6 posts tagged “2006/07”
United 3 Villa 1
Not much to say about this game. It was basically over within 12 minutes, after Park and Carrick had put us 2-0 up. It was good to see both of them get off the mark for the season, especially Carrick finally scoring his first in a red shirt. Ronaldo got back into the scoring groove with the third goal just before halftime.
In fact, compared to the cup game last weekend, Villa were really poor. I made a point of keeping track, and I don't think a Villa player even touched the ball in our penalty box until around the half-hour mark!
Carrick has really won me over. His cross for Ronaldo's goal was simply perfect - as Kannan said, haven't really seen that sort of ball since Becks left. The great thing about Carrick is that he never seems to need more than one touch. Even with a bouncing ball in midfield, he always seems to pick out a United player immediately. He hasn't exactly chalked up the assists, but his ability to keep the ball moving in midfield is a great platform for Scholesy, in particular, to make the killer passes.
Rooney continued to struggle. He's still able to go on those bulldozing runs and is working hard, but his shooting boots have completely gone. That little bit of luck also seems to have deserted him - he hit the crossbar with a great effort, not the first time it's happened in recent matches, and other shots just trickle wide instead of trickling in.
Anyway, still six points clear. Chelski, Arse and the Scousers all won convincingly. Worryingly, Chelski dropped Sheva and promptly won 4-0 - hopefully Maureen is pressured to reinstate him!
Arsenal next weekend, at the Emirates...
United 2 Aston Villa 1 (FA Cup 3rd Round)
What a game. With Henrik Larsson's debut in a red shirt - something no one would have imagined a couple of months ago - the stage was set for a classic night at the Theatre of Dreams, and boy, did it turn out that way.
But it wasn't just Henrik scoring on his debut, as if that wasn't enough. It had to be Ole popping up when a replay seemed inevitable, scoring a last-minute winner in the way that only our Baby-faced Assassin can. I had already glumly turned off the fan and shut the windows, ready to go off to sleep, but Ole made the sun shine again at midnight, which I guess it does do sometimes in Norway?
Two goals - from two strikers with a combined age of 68, one a United legend, the other a footballing giant writing the first page in his Old Trafford story, promising to become a legend even in the short time he will be with us.
And that brings us to the best part. In this morning's papers, it's been reported that the Helsingborgs chairman has already said that it's up to Henrik whether he wants to stay on past the original loan period.
Fergie, if Larsson can keep this up - and he was world class last night - don't just sign him until the end of the season...offer him a contract for next year as well!
Newcastle 2 United 2
It was a wasted opportunity to end the festive programme with a 100% record and go nine points clear, but this draw with the Toon was hardly a disaster. If you'd offered me a seven point lead (more realistically, four points, assuming Chelski beat Villa tonight) on Jan 1 at the start of the season, I'd probably have taken it.
Still, we should've done better. I was initially quite angry at Newcastle's 'robust' approach to the game, but in the end had to give them credit for getting stuck in despite their ravaged backline. It certainly threw us off our rhythm, and Fletcher in particular looked overpowered. I thought Carrick should've come on for him at halftime because he has a cooler head and still uses the ball well under pressure, but unfortunately Fergie only put him on when Newcastle snatched their shock equalizer.
The real cause for concern was Rooney. He's looked way off his best over the holiday period, and last night was probably the worst performance of the lot. His first touch has deserted him, and although he did go on a couple of trademark driving runs from deep, he would run out of steam once he reached the danger area.
I have two theories. Firstly, Scholes' resurgence has pushed Rooney further upfield, which isn't his ideal position, because he simply isn't a fox-in-the-box goal poacher. If anything, he is Scholes' natural successor. Secondly, I don't think he's really been fit this whole season because of his exertions trying to get fit for the World Cup and early season suspension. The thing about Rooney is that, with his stocky and heavy build, he needs to be at full fitness to be effective, otherwise his own weight becomes a drag on him. The tiredness was evident in last night's game.
Fortunately, Henrik Larsson is on the way, and I think it might do Rooney good to have a spell on the sidelines while Henrik partners either Saha (who has also faded somewhat) or the reborn Ole.
Ronaldo also didn't have one of his better games last night, but then the lad's entitled, I'd think. As it is, he'd have won it at the death if Nobhead Solano hadn't headed off the line. But we really should have built on our great start to the second half when Scholes scored after 22 seconds. Instead, we seemed to tire and Newcastle were spurred on by their supporters.
Oh well. Let's hope Martin O'Neill pulls something out of his hat and puts one over Chelski tonight. A draw would do fine. Then Villa can go back to being crap when they play us over the next two weekends in successive cup and league matches.
However, it wouldn't take a genius to guess that the only milestone Fergie is interested in is winning his 9th title at United. It's been a joy watching and listening to Fergie this season, as he gently twists the knife each time Chelski stumble, while swatting aside Maureen's attempts at mindgames.
