A Trot in the park?

Breaking away from my usual weekly round-up of the Premier League’s Big Four (Five), I will give a personal and dedicated insight to Manchester United’s game against Bolton Wanderers this time around. I’m in the mood to write; and the inspiration to verbalize my thoughts give me a sudden surge of confidence. Premiership football returns with much anticipation this week after last week’s football deprivation (due to World Cup qualifiers).

Well, United versus Bolton games have historically been ‘interesting’. OK, my euphemism for 'difficult'. Bolton has always been resolute and I see them like a pesky dog that can’t stop gnawing at your foot. They nibble, like a teething pup, but seldom bite. And even if they do, they do not hurt much. And I don’t hope that they have the bite to hurt this Saturday.

Thankfully, United do not have serious injuries to the players (at this point in writing), except for some purported psychological ‘issues’ with Rio Ferdinand. I think the media has been on Rio’s back ever since his not-so-convincing performances of late, going back to the game against Manchester City. Will Sir Alex give him a rest and opt for Jonny Evans instead alongside Vidic?

While Berbatov has been in scorching form (with his scissor-kick against Sunderland and scoring a hattrick against Georgia for Bulgaria), I believe Rooney would want to rediscover his purple patch. It is indeed heartening to see your striking colleague in fine fettle, but with Wazza as we know, nothing would satisfy him most than banging in his share of goals and earning the plaudits. This game against The Trotters would be the perfect situation for Wazza to cement this belief.

On another note, look out for Bolton’s latest Korean sensation – Lee Chung Yong. His first few games for the boys in white have been outstanding and like Berba, made the difference for their countries respectively recently. This guy is a handful and would we employ our own Park Ji Sung to give him specific attention this Saturday? If I may say, Sir Alex is not too fond of placing a personnel to mark an opponent but it would be logical if the gaffer gives specific instructions to Fletcher to keep this Korean in check.

It is a tough game in all aspects and from which ever angle you look at; anyway, we can take to heart that at least, it is not being played at the Reebok Stadium.

A trot in the park for United then this weekend? I'd rather be a realist and welcome a 2-1 win for United.

(P)lucky Devils?

Patrice Evra

We had an off day against the Black Cats, as the gaffer said,

“We rescued a game in which we played so badly,” Sir Alex told MUTV. “Our passing was just not what I expect of the team, right throughout the game. We tried to change it round by bringing Anderson on for the second half. But we continued to give the ball away repeatedly.”

I thought we were bereft of ideas and bereft of confidence, even in the first few moments Ben Foster collected the ball after some hesitation with Vidic.

We looked like a team playing far away from Old Trafford; well, if not for the signboards looking suspiciously similar to our home, our performance would have suggested so.

We were at home; it’s just that the team that trooped out gave a home-away-from home performance in this match.

But then again, like the games against Arsenal and City, luck was on our side when the moments mattered most. Against Sunderland, we had looked jaded and I believe most of us had thought Steve Bruce had done us no favor this time.

We were wrong – the diminutive Evra just had to have the final say.

With Chelsea handing Liverpool their 3rd Premiership defeat in less than 10 games played so far, they are back on top of the standings.

I fret not, since we are usually at our best when we’re chasing the game or reeling the points in.

We’re best when we have our proverbial backs against the wall; and this season, I believe it is no different.

Lucky or just plain plucky?

Premiership Weekend (3rd & 4th Oct)

So it was a sensational September after all. All wins in all competitions; we are on a roll!

United versus Sunderland; definitely not a weekend blockbuster at first glance but massive three points to be earned.

I am immediately brought back to last season’s home game against the Black Cats where Nemanja Vidic scored the all-important goal to seal victory in the dying moments.
I was holidaying in Hong Kong then; and I remembered switching on the news eagerly to know the score. With the score still unannounced, the highlights were a torture; United were pounding Sunderland’s goal, attempts after attempts..

And then the defining moment came.

I was relieved and ecstatic. One-nil to United.

This weekend’s home game should again be an interesting one, with United on a winning momentum and Sunderland firing five goals past Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) last weekend.
Darren Bent is back on fire and so is danger man Kenwyne Jones. Rio and co would need to be on the constant lookout to keep them both at bay.

On United:
It’s good to see Michael Carrick back in the team and scoring again. He has been nearly forgotten ever since Giggsy and Fletcher have been impressive. Carrick’s return to midfield would give us a better resolve and would be a wonderful option to call upon. Berbatov has been livelier than usual and credit to the man, I believe he shows more passion and commitment to his game now. He is more involved in the build up and would do the ‘dirty work’ of winning the ball instead of relying on the others to feed him. If Berba keeps up with his form and displays, I’m sure most United fans would start taking to him.

It’s quite a coincidence that both teams played against opposing teams with similar names and connotations – wolves! As the results show, both teams did well and did not fall prey to the even though the headlines would have possibly have been very different if results were to go the other way.

October has come and things are getting more exciting by the week!