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!

The Air That I Breathe

Men of The Month: Ryan Giggs (top) and Darren Fletcher

Note: The Mancunian Connection would like to apologize for not being able to provide the weekly preview for last week’s Premiership Weekend due to workload and personal commitments. To all Muslim readers, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

I can now breathe some sighs of relief.

Watching the United vs Manchester City game was like taking a ride on a roller-coaster; and I mean it in every sense, metaphorically and literally.
My heart jumped when United scored, and sank whenever City came back to bring the game to parity once more. I believe many United fans had thought Rio’s mistake would have cost us the three big points for his showboating antic which led to Bellamy’s equalizer at the final minute of normal time, but we were wrong..

On came Michael Owen to pop in the killer goal of that infamous ‘4 + 1.5 extra minutes’ of refereeing generosity. I leapt off my seat, arms raised and punched the air as though I had scored the goal. It was 2am plus in Malaysia and I think I did wake up some members of the household with my screams of delight. I couldn’t help it.

So, it’s good to be back penning my thoughts in this blog. And it’s good to be back in black as they say. Frankly speaking though, this season’s black away kit has not gone too well if we were to judge our team’s performances and results. We had struggled to put up some decent performances in some of the away games; the hardest to take was our away loss to newcomers Burnley in this particular kit. I was beginning to fear that this kit would be the kit to forget but thankfully, I have been proven wrong.

Against Stoke City (and clad in the mentioned black kit), we did almost everything right but just could not find a spark and a goal – the closest was Nani who missed a glorious chance early on in the game but wasted it instead. We pounded and battered The Potters for almost an hour before (Sir) Ryan Giggs came on to inspire the team to a two-nil victory over a very stubborn Stoke.

It’s towards the end of September now and barring any disruption / upset in the last game of the month in the form of a UCL game against Wolfsburg, it would be a sensational September for Manchester United. We were pushed all the way in the Premiership by Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester City and Stoke and came through with maximum points. Questions were asked and tactics were questioned but we came through with flying colors.

My men of the month? Without a shadow of a doubt, the honors must be shared between Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher. Great job!

We are top of the table now and like millions of United faithfuls, I hope we would still be in this position come the last week of May 2010.

Up for grabs - Bragging Rights! Premiership Weekend

Darren Fletcher: A possible match winner for United

Saturday:

Arsenal vs Wigan, 10pm

TMC’s prediction: Home win

Super Sunday:

West Ham vs Liverpool, 12.30am

TMC’s prediction: Away win

Man United vs Man City, 8.30pm
TMC’s prediction: Home win

Chelsea vs Tottenham, 11pm
TMC’s prediction: Draw

It’s another week, and another testing game for Manchester United. If we earned our spurs at White Hart Lane last week, this week we would earn the highly-sought after bragging rights against City, should results flow our way. City is currently on scintillating form (winning all their games so far) and the climax of an in-form is none more evident than the ripping apart of Arsenal at the City of Manchester stadium.

The other finely-balanced tie will pit Carlo Ancelotti against Harry Redknapp where the winner will not only snatch all three points at stake but also bragging rights in London.
Should Chelsea lose (which is quite unlikely), Ancelloti’s men will be pegged from distancing themselves from the other big teams; should Spurs lose on the other hand, I’m afraid that would spark a losing streak that could possibly mean sowing seeds of doubts in their own capabilities. I can’t elaborate further on how important this game would be to Spurs since getting thumped by 10-men United last week.

On United:
No Adebayor, and most probably no Tevez (at this point in writing) – on paper, City would seem lightweight up front with Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz also missing this tie.

Make no mistake, however, City will be buoyed by their winning momentum and will be tough to break down. In Gareth Barry, they have a formidable personnel and it would be interesting to see how he fares against our very own Darren Fletcher in midfield.

Again, we will depend on Fletcher to snuff out their attacking threat and disrupt play as he did so effectively against the Gunners; and again, we will pin our hopes on Rooney to lead the line.
We are getting over-dependent on Wazza for goals (in my opinion) in recent games but seeing him react in disgust on his substitution against Besiktas in UCL game, I can only be pleased with his passion and commitment to the team.

We would need a lot of passion and fire when City come calling.

Adebayor

Adebayor celebrating in front of the Arsenal fans

I am incensed.

Nothing gets to me more than seeing a player scoring and celebrating against his former club; and it was not a usual celebration for Emmanuel Adebayor when he scored his goal against his former paymasters.

I had previously flipped through Arsenal’s official club magazine (June issue, if I’m not mistaken) and back then Adebayor had ‘pledged’ his future to the Londoners.
What a load of bull crap! How things change once ego and money set in. There was no turning back; well there was actually, literally speaking, when Adebayor ran across the pitch to the opposite direction of goal just to sling sh*t at the Gunners’ traveling supporters.

Despicable. Unimaginable. Unforgiveable.

He apologized immediately after realizing having his head stuck in his arse but the damage has been done.

To hear me rant about a player who has no connection to Manchester United in any way is something unusual. I’m a person who is more concerned about his own club than anything else.

And to think that Adebayor had once ‘considered’ coming to United before opting for City, I really thank our lucky stars that we do not have him in our side, no matter how ‘valuable’ he is to the team.I don’t respect these kind of players and never will I see them in a good light. Call me myopic, I don’t care.

Arsenal supporters, I’m sure most of you are seething not because of the goals conceded but because of this act of highest disrespect.

Give Adebayor hell when City goes to your ground, and bring back some respect to your club (and the game).

That’s the least you could do!

The Return: Premiership Weekend

AFTER nearly two weeks of largely uninspiring international and football friendlies (well, that’s what I always feel about these games), we welcome back the English Premier League and other club football around Europe. The transfer window came by and went with many mid table and ‘smaller’ clubs creating the most buzz and business. United, as expected, did not reinforce but have been engaged in deflecting accusations from other European clubs that we cradle-snatched some of their rising starlets illegally.

Well, it’s almost back to the beginning once again; and those teams who have started on a blistering pace (i.e. Chelsea, Man City) will find themselves having the extra spotlights on them.
As for Liverpool and Arsenal, I’m sure their fans would have been twiddling their thumbs for the past two weeks and hope that the resumption of matches would somehow reignite their flagging morale. The Scousers have already lost twice so far while Arsenal’s young guns have been firing in all places, and none so more pivotal (and comical) than the one fired by Abou Diaby towards the hapless Manuel Almunia, gifting Manchester United a victory. Maybe they should call him ‘A-Boo-Boo’ Diaby instead. Hah.

This is first class entertainment, if you’re a Manchester United fan, that is!

OK, so here is this week’s fixtures involving the top teams:

Saturday:
Liverpool vs Burnley, 10pm
TMC’s prediction: Home win

Man City vs Arsenal, 10pm
TMC’s prediction: Draw

Stoke City vs Chelsea, 10pm
TMC’s prediction: Away win

Super Sunday:
Spurs vs Manchester United, 12.15am
TMC’s prediction: Away win

On United:
United have enjoyed successes against Spurs in recent seasons and the clash between these two have never failed to produce top-notch excitement. Just look back at last season’s comeback win for United (after being 2 goal down) and you would know what I mean.

This is a game touted as one that would see whether Tottenham would be earning their spurs and ready to break into the Big Four’s domination or their incredible start to the season is just a flash in the pan. We will see how Spurs would cope without their creative instigator Luka Modric who has been injured. Nevertheless, Aaron Lennon’s brilliant showing against Croatia for the Three Lions a few days ago would make him the player to receive some ‘special’ treatment and attention from us.

It’s September, and it's good to be back!