Chelsea, ManU and Gabriel Obertan

Chelsea 1 - 0 ManU, Sunday Nov 8 2009

It wasn't the great game people thought it would be, at least in my opinion. It was a game that was full of energy channeled into all the wrong departments, tempers flying high, happenings that did not meet the referees' eyes, so on and so forth. It was a match right out of Bundesliga, what with all the hits and pushes.

To begin with, the blues deserve the lead they have at the moment, not for the effort they put in yesterday but for the effort they have been putting in all season. Yesterday though, they were mediocre compared to what they can do. Without Vidic and Rio, Chelsea should have ideally annihilated the Manchester United defence. Instead, they were left with problems in their own, unable to contain Antonio Valencia in many situations. ManU midfield was having a field day passing the ball into the Chelsea box at will. Terry and Carvalho had a tiring day clearing the ball by all means possible. Overall, it was no impressive performance from Chelsea, although credit has to be given to Ivanovic for a fine attacking(?) display.

To ManU's credit, they kept the opposition's defence busy, limited Ashley Cole's running time & space (worked wonders) and came up with an artistic midfield display. Fletcher, Rooney, Obertan and Giggs were impressive. I have a feeling Terry's goal can be attributed to missing Vidic and Rio. It wouldn't have been that easy with them around. Another positive point for ManU is that they did not concede a single corner. The number of shots off target is something SAF should look into. Only two of them even threatened to be a goal if hit right (esp the Rooney one).

Next, I must come to the case of Gabriel Obertan. The French Winger is clearly an amazing talent with an amazing Arsenal-ish style of play. He is still settling in, with his performance against Chelsea much better than his Blackburn outing. I am sure he would be a force to reckon with, post January, given time and importance. With Chelsea losing players to the african cup of nations and Obertan fitting in the ManU first team with Rooney and Fletcher, my opinion is that five points will not be a good enough lead. Hope SAF gives Obertan more playing time in the first team in local cups before that. He is clearly better than Macheda.

And oh, shouldn't forget an Arsenal waiting to swwwishhhh past the two teams. Arshavin & Fabregas together can create more opportunities than any other combo in England at the moment.

Chelsea
# 01 Cech - got the job done with one superb save
# 02 Ivanovic - Brilliant performance
# 03 A Cole - good, as usual
# 06 Carvalho - one amazing block, man-marked rooney very well, but had his bad moments.
# 26 Terry - Ref's eyes did not see him tugging Valencia. Saw Chelsea through.
# 05 Essien - Was all over the place. Very intelligent passes.
# 08 Lampard - The freekick that decided the result. Go Frank!
# 13 Ballack - A really wonderful cross into no man's land is what I remember of him from yesterday's game.
# 20 Deco - Lot of effort but ineffective due to many reasons. Will be the difference as the season progresses.
# (J Cole) - Nothing much to say
# 11 Drogba - Nothing much to say
# (Kalou 83) - Did not have enough time to prove anything
# 39 Anelka - Surprisingly good
# (Alex 90+3) - Did not have any time at all

ManU
# 01 Van der Sar - Good game. Had his moments.
# 03 Evra - Tried much to prove his talk off the pitch. Couldn't.
# 06 Brown - Good enough to block Chelsea yesterday
# 22 O'Shea - Nothing much to say
# 23 Evans - I really did not like the way he played
# 08 Anderson - lot of tricks. no results.
# (Owen) - Nothing much to say
# 11 Giggs - Very good. Except that I believe he should have taken on Cech initially when he had a go. Cech was clearly tensed when Giggs had the ball at his feet with no defender in between.
# (Obertan) - Very very impressive style of play.
# 16 Carrick - Somehow don't like him as much as I like Fletcher. Not half as impressive.
# 24 Fletcher - Developing into something solid.
# 25 Valencia - Brilliant stuff. In amazing touch.
# 10 Rooney - Lone fighter yesterday. Berbatov's presence would've unleashed rooney on Chelsea. If not for the harsh offside, ManU would have been ahead early.

Arsenal vs Manchester United , Old Trafford, Aug 29, 2009

Not sure if it was a due for irritating Adhi, but I missed the first 30 minutes of the match. :(

But, heck, who cares, I got to see that magic shot. Arshavin rox!!

Manchester United beat Arsenal at Old Trafford and Emirates last year as Arshavin watched from home. Wow, Revenge sure is sweet! :)

Here we go!

Two super chances for Arsenal so far.. One saved, by luck or whatever!

Silly mistake from Almunia! Penalty!

