League Title #20, visit to the Emirates

                Since the last post which was a fortnight ago, there are a lot of topics that we could cover on, not the least title no 20 wrapped up and safe in the kitty. Man oh man, what a season this has been for United coming back with vengeance in taking back what was rightfully ours – the league title that was so painfully yanked out under our noses in the injury time by Aguero. It feels sweet now to have exacted revenge with four games to spare. Come on you devils.

                The plans have already been made for an open bus parade and it starts from Old Trafford and ends at the city centre on Monday, the 12^th of May and the fans get to rejoice and celebrate with the team and the technical staff – a day after City plays Wigan in the FA cup final... cheeky. Rewinding to the start of the season, when United started off disastrously by losing to Everton, nobody would have forecast us to win the title with 4 games to spare. The game was followed by a lot of victories most of which were snatched from the jaws of defeat. I guess we sort of created a record for most number of comebacks in a season. But it was the holiday fixtures that set the tone for a dominating display from United crushing the opposition one after the other while the competitors were slipping away. On paper, this team may not be the best in Britain, but with Fergie spearheading the flock, you never write off Manchester United (remember Alan Hansen).

Celebration at OT after 3-0 win against Aston Villa

Alright, now after the Stoke game, we travelled to East London and returned with a point which was great given the rough treatment our boys received. When the shitty blues failed to overhaul the spurs, United needed a victory at home against the Villans to win the big prize. 2 minutes in to the game, RVP set the tone and polished them off in the first half, only waiting for the formalities to be completed in the second half. It is always special to win before your home crowd and I wish I could have been at the theatre of dreams on Monday. I have since watched the pitch and the dressing room celebrations innumerable times. Every time I end up smiling and it will be sometime before I move on from these videos. J I know I have not mentioned anything about the wonder strike from the Dutchman that has been dubbed as the goal of the century by Sir Alex but do not want to make this post a lengthy one which may be the case. Thank goodness he chose red over blue.

With this league triumph, Sir Alex Ferguson and Ryan Giggs have won a phenomenal 13 winner’s medals. Only Manchester United and Liverpool have more league wins than these gentlemen. What a way to compare their achievements. To top this, Giggs and Arsenal, both have won the title 13 times LOL. On the medals to be given out, looks like there is no more minimum number of matches to be played to collect a winner’s medal. So Anders Lindegaard and Alex Buttner would collect one as well, their first! They aren’t the only ones who have won the league for the first time. It is a huge list – Phil Jones, De Gea, Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Shinji Kagawa have all won for the first time. It was intentional that I missed to add another illustrious name to the above list, the man who made it possible to win the title no 20 – Robin van Persie. What an impact he has created since donning the jersey of Manchester United. It would not be far from truth if I say it is second to King Eric in terms of driving the team to win the league. Now would he reach the great heights of Cantona remains to be seen but his technique and class is never in doubt. He could one day, you never know. Fingers crossed.

Champ20ns of England - for the 20th time

The gaffer has set the target of collecting the maximum points in the last 4 games to set a league record of points accumulated (96) with the current record being 95 set by Chelsea under Mourinho. To put this to test, United first play their erstwhile rivals tomorrow. Yes I did say erstwhile as the meetings have lost its steam after the north London club became more of a feeder club for bigger vultures by selling their top talents. Of course RVP falls under that bracket but then the players who left before him – Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Song (with him) and Henry even if he was on the wrong side of 30s has come to bite them in the rear. All said, this fixture is still a top billing for all football fans. The gunners still play a beautiful game they are known for but as long as they don’t win against us, I am happy to concede this particular title to them.

With United visiting them right after winning the league means they are obliged to extend a guard of honour when the devils walk on to the pitch. To know Arsene mention that not performing the formality was never in question is an appreciable gesture. The gunners will do so with no qualms but with a tinge of disappointment which may drive them to extract the maximum points once the referee waves play, the same cannot be said about the fans. They still see RVP as a betrayer who failed them by stalling to extend his contract and to add insult to injury joined their old rivals. They may take a while to forgive him or probably never given the sentiments I have been seeing from the die-hard Gooners. He is in for a hot reception and as a professional he will not mind them. But it will still be bitter for him to be booed by a 50000+ Gooners who cheered him not long time ago. He may still be having some pleasant memories of his stay there. The fans have their right to boo him or give him the stick; after all he was their darling and captain last season. They had patiently waited for him to overcome a series of injuries to perform consistently and they felt being backstabbed with his announcement to join the Manchester club. From RVP’s perspective, was he right in swapping London for Manchester? Yes, I think so, if not he would still be waiting for his first league winner’s medal.

