Half Blind

I was hoping that James Lawton would be writing the match report of our game today, and he is, only I'm slightly disappointed. It's the usual garbled nonsense, but it's frankly a bit dull. Take a look at this:

if you doubt that football's diving problem really does warrant retrospective video inspection, you should take a look at the Rooney re-runs. The United forward entered his dive trajectory fractionally before he collided with the Arsenal goalkeeper. Of course he did. He is a pro. The opportunity came on a silver platter.

Wenger said the penalty award was "Old Traffordish", which made you wonder quite what category in which to place the Eduardo affair. Outrageously dishonest might cover it but before he left the scene of one of his most biting disappointments the Arsenal manager had widened the debate still further – and not to the satisfaction of anyone who likes to believe that football hasn't become a wasteland of sporting values.

What does it all mean? I've read it through and I really can't fathom it. Is he having a go at Rooney? Wenger? I don't really know. It all makes very little sense. At least his opinion on the match is clearer, even if it's wrong:

Sir Alex Ferguson said United just about deserved the win, but he was going easy on a team as cautious, at times even passive, as his selection had suggested they might be. Rooney found himself largely on his own, and when Dimitar Berbatov came on he wasted a chance that might have provoked some of the impressive inter-play that was on display at Wigan last weekend.

Arsenal, even without Cesc Fabregas, had an impressive coherence and when Arshavin swept them into the lead it was hard to believe they would surrender so easily such a brilliantly achieved advantage.

Predictable, but even so, "brilliantly achieved advantage," really? If I'm not mistaken that was their only first half shot on target. Brilliant indeed.
The Guardian's match report isn't too bad, still on the praising Arsenal tip but at least recognising our success:

United scooped the points, in part, because it is in their nature, after three consecutive Premier League titles, to rally at a moment of crisis. ...
the type of footballers picked in their 4-3-3 structure gave them a more cautious air than Arsenal. Ferguson flatly declined, for nearly the whole game, to give Rooney a partner in attack because his priority was to ensure that his team was never outnumbered in midfield. That altered only in the last five minutes, when Dimitar Berbatov was introduced so that United could hit on the break as the visitors took risks.Aesthetics received little consideration, but Ferguson's battleplan, assisted by freakish events here and there, prevailed.

The Times' James Ducker at least admits he craved an Arsenal win, after a fashion:

By expressing dismay at the volume of deliberate fouls for which he felt that some of United’s players — and, by inference, Darren Fletcher in particular — escaped censure, Wenger inadvertently gave the impression that his team had been bullied, the victim of some grave injustice.

The truth, though, was that such claims served only to distract from the real injustice — that Arsenal could and should have won a tumultuous match after producing a fine performance marred only, albeit irreparably, by two lame errors of judgment.

Henry Winter in The Telegraph, loses points for claiming, "Arsenal dominated for an hour," but otherwise gives us praise and limits the "injustice" to Arsenal should have got a point, which I can just about agree with, it was a very even game, which, as I pointed out yesterday, the stats show. Here's what he says:

For all United's second-half revival orchestrated by Darren Fletcher and Wayne Rooney, Arsenal deserved a point from a classic match, as flawed as it was compelling. Now this was "emotional''. La Liga showcases more technique but the Premier League boasts more pyrotechnics. ... helped by United's alarming failure to retain possession, Arsenal saw good performances in all departments. ...
Reprieved, United stormed into Arsenal, the dynamic Fletcher and Rooney leading the charge.

Alan Hansen is typically awful. Quote one bit of a sentence: "Arsenal pummelled United for 45 minutes," and managed one shot on target and (this from memory) 3 or 4 shots total. Which doesn't sound like much of a pummelling really does it...
In an otherwise rubbish Graham Poll column there is one good point, on the Wenger sending off and subsequent apology he's to receive:

If fourth official Lee Probert reported Wenger for merely kicking a water bottle following a correctly disallowed equaliser for offside then I'd agree he was wrong as this act was surely born of frustration and disappointment rather than dissent.

However, given what had occurred earlier in the game, I expect Probert had been forced to warn the Arsenal manager about his comments and conduct on several occasions and had reached a point of no return.

The worst match report of the day goes to Matt Lawton in The Mail, who slags us off throughout, quotes Arsene Wenger's "anti-football" comment about us as fact and doesn't describe our penalty award at all, merely makes a snide comment about us "getting our own way" at home and quotes Arsene's "Old Traffordish comment. I'm actually wondering whether he works for Arsenal or is Arsene in disguise.

I'm not going to go into or quote from Arsene Wenger's rather silly "anti-football" comments, the way the papers have slavishly picked up on them isn't in the least surprising, and Arsene succeeds pretty well in distracting attention from yet another Arsenal player performing a disgraceful dive. He (and his journalists/sycophants) should probably also remember the way Arsenal tried to kick Evra all over Old Trafford last season. The only thing I will quote is from Daniel Taylor who talks some sense:

On this occasion, however, the Frenchman may have opened himself to allegations of diversion tactics at a time when Eduardo and, to a lesser extent, Eboué have embarrassed the club. Robin van Persie also gave away six free-kicks even if, unlike Fletcher, he was booked.

Jim White in The Telegraph has a nice article praising Rooney, particularly like his explanation of the own goal:

Ferguson, however, has not won 11 Premier League titles by failing to spot a system error. For the second half he shifted Giggs up the pitch and told Rooney to attack the acreage of space behind him. Suddenly, United’s No 10 was everywhere, applying pressure on every opponent, his passes acute, his stamina inexhaustible. Fabio Capello, eager to take possession of the player for the next 10 days of England duty, compared him over the weekend to Raul. But you cannot imagine the Real Madrid talisman running 50 yards to execute a covering tackle as Rooney did on Abou Diaby. Sensing his growing authority, his colleagues rose to the occasion with him. Giggs found a sweet pass at last, which invited Rooney to charge at the keeper and win the equalising penalty. Then the Welshman swung in a free-kick which Diaby, by now so disturbed by Rooney’s very presence, headed into his own goal.

Richard Williams on The Guardian blog reckons we need a playmaker

Ferguson's mastery of the transfer market ensures that his successful investments outnumber his failures, but they seem to be concentrated in certain areas. He likes acquiring strikers, second strikers, wingers and deep-lying midfield players. Apart from the two veterans of the 1992 Youth Cup-winning team, his current first-team midfield roster, excluding wingers, amounts to Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Anderson, the inexperienced Darron Gibson and the unlucky Owen Hargreaves: none of them is either suited or ready to be a replacement for Paul Scholes as the player who dismantles a defence with a single pass and pops up to score 15 goals a season. Like Giggs, Scholes no longer has the legs for the job in the biggest matches.

Perhaps the unhappy and expensive experience with Juan Sebastián Verón undermined Ferguson's faith in playmakers. United's most impressive performances since that time have been achieved with a line-up in which aggressive midfield players such as Fletcher and Anderson create the platform on which out-and-out forwards can perform. The flowering of the partnership of Rooney, Ronaldo and Louis Saha during the French forward's injury-free autumn of 2006 was a typical, if short-lived, expression of that approach.

