Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal

The way pre-season went and the first couple of games have gone, my excitement levels have steadily risen. I have been waiting for us to start giving teams a drubbing, especially at home, but not in my wildest imagination did i expect us to give it to Arsenal and for us to get eight.
Mind you when i saw their teamsheet the 6-1 performance where Yorke got a hatrick did go through my mind. As good as United were, and i don't buy this, they weren't that good, Arsenal were diabolical, and the buck does lie with Wenger. The lack of a spine in that team has been apparent for a couple of seasons now, United just mercilessly exposed it.
United looked sharp right from the off, but there was no hint of the massacre to come. The first goal came from a cute chip from Anderson that the vistors defence couldn't deal with and Welbeck headed home his second of the season. Evans who was excellent again blotted his copybook for the day when he gave a penalty away, but i don't know why, i always felt De Gea would save it and save it, he did. I knew he had a pretty good record in Spain but it wasn't the best attempt from Van Persie. Within minutes Arenal were rueing the miss as Ashley Young hit the first of two absolute blinders, the doubters have well and truly been silenced, he is proving to be an excellent acqusition.
As if the second wasn't good enough, the magnificent Rooney then added a third with a tremendous free kick from the edge of the box. From that moment i knew there would be more goals in the second half, it was just a question of how many. Arsenal managed to get one back at the end of the half where United's defence went to sleep, but i am not going to moan about shipping in two softish goals when we score eight at the other end. The only negative from a cracking first half was the loss of Welbeck to a torn hamstring, he has been a big part of United's great start to the season.
The gooners played their best football of the game for the first ten minutes of the second half as some fans as mad as it seems now started to worry they were getting back into the game. Rooney's second a free kick even better than the first knocked that on the head. Minutes later another sweeping United move cut the vistors defence to ribbons again to leave Nani to chip nonchantly over the oncoming szczesny to make it five. The floodgates had now opened, every time United went forward we looked as if we might score.
It can't have been nice for Arsenal to then see Giggs and Park come on and it took the South Korean just two minutes to get on the scoresheet to make it 6-1. There was no thought of defence from United which was typified from the sight of right back Smalling bringing to ball forward only to see centre half Jones overlapping him, attack, attack attack, i fucking loved it. Unfortunately the next goal came the other way and it was another soft one, Van Persie making no mistake.
Rooney collected his hatrick from the penalty spot after Evra had been brought down, Arsenal youngster Jenkinson was sent off after bringing down Hernandez when through on goal and Ashley Young scored a second unstoppable right footed shot in injury time to make it eight. The hatrick could have been even more spectacular if a chip from outside the area hadn't have hit the bar, that would have been just perfect. It was the kind of game you will remember for years to come, brilliane goals and marvellous football. It will be no consolation to Arsenal but that will not be the last drubbing seen at Old trafford this season.
The goalscorers will get all the headlines and rightly so but i must mention Cleverley he gave another superb performance in the middle of the park, he is such a clever footballer. Smalling was immense at right back, i still see him as a future centre half but it's nice to have another string to your bow, he might even be the best right back at the club now. All in all, i'm not sure i have ever been as excited as i am about the current United squad.

Richard Williams looks at the revival of Wayne Rooney after Sunday's virtuoso display against the Arsenal. I did my best not to mention City's victory at Tottenham which was probably almost as impressive as ours, though Spurs were almost as bad as Arsenal, but james Lawton looks at the footballing renaissance in Manchester. He really means at City.
Tim Rich looks at Ferguson's faith in this younger generation, dsecribing 8-2 as a youth team scoreline. Alan Smith gives us five reasons for Arsenal's decline after Sunday's mauling brought thw world evidence of how far they have slipped behind. The bit about Wenger not being a coach stands out, the great Arsene, not a coach after the eulogies his press acolytes have bulshitted us with so long and that from one of Arsenal's stalwarts. Strong stuff.
Lee Dixon argues that Fergie knows that you must mix youth with experience and wonders why Wenger doesn't seem to get that. His ex players aren't exactly standing up for him. Mark Ogden continues the generation game theory and argues it is behind Fergie's continued success.

It will be interesting to see how many reds get into Capello's starting line up on Friday as Smalling and Jones get promoted from the under 21's. What a pity Welbeck got injured, even if he hadn't of started i think he would definitely have been brought on. Of course Fergie doesn't have much time for the FA still, though i'm not really sure why he brought that up on Friday, he usually has a reason to bring a subject up when he does, but it doesn't really stand out in this case.

