. With the kind of reputation this No. 7 jersey holds in Manchester United's History, I do believe there is only one player worthy of it in current squad and that is Wayne Rooney. You might even argue with me on Vidic but then, only goal-scorers or attacking players are, in my view given the No. 7 jersey. Be it George Best, Eric Cantona or even Cristiano Ronaldo, they all have been influential for the period they were at OT.

Rooney, has already established his brand with a No. 10 player, which he might not want to cease. In my opinion, Gaffer, as always, might have just called a correct call for the No. 7 jersey. Michael Owen, who scored 118 goals in 216 matches for Liverpool, and 40 goals amongst 89 caps for England, has already established himself as a prolific goal-scorer [scoring in approx. every second match]. It was only the injury crisis in Owen’s career that lead to many believe, his time as a genuine football goal-scorer (or even player) is over. But his successful medical at OT (before his signing) and even Owen dismissing that he is injury-prone clearly shows he might just turn out to be amongst another No. 7 players ever to have played for Manchester United. For we believe, Owen wants a call back in England squad and even someone like Fabio Capello won't mind both the England attacker being from same team, because it ensures higher team chemistry and a better delivery rate for the team.

Though it still needs to be seen that how often he starts for United, but I do believe, giving of No. 7 jersey to Owen just ensures he might be a regular starter for Manchester United :) . But still, the problem now arises is, with Berbatov there, Rooney even there, and Owen been given the No. 7 jersey, what would be the standard formation United would be playing in....will it be 4-4-2 [their usual, with Rooney n anyone amongst Owen/Berba and other as super-sub] or 4-3-3 [all three strikers] or 4-3-1-2 [with Berba playing a kind of playmaker and Rooney and Owen upfront. It still needs to be seen but then, I do believe, it is again going to be the call by Sir Alex himself and he’ll surely get it right again!!!

MUFC tiLL DeaTH!!!