Which seems to me to be overstating the problem. Carrick can pick a match winning pass, and our midfield does need to score more, but Gibson certainly has a shot on him, and Anderson is hopefully going to get better at shooting to add to the drive he already possesses.

I Remember Learning How to Dive

(Image from here)

So, according to the papers I've just been reading we were outplayed by Arsenal yesterday. Which is some use of the word "outplayed" that I wasn't previously aware of. Apparently it now means "being equal." In a game in which we were allegedly outplayed take a look at the stats from this report:

Possession 50 - 50
Territorial advantage 49 - 51
shots off target 8 - 6
shots on target 3 - 3
tackles 31 - 18
corners 6 - 5
passing success 73 - 76

Even without saying which is which team above we can see that except in tackling all the stats are very even. We're the first set of stats by the way. One interesting thing is that Arsenal got 6 yellow cards from 18 tackles.
I might as well start with this report from The Telegraph, seeing as it has these stats to go with these words:

his team had outplayed the champions, gone into the lead and somehow contrived to lose, courtesy of an unlikely penalty and a freak own goal.

An "unlikely penalty?" Here's his description:

Wenger was waspish in his verdict of the penalty decision that gave United their equaliser. “Oldtraffordish,” was the neologism he coined for it. True, when Manuel Almunia, the Arsenal goalkeeper, came flying out to challenge Wayne Rooney, the England striker started to go down before contact was made. But there was substantial contact, unlike with the Eduardo incident, so it was a penalty. Rooney converted from the spot.

So it was a penalty. The contact was "substantial." How is this "unlikely?" I'm a little confused. And he goes onto say that, "In the first half, also at the Stretford End, Dean had failed to give a much more blatant penalty." You could probably debate their penalty claim and give it as a penalty, it was certainly a close one, but "more blatant?" I don't think so. And they scored about 30 seconds later, so who cares. The worst is still to come though:

If his players had struck their efforts on goal as cleanly as Wenger struck that bottle, Arsenal would have won this game comfortably. Van Persie was denied by a superb Foster reaction save with his left boot and actually hit the bar with a viciously swerving free-kick of his own two minutes before United took the lead. United, by contrast, were inarticulate, struggling to find their old attacking expressiveness. They gave the ball away relentlessly in the first half and without the outstanding Fletcher could well have been swept aside. They will need to find more conviction if they are to win that fourth straight title.

So they could have won comfortably. He lists 2 incidents. They had three shots on target. We gave the ball away "relentlessly." The passing percentages of the two teams were almost identical. No agenda in this report...
Paul Wilson in The Guardian continues the trend, saying we "got lucky with the penalty." His comparison says more than he intends:

Sir Alex Ferguson's latest attempt to adjust to life without Cristiano Ronaldo was looking about as convincing as Eduardo falling to the floor against Celtic until United got lucky with a penalty of their own.

Of course Eduardo got a penalty for his dive, so he must have looked pretty convincing... The rest of the report isn't worth reading really, just the usual over-praising of Arsenal and criticism of us.
Richard Williams in The Guardian at least manages to get in a bit of decent analysis:

Clearly, it was the job of Ryan Giggs, operating in central midfield ahead of Fletcher and Michael Carrick, to get up in support of Rooney yesterday, with Antonio Valencia and Nani working in the wide areas. Throughout the first half, however, United's captain floundered in his attempts to carry the ball forward from deep positions. Given plenty of possession, he was a couple of yards off the pace and a couple of degrees short of the required accuracy required. But United started the second half with Giggs pushing closer to Rooney, and the Welshman finally came up with a through ball that set Rooney on the path to his fateful convergence with Almunia. "It was the kind of pass we've been trying in training all week," Ferguson said. "We got one." And one turned out to be enough.

This dreadful report in The Independent (Arsenal "dominated" apparently...) is notable for the most stupid comparison ever made:

The penalty [for Rooney] changed the course of a game that was running in Arsenal's favour with the strength of a mountain stream. It was similar to the clash between Eduardo da Silva and Artur Boruc at the Emirates on Wednesday night that has led to a Uefa investigation and a possible two-match ban for the striker for diving.

Seriously?
The other report, by Steve Tongue, in The Independent is better, it accepts the "scruffiness" of the game from both sides, but ruins everything by only citing examples from our side (I should point out that I'm not arguing we played particularly well, but that Arsenal didn't either. One bit of Arshavin skill was the difference in the first half (and Foster should have saved that) other than that their wasn't much skill on display from either side - the last 15 minutes typified the game, we couldn't keep the ball to protect our lead and Arsenal couldn't string a pass together to take advantage of that.)
Jonathan Norcroft isn't too bad in The Sunday Times. He does spend too long looking at the silly comparisons between Eduardo's and Rooney's penalties, but he sums the game up fairly accurately here:

Manchester United deserved a draw for the way, spurred by Ryan Giggs, that they increased the tempo when behind in the second half, three points seemed a generous reward, if not quite, as Wenger argued, “beyond belief”. ...
United were gleeful in victory. Their performance was light on inspiration, heavy on perspiration, reflected by Ferguson suggesting Rooney should have handed the man-of-the-match award given by television to Darren Fletcher.

Fletcher was at his feisty, dilligent best. He was involved in his own controversy when, with half-time near, he cleaned out Arshavin in his own box. Dean declined to award a penalty, presumably because Fletcher’s initial contact was with the ball. Yet the rules suggest that when a player loses control of his body in a challenge and it results in him taking the man, then, irrespective of ball contact, it is a foul.

Which all seems pretty fair.
I'll quote one sentence from The Mail on Sunday's report which will be enough to explain why I'll ignore the rest of it:

But for two moments of quite insane defending, Arsenal looked to be utterly capable of controlling the reigning Premier League champions in their back yard. To their sublime passing they had added a muscular core and only in the dying stages and after morale-sapping reverses did they falter.

Quite.
Doesn't seem to be many quotes about. Here's one from Sir Alex:

"When you're 1-0 down at half-time it's always an uphill task against a team of Arsenal's capabilities and we had to dig deep,' said Ferguson. 'Obviously we had a break with the own goal but we got a clear penalty and I think, in fairness, we really did perform well in the second half.'

He was less than impressed by Arsenal's claims for a first-half penalty. 'I didn't think it was a penalty,' he said. 'Fletcher got the ball cleanly and the referee was only 10 yards away."

And from Rooney:

“No-one really knew who was our penalty taker. Then we got one at Burnley but Michael Carrick unfortunately missed it so from then on I said I’d take them - and thankfully I scored today.”

On the match, he continued on Sky Sports News: “It was a good game.

“I thought we were much better in the second half. Arsenal had a lot of possession in the first half but didn’t really hurt us - apart from the goal.

“The second half we knew we had to be better and thankfully we were. I tried getting on the end of the ball and I’ve done so and the goalkeeper took my legs from me - so I’ve had no option.

“Last season our record against the big teams wasn’t great and Arsenal have started the season well, so we needed to win today.

“Forwards, if they score goals, tend to get man of the match awards - but I think Darren Fletcher was head and shoulders over anyone on the pitch today.”