The Mail are running some titbits from Gary Neville's upcoming autobiography, sounds interesting. I wasn't totally suprised to hear that Fergie had ended his seven year boycott of the BBC, but was about how low key the announcement was and the lack of explanation of how it came about.
The People run with the real story behind Nasri's departure from Arsenal, not very edifying, and i think United eventually did the right thing, but he is a good player and he will improve City unfortunately.
Andrew Cole reveals that money is not the best motivation for footballing success, but that some footballers are quite happy to sit on the bench and count the money.

Juan Mata's move to Chelsea doesn't bode well for La Liga writes Sid Lowe. The one club besides the big two that did spend were Malaga, using their newly dound Qatari money, ex red Ruud Van Nistelroy says they are rebuilding with "care and vision".

Charles Moore who i despised during his editorship of the torygraph is fast becoming a must read at the moment, here he describes why Britain shouldn't feel guilty about the part we played in ousting Gaddafi.

The Economist argues that Bernanke has played for time with his Jackson hole speech, or crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. Karl Marx is resurrected again this time by UBS economic advisor George Magnus, who argues that policymakers should be studying their Marx as he argues we face a once in a lifetime crisis of capitalism.

John Kampfner comments that it's about time that the argument that the wealthy should pay more tax should gain ground and wonders why it has taken so long. The British treasury have followed the Germans in agreeing a deal with the Swiss authorities to recoup unpaid cash garnered from British tax evasion in the country.
The Spectator's David Blackburn argues that the deal makes the idea of Britain following Switzerland's lead as an ultra low tax economy looks optimistic. Richard Murphy is not impressed, arguing there can be no other explanation for the deal than that Cameron and Osborne support tax evasion, read further blogs for even more trenchant views.

Goldman sachs is facing the heat in the States over its machinations before and during the crisis of 2008 as a legal crisis looms.

Mark Kermode goes to town over big budget productions and the cynical rejection of intelligent movies.

Top stuff from the Libertines

United's youngsters excite

Well the Sun can't help itself giving a small back story to each of the United youngsters that have took the premier league by storm in the first couple of games. They even manage to get a couple of page three stunners into the piece, quality journalism, ahem.
Gary Pallister reckons that the kids will have to get used to the comparisons to the class of 92, just as Giggs and co had to get used to comparisons with the Busby babes. He was also another to be mightily impressed with 19 year old Phil Jones, there's no getting away from it he is going to be a huge part of United's future. Paddy Crerand was pleased with our performance on Monday night and lets slip on his blog that he was talking with Sir Bobby Charlton who made a comparison to the great Duncan Edwards, i don't think he would make that comparison lightly.
Crerand also mentions United using a shorter passing game and lauds the example of Barca. I would like to think that it's more to do with this being the first set of youngsters to come through under Meulensteen's tutelage.
Teddy Sheringham likes what he has seen so far and really likes the look of Cleverley and Welbeck, describing Cleverley as having a very experienced passing game for a youngster and likes Welbeck's movement.

Danny Taylor with his five things we learnt from Monday night column, argues Welbeck justified his place and that's not good news for Berbatov.

I was pretty remiss in my piece on Monday's match to forget to give Anderson, i'm not his biggest fan, to put it mildly but he was a impressive as anybody against Spurs. I thought he had given a decent performance at West Brom without being really noteworthy, but Monday night was noteworthy. He didn't give the ball away, didn't have too many positional lapses and scored a goal. Now he has just got to keep it up.

Danny Drinkwater has gone out to Barnsley on loan, i'm slightly suprised he hasn't gone out on a permanent deal to be honest. He has proved he has a career in football, but it won't be at United, i suppose he has to find his level.

The financial press has took an increasinly negative tone over the Glazer's Singapore IPO, worrying times for the gimps then. Nobody is took in by the mantra that United are a financially well run football club anymore, that's nice to see. I still think that they don't want to be doing this, but their probable financial position in the US demands they attempt it.

David Conn on the grubby world of the ownership of Carlos Tevez, how can anybody allow themselves to be used like that, United were totally right to have nothing more to do with all that. Even though the Glazer's were probably pretty comfortable with it.

The Guardian review The shield in their Box set club series. A fantastic series, as good as The Sopranos, but probably just behind The wire.

