Critically Acclaimed

Another useless article to come in the aftermath of the Milan game, this from Kevin McCarra on The Guardian blog. It has it all: selective use of facts:

On the domestic scene they have five points fewer than at this juncture last season and that looks an appropriate measure of the shrinkage in quality.

But something like 18 extra goals than at this stage last season? Just as McCarra's measure isn't an appropriate measure of this season's loss of quality, so my stat serves as an inappropiate measure of our growth in quality....
Selective memory:

Antonio Valencia, for instance, has not taken Old Trafford by storm since his move from Wigan Athletic but the impact of a strong-running substitute with a good cross is apparent as a game becomes stretched when players tire. The Ecuadorian sent over the ball with which Rooney gave United a 2-1 lead on Tuesday.

Something like 10 games (?) ago he could have got away with this, but Valencia has now settled in the team and when he starts - not just impact substitutions - he's been excellent.
All round nonsense -

People would prefer to forget Luciano Moggi, the former director general of Juventus who is serving a five-year ban from the sport, but his opinions cannot always be rejected. Prior to the Champions League ties, he said, "We will see that calcio is not competitive on the international stage. We will be lucky if one side makes it through to the next round."

I fail to understand this quote's necessity. Why quote this guy who you say we wish to forget on a matter that pretty much everyone noted - belatedly - last year - Italian teams ain't what they used to be...
And strange gaps in the argument - he concentrates a lot of words on our defence before saying that Rooney is carrying us, while the only other midfield/attacking player he mentions is Valencia - who he praises, after a fashion - so where's the evidence that Rooney is carrying us? He should have used the easy route that Daniel Taylor uses in the same paper - when all else fails, slag off Nani:

Nani appears to have quickly reverted to type, having duped some observers recently into thinking he could be more beguiling than bewildering. Ferguson rates him as the best crosser of the ball at Old Trafford but his delivery is too erratic and it brings to mind Cristiano Ronaldo's early performances for the club, when players such as Gary Neville and Ruud van Nistelrooy would regularly be seen dragging their fingers down their face in frustration. The difference is that Nani, unlike Ronaldo, does not show any sustained improvement.

Yes, he didn't have his best game, but I remember at least one quality cross he put in which no one strove to get on the end of, and to suggest he has reverted to type after one bad game seems a trifle mean-spirited...