Couple of other stories, Capello on Owen:

Asked about Owen, who scored his first goal for United last Saturday against Wigan, the Italian said: "He has played three games and we followed him in two. I saw him against Birmingham and he scored a goal the game after. His movement in the box is really, really fast and he understands when to go to the goal."

But when asked whether Owen was in his best form since Capello took charge, the coach withheld judgment. "We have to wait. He's not played a lot of games. He also has to understand the style of United, he has to integrate with the other players – their movement, passes, everything."

Owen has played only once under Capello, as a substitute in the friendly defeat to France in March 2008. Asked whether he would be recalling the striker, who has 40 goals in his 89 internationals, Capello said: "I have to wait," suggesting Owen has only an outside chance.

While The Mirror report that, perhaps surprisingly, we're not signing Steven Ireland from Man City...

All the footprints you've ever left and fear expecting ahead (Arsenal)

First big 4 clash of the season and I'm quite looking forward to it.
The tactical battle is neatly summarized here:

Arsenal's switch to 4-3-3 has reaped impressive dividends with the team winning all four matches this season scoring 15 goals in the process.

The stimulus appears to have been last season's two Champions League ties against today's opponents, Manchester United, when his midfield two were overrun. Wenger's new formation features a third central midfielder usually Alex Song, in a holding role. Song does not just protect the central defence, he also gives freedom to his fellow midfielders, and eases their workload. ...

The weakness is that the full-backs have a heavy load. With a narrow midfield they must provide attacking width, but can lack defensive support. Today's match may turn on whether United, who conversely have moved to a more traditional 4-4-2, can expose that dual-role, or whether Arsenal's midfield trio can control the game.

The fact that Fabregas is out should help us in the centre of midfield. Team selection should be interesting, with the Midfield most so. Summary:

United's unsettled central midfield - perm any two from Michael Carrick, Anderson, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes

My solution. Fletcher - for control, Anderson - who generally has a good game against Arsenal, Valencia down the right, and Giggs who can play down the left but also fill in in the centre to combat the Arsenal three, as well as providing the quality balls which omitting Carrick means we'd otherwise lack. It would also be good to see Fabio at right back combining with Valencia in attack to really test the Arsenal full-back. Whether Sir Alex will prefer the experience of Wes Brown or O'Shea is another matter. Upfront, fully expect to see Berba and Rooney continuing their partnership which performed well against Wigan. My team:

Foster (who looked back to his best at Wigan), Fabio, Evans (assuming fit), Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs, Berba, Rooney.

Match Fact (just the one this week...) from the BBC:

Arsenal have lost six of their last eight trips to Old Trafford in league and cup. The exceptions were last season's 0-0 draw and a 1-0 win in 2006 when Emmanuel Adebayor got the only goal. Both were Premier League games.

Prediction. I think we'll carry on where we left off in the Champions League against Arsenal last season (the last league meeting being a bit of an odd occasion with us only needing a point to win the league). I'm hoping this isn't going to be one of those games, like last season's home game against Liverpool, where my overconfidence is punished with humiliation, but anyway, I feel very confident on this one. Last week's Wigan performance has shown our strikers are on form, Rooney looking very good indeed, our defence looked rock solid with Vidic back in there. We'll have to much for Arsenal. 3-0 to us. Easy...

We Fight For Diamonds

Arsenal vs Man Utd is, pretty obviously the main focus today.

Sir Alex makes some comments on Arsenal which can be read as reflecting back onto us:

“I couldn’t understand why they were written off.

“A young team like Arsenal, that is maturing, has to be respected and regarded. Six-one at Everton was an amazing result. In all my time at Manchester United, I can’t remember anyone doing that at Goodison Park before.

“But one thing Arsene Wenger has done fantastically well is sell at the right time.

“He has always known the right time for a player to leave and he has done it again with Adebayor and Toure.

“It is not easy to manage that kind of change but I don’t think the level of ability has changed one bit and he seems to have a good harmony in the squad.”

The Independent have a look at tactics, arguing that our defeat of Arsenal in last year's Champions League forced Arsene into a rethink:

Arsenal's switch to 4-3-3 has reaped impressive dividends with the team winning all four matches this season scoring 15 goals in the process.

The stimulus appears to have been last season's two Champions League ties against today's opponents, Manchester United, when his midfield two were overrun. Wenger's new formation features a third central midfielder usually Alex Song, in a holding role. Song does not just protect the central defence, he also gives freedom to his fellow midfielders, and eases their workload. ...

The weakness is that the full-backs have a heavy load. With a narrow midfield they must provide attacking width, but can lack defensive support. Today's match may turn on whether United, who conversely have moved to a more traditional 4-4-2, can expose that dual-role, or whether Arsenal's midfield trio can control the game.

And elsewhere they have Sir Alex looking back on the Champions League games and saying we need to do better in the league against the "big 4:"

"We made the right start at the Emirates," Ferguson said, recalling what he considered to be United's performance of the season. "The atmosphere was terrific; they had their fans right behind them but we killed that in seven minutes or something.

"It was a great performance. I don't think anyone could have lived with us that night – and we had a 1-0 advantage from the first leg. If you have a 1-0 head-start going into the second leg of a semi-final, I think it's a big advantage.

"But I think we have to start doing well against the top teams," Ferguson added. "Last season we won the championship but dropped six points against Liverpool, five against Arsenal and two against Chelsea. That has to change."

The Times have Sir Alex on the recent omissions of Carrick and Anderson:

When quizzed about Carrick’s absence for the season-opener against Birmingham City at Old Trafford less than a fortnight ago, Ferguson was reported to have told the television cameras, “There’s no injury to Michael Carrick, you’ll have to ask him why he’s out,” sparking rumours that the pair had had a falling-out. ...

“There are no issues with Carrick and Anderson,” Ferguson said [at yesterday's press conference]. “What you’ll find is they’re not playing and when they’re not playing, you make it an issue, not me. I read about a dust-up with Anderson, which is absolute rubbish.

“We played Burnley on the Wednesday and had played the Saturday before it, and it was a chance to freshen up — that’s what we did.

“We’d got back [Darren] Fletcher and [Paul] Scholes [for the Wigan game], who were fresh and hadn’t played against Burnley, so it was just a matter of freshening it up. What we are also trying to do is push on Gibson as much as we can because the boy has improved at a fantastic rate of knots. We’ve been really impressed with him. That’s the reason [Anderson and Carrick were left out]. There’s no reason other than that.”

There's a good article by Oliver Kay in The Times on the Arsene/Sir Alex rivalry, worth reading, just a snippet:

It was those one-sided characterisations, in part, that so infuriated Ferguson, who, though less well-travelled, has far more extensive interests away from football — and these go beyond his well-documented passions for horse racing and wine. As he memorably put it in an interview with The Times in 2003, “They say he’s an intelligent man, right? ‘Speaks five languages.’ I’ve got a 15-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast who speaks five languages!” ...
The question remains: did Ferguson soften his attitude towards Wenger because he no longer regarded Arsenal as a threat? “No, I just think the game has changed a little bit,” the United manager said yesterday. “When Arsène first came to Arsenal, there were feisty things between the clubs, which probably transferred itself into both managers, but the personalities of the teams have changed. There has always been a respect for each other and for the work done by both managers. Nothing has changed in that respect.”

