Obertan to the rescue

United continued their tour of North America to another less than capacity crowd with a 1-0 victory courtesy of an Obertan goal quarter an hour from the end. They were that bad up to half time as a cohesive unit that even Fergie was shaking his head and looking pretty unhappy. For all the talk of Welbeck going out on loan and Macheda stepping up to the plate this season, it was Welbeck who was the far mor impressive and the man who looked far more like a potential United first teamer. Cleverley started this time, and admittedly not against the stiffest opposition, looked the part to me, he looks a proper player.
Against the positive signs from Welbeck and Cleverley, i thought Fabio did alright, but still dives in too soon and tried to anticpate passes instead of just getting into position. Obertan started well for the first five minutes but for the rest of the half didn't put a foot right. He improved in the second half by keeping things simple and linking up better with his team mates. But Macheda was a big disappointment, his touch wasn't good and he almost invariably made the wrong decision.
There can't be another major team who have had as many pairs of brothers that have played together in the first team as United as after the Da Silva's staring together in Canada, Corry came on to join brother Jonny in the second half. He didn't look out of place to be fair.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/markogden/100010988/philadelphia-union-0-manchester-united-1/

Fergie sounds as if he is trying to get Vidic to decide whether he wants to commit to United or leave. Or he's inviting bids.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/22/nemanja-vidic-united-future-uncertain

Fletcher is confident United can regain the title next season as long as we don't have to see him and Carrick playing at centre half because of injuries again. He is unperturbed about the lack of new faces and feels United's squad is good enough given a bit of luck. He does concede that we can't rely as heavily on Rooney as we did last season.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/22/darren-fletcher-manchester-united

Schholes reveals the main aim next season next season will be to regain the league title. I will believe that when i see it, because as soon as we get through the champions league qualifying stages, Fergie always seems to get the scent for that trophy above all others as far as i can see. To be fair after we had qualified from the group stage last season, with all our injuries, lack of form and relative decline i thought we would have no chance of getting to the final. But after beating AC Milan the draw handed to us gave us a great chance. But for the injury to Rooney and the stupid dismissal of Rafael in the second leg we would have surely have got to Madrid because Lyons were a joke in the semi against Bayern.
With the team and squad at our disposal it would seem it's an either or situation. Just as last season we weren't strong enough to go for both, it doesn't seem we will be this season either. Which is not exactly a disaster really is it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1296284/Paul-Scholes-vows-Manchester-United-win-Premier-League-crown-Chelsea.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Gigs won't dismiss Liverpool for the title during the forthcoming season. I can't see that and i fucking obviously hope he's wrong as well. However the appointment of Hodgson was a decent move for them and could yet see them recover a top fourth birth. He needs to strengthen at the back though. It will be interesting to see how the kop take to him. I think they knew after last season and with the state of their squad, minus any departures that i still think will happen, they needed a pragmatist. Someone who could work with what he has got without complaining.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/giggs-says-liverpool-can-challenge-for-title-2031933.html


The guardian business podcast looks at the record and legacy of new labour's economic record, as usual Larry Elliot sums it up best. The tory Glover makes the point that as bad as it's legacy has been if the economy does go into a double dip there is still a chance labour could return to government at the next election.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/audio/2010/jul/20/the-business-podcast-labour-economic-legacy

Mary Riddell argues we have now reached the end game of western involvment in Afghnistan. It's not will we leave but when. It would seem the Americans want to get out whilst saving as much face as they can. I wonder what has been the biggest influence on this turn of events, the impossibility of victory, whatever constitutes victory that is or the huge drain on US resources. There must come a time when economic reality hits even the US military.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/maryriddell/100047913/this-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-in-afghanistan/

David Blanchflower takes a pop at MPC member Andrew Sentence again in his new statesman column.
http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2010/07/committee-consumer-june-index

Bagehot's column in the economist doesn't buy the Obama-Cameron love in.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot/2010/07/lockerbie_bombing

Steve Richards thinks Labour are deadly serious about replacing the coalition at the next election and if the next leader doesn't cut the mustard he will be out with removed and replaced.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-richards/steve-richards-labour-cant-go-back-cant-go-forward-2031973.html
Maybe so, but the question for me is what would they want to do if in power again. It's all very well them moaning in opposition about the coalition cuts but we all know new labour's economic policies were Thatcherite in all but name. Are they really going to rediscover Keynes or not.

And finally a track from the brilliant hot rats album by Frank Zappa