But hey, f**k them as I don’t give a damn about how a Gooner feels for I started following PL during the Invincibles’ reign. With absolute no knowledge of football, I used to watch those games and support United because that was the first team I got to know and when they were rolled over by Henry and co, I developed a hatred for them. Though the sentiment has mellowed, deep down I still carry a grudge against them. Add City, Chelsea and the Kops to that list and that would hold good for any fan from other teams to have the same sentiment against others. If you ask me how I would feel if a United player swaps his jersey for one of our rivals, I will be pissed of course but till then I will always say “Once a red, always a red”. OK, Denis Law probably is an exception.

Moving on to the game in hand, it may be expected that the manager will rotate his squad and give a chance to fringe players, I still expect to see a strong line up as 3 points against Arsenal is a must. Since they are involved in a CL spot scramble, we can expect a tough game. Evans and Carrick may sit out of this game with the injuries along with Young and Scholes. Nani, could make a return I guess or not sure if he has already played his last game for United (?). For Arsenal, even with Giroud serving the ban and Wilshere having not completely recovered from his injury, they do possess intelligent players in their roster who can cause damage. Santi Cazorla especially will try to dictate the game and we will need a strong midfield to overcome him + their passing game. I see United scoring, hitting them on the break which we do best but will have to be vigilant for the 90 minutes to keep them at bay.

My prediction for the game is a United win with the scoreline 1-2. And Robin van Persie to get his name on the score sheet.

In other news,

Arsene Wenger is supposed to have snubbed RVP by saying Carrick deserves the PFA award more than the dutchman. I don’t see that as a snub as I feel strongly that it should be Carrick to win and not RVP. It is by no way belittling RVP’s contribution this season but it has always been the case where only strikers are felicitated and the linchpins of the teams are ignored. Carrick’s contribution to Manchester United has been as good as RVP if not more and it is time FA stops being stereotypic.

A deserving PFA 2013 nominee - Michael Carrick

United ease past Stoke City with a routine win

After 2 successive losses, a victory was badly in need for the reds. Now, if the losses were followed by a trip to Stoke, it could be an intimidating prospect but never a cakewalk. Stoke are known for the physicality and Sir Alex had to get the team right to match them in muscle. Vidic, back from injury and Ferdinand pairing at the centre and Jones manning the right back is the best you could ask for from the available defenders who can withstand the onslaught - physical. Kagawa made the cut as well but again was played in the left wing. Glancing at the eleven and looking at Rooney, RVP and Chicarito in the line up, I was thinking on a three pronged attack strategized by the manager. What followed took me completely by surprise as Rooney started in the middle with Carrick at his left. Is Rooney really going to be moulded in to a midfielder with the wealth of attacking options up front? How would Roy Hodgson respond?

                Once the game commenced, United started passing the ball between themselves slowly building the play up before earning a corner in the third minute. The resulting RVP’s corner kick was received by Phil Jones who could not connect and the ball fell at Carrick’s legs who toe poked it to the corner scoring his first of the season. The last time he scored was against Bolton some 15 months ago! If I thought the goal set the tempo for the game, I was wrong. United played like they cared for nothing and probably were kicking around at Carrington complex. A mention on the away supporters is a must as they were louder than the home support and kept singing one chant after the other cheering the team throughout.

United’s game plan was to have them carry the ball on the wings and cross them in to the box. This however applied only to Valencia as when I noticed Kagawa playing in LW, I knew we will not have the wing play on the left. He was drifting in more often positioning himself between Rooney and Carrick, not that I complain (yet). On the other hand, Stoke clearly didn’t have a plan in place to contain United and I guess they resorted to their usual style of long balls to the box from anywhere in the field. With no accuracy or a player running across to meet the ball, their attempts ended futile. With United dominating the lion’s share of possession, they could not find an incisive pass to the forwards to try shooting at the target. I was astounded to see Chicarito seeing very little or no action at one end (unhappy) and the same experienced by De Gea at the other (happy). This is where I blame Kagawa, for he was playing behind the strikers but could not carve the opposition at will. He was carrying the ball well and making simple passes which is commendable but then I don’t expect the basics from him. I would have wanted to see him being imaginative and creating chances rather than being a carrier.