Some interesting comments from Evra in The Sun. On the last Arsenal game:

"What Arsenal did that day was shameful. I was asked if it felt like there was a contract out on me and I had to say 'yes, yes, yes'.

"It's not at all the way in which Arsenal normally handle matches because they usually play really good football and are not overly aggressive - it was a big change. That's why I have to thank the referee.

"He came up to me and said 'Look I don't know what's going on but since half-time all the Arsenal players seem to be out to injure you. Don't get involved." ...

Evra explained: "I particularly didn't like the reaction Fabregas showed in that game when he knew full well we had a Champions League final to play that month.

"Yet he put in a bad tackle on me which could easily have robbed me of that final.

"We'll meet again one day, hopefully off the pitch, and I'll be able to let my personality tell him what I think."

Evra refuses to back down from his "men against boys" taunt which sparked all the ill-feeling.

He added: "I only said what many other people were thinking given that we beat them home and away and 4-1 on aggregate.

"Everybody knows I don't mind winding things up a little bit but all I did was speak the truth in this instance.

Maybe I could have said 'Yes, we have a little bit more experience than this young Arsenal team'.

"But I simply like to express myself a little more frankly than that so I said what I thought.

"If people are honest then they'll know that most agreed with my point of view.

"I'll always speak honestly but I'm still disappointed in the way all this has ended up.

"I know very well that every time we play Arsenal this row will surface. But I'll deal with it, no problem. That's just football as far as I'm concerned."

And on our winning mentality:

"I think the difference between us and the other three of the so-called Big Four in England is that we are totally and utterly fixated by our major objective which is to win the title again and again.

"It's easy to win a title but the tough thing is to retain it.

"So to lift the Premier League trophy three or four times on the trot is a hugely impressive achievement."

If anyone cares what Mark Lawrenson thinks about our team (he's still writing about Ronaldo if that's any guide...), you can, here. Ditto Jamie Redknapp.
Just one other thing, Louise Taylor in The Guardian has an article praising Darren Fletcher which is worth a read, although it does include a rather insulting comparison:

Despite sometimes deploying him in a more attacking role in Scotland colours – when he is as good as regarded as a tartan Steven Gerrard – Butcher believes that at Old Trafford Fletcher now dictates matters. "Darren can get games by the scruff of the neck and inject pace and tempo," the former England captain said. "He understands the game, reads it well, is improving all the time and United rely heavily on him."

There was a time when many would have scoffed at such praise. Those were the days when the player's admirable box- to-box energy was frequently undone by needless concessions of possession and seemingly wayward positional sense. Happily, maturity is increasingly highlighting his technical ability and emphasising that a player who maybe once tried to do too much, too fast, boasts a decent football brain after all.

The Idiots are Winning

(Image from here)
Champions League draw brings out the idiots. Shaun Custis in The Sun to be precise. He has this to say:

The great European party turned into little more than a damp squib here in Monaco.

And England's four representatives got as easy a ride as they are ever likely to get.

The star-studded good, rich and famous of football had gathered to celebrate the draw for the moneybags Champions League 2010. ...

Countless millions watched with bated breath as the balls were drawn out - anticipating mega-clash after mega-clash.

Would it be Cristiano Ronaldo back at Old Trafford or Jose Mourinho back at Chelsea?

Nope.

The draw was as dull as ditchwater.

We ended up with barely a whimper as the four English teams avoided the giants of the continent.

If you really hate football so much why bother writing about it? He was expecting hugely glamorous ties from a first round group stage which is designed, via seeding, to make sure the top teams avoid each other. Does this guy have any clue whatsoever? Yes. The draw was dull. Champions League draws are always overlong and dull. Has he really never watched one before? And complaining because the balls didn't drop into one of his "dream ties?" Wtf? Wouldn't he prefer these ties in the later stages when they might actually have some importance attached to them. Jesus wept. And we haven't even got to the predictable Man Utd bashing yet:

And but for an almost predictable whinge from the United camp, the quartet will rarely have a better excuse for cracking open the bubbly.

First off - by predictable does he mean correct? There's a lot of travelling there. What's he want? Us celebrating long European trips before important Premiership ties? And secondly he gives his remarks no context. The rest of the article has quotes from Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool but nothing from us. It's kind of like me just writing "Shaun Custis is an idiot," and hitting publish. Which I was tempted to do... There is another article by him (which I'm not linking to because it's crap) with a few (non-whingeing) quotes from Sir Alex, but the article in question has nothing, just a cheap, stupid, wrong and very predictable accusation.

Shaun Custis is an idiot.

Anyway, here's David Gill's "predictable whinge:"

"Pot four was the interesting one and I think most teams would have preferred not to get the German champions, but overall we have got to be happy," said United's chief executive David Gill, whose club also face CSKA Moscow and Besiktas. "We look forward to going back to Moscow, where we enjoyed such great scenes in 2008," he added, referring to the European Cup final win over Chelsea.

He's having a right go there isn't he...

And here's Sir Alex:

“These are difficult ties, especially the trips to Russia and Turkey.

“CSKA have developed strongly in the last few years and games in Turkey are ­always difficult.

“We also know the quality that we’re up against with Wolfsburg, with what they achieved in the Bundesliga last season.”

Which is nothing more than the football tradition of paying due respect to your opponents.

Shaun Custis is an idiot.

Here's what they could have said, courtesy of Henry Winter in The Telegraph:

Manchester United, who were handed the most awkward draw of the English four, have important domestic fixtures, including collisions with Liverpool and City, following long flights in Europe.

Although the English champions missed major opponents like Real Madrid and Inter Milan, Sir Alex Ferguson will not be too amused when casting his eye over the fixture schedule.

First up for United in Group B is Besiktas away on Sep 15, three days after a trip to Tottenham Hotspur and just before City pile into Old Trafford. Any tiredness in United legs or minds could be exploited by Mark Hughes' well-rested side.

United travel on Oct 21 to Moscow, a place etched in their hearts after lifting the 2008 Champions League there. This will be before the temperature plummets in Russia but also before the mercury rises at Anfield. Red squared for United. Ferguson's mood will hardly be improved to learn that Liverpool have a home tie (against Lyons) while United are out in Moscow.

I may have said it before, but it bears repeating - Shaun Custis is an idiot.

Speaking of idiots/predictable whingeing - Tevez whines on about us. Not worth quoting.

Elsewhere Bryan Robson has a few words on Sir Alex and Arsene Wenger ahead of Saturday's game:

“If you’re looking for a feud these days, you’ve still got Rafa and the gaffer.

“As for Fergie and Arsene Wenger, they’re pals now and they’ll have a glass of red wine together after ­Saturday’s game.

“There’s that mutual respect there because they both know how difficult the other’s job is.

“We’ll probably know round about January if the feud’s back on with Arsene because that’s when the ­pressure builds and you try to look for little cracks in your rivals.