Rooney scores from the spot! 1-1... So, this gets tense after all. How I wish eduardo would come on and save the match like RVP did two yrs back.

Brown gets a yellow. I've lost count here.

Free kick from not very far... POST! POST! Rotten luck!

64' : Own goal from Diaby .. under NO PRESSURE whatsoever. ManU 2 - 1 Arsenal

90': I want Magic!

It ends in defeat. Damn.

Burnley at it again!

A recent equation doing the rounds in forums around the World.

Burnley at Turf Moor = Liverpool at Anfield.

They sent ManU crying, and how! Even without Caldwell and half of the team's "Moor" defence. (The new guy's cool, though.)

Recent scalps : Arsenal, Chelsea and ManU.

Go on Coyle!

Forums believe that ManU lost because of :
1. Lack of pace.
2. lack of width.
1+2 = 3. In short, Lack of CR7.

I wouldn't say that. Though Cristiano was an incredible "presence" against weak teams, I still think ManU missed Carlos Tevez more.

Just wait and see what Tevez does for ManC when they visit Burnley. You'll see what I am talking about.

Liverpool 4 - 1 Manchester United : Old Trafford 2009

The title should actually read "Liverpool thrashes ManU : 4 goals to 1".

Whatay performance from the Anfield side.

They have proved again that they are an under-rated side. It was sheer torture meted out to the Old Trafford side's defence and Except Rio, the rest couldn't handle it at all.. The anger due to his helplessness got the better of Vidic, who hasn't been put to the test this hard in recent times..

Torres.. Running through a strong defence has become an habit of his, of late, and we are enjoying it! Gerrard was almost as good as he can get. Liverpool did their homework right, and ManU had it coming at them. And yes, I couldn't even spot ManU's midfield in this game.

An interesting point would be ManU's complacency. All Credit to Liverpool, but seriously, this was NOT the best that ManU could have done. A 7-point lead with a match in hand would be a comforting enough fact for anyone, and it did get to their head. The lead is 4 points now, and not very out of reach for Anfield or Stamford Bridge.

Yet, ManU can still run away with a league, even with mediocre performances. Performances against the relegation teams has been the difference this season, and if Manchester United wins, it will stay that way.

Happy for Liverpool!

UEFA Champions League 2009 - The second leg of the Round of 16

First leg : Manchester United FC 0 - 0 FC Internazionale Milano

Manchester United, going by reviews, looked every bit the better side at Milan, but the fact is, it could not get that elusive away-goal. Several media reports claim SAF won the first round against Jose Mourinho in this bout, but I seriously doubt it. Going by the game, yes. Going by results, No. Because at the end of it all, Results are all that matter.

Starting with Mourinho's side. Inter has got a consistent away record of late, winning all of their recent matches. Mourinho has been there at Old Trafford and done that before. Zlatan, for the second leg, should be in a freaking kicking mood, after he was criticised for failing 'again' against an English side. He's netted 14 times in the Serie-A this season so far and that's not bad by any yardstick. If I were SAF, I'd watch out. And I bet he will, too. Other people who could prove decisive are Zanetti and Cesar, with Cesar widely believed to be on top of his game, and a better bet than Edwin van Der Sar at the moment. One match of importance, leading up to the second leg, could be the upcoming Roma - Inter match this week.

ManU has been equally consistent of late too, if not better. Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov should prove a very tough challenge for the Inter defence, but given that Inter would look at drawing the match, if they get away with an early goal, it is ManU's defence that comes under the scanner. Again here, we are looking at consistency and a team that is setting a record of sorts with the number of clean sheets this season. Van der sar will be the key on the European Night, one more time.

ManU are comfortably placed, but one shocker of a strike from Zlatan or Adriano or the solid old Inter horses in the Midfield could just seal it then and there.

Prediction? Fingers crossed, that's all.

All the Best to Jose Mourinho, though. If he can pull this rabbit, he is most definitely "the Special One" out there.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 0 Manchester United, December 13, 2008

TOTTENHAM VS MAN-U : Second half : A minute by minute attempt...

Fantastic first half. All credit to Tevez, Rio, Ronaldo, Modric, Huddlestone, Dawson and Lennon. The rest of them, let's say, were just running around.
Brilliant moments in set pieces, so typical of Tottenham games. Hope Roman puts the numerals on the charts!

Tottenham looks vulnerable. ManU defence looks solid. But things don't work out that way all the time.
Van der Sar makes difficult saves look like routine practice moves.