Playing Stoke, one must always be on guard against the set pieces for that is where they thrive on. First half didn’t have any clear chances for them to take a shot at and anything thrown deep were easily cleared up by the United defence. As I was brooding on how come there has not been one rough challenge, Shawcross answered my virtual question immediately by bringing down Chicarito with a rough tackle few minutes before the end of the half. The game was played at a relaxed pace and United didn’t seem to score again. As the half came to an end, RVP looked like he may extend his unwarranted record for not scoring goals since “X” minutes and being compared with the blue's flop. To his credit however, the servicing from the midfield had deteriorated in the last few games and he was not being played into which means he had to create his own chances. But he was sharpish and was making the right runs except the right ball never came to him.

Goal scorers

As the second half unfolded, Stoke wanted to make amends to the scorecard and attacked United with zest. However, there was one part of their play which made me sick as well as laugh at the irony. For the muscular build their players possess, they were going down to the ground far too easily at the faintest of touches. Eight minutes in to the half, Chicarito picked out RVP with a wonderful pass and the Dutchman could only muster a rattling of the side netting. The angle was very acute though, if there was one, so it was a well tried attempt. This was immediately followed by some action in De Gea’s box where Jonathan Walters lashed a strike over the crossbar. With the long balls notwithstanding, Charlie Adam kept shooting from 40 yards and beyond which were powerful but well collected by the Spanish GK.

Emotional celebration - picture perfect

There was one other virtual question of mine which was answered immediately when posed. After an hour of game play, I was wondering if it was really a match with Stoke playing as the cards stayed put in the referee’s pocket. No sooner had I thought, Valencia was booked for a foul and saw a yellow. I didn’t expect United player to be the first being booked LOL. Two minutes later, RVP was tackled in the box by Andy Wilkinson and the referee wasted less than a second in pointing to the spot. It was a no brainer on who would take the penalty as RVP volunteered (?) and deposited the ball to the right corner. The drought was finally over and I could sense Arsenal fans across the globe simmering. Sir Alex was at the touchline when the goals ticker flicked to 2 and RVP rushed on towards the gaffer and crushed him with a tight embrace. It was one of those moments to be snapped away and could well be on its way to the front cover of sports magazines J. One goal lead is never safe as bellowed out by Martin Tyler in all the versions of FIFA (till 11 as I have not seen the last 2 versions) and the penalty took United to an unassailable position.

Barely tested De Gea was brought into play in the last 20 minutes with him making 2 stupendous saves especially the viciously curling free kick from Charlie Adam almost going into the far corner only to be denied by his outstretched hands. With twelve minutes remaining, both the teams made substitutions by Welbeck replacing Chicarito and Michael Owen coming on for Jonathan Walters. It was nice to see him getting a standing ovation from both the sets of fans, and United fans would have had the derby decider goal in their mind. Stoke switched to a 4-3-3 once Crouch made it to the field but could not muster any further shots on target as the devils played some keep-ball to wind down the remaining minutes and tighten their grip on a twentieth league title.

Takeaway from the game:

• Kagawa is miles behind in terms of the improvement he has to show if he needs to stake an automatic selection to the team.
• Rooney fitted to a T in the central midfield and his ball distribution was astute - MOM performance.
• RVP’s miserable 751 minutes on the field was brought to an end even if it was not from an open play.
• United have moved fifteen points ahead of their nearest rivals City who have one game in hand but we are more or less destined to lift the trophy at West Brom this may.

Manchester Derby - Red or Blue?

Come Monday night, the pride of Manchester is what is at stake. Or so what I hear from the city fans (whose number was on the rise last year but has been on check so far this year...LOL) while devils like me though would like to entertain the thought, is nothing more than a taunt to mask the present state of affairs in the BPL standings. I agree the games between the Manchester sides are always pulsating and bound to invoke high emotion. I have ended up watching the dying moments of the last few derbies standing/restless with bated breath silently pleading the referee to bring the curtains down if United were up or allow extra seconds for a comeback if they were down. Now, having decided against watching late kickoffs (disadvantages of being 5:30 hours ahead of GMT), I have rather resigned myself to write on some pre-game analysis this time around than a match report.

My guess for the team for derby is below but you can never pick Sir Alex’s brain with the headache he has getting the selection right with the arsenal at his disposal...no pun intended.