“If it does, it’d probably suggest the gaffer sees Arsenal as a threat again and maybe Arsene should be pleased by that – but at the moment there’s a healthy respect there.”

And a strange one in The Guardian to finish:

The Football Association has denied it caved into pressure from Manchester United in removing a Liverpool Academy physiotherapist from duty with the England squad.

It is understood that Manchester United's chief executive David Gill, also a board member at the FA, objected to Dave Galley, who has more than 25 years' experience as a football physiotherapist, working with Fabio Capello's squad. It is understood that he objected on the grounds that using non-independent staff contravenes FA policy, although concerns a Premier League rival would have access to potentially sensitive medical information could have played a part.

Cool, Relax

(Image from here)

Not much around today. Rio comments on Owen:

"He has been hammered yet he has not even played a full 90 minutes," Ferdinand told United's TV channel. "People have said he was finished and was not worth the risk, yet he scored with probably his hardest chance of the season. I think that goal on Saturday will catapult him towards scoring a few more."

And on Berba:

"People say certain things about Dimitar but he is always the first into training and the last to leave," Ferdinand said. "He is a dedicated professional who wants to score goals for Manchester United.

"Maybe he is not like Wayne in the sense of being 100mph all the time. He is quite relaxed and does things in his own time. But you do not win the league with 11 players who are all the same."

Berba on the Champions League:

"After what happened in last year's final we're even more determined in Europe this time around," said Berbatov.

"For me, losing in Rome was doubly frustrating because I wasn't at the club when the team won in Moscow.

"I've never won the Champions League so losing to Barcelona was very upsetting.

"This year our aim is to make it all the way to Madrid. The Bernabeu is one of the best stadiums in the world and I know we're good enough to make it there and win it.

"There are many clubs with very, very good players. But when you say the name Manchester United, it inspires respect in a lot of people. Nobody will fancy playing us."And there's an interesting point made about the Arsenal game in The Manchester Evening News:

Fergie got the measure of Arsene Wenger in the two-legged Champions League semi-final last spring big style when his system destroyed the Gunners.

But the success of the blueprint relied upon Rooney in a disciplined wide left role.

Though the same tactics were to later leave the 23-year-old isolated and anonymous in the final against Barcelona, there was no doubt it was the key to the last four comprehensive aggregate defeat of the Londoners.

But memories of Rome have forced Fergie into a rethink and he's shelved the plan that saw Rooney shift from an out and out centre forward role operating in a link-up with another striker.

The Old Trafford manager has reverted to 4-4-2 and Rooney has revelled in the central role with a touch of freedom attached.

And that's yr lot.

Overly Dramatic Truth

(Image from here)

So the Anderson "bust up" turned out to be a mild "disagreement":

Anderson told the Daily Mail: "I believed that I would play in the Community Shield but that is forgotten now.

"I thought that, without Cristiano Ronaldo around, I could to play more and that has been my challenge from pre-season onwards.

"But the coach decides the teams and to discuss this with him is foolish because he is the chief. I do not want to leave United. No.

"Sir Alex Ferguson has demanded a bigger effort from me and I accept that. Because to get into this United team is very complicated and difficult for any player."

I love this paragraph from The Times:

The matter was kept in-house for a fortnight, but witnesses have now reluctantly confirmed that Anderson, having expressed fury at his omission in front of his team-mates, threatened to find a new club and that Ferguson, appalled by the player’s attitude, said that he was prepared to sell him.

And then they just have two different sources saying two different things:

One source said that the matter is “over” and that Anderson is in Ferguson’s plans to start the game against Arsenal, but another suggested that the lingering tension between manager and player raises doubts about the 21-year-old’s long-term future at United.

I noticed this Arjen Robben story yesterday but ignored it. Seeing as it's grown into a bigger story today, I might as well quote from it, with a large pinch of salt:

United have been quoted £26million but the Red Devils plan to force the price down this weekend.

Old Trafford chiefs will begin the process with a bid of around £11m - but an offer of £15m may be enough to bag the winger.

Robben, 26, is seen as the creative spark which can help fill the void left by £80m Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Telegraph report on Park's contract negotiations:

Park has made it clear to United that he wants to commit to new terms and the club are confident that negotiations will reach a swift conclusion.

A spokesman for Park's representatives said: "It is hard to reveal specific content about the deal, but when we sign with United, we will make an announcement."

The Guardian on Rio's return from injury:

"It's improving, I'm a bit ahead of schedule," Ferdinand said. "I've been training really hard the last few days. I'm not where I want to be obviously on the pitch, but in a couple of weeks I'll be back on the pitch playing again. Hopefully the match after the internationals I will be fit so that's what I'll be aiming for."

And The Independent (and lots of other papers), report that Owen probably won't make the next England squad, or perhaps any, ever:

The way that the Italian has structured his squad means that of the four strikers he will select, two will be of the target-man variety – Emile Heskey, Peter Crouch or Carlton Cole – and the other two will be the category into which Rooney, Defoe and Owen fall.

That means that it will be extremely difficult for Owen to re-establish himself before the World Cup finals unless there is a major injury to Rooney – the star player – or Defoe, whose six goals already this season, including two for England against the Netherlands earlier this month, make him the country's in-form striker.

Rumors

(Image from here)

Vidic quashes rumours about his future:

"The first thing to say is that I have personally never said anything about Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan or any club," said Vidic.

"It's other people speaking about it. I never speak about my future so I don't really know why someone else does.

"I showed at Wigan on the pitch how I played and how happy I am at this club.

"Anyone who is a fan of United or the players would only have to see how I played to know how committed I am to the club.

"I have spoken with my agent. I know about all the rumours about me but I don't want it to have an impact on the club.

"It's not a good time for my club to be hearing those rumours. I'm here and I'm committed. I'll show that with how I play in matches.

"But I will never speak about my future and I will never talk about moving to other clubs.

"It's not my true that my wife isn't happy. I don't know how that rumour came out because she's never spoken about it. She's not what you'd call a famous wife."

Also on Vidic, he "escapes" punishment for the "clash" with Rodallega against Wigan:

the FA's disciplinary department asked Webb to review the television footage to ascertain whether he had seen the incident and, if not, whether he believed it constituted violent conduct.

Webb reported that he had been following the play and had not noticed the two players come together but he also felt the television pictures were inconclusive and could not say he was certain it was a deliberate offence.

Of course the reporting of this, using the word "escape", in this story, or "let off", already tells us the papers presume him guilty. Similarly, the Charity Shield:

Wayne Rooney was among the players who appeared and pre-season guidelines from the FA suggested Wembley beaks would step in to clamp down on player misbehaviour even if the match officials insisted they had not felt intimidated.

Despite the promise that “clubs can now be charged for instances where three or more players surround a referee in a 'confrontational manner’, Foy’s insistence that he did not feel he was under threat means that no action will be brought against United.

Which contradicts itself: The FA can charge even if the ref didn't feel intimidated - the ref didn't feel intimidated so no action can be taken. The better conclusion? We didn't surround the referee "in a confrontational manner," so there is no "let off."