Rupert Cornwell asks if the Republican party have taken leave of their senses.
Historian Timothy Snyder accuses the modern US tea party of a dangerous misreading of their illustrious predecessors. He compares the modern version to the 18th century British aristocracy, ouch.
Greg Ip looks the Republican parties new voodoo economics in the Washington Post.Tim Dickinson uses Rolling Stone magazine to look at how Roger Ailes has built the most profitable propaganda machine in history, Fox news.

Will Hutton argues that China will implode if it doesn't change its authoritarian ways, whilst Isobel Hilton is on the fast train to disaster as high speed rail has come to symbolise the corruption that plages China. Jon Snow wonders how stable is China, whilst Banyan in the Economist says disarray in the west generates mixed emotions in China.

Music
Bill Callahan - Apocalypse: The follow up to the excellent Sometimes i wish i were an eagle doesn't disappoint. A bit more of an ensemble sound than its predecessor it could still be nobody else but Bill Callahan.

British sea power - Valhalla dancehall: One of the better British indie groups around at present, they continue their good work. They don't make killer albums but somehow i imagine their pretty good live.

Gruff Rhys - Hotel shampoo: Anything to do with the Super furries is a must listen for me, and this third sol album for frontman Gruff Rhys is no exception. He is never involved with anything even slightly average, and this is certainly not that.

Guillemots - Walk the river: I must admit that this is their first album i have listened to properly, and i was impressed, a bit britpop, but decent britpop.

Keith Jarrett - The Koln concert: I wasn't sure what i would make of this, piano isn't really an instrument that excites me in a jazz setting, though i love it in classical music. But there so many different musical genres mixed into this solo that i actually love it.

Shuggie Otis - Inspiration information: A superb piece of soul/funk with a bit of blues from the early seventies. I can't get enough of this style of music. Amazing that he only ever made four albums, i've just got to get around to listening to the other three.

Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Just before i left the ground last night i said there were so many plus points from that game i didn't know where to start, that's how good we were. A few have said Spurs didn't play well, and whilst they weren't great, i think the point was that United made them look poor. Smalling impressed at right back again, Jonny Evans looked like the player we thought he was going to be with a solid display alongside new signing Jones. And what to say about Phil Jones, you don't usually get too excited about centre halves, but you can't help it, he is going to be some player.
Rooney continued his excellent form, his new partnership with Welbeck looks promising. Welbeck himself looks the part, i thought he had done ok in the first half but was drifting out of the game a bit too much. Then came the goal, a fine header from a tremendous Cleverley cross and the confidence came out in him, resulting in the best move of the night with his beautiful back heel to Anderson to kill the game off with the second goal. The third goal was the icing on the cake as Giggs showed that he still has it with another fine cross that Rooney finished off. It could have been more as Spurs looked shell shocked at the end as United surged forward in wave after wave, but that would probably have been a bit harsh on the north London outfit.
I have to admit i thought Fergie would ring the changes last night opting for more experience than at the Hawthorns. I couldn't have been more wrong as he started with a line up with an average age of 23. They didn't let him down and though United never quite got going in the first half we still saw flashes of what was to come. But for Friedal we would have seen a contender for goal of the match as Cleverley finished off a cracking move with a side foot finish the the American goalie managed to save superbly. Ashley Young wasn't letting us down on his Old trafford debut either, he really looks the part, with Valencia to come back, the strength in depth is probably as good as it has ever been.
It's hard not to get carried away at the moment, i'm as excited as i have been in ages about the prospect of the football we are going to see this season.

Mark Ogden compares the debut of Phil Jones to some of our past United greats, appropriate as he will surely become one. Fergie is happy with his squad and is adamant that youth is the future of the club adding he is pleased that this was the second youngest average United side he as selected.

It was a suprise to see Hernandez on the bench after Fergie had said that he may feature later in the week for the reserves. He looked a bit rusty when he came on so i wouldn't be too suprised to still see that happen.

David Bond of the BBC looks at why the Glazer's IPO of the club could backfire on them. United sign a new deal with DHL worth £40 million over four years for sponsoring its training kit, i'm pretty much speechless on that.

Robert Fisk looks ahead to a Gaddafi free Libya and wonders how long before all the dominoes fall.

Fomer boss of credit rating's agency Moody's warns that they suffer conflict of interest. It's not really news but coming from the horse's mouth does put a new slant on things, basically they are one more rotten, corrupt even, part of the financial architecture destroying the world economy. Paul Mason writes that the global political elite are finally realising that the economic model that they all believe in, isn't working as we face the danger of a double dip recession and a rerun of the Japanese lost decade. Richard Koo warns that the UK must learn lessons from the Japanese experience.

