Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham

Not a great game or performance but another semi final to look forward to. Redknapp had said he would not be picking his strongest line up as he fancied a top four place and a champions league spot as his priorityover a league cup final at wembley. It looks like he was doing a Fergie as that looked more or less like his first eleven to me. Fergie was reasonably true to his word although he did leave Macheda on the bench giving Berbatov some much needed match time after his recent spell injured. Gibson and Anderson were again paired in the centre of midfield with Welbeck up front and Park and Obertan out wide. The only change at the back was De Laet coming in at left back.
Spurs started the game better controling the bulk of possession and creating some presentable chances but fortunately for us their finishing was poor. It seemed to be just a matter of time before the cockneys took the lead when United, completely against the run of play, took the lead. I am not sure how good Gibson is going to be, he doesn't look really top class to me. But the one thing he has definitely got going for him is a great shot and the ability to get a fair amount of goals from midfield if he is given a run in the team. And we saw that last night as he was the difference between the two sides. The first goal came from a fine shot as he got the ball just outside the area and fired his shot into the corner of the net giving Gomes no chance. The second saw Berbatov find him approaching the penalty area where he played a one two with Welbeck and took aim and hit a curling sidefooter into the corner of the spurs goal to make it two. That as good as killed the game stone dead.
If i was a spurs fan i would be pretty disappointed punter as they completely faded out of the game after that. An as Kevin Bond said if anything got worse the longer the game went on, they almost didn't look interested in the second half. Berbatov came off with half an hout to go with a precious hours match time under him. He had been our best player up to that time for me holding the ball up and knitting things together. Macheda came on and played reasonably well without shaking any trees. Of the younger players Gibson and Anderson were the stand out players as Fergie rightly said after the game. I have liked the look of De Laet but although he did have one or two good moments i didn't think he was too convincing last night, maybe it was nerves at getting his first full game for the first team this season. Welbeck tried hard but couldn't really impose himself physically into the game. Of the senior players i know Park needs minutes on the pitch but it is hard to see what he is going to bring to the side now Ronaldo has gone and we don't need the other wide man to tuck in to make up for our former No. 7's lack of tracking back. Of course he sells shirts back in Korea so a role will be found for him no doubt.

Fergie happy with Gibson and Anderson
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/8389615.stm

Paul Wilson on the youngsters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/dec/01/darron-gibson-manchester-united-tottenham-youth

Another article on the youngsters and a mention for 16 year old Ravel Morrison in the Times
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2009/12/sir-alex-ferguson-right-to-keep-his-faith-in-young-ones.html

Macheda signs a new four year contract, they must rate him very highly to give him that length of contract.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8390621.stm

Ariana Huffington hits back at Rupert Murdoch over the future of journalsim
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/dec/01/arianna-huffington-murdoch-ftc

Whilst google allow media firms to limit free visits
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/google-allows-newspapers-to-limit-free-visits-1832438.html

Darling still in thrall to the city
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6939895.ece

Is a referendum on proportional voting system getting closer
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ministers-force-debate-on-voting-reform-1832220.html

Simon Jenkins on the US troop surge in Afghansitan announced by Obama
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/dec/02/barack-obama-afghanistan-taliban