Stoke City 1-2 Manchester United

Well that was more like it, the real Manchester United turned up at last and got the result i thought our performance deseved. I was a bit non plussed when i saw the team as it looked like O'Shea had been picked in midfield and we were going to see our old problem this season, a lack of balance with nobody on the left hand side. But when the game started it became apparent that O'Shea had been picked to play left back with Evra playing on the left hand side of midfield. I wasn't sure about this either but i have to admit it worked excellently with both players but epecially Evra having good games.
Right from the start United showed they were up for the fight which always has to be shown when you go to Stoke. And United earned the right to play their football. Everything about United's game was better, they seemed more determined, their passing and movement was better and we seemed to be playing more with more cohesion. It wasn't a game with loads of chances but it was a game played at breakneck speed with both sides totally ommited. Th opening goal scored with the back of his head by Hernandez showed what a natural goalscorer we have found in our Mexican starlet. I didn't appreciate just how good a goal it was until i saw the replay, the awareness and the ability to pull off what he was trying to do bodes for good times ahead.
The only down side for United in the first half was Gary Neville's dicing with death as he was lucky not to get a red card for two tackles which weren't very well timed. He may have been slightly unlucky with the first but the second was just bad defending, why did he need to go to ground at all. But we got away with it and Fergie did the sensible thing by replacing him with Wes Brown at half time.
For some reason United seemed to lose their edge in the second half as their passing went downhill and we failed to dominate the possession as much as we had in the first half. Saying that if the penalty had been given for that blatant foul on Evra the last ten minutes of the game may have been that bit more comfortable. Though we were a goal up and Stoke had hardly had a sniff of our goal in the second half it was still only a one goal lead. With ten minutes to go Scholes carelessly gave posession away in the midle of the park, the ball found it's way to Tuncay on the right and he cut in and hit an unstoppable left foot shot. As the ball beat Van Der Sar i had to agree with what Fergie said after the game, that it looked like this might be one of those seasons. But United's response was excellent, going forward passing and probing with a purpose until Evra cut the ball back into the six yard box for Hernandez to do what natural goalscorers do, tap in from close range after being in the right place at the right time. It had been a tough close game but i think we deserved the three points. It wasn't that pleasing on the eye but in terms of winning championships this was our best performance of the season so far.

Gary Neville is pleased with the result, disappointed with his own performance but excited with the potential of Hernandez.

Manchester United reject conspiracy theories that saw them sign Rooney on five year contract in order to get a higher fee for him if he should still go. That has to be at least a part of it, it's what all clubs do, but it's pretty i don't think that was on Fergie's mind when he signed the contract he sees him as vital to the team. Dion Fanning argues that the next six months at Manchester United will be very interesting. Will Fergie retain his power at the club, will Rooney regain his form and fall in love with the game again and will the Glazer's spend big, break their promises or sell up.
Paul Wilson claims that he retention of Rooney after seeing him doubling his money whilst in the worst form of his career at old trafford may prove a hollow victory for Ferguson. Not if it leads to the gimps selling up it can't.
Steve Tongue of the Independent wonders whether the terraces and dresing room will ever be as one again. On the evidence of yesterday the answer would have to be yes, with the proviso, that the man in question wasn't there. As long as he regains his form i think we will be ok, of course there may will be ructions if he is picking up that pay packet increase if he carries on playing as he has been performing this season so far. David Connett looks at the career of Paul Stretford, the villain of the piece, whilst Sam Wallace is glad the the apostophe was not missed off the Market street banner on Friday morning.

Schweinsteiger is the first name to be linked with Manchester United since the news that the Glazers have promised to show some ambition. Well he is a United fan, and a midfield player that we are short of. I'm not sure he is worth £35 million but he is a good player. We'll see. Wesley Sneijder will sign a new contract to keep him out of the hands of United according to Inter president Moratti. Now he is a player i really have time for, and we could have had him for a lot less than whatever he would cost now if we had gone for him at the beginning of last season.
If we really did have the money to go out and buy two players, which i will believe when i see it, the players i would be looking at would be Gareth Bale to replace Giggs and any of Rodwell, Sniejder or maybe Henderson from Sunerland. I can see money being made available for one big signing and then Fergie selling to raise money for one more. I can't see Carrick being here next season and the Hargreaves saga will more than likely end up with him being off the payroll. Gibson must be surplus to requirements and Kuszczak wants to go. If Park didn't sell whatever it is he sells in Korea i think he would be off and away as well, it will be interesting to see what happens to him. If Fergie thinks Carrick has lost his hunger and would be open to offers for him, how does he justify Park's continuation in the squad.

Greg Dyke says the BBC is partly to blame for the decline in its reputation and says he is as much to blame as anyone. The Economist looks at the rise of Sky and concludes by arguing it is no wonder the competition is scared.

Robert Fisk reports on the latest wikileaks revelations and claims that they confirm abuses that a lot of reporters had suspected but hadn't been able to prove. This fits into the scenario put forward by Nick Davies in his book Flat eart news that i have just finished reading, it's a damning indictment of the way our news is put together and then given to us.


William Keegan argues that George Osborne could be the most dangerous chancellor of his lifetime and is the latest to compare to Philip Snowden. Keegan reckons Osborne is trying emulate Geoffrey Howe tenure at the treasury in the early eighties and complains at the bare faced deceit that has been used as justification for this gamble with the nations economy and the unecessary damage it will cause. Another nobel prize winning economist, Christopher Pissarides joins in the argument accusing Osborne of Exaggerating the chances of a sovereign debt crisis hitting Britain.
One of the worlds leading currency traders has branded the governments spending cuts as insane. No pussyfooting around there then. He expects the pound to fall even further. Currency wars anyone? Holidays are going to be dear next year then.
I hadn't expected Jeremy Warner to ceome down as firmly as this on the side of the deficit hawks, but i suppose he does now write for the Torygraph. Fiscal conservative totally lose me, he can have a go at Krugman as out and out liberal Keynesian but what about Martin Wolf and the FT who also think the spending review and the timing of the cuts is at best ill judged. Are they born again trots? Will Hutton writes that the coalition is taking a huge gamble with the economy but looks at the measures the coalition is trying to take to rebalance the economy away from the city and towards the export secre of the economy. He likes a lot of the ideas but warns that they will take time to take seed, and time is what the economy will not have after theis spending review. I presume that this is the kind of thing Hutton has in mind, Cable in push for a Cadbury's law as he launches a major inquiry into short termism. We all know it's the city of London that encourages short termism. Nick Cohen writes that the Rooney affair symbolises the greed that brought the global economy to its knees. But when set against banking Rooney is an honourable man in an honest trade.
John Rentoul thinks that Ed Miliband and the labour party need a plan and quick.

An abridged version of the Carlos the jackal biopic has been released to general acclaim. I read a biography of him many moons ago, so i will have to seek this out but the longer version seems to be the version to look out for. He was a nasty piece of work if my memory sevres me right, of course what terrorists aren't. I'm afraid i don't go along with romantic idolisation of the Che's of this world.

Funkadelic