Larry Elliott looks at the markets taking fright at the prospect of the return of the zombie banks. Faisal Islam looks at the "balance sheet recession" as described by George Osborne, copyright Richard Koo.

Neil Midgley asks why are the BBC contemplating taking the wrecking ball to BBC4, i totally agree with him. How on earth can the propose this whilst keeping the dross that is BBC3.

Mary Ann Sieghart wonders how far right the country is travelling in the aftermath of the riots, whilst David Goodhat of Prospect writes of the riots, the rappers and the Anglo-Jamaican tragedy. A New York times editorial takes issue with the goverment's handling of the riots.

Ben Hewitt argues that the Smiths classic album The queen is dead is not the masterpiece people would have you believe, i can't go along with that.

Glazer's, the beginning of the end?

Lots of speculation over the long term motives of the Glazer family's long term plans for their ownership of Manchester United football club after the news yesterday that "as people who declined to be identified" were quoted as saying that Manchester United plans a $1 billion IPO in Singapore, a couple of months after the rumours said it would be Hong Kong.
Goal.com are told by " senior Manchester United figures " that the Glazer's are willing to sell their entire stake, a lot of supposedly unauthorised leaking going on. Is it a case of, if the price is right. The FT report, the reds head east for value for global brand, at the reasons for switching to Singapore from Hong Kong and the dangers if the markets don't agree with their valuation.
Nils Pratley describes the advantages for the Glazer's of listing on the Singapore stock exchange and also sees long term dangers to Manchester United football club. Mark Ogden sees Manchester United fans hoping for the beginning of the end of the Glazer's ownership of Manchester United but doesn't seem to believe that's the case himself.

It may yet not prove to be, not the end, but the beginning of the end, as someone once said, of the Glazer ownership of United but a sell off would mean greater scrutiny and less secrecy to the Glazer's handling of their finances, which is good and is at least a start. To those saying that they are great businessman and "that they have played a blinder during their ownership of United" do you really think this is an outcome they are comfortable with.
I'm inclined to think that this is indeed the beginning of the end their ownership of our club. MUST have produced this statement which they have E-mailed out, i suppose this is where we find out how serious an organisation and just how well connected they really are. Obviously as a member and supporter of their aims of a fan owned Manchester United i have got my fingers crossed. If supporters don't at least get a toe under the table this time, it will never happen.
Ben Ch is not convinced that this will be a good thing especially if it leads to United becoming a PLC again. Another blogger not convinced this is good fo an eventual supporters owned club or even just a debt free club. A new way to order the global economy would well and truly fuck these twats up, it can't happen quickly enough.

This one reminder why we need these parasites out of this club, he always looked a shady bastard. It would be great if they could gain some kind of victory, however small.

Ian Herbert looks at the shaky start that David De Gea has made to his Manchester United career but believes the Spaniard has time on his side. The Telegraph's Mark Ogden reveals that United have cooked up a plan to beef the slight young Spaniard up, similar to the way Chicarito built himself up through last season. He does look like he needs it.
The same paper also takes a look at United's history of new goalkeepers since the great Dane Peter Schmeichel left the club, painful memories at times.

Chris Smalling is confident that United can overcome their defensive injury problems, telling the press that the manager has confidence in his youngsters and that they are really gelling. There does seem to be an excellent team spirit in the squad at present, it was very noticeable how the rest of the team made a point of seeking out De Gea at the end of Sunday's tough encounter.
Saying that i'm sure that Fergie would rather not have lost Ferdinand and Vidic ahead of the games against the north London teams. It must be great for Fergie that he still has three pretty good options for the centre half berth.

Talking of United's youngsters, Ferdinand praises the current crop and predicts big things for Cleverley but asks the press not to compare him to Paul Scholes, he's his own man say's Ferdinand. Meanwhile ITV sport profile the young midfielder and predict him to be the man " who will replace Paul Scholes ".

Talking of United midfielder's, The forgotten man, Darren Fletcher appeared for the reserves on Monday night against Arsenal during their 2-1 defeat. I have only seen our goal, but from what i have read he looks like he needs a few chip butties down him again. Let's hope that he is really over his illness, the Darren Fletcher of two years ago would be a very welcome addition to the squad.

Gary Neville impresses Ian Burrell after his debut on monday night's Sky match at the boo camp.