The Mirror has a sourceless story about Anderson being involved in a "bust-up" with Sir Alex:

Manchester United midfielder Anderson has been told he can quit Old Trafford after a furious bust-up with Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Brazilian star left Fergie fuming after reacting badly to his failure to make the starting line-up for the Community Shield defeat by Chelsea.

The Scot was so angry he later confronted Anderson over his actions and was stunned by the 21-year-old’s refusal to back down.

Anderson insisted he was good enough to be in the team and was frustrated at being overlooked, with rookie Darron Gibson taking his place in the squad.

And with the Brazilian international claiming he would prefer to quit rather than sit on the sidelines, Ferguson is willing to grant him his wish.

Which, with its publishing being just after a great victory against Wigan and after Vidic pledges himself to the club after rumours of him moving on, seems very much to be an attempt to upset the solidarity of the club after we have gotten back on track. File under should-be-ignored-until-more-concrete-evidence-appears...

Similarly the ridiculous rumour in The Guardian that Carrick is on his way to Liverpool.

Finally, the ever sensible Henry Winter weighs in on Owen:

Even the passing of the years, and the ripping of the hamstrings, cannot diminish this regard. Rather than being "caned'' to borrow his description of recent bemusing criticism, Owen should be cherished. ...

His game is rooted in selfishness, in the necessarily blinkered task of finishing the creative approach work of others, but that does not mean the forward fails to understand the team ethos.

He played out of position for Newcastle. He never embarrasses employers with any off-field antics. His Manchester United colleagues talk of his immense application.

And he also echoes Sir Alex's pre-season words, on how other teams would have worked Liverpool out this season, in his match report from last night:

It would be wrong to venture that Benitez’s well-established system has been worked out by opposing managers but there is a predictability to Liverpool. Close down Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, push the full-backs deep, and you have a chance. O’Neill cracked Benitez’s 4-2-3-1 code with the pacey wide pair of James Milner and Ashley Young threatening on the break, often troubling Liverpool. In the middle, the outstanding Petrov disrupted red supply lines to Gerrard and Torres.

Never Talking To You Again

A lesson in cause and effect in the papers today. Michael Owen doesn't talk to any journalists after the Wigan game, except to MUTV:

Owen tetchily refused interview requests, speaking only to the club’s TV station, to whom he said:

“I only played an hour or so against Burnley and had 15-20 minutes in the home game against Birmingham, so I’ve not played 90 minutes yet. But there has still been quite a lot made of the fact I hadn’t scored."

Which leads to Michael Owen not getting a very good press for scoring his goal. At least The Daily Star includes the above reason in their report, which continues:

His frustration is understandable. But, after so long as a shadow of his former self, he must live with the fact that only consistent scoring can convince people he remains a force.

If you want a good press, be nice to the journalists who are going to be writing about. Ian Ladyman in The Mail is the most offended, and dishonest. Nowhere in his report does he mention the refusal of Owen to speak to them, instead he just criticises him throughout his match report. We win 5-0 and Ian Ladyman can do nothing but criticise Owen:

Flourishing as a Manchester United player can be as much about attitude as anything. Wayne Rooney has it, but it is hard not to wonder about Michael Owen.

Rooney is very much United's heartbeat these days, the type of player who can drag his team to victory almost on his own. In this way he is a little like his former captain Roy Keane.

Owen, on the other hand, seems to be in denial and the sooner he desists the better. On arriving at United this summer, he was quick to round on those who have labelled him injury-prone in recent years.

It even leads him to praise Rooney's attitude, something very rarely seen in the papers:

There is, however, something Owen can learn from his junior colleague, too. Rooney has not been without criticism over the years. Indeed, it is his tendency to act rashly on occasions that is stopping his manager Sir Alex Ferguson from handing him the captaincy that - in so many ways - he deserves.

Rarely, though, does the 23-yearold complain in the manner that is sadly becoming so typical of Owen. When Rooney looks for answers and reasons and explanations, he tends to find them from within. It is what great sportsmen do.

Owen - as sad as it is to say - seems to have become caught up in something of a blame culture. Before Saturday he had not scored a league goal since January and that is nobody's fault but his own.

I hate that ridiculous thing where one lumps all great sportsmen (would it be too much of a leap to suggest this is sexism in its purest form: are there no great sports women?) together to suggest that the person you're talking about doesn't belong to them. It's always what they used to do to Ronaldo, "he won't be great until he controls his ego/temper/diving," and then make a convenient list of sportsmen who prove your point. In a similar vein I shall say great sports writers don't take such childish offence at someone not speaking to them...
Daniel Taylor in The Guardian quotes what Owen said to the journalists:

Owen was not willing to talk to any media other than United's own television station. "You cane me, then you want an interview?" he asked, without breaking stride, when a variety of men with microphones approached him.

Owen believes he has been unfairly criticised, telling MUTV: "I played only an hour or so versus Burnley and had 15 to 20 minutes against Birmingham, so I hadn't played 90 minutes in total, but a lot was still made of the fact I hadn't scored. It was as though I hadn't scored for a couple of years. So it was a nice feeling to score. I probably scored with the hardest chance I've had. I had two at Burnley and one against Birmingham, so this was only the fourth chance I've had in a Manchester United shirt. But I miss a couple of chances and, as ever, everyone is quick to write you off."

And singles out Fletcher for praise:

the real revelation on Saturday was the player who is rapidly becoming United's dynamo. Darren Fletcher was ubiquitous in midfield. There is not a single part of his game that has failed to improve. Fit again after a disrupted pre-season, Nemanja Vidic's return also gave United's defence a far more compact look. "We realise how badly we played at Burnley," the defender said. "We've lost one of the best players in the world in Ronaldo and of course we are going to miss him. But we still have great players who can score goals."

Steve Tongue in The Independent is fair and singles out the strength of our midfield:

"We had to do something about it," Ferguson said of Wednesday's embarrassment. What he did was demonstrate the enviable strength of his squad by dropping the whole midfield. Park Ji-Sung, Michael Carrick, Anderson and Ryan Giggs were all left out; Antonio Valencia, Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes and Nani looked a more solid combination. Valencia, initially applauded on his old stamping ground then later booed, created the first goal with his cross for Wayne Rooney, Fletcher worked harder than anyone, Scholes successfully negotiated a tightrope after being booked in the 18th minute and Nani, who may yet flourish away from Cristiano Ronaldo's shadow, made the fourth goal for Michael Owen and scored the fifth.

Tom Dart in The Times really wanted us to lose, criticising us about as much possible after a 5-0 victory:

Five goals for and none against at the DW Stadium on Saturday seems the bluntest of responses, but just as it was too soon to mark down Manchester United’s prospects on the basis of one poor performance, however resonant, sceptics should not feel obliged to shut up quite yet.

Victories over Wigan Athletic are as routine as breathing for United: the clubs have met nine times in the Premier League and United have won on every occasion.

And it would be too facile to submit the scoreline as proof of United taking out the frustration of Turf Moor on their opponents. It was as much a reflection of an implosion from Wigan as of the visiting team’s potency. United wasted half a dozen good chances in the first period, but Wigan caused their opponents enough concern to keep the result in doubt until the opening goal.

