Bolton 1-0 Manchester United

I can't deny it, i thought this was going to be an easy win and three points, and although i wasn't that thrilled with the team selected, i was still fairly confident. It took about 5 minutes to realise we were going to be in for a tough afternoon. Although we didn't play well at all, i don't think we really deserved to get beat. Then again if you have as few attempts on goal as we managed yesterday, it only takes one mistake. And unfortunately that's what happened as Pique made a bit of a horlicks of Campo's centre to leave Anelka free to stab home the resultant loose ball.
Even with the shock of conceding that goal right out of the blue, we seemed to be unable to rise to the occasion. We just never really seemed to get hold of the game at all in the midfield. I was worried about the midfield duo from the start, neither one is really a player that likes to get forward, and it has to be said that Carrick has had a poor season so far. I know he has been injured, but even before the elbow injury he wasn't having a great season. He seems to be unable to impose himself on the game. We only really started to boss the game when Anderson came on, and on the evidence of the season so far, Anderson must have moved above him in the pecking order. Although we obviously missed Rooney and Ronaldo yesterday, i can't lay any blame at the feet of the front men. I thought Saha and Tevez did alright, but they didn't get much service, and especially in the first half they got no support.
I don't think it was a coincidence that Davies was all over Evra in the first half, it seemed like they have been watching us, and noticed that Evra is given carte blanche to get forward, whilst Brown either through orders or more likely instinct is less likely to get forward. So through Davies continuing fouling of the left back, Browns more conservative instinct to not get forward and our central midfield's lack of creativity, we just never got going at all in the first half.
For the first couple of minutes in the second half i noticed an upping of the tempo and attempt to try to force the game a bit more than in the first half. But it soon settled back into the familiar pattern of the first 45 minutes. The game only changed when Anderson was brought on for Pique. It was an afternoon to forget for Pique, but it's all part of the learning process, he won't be the last centre half to not have a great afternoon at the Reebok.
Now for the first time we got almost complete control of the game, and it was just a backs to the wall operation now for the men in white. Anderson is fast becoming a player that demands to an automatic first choice, especially with no Scholes available, he provides industry, guile and he seems to be able to drive the team forward himself. Within minutes of coming on he was hitting the passes that Carrick had been unable to or unwilling to try. Giggs gets a lot of stick in games likes these for his slack passing, but at least he was trying to hit the defence splitting passes that have to be attempted to break open the packed defence. Alright he didn't manage to do it successfully, but if he had have took the Carrick route of just playing the easy pass the first 60 minutes would have been even more dire with us reverting to one of those games last season where we had almost 90 minutes possession and ended up getting beat 1-0.
Then came the decisive moment in the game, a super cross from Evra, that Tevez was unable to slot home. Evra, despite the attentions of Davies, was superb again yesterday, so far this season he would be the equal of any of our players. It was a terrible miss though, it's hard to know why he tried to glance it, all he had to do was just get a decent contact and it was in. He isn't really a natural finisher, i have noticed before that when he is put through on goal he tends to just hit it, rather than aiming for the corner a la Ruud. I am absolutely certain if we had scored then we would have gone on to win, it would have totally deflated them and enabled us to step up a gear. But instead when he missed that, i think they realised it was going to be their day, and it was them throwing themselves around trying to stop us playing.
We had one more really good chance, but unfortunately with Evra going through on the left, he didn't lift his head up and see a totally unmarked Louis Saha arriving late in the box and he blazed it wildly over the bar. That is pretty unusual for Evra, he usually has a good appreciation of what is going on a round him. I suppose there was one up side to Ronaldo not playing, we got to see a couple of decent efforts on goal from free kicks outside the box from Hargreaves. Jaaskeleinen's save from the first effort was absolutely top draw. But that was how to take a free kick from outside the box, getting it to dip at the last minute.Well at least we have got this poor performance out of the way before the visit to Anfield.
If there is a scrap of comfort to be taken from yesterday, it is that none of the other top four teams are going to relish going there. Let's hope some of our title challengers drop vital points there, on yesterdays evidence i think they probably will.

Tevez to sign permanently says Ferguson http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=645473.html?cid=rssfeed&att=
No mention of a fee

Mourinho: Come and get me England
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,2216755,00.html
According to the observer, that would be a turn up for the books for me, anyway.


Benitez renews attack on owners
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7108721.stm
It is pretty obvious Benitez is in the right, but do the yanks understand football ( sorry soccer ) or do they not have the money.

Will hutton on rediscovering social democracy
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2216711,00.html
or not as the case may be

Nice to see the Aussies ditch Howard, and in such a humilating way
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2216549,00.html

A mass movement is needed to tackle the states snoopers, says Henry Porter
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2216588,00.html



A site for anybody interested in the construction of the new BBC site in salford quays
http://www.mawhitfield.com/holidays/bbcmediacityukweb2007q3n/index11.html



Led Zep hit by old classics problem,
http://www.nme.com/news/led-zeppelin/32724
They were obviously never going to just pick up where they left off after the death of John Bonham, but i hope they are still to be good enough to remind us why they sold all those records. One of my all time favourite groups, if not the favourite.