Andy Mitten writes that Cesc Fabregas is set for the Barca bench, he is one for the future. I have to say, i have always wondered why Barca were so keen to get him and spend so much. Is he really going to just walk into the best midfield in the world, i wouldn't have thought so. I know Xavi is 31, but he looks to me as if he has at least two more seasons in him. Fabregas is a bit old to be one for the future.

Larry Elliott warns that we have been warned the world economy is going to blow, only a new way of managing the and economy can prevent mayhem in the markets and on the streets. With the global leadership we have at present, that means armageddon is just around the corner.
J.K Galbraith's son, James K Galbraith argues our solutions for fixing the world economy are wrong, our economic issues are worsening and we need to start anew, he's agreeing with Elliott.
Warren Buffet asks the US government to stop coddling the rich, i once read him say that there was a class war going on and his class, the super rich were winning, his fellow billionaires and millionaires must despise him as a class traitor. Everything he say there is spot on the money, it's just plain greed and i would argue corruption.


As the Telegraph writes it appeared Clive Goodman had gone quietly the letter he wrote that was revealed yesterday has blown apart the wall of silence from Wapping. The question is how many are going to go down and how far up the food chain will it go. Is James Murdoch less comfortable today.
Frank Rich argues that Murdoch's ativities were not confined to the UK, he hacked on the other side of the pond too. After all yesterdays new revelations the obvious question is asked by Jon Snow, is there onw law for the rich and another for the poor. He was talking about our financial industry and politicians but you can certainly throw Murdoch and his henchmen in with them.

I always thought their debut was pretty good, Marion.

West Bromich Albion 1-2 Manchester United

The first game and the first three points and with Chelsea drawing earlier in the day, a good start to the season. We were excellent for the first half an hour until De Gea's blunder which saw the home team equaliser seemed to knock the stuffing out of us a bit.
Fergie had said that last weeks second half performance had made picking this weeks team easier and he stuck by those words except for defence where Vidic and Ferdinand started but didn't finish the game. Evra was injured so Fabio started at left back though if i had been picking the team i may have started with the Brazillian anyway. Welbeck partnered Rooney again with Cleverley and Anderson in the centre of the park.
Our away form was almost Uniformally poor last season and the Hawthorns was no exception even if we did come away with the three points. So this was a fair test of whether we are going to improve in that area. The first thirty minutes were promising with West Brom struggling to get near us at times. Young was linking up well with Rooney and Welbeck and Cleverley looked good in midfield. It took just thirteen minutes for United to make their domination count when Rooney and Young Linked up well on the left before Rooney smartly finished the move off with a left foot shot.
We should have gone two up after Rooney and Welbeck exchanged passes to set up Nani but last weeks star of the show fluffed his lines blasting over the bar. We were made to pay when West Brom's new signing Shane Long cut in from the right and hit a speculative shot that De Gea should have dealt with easily but rolled past him. It has to be said one good save apart he had looked a little shaky and thereafter the United defence seemed a little wary of placing their trust in him.
The second half became more of a contest, Roy Hodgson has always organised his teams well and the home team became harder to break down. Losing Ferdinand and then Vidic didn't help much, as well as losing two experienced defenders, Fergie was unable to shake things up in the middle of the park. But the one bright spark of the second half was Ashley Young and with ten minutes to go he produced a great run and cross on the left that took two deflections to hit the back off the net and give us the points. Fortunate perhaps but i thought overall we maybe, just about deserved the points.
It was a toss up for our most impressive performer, take your pick between Rooney and Ashley Young who were both influential throughout. I thought Welbeck was pretty good in the first half but faded out of things after the break. Cleverley played reasonably well, again he wasn't quite as good in the second half though he didn't fade out of things quite as much as Welbeck.
Losing Ferdinand and Vidic is a blow, thoug not that much of a suprise in Ferdinand's case. How many games will he play this season? Vidic will be a big loss though if he is out for any length of time, especially with Tottenham and Arsenal to come. A good start then, though we have come down to earth a bit after last weeks heroics.

A defensive crisis already with Ferdinand, Vidic and Da Silva sidelined. Rafael doesn't seem to have much with injuries or getting injury free runs in the team. At least Evra is supposed to be back for next week.
Alan Hansen says the problem for De Gea is losing the eperience of Vidic and Ferdinand ahead of him and of losing the confidence of his team mates. Fergie conceeded it was a poor goal to concede but told reporters to remember Peter Schmeichel's start to his United career, welcome to England he told him after the game. As Andy Mitten wrote before the game, he has big gloves to fill.

