Blackpool 2-3 Manchester United

Do i talk about the last twenty five minutes or the first sixty five minutes, because that really was two completely different games. The first half was yet another absolutely awful away performance, where the players looked ill at ease with the formation and the central midfield once again looked a million miles away from what a Manchester United midfield should look like. It wasn't just the lack of quality possession it was the way Blackpool were winning all the fifty fifty balls.
Gibson, Scholes and Fletcher doesn't look great on paper and it didn't do the job on the pitch. There is no need to describe why i don't rate Gibson, i have done it often enough. He has to go in the summer surely, as much for his own career as much as to allow that squad place to someone else, which will probably be Cleverley. Fletcher did improve as the game went on, but it had to because the first seventy minutes was probably the worst of his season. He couldn't keep hold of the ball and his close control went to pot. I know the pitch was difficult and he wasn't the only player to struggle with his control, but still. Scoles couldn't get into the game, but oce United took control in the second half, yet again it was him and Giggs running the show.
I have never been that big a fan of 4-4-2 but it's amazing how we seem completely unable to perform whilst in that shape anymore. Seeing as though that was the preferred tactic during the three titles on the trot years it's pretty remarkable. I was always one to think that was a system made to suit Ronaldo, which it did, but Rooney played his part too. This season whenever he has been shunted out to the left, he has almost always had a stinker and even though we reverted to a 4-4-2 after half an hour, just as we did at West Brom when he moved back into the middle the damage was seemingly done. I still think he has is playing well enough at home, but his away form is light years away from where it should be.
Though Smalling can't be blamed for any of the goals, we missed Rio last night, he organisation gives the defence an air of assurance that it doesn't always have when he is not there. Though both of their goals came from Adams corners that were superbly crossed, United's defending for both was poor. Berbatov, who it is debatable should have been marking Cathcart at all, lost his man and the Ulsterman made no mistake, powering home to give the home side a deserved lead.
The half just got worse and worse from that moment and i just wanted the half time whistle to go before they got the second, that i thought might kill our hopes of taking advantage of the game in hand. But then witha minute of the half to go up popped Adams to deliver another great corner and Blackpool took advantage of even worse defending from the United rearguard to make sure that Blackpool went in with a more than deserved lead.
United brought on Giggs for Gibson at the half time which was the obvious substitution for all those crediting Fergie with some great masterstroke. Still the second half transformation wasn't immediate, as Blackpool stole the ball almost straight from the kick off and Rafael was forced to clear a cross from inside his own six yard box. From that point United started to ease their way into the game slowly. Though if Blackpool had been given the penalty they probably should have been awarded may been academic.
The way Blackpool's legs just seemed to go about half way through the half i think we could have come back to snatch a draw. Where Fergie really earned his money with the withdrawl of Rooney for Hernandez, i'll admit i wouldn't have took him off, he wasn't playing well, but he can always pop up with something. But Hernandez completely opened the game up and all of a sudden Berbatov seemed to gain the room to get his act together. Almost straight away Hernandez was in the thick of the action when he was put clean through butBlackpool keeper Kingstonmade a great block and Cathcart cleared. But all of a sudden United were knocking on the door and when Nani and Fletcher combined to cross to Berbatov who made no mistake, it was well and truly game on.
At the moment you just knew this wasn't just a game we could draw, the three points were well and truly back on the agenda. And in the blink of an eye, they really were as a long ball was superbly controlled first time on the left foot of Giggs who was putting in another sublime performance and he then released Hernandez with a superb through ball. Hernandez with a perfect first touch set himslef for the shot and calmly beat the goalie to draw us level. There is surely only United who can go from the ridiculous to the sublime like this so often.
Th injury to Rafael was a blow on all fronts, he had been looking really menacing getting forward as much as possible to combine with nani who was now starting to menace the home rearguard as well. It also gave Blackpool a breather just when they needed it as they looked out for the count. But the winner seemed inevitable and another inch perfect pass from Scholes found Berbatov who advanced into the box before delivering the coup de grace with his left foot.
Because of the injury to Rafael we ended up having ten minutes of injury time, during which Hernandez had one more great chance with his head, but his night's work was done as the points came back to Old trafford. We had made hard work of the game in hand but the lead is now five points and ten ahead of Chelski. There is a long way to go, but we are in pole position, and of all the teams chasing, it now seems to me that Arsenal could be the main challengers, which should mean we have a really great chance of making it 19.