Read, "Meh, Wigan were rubbish," and in light of that, when he says, "United might have scored ten," one imagines he's being a touch derogatory. When Arsenal ever win a game of football against, say, Portsmouth, everyone drools over their football, we do the same and the most they can muster is the odd, "they were OK I suppose."
To finish, we have the standard Monday morning story - one-of-our-players-will-faces-the prospect-of-being-charged-over-some-nothing-incident-because-of-video-evidence - today's edition Vidic.

Motherfucker=Redeemer

The papers are pretty positive this morning, falling short of eating humble pie, but on the whole admitting that we've answered our critics (while refusing to accept that it was themselves who were doing the over the top criticising). On the whole that's the case. There is still a ouple of reports where the sour grapes aren't very well hidden. Here's Paul Wilson in The Guardian:

Just as it was beginning to look as though Manchester United might be a really bad bet to retain their title the partnership between Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov finally sprang to life and answered Sir Alex Ferguson's prayer for goals.

The pair did not actually combine for any of the goals - not unless you count the third one which should really go down as a joint effort between Rooney and Mario Melchiot – though after an arid first half that reflected United's stodgy start to the season Ferguson will just have been pleased to see his strikers on target.

They didn't combine, unless you count the goal they did combine for, oh, and the passing that led to our second, where Berba passed to Rooney who passed to Scholes who passed back to Berba. Except for that, they looked like absolute strangers... And that description of the first half, in which we create chances and Wigan had a go, a very entertaining half of football, but described as "arid " and "stodgy" here, reflecting the unwillingness to let preconceived notions go.

And this piece in The Telegraph is one of those, "well, they won 5 nil but there's still so many negatives..." type articles which isn't worth reading at all.

This, from The Mail on Sunday, does the amazing trick of putting all the paper criticism into the mouth of Sir Alex:

After the shock defeat by Burnley, even the United manager had admitted he was worried about where his team's goals would come from, following the exit of the player who had scored 67 in the last two seasons.

Well, how about Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen? Yes, that would the same Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov who apparently could not play together and the same Michael Owen whose free transfer signing was supposed to be a gamble.

He didn't link the lack of goals to Ronaldo going in the least, he described it as a problem we had last season. To be fair, the rest of the report isn't too bad, actually giving us credit.

Daniel Taylor praises Rooney:

Even the Wigan fans clapped Rooney off the pitch after he had scored his 100th and 101st goals for United and helped his side towards their 5-0 victory at the DW Stadium. Rooney opened the scoring with a classic centre-forward's header and, by making it 3-0 with a deflected finish, he has now scored three times in as many games in the first six days of the new league campaign.

The Sunday Times doesn't know where it's at, one minute with the praise, the next with negativity, it even has the cheek, after the crisis talk of Thursday, to describe the "finding true form" as "inevitable"

The Independent's report is just dull, as is The Mirror (it seems the papers enjoy slagging us off more than praising us).

The Telegraph's Mark Ogden graciously concedes that "some of the questions have been answered."

Quotes from Sir Alex here:

“You have got to react to defeat and it is always a challenge. But we got a really good response today.

“When you are making chances and dont take them it is a worry. We made six chances in the first half and did not take any.

“But the important thing is to have the patience to keep playing and keep believing and we did that.”

From Owen:

"I probably scored the hardest chance I've had," said Owen, who had failed to find the net in United's two opening league games against Birmingham and Burnley. "I had two chances at Burnley and one against Birmingham, but this was the fourth real opportunity I've had.

"I don't think I missed a chance in pre-season, but I've missed a couple since the season started and as ever everyone is quick to write you off. It was as if I hadn't scored for a couple of years.

Owen added: "That's something I've had to deal with for ten odd years now and I don't think that will change until I hang up my boots. It was certainly a great feeling to score. I'd got a few in pre-season but there's nothing quite like doing it in a competitive game."

Finally, The Mail On Sunday takes us back to 2003 and give their article on new anti-doping rules the headline, "Rio Ferdinand among England players to be quizzed by Anti-doping agency." Thanks for the reminder of a missed test 6 years ago. No agenda there...

All the footprints you've ever left and fear expecting ahead (Wigan)

A very quick match preview today due to time constraints. But, really there's not a lot to be said other than let's win this game, let's win this game convincingly and let's forget about Ronaldo, forget about all the talk of crisis, the talk of lack of goals, let's get a penalty and get Carrick to score it, Anderson to blast a free kick in, Valencia to cross for Berba to take it on the chest before flicking it into the path of Rooney who blasts home and Nani to beat 3 defenders then cross for Berba to score with a sublime volley. In other words, let's shut the haterz up.
On the team front, it seems like Valencia will start which should give us more penetration from the off, and Vidic is due to play for the first time this season. Berba and Rooney slated to start up front.
The BBC's usually thorough and interesting match facts are a bit thin on the ground today but no time to search for better, so, the most important one (although not important at all come kick off):

Man Utd have won all nine league and cup matches they have played against Wigan

And that's it.
Prediction? Not predicting anything today. Let's just put the past behind and have a performance for the future.

(Damn it) Feels Good To Be A Gangster

(Instead of the tangential image, today I've the not-really-connected-at-all-video...)



Sir Alex's press conference is he topic of the day today and he starts off making a pertinent comment about our current form which has been conveniently forgotten by the papers, as it doesn't fit into their "missing Ronaldo" narrative. From The Daily Star:

“We dominated two games of football and we would like to have scored goals. The ratio of goals last season was our poorest when winning the title in 15 years

“That was an issue – and it will be an issue this season unless we step up to the mark, which I am confident we will do.”

Yes. The start of this season is a continuation of last season, not some new "crisis" borne out of nowhere. Unless you read the "Wooly's world" column in The Daily Star:

A narrow first-day victory over ­Birmingham and then Wednesday night’s defeat at Burnley have thrown up all sorts of questions. We know United are slow starters but something is not right. They are playing without real belief and inspiration. Like someone who is missing a friend. Their missing link, of course, is World Player of the Year Cristiano ­Ronaldo. United are suffering from a Ronaldo hangover. Over the next few weeks we will discover just how much Ronaldo meant to them in the Premier League. It is already clear they don’t have a ­similar match-winner, a player to turn a game on its head and win it alone.

Yawns.
Sir Alex defends Berba and Owen:

"He would like to score a goal," Ferguson said. "Strikers are like that. They always feel as if scoring is the most important thing. That's the case with Dimitar. He had a couple of attempts [against Burnley] and he also had a header cleared off the line against Birmingham. He has a languid style and maybe that's the thing that is counting against him – his style of play, rather than his actual effect on the game." ...
"Michael is exactly the same as Dimitar," Ferguson said. "He could do with a goal. He had two [chances] on Wednesday and should have scored both of them. He knows that. He will be wanting that goal but there's no question about it that his movement and positional play in the last third is very, very good. We are just waiting on that goal that will set him off."