Ian Ladyman is impressed with Wayne Rooney, on his game from game one, what a difference a year makes.

Ha-Joon Chang argues that sound fiscal policy alone will not solve the debt crisis alone because the global financial system has dysfunction at its heart. Jeremy Warner is worried about the prospects for the global economy wondering if anything can douse the economic flames, he argues that we need a global solution, it doesn't look very likely though.
Nouriel Roubini thinks that the present crisis is at least partly vindicating Karl Marx's theory, that capitalism had in it the seeds of its own destruction. Roubini doesn't think we are there yet, but he thinks we could be in the process of repeating Roosevelt's mistake of 1937.
Paul Krugman reveals his dismal thoughts, the administration knows they are focusing on the wrong issues. hoping the public will fail to notice Obama's failure to deal with continuing high unemployment. Is Obama going to go down as the Democrat version of Herbert Hoover?
David Blanchflower is as woried about the state of the global economy and thinks Osborne's claim that Britain is a safe harbour is ludicrous. He thinks future economic events could be worse than that which followed the fall of Lehman brothers. Sean O'Grady explains why Britain is not as safe a harbour as Osborne is boasting.
The Economist's Buttonwood column takes a look at last weeks riots and the cuts yet to come. I have to say that i'm waiting for riots in other parts of the Eurozone and eventually in the US. It may not happen tomorrow and it probably won't follow the British model, but unless the brightest Economists and politicians chart a map out of this zombie economy, i'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Not a great quality clip, but quality music, The Allman brothers band.

Sneijder to stay

All the papers are reporting that United have unofficially informed the press that United have dropped any interest in signing the Dutch Inter Milan midfielder. I can't say i'm going to cry about it, as much as i have said in the past that we need strengthning in the middle of the park, to me he isn't a central midfield player he plays farther up the pitch.
He is a good player alright, not good enough to justify that transfer fee or those wages though. United's strategy as regards the press during this transfer saga has been odd, so i can well understand why nobody is quite sure whether United really mean it.

Ian Herbert profiles Tom Cleverley as the man to step into Scholes shoes, i hope we can get away from that. He could well be the man who has persuaded Fergie that Sneijder was a luxury we can do without.
He isn't a Scholes replacement, i have always seen him as a cross between Nicky Butt and David Beckham. He is going to be a very good player, i have to admit i'm not quite sure how good. One thing he has got going for him, because it's what we have needed for a while is he has an eye for a goal. We haven't really had a meaningful goals contribution from midfield since Scholes dropped deeper later in his career.
The player who divides opinion at Old trafford like no other, Michael Carrick gets the thumbs up in this appreciation. I know he is highly appreciated amongst his peers, because he has been given a job to do and he does it as well as anybody. The problem is those first couple of seasons where he was given more of a license to play means the public expect to see the Carrick that was such a revelation alongside Paul Scholes.
Whether you are a fan or not it can't be denied he has had a roughish couple of years since then. The return to form at the end of season was as timely for his United career as it was for United itself.

James Lawton salutes Wayne Rooney's aspiration to reach the levels set by Messi during Barca's destruction of us at Wembley. He has looked the part all through pre-season, right from the first game his fitness levels looked good and his touch has been excellent. Though he came good during the latter satges of last season he does owe us something this season. Mind you looking at depth of talent amongst the forwards at the club for the coming season, he will need to play to his best.

Graham Taylor fancies United to top the league table come May, he thinks Fergie still has a glint of steel. I have to admit to being more excited by the coming season than since we put five past Fulham on the first day of the 2006-07 season and realised that maybe that team was going somewhere after three pretty mediocre seasons. The signings and the youngsters either maturing as first teamers or ready to break through over the next couple of years mean we will hopefully see the most exciting football since that 2006-07 season. I don't expect it to be dull anyway.

Another reason is players whose time was either up or were never going to make it at United have finally started to leave the club. With Obertan off to Newcastle, it just remains for Gibson to find himself a new club.
Though there was something very rotten about his transfer and the fact he obviously was nowhere near United standard it was a shame to hear Bebe has done a cruciate and will miss six months of football.

Owen Hargreaves is finally going to West Brom, it will be really interesting to see ho this goes.

James Lawson describes the pressure on Mancini, if he doesn't keep the money men onside, he will be a dead man walking. You have to wonder what he has been told is the minimum to be expected this season. I don't rate him, so i should want him to stay, i suppose, but a manager every couple of seasons would also ensure the money doesn't talk.

