Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United

For the third time on the bounce we saved one of our very worst performances for the game against our biggest rivals. It was woeful stuff, we never got to grips with the game. We completely lost the battle in central midfield and the defence looked on the edge of a nervous breakdown. It's a good job Van der Sar was back in time for this game because i hate to think how bad the defence would have been with Foster behind them.
When i saw the team i was fairly happy, with No Fletcher it looked about as good a midfield four as we could put out. But there is the problem, no Fletcher. Our record in the big games when Fletcher is out is absolutely terrible. I would say our best central midfield at present is Giggs and Fletcher but with no one able to replace Giggs adequately on the left Fergie has been deploying Giggs more on the left side of midfield than in the centre where he really causes his real damage these days. Scholes is still a top player for my money but he does need someone with legs and more defensively minded at his side. And thats where our problems lie in the big games. Carrick had another very disappointing game yesterday he just doesn't look the same player since the disaster in Rome. Anderson has the legs, well he has the legs for about 70 minutes usually, before he gets hauled off, but that's another problem. His big problem as a central midfield player is that he has no defensive positional sense. With no Fletcher i suppose Hargreaves is the next best thing even though i don't rate him that highly with the ball at his feet. But when he will be fit who knows and whether he will be the same player after so long who can tell.
We just about managed to get through last season with those midfield worries but at least our defence looked strong. Or should i say until the Liverpool game at home and the defeat in Rome where our defence all of a sudden started to look vulnerable. Central defence now looks a problem in the short term and in the long term. Ferdinand' injury problems may mean he will never be the same player again. When Torres got the ball for his goal i expected Ferdinand to force him wide and force him to either cross or hit the shot from a poor angle. But he didn't have the legs to get back at him and Torres gave Van Der Sar no chance. Torres played well in the first half yesterday but he was helped by a United defence that went to pieces every time he got the ball. For someone who is supposed to be one of the best centre halves in Europe the way Vidic goes to pieces when the ball is simply played over his head is alarming. I don't know about anybody else but i was hoping Jonny Evans would play. And almost from the first minute i knew i had been right because it looks like Torres is Vidic's nemesis. He just looked a like an accident waiting to happen every time the Spaniard went near him. The other probelm would have to be right back. O'Shea has come in and done a soild job but there is no doubt he is never going to be a really top class right back. His form has dipped recently and as in yesterdays game he has given the ball away far too frequently.
As for the game it wasn't pretty as expected Liverpool came out flying into every tackle trying to stop us getting into a rhthym. Unfortunately they were all too successful as we couldn't live with their work rate. With our defence a nervous wreck every time Torres got the ball it seemed to be one of those games where the first goal would be vital. Valencia looke our biggest threat but we didn't get the ball to him enough and when we did he got no support from O'Shea. And to be fair when he did support they seemed to have no rapport getting in each other's way. I appear to be in a minority but i thought Berbatov had a decent game, it's not his fault he didn't see enough of the ball.
I was glad that we got through to half time goaless though Liverpool didn't really create that much. The second half carried on in much the same vein as the first with Liverpool pressing hard and stopping us getting any flow. The sad thing is that United seemed content as long as we kept them out at the other end. Whilst they weren't creating that much and Torres had disappeared from view our defensive deficiencies made that a worrying state of affairs. And then came the goal. Now we had to start playing and i'm afraid in games like these as good as our squad looks on paper it never quite pans out like on the field. Scholes went off and Giggs reverted to central midfield where virtually straight away he looked a lot more dangerous. The problem there was that meant Nani had to come to give us the balance on the left. What can you say about Nani, he has talent but not the brain. It just seemed typical of the day and of him that when he recieved the ball at the edge of box and in space instead of getting the shot away and maybe an un deserved equaliser, his poor first touch saw him lose the ball and Liverpool break away and score the second goal with virtually the last kick of the game. The other thing that disappointed me was why didn't he bring Fabio for O'Shea at right back with orders to support Valencia. I know he is not the finished article defensively but as we ended up losing another goal any way it seemed well worth the risk to me
The saving grace of the day was the way both City and Arsenal let two goal leads slip. So it was a great weekend for Chelsea and Liverpool, though in the long term better for Chelsea as as far as the league goes yesterday changes nothing for me, i still think Liverpool will struggling to stay in the top four.


United's defensive frailties given a going over in the press, with Ferdinand coming under more scrutiny than Vidic. With Hansen saying they just haven't been the same players this season.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/markogden/100002797/why-rio-ferdinand-needs-to-change-his-script-writer/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/6433039/Alan-Hansen-Liverpool-players-ease-pressure-on-Rafael-Benitez-after-Manchester-United-scalp.html

Patrck Barclay thinks United weren't waited for things to happen instead of making them happen in the best analysis of the matc i have read.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article6889794.ece

Fergie questions the referee again,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article6889900.ece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8325114.stm
He is right and also right that we didn't deserve anything out of the game. Almost all of the 50 50's went to them and how Carragher stayed on the pitch i don't know.

Will Hutton thinks both Mervyn King and Lord Turner are right on the future regualtion of the banking system
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/25/will-hutton-mervyn-king-bank-reform

Stephen Foley on the history of unequal societies and why progressive taxation works
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/stephen-foley-unequal-societies-create-instability-1808589.html

It looks like Auditing profession is starting to come under the scrutiny it so richly deserves.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/oct/25/auditors-role-financial-crisis