Manchester United 2-0 Wigan Athletic

The talk at the half time interval was, was this the worst half of football this seaon yet, fortunately with the returning Rooney and Scholes on the bench to come on in the second half, the quallity of the football evemtually improved. The fact that Wigan were down to nine men also had a bearing on matters of course. Fergie went with the two men up front who had ended the game against villa, dropping Hernandez to the bench and Berbatov altogether. That looked like some leap of faith to me and i'm afraid, that was how it worked out, as we struggled to break wigan down.
Macheda isn't really up to starting regularly for the first team, he just isn't offering enough in any department. I still think he needs to go out for either a season or half a season loan, for his good and United's. He will learn about the game and United will learn just how good he going to be. As for Obertan, he has all the skill in the world but i just wonder whether he has the desire and determination to succeed at the top level. His body language is pretty half hearted, i wonder whether he wants it enough when i watch him when we are fighting to break teams down.
After saying all that there wasn't much service coming from our midfield, once again this season. With no Scholes or Giggs in the starting lne up once more, Nani having one of those games and Park on the floor as much as on his feet the lack of creativity in our squad was glaringly obvious again. The fact we can have reached this stage of the season, joint top, is a pretty damning indictment of the deteriation in standards in the premier league this season.
On the balance of play in the first half a case could be made for saying that Wigan were the team more likely to score. Thats's not to say that they were playing any dazzling football, just to show how poor United had been. To be fair to Park and his gravitationaly challenged performance, the Wigan approach to the game was probably the most physical that we have seen at United this season. And the first half display always meant they were likely to lose a man at some stage of the second half with some meaty challenges still going in.
The goal just before half time came out of nowhere and was just what the doctor ordered, Park crossing to the back post and his mate Evra defying a nose bleed to actually get into the six yard box and score with with his head. Our play hadn't warranted it but a half time lead was good news with the way the day's results were shaping up.
The second half carried on where the first half had left off with United huffing and puffing but not looking like carving wigan open any time soon. Fergie usually makes his substitutions on the hour or with twenty minutes to go, but ten minutes of that was enough for him to bring on Scholes and Rooney on to replace Macheda and Park. Wigan soon went down to ten men as the first half yellows caught up on them as Alcaraz saw a secod for a needless foul on Fletcher.
The improvement i had expected with the substitutions took time to materialise and Wigan were down to nine men by the time United started to get their act together. A two footed challenge from Rodelega saw him get a straight red card which was a mixed blessing for United as Wigan just did what all teams wirh nine players do and stuck every body behind the ball. Slowly but surely United started to spread the ball around stretching the Wigan defence around and the chances starrted to come. Taking them was another matter though. Henandez showed what he is about taking his chance with aplomb. Rooney, Scholes, Nani and Hernandez all had late chances but the goals that would have helped our goal difference would not come. To be honest we didn't really deserve a bigger scoreline than that after such a woeful first half display.
Rooney's reception was as mixed as the paper's have said, and some had even predicted, but i can't believe that people booed him, regardles of what happened, he was in the red shirt and should get our surpport whilst that is the case. I thought he showed signs that we may start to see the Rooney of last season now all this has been put to bed. His movement, off the ball, was something we have badly missed this season. The fact that he has now played again, for me, puts to bed, the theories that he will be sold in January. If he can recapture the form of last season, a 19th title, remarkably, is a totally realistic proposition
City's result apart, how bad were Fulham though, the weekend's results couldn't have been much better, i wasn't that surprised the rent boys got beat, something's wrong there alright, but the Spurs victory at Arsenal was a pleasant surprise especially after that first half.

Fergie happy with Rooney's return, he isn't talking like somebody who expects him tobe gone any time soon. Jim White's column in the telegraph talks about the need for Rooney to justify the wages in his new contract to the fans. As he does go on to say, the present team are badly in need of the kind of inspiaration that Rooney at his best provides.
Evra says that the players have forgiven Rooney and everybody is now united and looking to the future, the most important thing is the team. Now is the time for the team to push on and punish our rivals as stumble and stutter.

The way some papers had reported this on friday i thought we may have heard it was all wrapped up by today but we have heard no more. A bit worryng that Schmeichel's earlier quotes about him not being the finished article were dug up later in the afternoon..

The Euro has rallied on news that the Irish government accepted the 77 billion Euro bailout plan, but for how long.

Mary Ann Sieghart claims that the british economy would be in as bad a shape as Ireland's if we had listened to the pro Euro case for joning the Euro when we had the opportunity to join when it was launched. Will Hutton thinks that the Euro sceptics have got it wrong and are failing to learn the lessons of history. Ireland would still have had the problems it has had inside or outside of the Euro as Iceland's own problems showed. Although far from perfect it will survive and prosper, though he is not sure that the same can be said for the global financial system. I'm not sure he is right about the Euro, and i say that as someone who was broadly in favour of it's introducion. What he is definitely right about is that this is a failure of the banking system once again, and we are not out of the woods yet, never mind Portugal and Greece.
Paul Mason traces the roots of the crisis in the Euro zone and ends worrying about where the end game will lead us to.
David Blancflower predicts the economic headwind will make it's way across the Irish sea, no doubt why Osborne has ignored his Eurosceptic back benchers. Michael White wonders what on earth the tory right are thinking about if they think we can just ignore Irish problems as if they are not our prblems as well.
Euro sceptics can't help telling everybody how they were right about the Euro. It's a pity they weren't as right about our so called economic miracle.

Ed Miliband surfaces again just as worries over both his leadership and the internal direction of the labour party start to surface. He is promising to play it long and will re-examine every party policy but not party values.

Josh rouse