Starting XI: De Gea, Rafael, Jones, Ferdinand, Evra, Young, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, van Persie

Substitutes: Lindegaard, Smalling, Buttner, Valencia, Kagawa, Cleverley, Welbeck, Hernandez

I have gone for a 4-4-1-1 formation that has been used predominantly this season against an expected 4-2-3-1 from the citizens. I don’t think Mancini would try his 3-5-2 against United given the returns they have seen when used this season.

Looking at the figure below, it is clear as a sky that I want the attack to originate from the right wing where you can count on Rafael and Nani hoping they are at their marauding best. Rooney to play a No. 10 role behind RVP but could interchange as the game proceeds. I have my reasons for not having Cleverley or Kagawa in the team sheet. The former to avoid a stronger blue midfield running circles around him while the latter for his physical build or the lack of it and not to be swatted around by Yaya like a fly. Carrick being a certain starter for the games this season needs no explanation. Giggs on the other hand has the experience to cope up with talent he would come up against and weave some brilliance of his own though not venturing forward as often.

Phil Jones vs Kun Aguero:

                Jones has been singled out for praise by Ferguson describing him animal for football. The lad has shown tremendous improvement from his days in Rovers where he was a standout performer making United to knock on his doors. He made his reputation for big killings marking the star men out of the game and most recently against Ronaldo still fresh in our memory (actually making Ronaldo switch flanks). Jones, if picked will try to contain the diminutive Argentinean centre forward – Aguero. The striker is astute in reading the game and an exponent of breaking offside trap. His strength and agility are his advantages when playing off the last defender. We will never forget him for the heartache he caused last season by whisking away the league trophy from United’s grasp with virtually the final kick of the season. I have to admit though he may want to run into Ferdinand who can be an easy prey for Kun (well given his age and speed) and Jones will have to double up. Having said this, Aguero will not be the only threat United defence will come up against as they have a Spanish magician Silva, another Argentinean Carlos Mercenary and the bull dog Yaya Toure.

Wayne Rooney vs Gareth Barry:

                Hoping Wazza makes a comeback from his injury and starts the game, will give a much needed fillip as the linkup between the forward line and midfield that has been missing in the last few games. Slotted behind RVP, he can counter City’s midfield stranglehold and is already developing a telepathic understanding with RVP. As shown in the figure above, Rooney can combine with Nani on the right to target Clichy who is the weakest in the otherwise strong backline thereby drawing Nastasic before cutting back into the box to score or supply the ball to RVP. To negate this effect would be Barry’s objective deployed as a holding midfielder who goes about doing his business with minimal fuss. In Barry, City has a right foil for Toure who can cover both ends of the field in attack and in defence. Though teammates in the national setup, this will never comes across Barry’s mind on Monday as his thoughts would only on how to disrupt United’s rhythm and initiate counter attacks.

Robin Van Persie vs Vincent Kompany:

                It has been 9 games since RVP scored and the forward as well as the fans alike would like the barren run to stop in this intense game. RVP endeared himself to the fans pretty quick in the first season that saw his name being chanted. A finisher of highest quality who is adept at playing a No. 10 will be a marked man on Monday (and him being a marksmanJ). He brought in a fresh breath of air to the team when he broke ranks with the Gunners in search of glory. If we end up winning the league which we are at a touching distance, the Dutchman will have been a major reason. He possesses a great vision and passing/dribbling skills that he can create goals too. Allow him time and space at your peril and this is where Kompany fits in with ease. City’s defence was never the same without their captain out with injury. Turning up for his country couple of weeks back had his manager fuming for risking his participation in club’s remaining matches. Such is the trust placed on him who is a classic centre back, not frightened diving into tackles and nullifying any threat. He has a commanding presence in the field and will be tasked to deter RVP from taking any shot on the goal.

               To conclude, the game is going to be a mouth watering clash and feel sad for missing this out. If the game did live up to the billing, I might catch a replay or decide to watch highlights if the game fizzles out as other hyped games have been this season. Let us wait and watch how I had fared in second guessing both Sir Alex’s and Roberto’s tactics. I have a very low expectation to be honest. J

My Prediction: 2-2

Domestic double up in flames

                The mood is distressful having watched United bow out of FA yet again, losing to Chelsea in a QF replay. To catch this game Live, I had taken the post lunch session off from work. In retrospect, I feel I could have been at work after all L. Now I pull myself to whip up a post after disappointing my blog’s solitary follower by not sharing my views on the Sunderland game.

