Derby County 1-0 Manchester United

A very poor performance , but not a disaster, and if there was a night to have a stinker this was probably it. That's not to downplay the embarrasment factor though, to be outplayed by a team near the bottom of the championship was terrible. I am not sure where the blame should lie to be honest. I thought Vidic and Evans had reasonable games, Da Silva had an in and out game making some good interceptions but at other times getting caught out of position. O'Shea didn't have as good a game as he would have expected to have especially as one of the senior players.
But midfield was where we never got to grips with the game. And when you look at that midfield, Gibson apart that was pretty inexcusable. Scholes has never been at his best in this type of game and especially if he hasn't got much support next to him. And i've got to say as peripheral as Scholes was when he was on the pitch Anderson was even worse, all night long he was giving the ball away. I'm afraid he still gives the ball away too much for me. It's alright giving him the benefit of the doubt because he tries the killer ball but not when he gives the ball away so much. Look at Scholes and Carrick, they are both brilliant at the exquisite pass that opens the opponents defence up but it's knowing when it's on. Last night and in a few games this season he has been trying at almost every opportunity. You would think playing next to those two he would be starting to learn when to keep it simple and when to try to open it up.
I'm not blaming the defeat at his feet though, From 1 to 11 no United player really turned up. Welbeck hardly had a touch in the match and given the quality of service to him it was no surprise. Tevez was a different matter though, he just didn't get involved as he should have done. At least when he is not having the greatest of games he gives his all and makes defenders lives diificult. Not last night, he was almost as annonymous as Welbeck, alright the service to him wasn't any better. But you would have expected him to drop deep a bit more to try and make an impact on the game.
You have got to give it to the Derby goalscorer Commons it was a great shot but it had been coming. The one thing that they had been doing straight from the kick off was taking every opportunity to shoot. And alarmingly United never seemed to take this on board, they didn't seem to get anybody to close the space down and they were getting a shot in almost every time they got to the edge of the box. The statistics at the end of the first half that showed that Derby had got more shots in than United tells its own story. I can't say i expected United to come out in the second half and take the game by the scruff of the neck, but i certainly expected a bit better than what we got. The fact that the nearest we came was from a Ronaldo free kick that was a whisker wide shows how little was actually raised our game in the second half. In fact it shows what a bad night it was that even when Rooney, Ronaldo and then Carrick had come on we still couldn't dominate the game or create a clear cut chance.
Still if we win on Sunday, this will be totally forgotten. Although i can't say i am that confident, the fact that Chelsea aren't in great form either gives me hope. If we lost this and Liverpool open a gap up, that would be a disastrous weekend as far as i am concerned.

Ferdinand back for Sunday's rent boy encounter
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jan/08/rio-ferdinand-manchester-united-chelsea

United sign Belgian defender
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jan/08/transfer-window-manchesterunited

Fresh inquiry into Tevez affair
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fresh-inquiry-into-carlos-tevez-affair-announced-1232981.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jan/08/west-ham-carlos-tevez-affair-scott-duxbury

Mike Selvey on Pietersen's mistake
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jan/08/kevin-pietersen-peter-moores-england-captain-andrew-strauss

Gideon Haigh on the Pietersen affair
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jan/08/kevin-pietersen-england-australia
My sympathy goes with Pietersen in this mess, the authorities knew what they were getting when they appointed him.

Jonathan Freedland on Obama's apparent willingness to talk to Hamas
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jan/08/barack-obama-gaza-hamas

Robert fisk's latest column on the Israeli incursion into Gaza
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-do-they-hate-the-west-so-much-we-will-ask-1230046.html

Robert Fox on the rewriting of history
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/08/george-bush

Another undreamt of day in the world of economics
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bank-cuts-interest-rate-to-15-1232685.html