Ian Herbert reports on an extraordinary night, which could have been a humiliation for United but ended up delivering evidence for United's ambition to secure that 19th title. Fergie believes that this could prove to be a crucial night in the chase for the title. Indeed it could, what could have put City and Chelsea right back into the hunt right now, sees that lead slip slowly away from them. I still don't believe we will go through the season unbeaten, but i can't see them going the rest of the season unbeaten either.
It could be that the two games against Chelsea and the Arsenal, City and Liverpool games will decide the title for us, if we go through them unbeaten, and that is entirely possible the title will be ours. It's all if and buts at the moment though and as the old addage goes, it's one game at a time.

Kevin M'Carra believes that Dimitar Berbatov and Manchester United are starting to made looked for each other as the Bulgarian starts to shine and that was written before last night. But warns that the champions league will really tell us whether he has really arrived.

United youngster Danny Drinkwater has returned from his loan spell at cardiff. After a good start an injury meant he lost his place and he doesn't really seemed to have got back into first team plans. I presume he will go back out on loan, but where, it needs to be somewhere that he is guaranteed to get games. I saw him play a couple of times for Huddersfield last season and he seemed to have something about him. I haven't seen enough to know whether he will be anywhere near good enough for the first team. The fact that the club sent him out on loan so young suggests that they see something in him i would think though.

At the beginning of the week all the tal was of inflation, interest rate rises and even the return of that seventies phenomenon stagflation. 
Mervyn King warns that inflation will rise even higher over the year ahead before easing down the year following, but warned interest rates will stay where they are are as long wage claims don't start to take off as he warned off trouble ahead.
The terrible GDP results will have added grist to the mill of defict deniers warns Jeremy Warner, who as being a deficit hawk doesn't tell us whether he now believes in a plan B. Larry Elliott warns that Osborne is in an economic hole and is still digging and wonders what he will do when the effects of the cuts really start to find their way into the economy. Iain Martin describes the GDP figures as news that has hit Osborne where it hurts. He also remarks on Balls taking over at an excellent moment. Most commentators, even his detractors thought Balls played his hand pretty well, i presume by not getting carried away and predicting a definite double dip recession.
Faisal Islam warns that the GDP figures mean the likeliehood of a double dip recession just got bigger.

Sunday's Observer saw Will Hutton suggest ten ideas for a better Britain and challnges Labour to oppose the coalition more effectively. Simon Jenkins ridicules the British political classes defence of our banking sector and argues it has failed the electorate. No arguments there, the credit crunch provided the perfect opening to dismantle the wrong headed and totally failed neoliberal agenda of the last thirty years.
My only problem in people on the left putting their faith in Balls is that he was as big part of that agenda as you can get. He keeps being called a Keynsian, where is the evidence of his thriteen years in government to support that. Don't get me wrong, if he can help end the disastrous economic policies of the coalition, then great, i'm right behind him. Before that i would like to see just how far he wants to go in dismantling the hold the city of London has over this country and it's economic policies.
George Monibot dicovers just far the government is willing to go to prop up their friends and paymasters in the city. All in secret of course, and when they were defeated they try and take the credit for the tougher European rules. And the Lib dems are happily going along with this, oh dear.

Vince Cable used a New Statesman piece to argue that Keynes would have supported the coalitions economic policy. Robert Skidelsky and David Blanchflower were given the right of reply this week that is also on Robert Skidesly's own site. I think outgoing head of the CBI's criticism of the coalition's lack of a policy for growth shows who respresents Keynes best.

Craig Murray has a go at the EU for hosting an official visit from Karimov's Uzbekistan and argues that the real reason why they are talking with the butcher is NATO's presence in Afghanistan.

Could a new Bank of Manchester be the answer to help the long term growth of our city, asks a new report by the association of Greater Manchester authorities. It seems like a good idea to me, anything that lessons our dependence on the city of London and Whitehall has to be a good thing in my book. And anything that is not set in the short termist dogma that pervades that part of the world would help as well.

The Clash in Manchester 1977