                Now enough of prattling, let us look at the first surprise for the game – Wayne Rooney not to be seen in the matchday squad, 2 games in a row. However, the fears were allayed ironically with news on groin injury that was picked up while at Internationals. The second surprise was watching Jones taking the centre midfield when he was expected to fill for Rafael and compounded by Valencia deployed at RB, Nani in the right (this is not a surprise) and Cleverley starting on the left wing (this clearly is).

                The Chelsea supporters for a change, instead of booing at Rafa, booed Ferdinand every time he touched the ball. It took some time for both the teams to find rhythm and start making some statements of intent. Welbeck who was paired with Chicarito to lead the frontline showed immense skill on the ball and could have had a chance if not for the veteran Ivanovic who shoved him to steal the ball in the initial minutes. Nani on the wing looked rustic after not having featured regularly this season kept losing possession with no pressure on him. His crosses were awry and passes erratic to say the least. Carrick, as ever was Mr Dependable breaking Chelsea’s attack and distributing the ball well.

                Seventeen minutes in to play, Ashley Cole pulled a hamstring while trying to fend Welbeck off signalling immediately for replacement. As the camera panned to the bench, there was JT adorning a mask of sadness since he was not a favourite with the interim and hence denied a starting berth by default. I reckon he is still the best defender in the blues rank. For United, Smalling was revelling in the CB role that he so covets but accommodates for the team to play out of position often. He was excellent in blocking and shackling the blue shirts while Ferdinand on the other hand tasked to mark Ba was looking ragged. Both the teams were playing a high backline with the offside trap.

There were 2 attempts at goal in the first half, one on either direction where De Gea’s was a regulation save except that he had started parrying away with his legs more often while Cech flicked the ball with his legs at the last moment to save a Chicarito’s long range shot. Towards the end of the first half, there was a shout for penalty when Nani and Bertrand tangled in the box but Phil Dowd waved to play. A fodder for endless argument today if that was a penalty denied or Nani just trying to act his way into getting a spot kick.

                The second half started the same way with affair being drab and suddenly four minutes into the half, Mata, the pocket dynamo floated a pass over towards United’s box where Ba caught Ferdinand napping and volleyed in a over De Gea who was rooted to the spot. If it was anybody’s fault the fingers should be pointing at Ferdinand as the United custodian could do nothing but gape at his fort getting breached. Ten minutes later when United seemed to exact revenge on their opponents, Welbeck crossed from the right for Chicarito and the Mexican did what he does best, making sure the ball was goal bound only for Cech’s heroics to play spoils. A top notch save it was and no wonder he is the best in business.

Ba volleys

                Fergie in necessity to pull a rabbit from his hat hauled off Cleverley who was ineffective and RVP was thrown in. Ryan Giggs came in for Nani few minutes later. The positions were reshuffled with Jones moving to RB and Valencia RW. However, it was Chelsea who came close to scoring AGAIN, with Hazard dragging the ball wide. It was proving difficult for United to penetrate Chelsea’s defence as their strong midfield dictated the proceeding. The team clearly lacked a player of Hazard/Oscar/Mata calibre to achieve the above. Shinji needs more time I guess. Soon the tiring Welbeck was replaced with Young with ten more minutes in the clock. The comebacks United are known for could still have been achieved if not for RVP skyrocketing from 12 yards. I guess I should contend myself with watching those epics in Youtube and never Live*. Into the injury time, RVP missed a difficult header from a perfect Young cross to score thereby enabling Opta to duly note that he had not scored in the last 9 games. L

                The result though thoroughly deserving for Chelsea left me brooding on what was happening to my team hunting for 3 trophies not long ago. I guess it will have to be just the BPL unless we miraculously squander a 15 point advantage with 8 more games to go and end trophyless.

*-Of course there have been comebacks this season, but would have loved to see them in knockout games.

Roundup:

1. The “Interim” made sure he shook hands with Sir Alex before the kick off as well as after securing a victory to emphasise he has an educated background. LOL
2. Screw you Phil Dowd for sowing seeds of imagination when I looked at you having a laugh with Sir Alex on the way out from the tunnel before the second half. How I wish the United haters’ remarks on you being in United’s payroll were true.
3. On a serious note, the academy graduate Welbeck's display was full of potential that can be tapped  but needs to improve on his finishing.
4. The Easter fixture was a total letdown for the fans as the play was uninspiring.