51': Rafael looks like a lost school kid.
53': Dawson saves the moment yet again.. Yet another corner for ManU.
53': Wonderful Ronaldo shot. Wait, is that NOt a goal? Damn.. Superb shot, by the way.
57': yet another ManU corner wasted. Where the heck is Modric?
58': Berbatov is taking things to his heart.. nah, that takes his cool, composed style away..
60': Tottenham throws the possession away.
61': Park shoots into Gomes!
62': rafael gives a good positional Xmas gift to Tottenham.
63': If that isn't a great save from Van der sar!! Classic tap.
64': tevez takes charge.
65': every time te ball touches your feet, you can hear a "Boo" from the crowd... Ask berbatov how this is done..
67': Modric is in great touch. bad news for united.
68': Rafael gives it away.. yet again. ManU regains possession, Ronaldo mistakes a pool of rain water for a swimming pool. No foul against tottenham as expected.
69': giggs the great is in for Tevez.
71': ManU threatens..
72': great save, Gomes. Spurs holding on..
74': Ronaldo is trying to score, Berbatov is, too, but he's trying fans' patience.. :D Rioooo! Great attempt.Missed by a few millimetres.
75': Spurs' corner
76': No, Lennon. That's not how you do it.
77': Dawson rocks. Probably the tenth block of the day. Carrick shoots! Gomes disposes..
78': Bent is offside. There goes the possession again.
79': Tottenham is getting bored with ManU corners.
80': Weak shot from Bent?
80': Dawson rocks. Stops Ronaldo one more time with a cool tackle. Whoa, that's rare.. Ronaldo admits it.
81': O'hara(spurs) keeps the ball.
82': Park gets a throw in for ManU.
83': Great shot from Park! Better save from Gomes.
83': giggs corner , to Gomes, to Lennon, . A Zokora throw in. To Scholes! Rafael gives it away..
84': Modric hits the top of the net!!!!!!
85': Bentley, Lennon, O'hara , throw in, Bent, goal kick..Good show anyway, guys! Few more minutes!
86': A typical ManU buildup! A berbatov offside takes some pressure off Spurs.
87': Ronaldo falls. Dawson pleads innocence. Referee not convinced. Decides on Guilty. Ronaldo free kick.
88': Deflection! Away! Corner. Cleared. Scholes takes the ball back.. Shows why he's an expert!
89': ManU plays around centreline, right end, Ronaldo. Good ploy to take Ronaldo to that position. Giggsie free kick. or Ronaldo's?
90': GOMES PICKS A RABBIT OUT OF THIN AIR! Great save, corner.
91': bentley clears.
92': Spurs clear the ball.. Back in the D. Cleared. Great cross from Rio. Carrick gives it away. A typical ManU late 'spur'. ;)
93': There's Dawson, two more defenders. Clear. Tottenham's happy with just clearing the ball. Gomes stops a potential 3 point mega-blunder.
Pheee.. Whistle blown. White Hart Lane's full of smiling faces!

0-0. That puts ManU alongside Liverpool & Arsenal who've also drawn today against Hull and Boro respectively..

We are closer to El Clasico now. Two more hours :)

Liverpool 2 - 1 Manchester United, Anfield, September 13, 2008

Man, did i miss posting on this last week!!!

For the first 20 minutes, it was the regular finish-the-job playing from ManU, with that ultimate combo of Tevez - Berb making the liverpool defence look like a pack of school kids.

I'd probably put it down to Mascherano, he was just beginning to run, kind of.. He kept looking on, as Tevez fired. Nothing he could have done in the last moment. But he shud have started running about 20 seconds prior to his actual start time. He started running properly in the game only after 20 damn minutes. Pretty long for a warm up, i'd say. But then, did he make up for it? Yes! In a big way!

The own goal from ManU gave a super human confidence to Rafa's side, as they started creating chances, though not much, until minute 71, when the impressive debutant Riera was subbed. In came the Football God, Ryan Babel. (Riera's got style. Needs to adjust to the EPL ways, though).

Whether it was Babel's zeal, i do not know. But Alonso & mascherano had "sprung to life", and there's not much that ManU could have done after that. The duo were to the midfield as the Corleones were to NewYork. Two words: Total Control.

And Babel was indeed the wind. Unstoppable.

ManU was at the receiving end. Yes, they struggled. Not that they played poor soccer. Just awestruck by the Wind of Anfield, i guess. It was just one of those days for Liverpool. Wasn't it?

Super Star: One Sun, One moon. Only one Ryan Babel.
Other stars: Mascherano after minute 27. Xabi Alonso. Carlos Tevez