He also "defends" Carrick taking the penalty:

"Michael Carrick said himself last week he felt confident taking penalty-kicks," Ferguson argued. "He asked to take it. He had never missed a penalty in all our shoot-outs over the last few years. He was a confident choice."

He also does the "it's how we react" type thing:

"We do not enjoy losing but it has happened before and it will happen again," he said.

"The issue now, as it always is at this club when you have a bad defeat, is what are you going to do about it?

"The great thing is that we have only have to wait four days.

"We can be philosophical but there is a certain reality too.

"You cannot lose too many games in this league and we have already lost one."

A few words on the Vidic "situation":

Vidic's agent was quoted as claiming the defender would be interested in a move to Barcelona, but Ferguson said: "He's denied he said these things.

"Who can you believe in the present-say climate? Who do you believe? As far as I am concerned Vidic is here and will be staying here."

Fergie also denided claims Vidic's wife Ana was unsettled in Manchester and wanted her husband to move elsewhere.

"You're hearing things I don't hear," said Fergie. "So I can't answer that."

Onto other stuff, and Mark Lawrenson makes little sense in The Mirror. First example:

What was magical about Cristiano Ronaldo was that he would destroy teams in the bottom half of the table.

Truly magic - a players ability to play well against bad teams. Genius. What makes a football legend? His ability to break down Burnley apparently...
Second example, and I'll have to quote the first sentence as well:

Manchester United’s defeat at Burnley told us one glaring thing – they need one more top quality signing. ...
The jury is out on Nani and also Antonio Valencia.

So his article is about the Burnley game and yet he tells us that what it tells us is that Nani (who didn't play) and Valencia (who got 30 minutes as sub) are unproven. It's tough proving yourself when your not on the pitch. Third example, bearing the first sentence in mind again:

Also they missed Rio Ferdinand and Vidic the other night. Without that pairing, they don’t look nearly as strong.

So, according to Mark Lawrenson, we need one more signing - a striker who can stand in for Rio and/or Vidic. Brilliant.
Paul Jewell on Valencia:

Ecuador won 2-0 and there was one player who stood out - Antonio Valencia. I liked his reading of the game, his understanding of the play and I was surprised to find out he was only 20. His game was much more mature.

Berba on Rooney:

"Ronaldo was a fantastic player for us and I'm sure he will be very good for Real Madrid.

"But, for me, our biggest talent is and always was - even last season - Wayne Rooney.

"He is an incredible talent and will be one of the best players in Europe for many years to come.

"The scary thing with Wayne is he's four or five years off his peak and, when you see the level he's at now, that is almost impossible to get your head round."

Rio out for "3-4 weeks". Evans will need surgery at some point:

"At some point my ankle will need surgery," said the 22-year-old.

"It is a problem that has been bothering me since Christmas.

"We thought it might have gone away over the summer but it is still there.

"Every now and again I catch it and it will be quite sore for a while. Then the pain dies off after a week or so."

To Live for My Death

The problem with doing a paper round up every day is that if the papers are rubbish I still have to read all the stories about us. Frankly, I preferred the summer lull and silly transfer rumours to the way the papers have been reporting the first games of the season. It's like every day I have to read exactly the same story over and over again and then try and find the energy to quote from them, and slag them off, try and find new and fresh ways to slag off the same old story, to say, "yes we'll miss Ronaldo, but he's only one player and let's concentrate on what we have got, we could buy someone else, but they wouldn't be Ronaldo," or "Berbatov is better than you constantly bang on about," or "it's still too early to judge Owen." I can't believe people want to read the same old rubbish (and I refer to the papers, obviously, not my own humble efforts...), everyday. If I didn't do this paper round-up I would look at the headlines of the stories about us and I really wouldn't bother reading them, "what, another story about us missing Ronaldo? Really? I must click on that, can't wait to see what this writer thinks it is precisely about Ronaldo that we'll miss..." "Lazy Berba? OMG, I must read that, that is such an original criticism, can't wait to find out what his justification for it is..." Do people not want originality? Do the editors see something in their sales figures that tells them that if they just write the same old shit everyday they'll get more readers... Stumbles upon the truth... these stories aren't aimed at Man Utd fans, they're aimed at the rest of the population, at the people who hate us, the people who do want to read bad shit about us everyday, who want to be reassured that we're rubbish everyday, negativity is the way to sell papers when it comes to us.

Screw them...

All of which preamble is to say that the papers aren't worth reading. Stop now. I'll read the shite so you don't have to.
I'll quote the opening from Daniel Taylor in The Guardian and ignore the rest of it:

The thing about Manchester United, to regurgitate an old quote from Roy Keane, is that this is a club where "a one-game losing run is a crisis". That is the mindset when a team of serial winners is put together and Keane summed it up in his inimitable style when he reminisced about the United team he joined in 1993: "If you lost, nobody would speak to each other on Monday morning. Doom and gloom on the training ground, people kicking each other, rows bursting out, the manager effing and blinding, tension building up until you had the chance to go out and put it right."

One story that is very popular in the papers today is that famous sports commentator and witty raconteur Frank bleeding Lampard giving his opinion on Ronaldo. Very insightful. He actually holds the outlandish but revealing opinion that if Ronaldo had taken the penalty against Burnley he "would probably have scored it." Thanks go to ...every fucking paper in the land for printing that.
Sam Wallace in The Independent wonders who on earth we could buy.
There's one interesting sentence in an otherwise rubbish Times article. Rubbish because the writer does the dishonest trick of putting "the Ronaldo question" into other's mouths - "it is clear that every time his forwards fail to fire, fresh questions will be raised over his decision-making in the aftermath of Cristiano Ronaldo’s sale to Real Madrid." - before whining on in answer to the question. The one interesting sentence:

The chances that fell Owen’s way in the narrow defeat against Burnley and the equally slender opening-day victory over Birmingham City prove two things: first, that creativity is not a big problem for the champions even if their output of one goal in two games against two promoted teams suggests otherwise; second, that Owen is finding his way through opposition defences without looking sharp enough yet to punish them.

Mark Ogden is rubbish in The Telegraph on Owen.
Brian Jensen (Burnley's keeper) usefully points out that Ronaldo used to take our penalties (I wonder in passing whether the Burnley game could have been one that Sir Alex had rested Ronaldo in, presuming we'd have had enough without him...) in The Sun.
Steven Howard has a wonderful piece (heavy use of sarcasm) in which he tells us that he'd told us all about the problems we'd have. What a genius this guy is. I mean really, no one else was writing about missing Ronaldo or the risk of signing Owen ALL FUCKING SUMMER where they Steven Howard? Jesus wept.
Finally, if you've made it this far, something vaguely useful, Evra on attacking more this season, from The Manchester Evening News:
"I have been getting forward a little more," said the former Monaco star.

"We always like to play with attacking full-backs but maybe this season we will see more of the left and right backs in the final third.

"When you had Ronaldo in front of you, sometimes it was just tempting to give him the ball because you knew he could make something happen.

"We would overlap at times but usually he could manage on his own.

"Maybe we will attack using more players - more like a team - this season."

And that, thank Christ, is that. Please give me something new to write about tomorrow...