Of course, it helps that United are purring along at the moment, driven by the unstoppable force that is Ronaldo - 6 goals in his last three games, and probably responsible for creating all the others United have scored during the same period.
At times, it looks like Ronaldo is carrying United single-handedly, but that would be grossly unfair to the rest of the squad, who have all performed brilliantly this season. Besides Ronaldo's team-leading 12 goals, the combination of Saha, Rooney and ageless Ole already have 28 goals between them, with Ole looking especially sharp over the holiday programme. It's just that Ronaldo is playing on a different level entirely, like Cantona in his pomp. Whenever United need that extra spark, it seems Ronaldo is there.
At the same time, some of Fergie's most loyal and greatest players - Gaz, Scholes, Giggsy - have been rolling back the years, providing a backbone of experience along with VDS in goal. Then there's the Vidic-Rio partnership in central defence that has blossomed.
And Larsson is still to come, along with - possibly - Owen Hargreaves.
Still, we need to keep our feet on the ground. Chelski's slump has been an unexpected Christmas gift, but there are tough visits to the Bridge, Emirates and Anfield to come, and anything can happen. There's a lot of football to play, but it's really great to enter the new year with a six-point lead.
GLORY, GLORY MAN UNITED!
A word about Maureen - this is the first time he has really faced adversity at Chelski, and the signs are good (for United) so far. In the last two years, he's proven to be great at instilling the confidence and swagger of champions into his players. But now, when they are clearly below par and struggling in defence, his response has been to criticize his players openly in his post-match interviews, with the ferocity of the criticism increasing with every game. For example, he's virtually written off Shevchenko (although you can't blame him for that), and it'll be amazing if Bull-a-rooz ever regains any confidence.
In comparison, in previous years when United have slumped, Fergie has always maintained a calm public demeanour, famously dismissing our losses of form as 'blips'. It may well be that, behind the scenes, Maureen sings a different tune to his players, but it must certainly be frustrating for them to be slated by their manager on television. More importantly, opponents hear his comments and tell themselves, "Hmm, maybe we do have a chance...".
When Chelski were successful in the last couple of years, the Special One was quick to take the credit. However, now that they are slumping, he appears to be washing his hands of his players' inadequacies.
We're going to see what Maureen and Chelski are really made of in the next five months...
Ronaldo was man of the match (again) with his double, but Scholesy stole the show with a tremendous volley. I remember Cantona scoring something similar way back, and Rooney's thumper against the Toon was probably more one-of-a-kind, but the beauty of Scholesy's goal was in the sheer technique and the fact that you know he can do that again and again, because he's that good.
Strangely, Kannan had actually msg'ed me earlier that a Scholes special would decide the game. Good call.
This was a crucial win to bounce back from the West Ham blip. Once Ronny scored the first, you could see the confidence and belief come back into the players. Hopefully we can go on another run.
Meanwhile, Chelski refuse to let up. After last week's come-from-behind 3-2, they won 3-2 again - letting a 2-0 lead slip away against Wigan (whom we play next), then stealing the victory in stoppage time. Drat. It's either the form of champions, or a sign that Chelski is simply not as good as they have been in the last two years - how long can they keep this up, and can they get better?
OK, so I completely failed to keep up the schedule I promised, but just wanted to say...
WHAT A GREAT START TO THE SEASON!
5-1 over Fulham, so unless Chelsea go rampant in the 2nd half against City, we'll be top of the table tomorrow. I don't want to say "I told you so", but if you go back and read my long post about Ruud's departure, I did say that United's attack will be much more fluid and unpredictable, and hence better!
Just hope that we're able to weather the 3-match bans for Rooney and Scholesy. Fortunately, Charlton and Watford shouldn't be too difficult, and Carrick should be back by the time we play his former team, Spurs.
GLORY, GLORY MAN UNITED!
---
Player ratings :
VDS - 7. Not much to do, but dealt with what he could. Goal wasn't his fault.
G Nev - 7. Supported on the overlap well.
Rio - 7. Not tested. Goal wasn't his fault.
Wes - 8. Excellent in 2nd half, when he took Gaz's place on the right.
Evra - 8. Really showing his class. Those who judged him on last season have to reconsider.
O'Shea - 7. OK. Did his job and kept it simple. Combined well with Scholesy.
Scholes - 9. My MOTM. The time off has really made a difference. Orchestrated the team.
Ronaldo - 8. Should've had two. Showboated towards the end.
Giggsy - 7. Stupid yellow card. But otherwise worked hard as always. Doesn't look old.
Rooney - 9. Always dangerous. Came close to a hat-trick. We'll miss him.
Saha - 8. His movement was a big reason why we were flowing. Good that he scored.
Silvestre (for Gaz) - 6. OK. Wasn't as impressive as Wes in the centre.
Park (for Giggs) - 7. Typically hardworking when he came on.
Ole (for Saha) - 6. Looked a step behind the pace. Hopefully gets it back with more games.