And now to the riots. What can you say, i sat speechless as everybody else i suppose as the rioters turned into wanton looting and it became obvious that the looters, gangs and opportunists realised that they had the police on the run and our capital became almost lawless, an anarchists dream.
It was bound to spread around the countryand i'm afraid if it was going to happen in Manchester, which it definitely would it was almost certainly going to be Salford that got it. And get it it did, i expected that but i had hoped town would escape the worse which made Tuesday night all the more disappointing.
This underclass has been intentionally created by the economic model that we have followed for the last thirty years, so i suppose the country is getting what it deserves. I have no time for the rioters, most of them are the type of people you would cross the road to avoid. But they have no time for anybody except themselves or maybe at best fellow gang members. As far as they are concerned normal rules don't apply. Remember Thatcher deliberately made 3 to 4 million people on the dole in the early eighties and for a lot of these people they never really entered the real world of having a job and responsibility.
The lack of good parenting has been brought up but the parents of most of these kids were probably brought under this lost generation where there were no jobs and no hope. Add in other factors such as our wrong headed drug legislation which makes the local druglords the man to look up to as one of the only ways to make money and it's no wonder they hate the police. The rioters would almost certainly have ended up inside at sometime anyway so i suppose to them it was a case of why not go out with a bang. If people have nothing to give a shit about, unsuprisingly they really won't give a shit.
It was Norman Lamont who said unemployment was a price worth paying. Well this is the price the country is now paying, i'm hoping people realise that it really isn't. The real answer this is to return to an economic model thats ultimate aim is full employment.
This generation is probably lost, but if we change course the next generation can be given hope. I fail to believe a country with full employment would have seen this kind of riot. When i left school and went into work all those years ago if my senior workmates would have found out i had been involved in that kind of thing i would have been sent to Coventry.

Craig Murray believes that the riots are part of the malaise of modern capitalism. Peter Oborne continues the state of Britain theme noting that moral decay permeates from the very top of society noting that very richest part of our society is as detatched form contemporary Britain as the looters.
Martin Bright was a former home affairs reporter and he argues that this a crisis that has been brewing for years. Whilst current BBC home affairs writes of the return of the underclass and why no country can afford to ignore any strata of its society. David Goodhart describes the weeks events as the look at me riots. Of course that was part of it, these people have no values whatsoever but we won't solve that other than to try and replace those values and full employment would be a part of those values. Of course this would mean more than just part time retail jobs as the country and economy can't continue buying things that we no longer make.
Simon Nixon writes of the double whammy that globalization has played in providing the circumstances for the weeks riots. As any Keynesian would argue and rightly in my opinion the golden age of the world economy was 1945 -75. For the vast majority if western citizens this was the best time to have been born in the history of the world. We seem surely but steadily to be harking back to the world of the thirties despite all the lessons of history. And for what, to keep the very richest, individuals, financial institutions and corporations even richer, fucking scandalous.
Deborah Orr writes that society must fundamentally change to give every one a stake in society if we are to move on as a country. Penny red argues that no one expected this as she describes living in London during the trouble.

Bagehot wrote this before yesterdays commons debate on the riots, he argued that the riots could help Cameron and the tories as that is what riots usually do . But after Cameron and the tories blaming police tactics this morning has seen the police fight back and with the police cuts still being defended by the coalition i'm not sure he will prove to be right. After the hacking scandal there isn't much lost between the Met and the government, this just seems to be making it worse. Once again Cameron seemed to have responded well to events, but has he?
Simon Jenkins goes back to the stifling centralization of this country and argues that our cities need real power deploring the lack of civic power in our cities. I'm still not a fan of elected mayors but i'm totally with him on the the centralization of the state. Who was it that started that trend again, oh that's right Thatcher. In thirty years time she will be seen to have been wrong on almost everything apart from her stance on the cold war.

Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United

To be honest i wouldn't have been that bothered if we had lost yesterday, it is a friendly after all. I would definitely prefer three points to a charity shield victory, so i tried to not get carried away yesterday. But i couldn't help myself as United did what they do best come from behind all guns blazing.
We had played well enough in the first half, the scoreline as we came off at half time was a travesty, though partally self inflicted. The defending for the first goal wasn't the best and new goalkeeper De Gea should have done better with Dzeko's shot. But United had completely dominated the half though they didn't manage to turn the domination into many clear cut chances. Rooney probably had our best chance of the first half but couldn't get enough power on his shot. Welbeck had been chosen to partner Rooney and he didn't disappointgiving City plenty of problems.
The second half saw Fergie bring on Cleverley, Jones and Evans as we got a glimpse of the future and how exciting is it going to be. United stepped up on their first half display by starting to seriuosly threaten the opposition goal and Scored two quick goals to draw level. The first was a decent finish from Smalling but the second was an absolute peach, Fergie was right if Barca had scored that the press would still be talking about it now. Everything about it was top notch and Nani finished it off with a sublime chip to beat Hart. Nani was excellent again yesterday, could this be the year where he really announces himself to the world. But he wasn't on his own as all the youngsters looked the part. They are definitely all Manchester United players.
The last gasp winner after Kompany's mistake was the icing on the cake, that first game can't come quick enough.

I think Henry Winter was impressed. Richard Williams lauds the influence that Cleverley brought to the pitch after his half time introduction. Fergie rightly hailed the impressive Nani amongst others. Rooney got a bit giddy on twitter after the game, he was right, but i think i'd prefer him to leave that in the dressing room.

Thank you to Paul Scholes for producing one last thunderbolt on Friday night, it wasn't much of a game, but he showed that he could easily have played on for one last season.


Reports continue to link the Glazer's with selling a 25% stake in the club in an effort to pay off the debt and to keep control of the club. I don't know why they would want to be doing this now with markets in a panic, or whether it brings forward the day they leave the club lock stock and barrel.

The world economy seems to be on the edge of a precipice, may this be the week it falls over the edge. Faisal Islam tells us what to look for after the downgrading of US credit by S & P. Paul Krugman talks of the strange situation between S & P and the USA. Will Hutton describes our financial system as a madhouse and urges radical change, we need a new common sense. And finally Ambrose Pritchard-Evans warns that we face a recession without shock absorbers. A return to the 30's seems to be finally on the cards.

Paul Scholes bows out

Paddy Crerand, himself a midfielding great of Manchester United tells Talk sport why he puts Paul Scholes up there with the very best. I'm not really one for testimonials or friendlies but i couldn't miss tonight. I'd say my favourite three players of the Fergie era have been Eric Cantona, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs with the ginger prince edging it for his all round game, his great goals, assists and the way he changed his game as he sat deeper as he got older.
A lot has been said about the lack of true appreciation from the nation's press and even England managers, but i would have to say i don't think he has ever really been taken for his true worth even by the Old trafford crowd. A victim of the changing nature of football fan, how many times have i heard fans moan about his lack of pace. Scandalous but true.
I have always thought only people who have played a sport to a reasonable standard can really appreciate a players true worth, anybody who has never played football can just never appreciate that technique and first touch and ability to know where he is going to pass it before he has even recieved it. And then there was the way he pinged the ball out to the wing and put it on a sixpence. The goals, arriving late in the box, blockbusting shots and just how many goals did he score for a man of his height, what red will ever forget that last minute winner at the boo camp.
Xavi and Inisesta are both possibly the equals of Scholes in midfield, Xavi definitely is, but neither could match the diffferent type of goals that the ginger prince scored in the earlier part of his career. It will be a sad night to know that we are never going to see him in the red shirt of Manchester United. Life will go on without Scholes and United will have other great midfield players but none will be quite the same player as Paul Scholes.

Fergie lets slip that he was talking with Fabien Barthez at the Marseille game and the former United goalie asked him to pass on his rgards on to Scholesy, the best player he ever played with.

Scholesy is quoted in the press saying that if he feels he is not up to the job of coaching he will quit and admits he hadn't really thought of life after playing until the last six months. That would fit in with a piece i was reading on twitter last week that argued that Fergie had thought Scholes would be around for more than one season.
It's hard to see how he wouldn't be a decent coach, even if it's just coaching skills and technique. Of course he may want to aspire to something more than that, but just teaching that to the youngsters coming through would surely be a great thing for the club. Is this his new career?

Eric explains his role at the New York cosmos ahead of tonight's testimonial, i suppose Scholes will be glad to see him there to take some of the spotlight of him.

Onto the disaster waiting to happen in the financial markets, Ambrose Pritchard-Evans argues it's time for Europe to put up or break up, not that he sees any likelihood of this happening. Robert Peston explains the origins of todays mayhem.

All this and it's not even as if the British economy was in much of a good place anyway. Jeremy Warner argues that whatever George Osborne thinks, Britain will spend years in the doldrums. Well we will if we don't tear up our current economic orthodoxies as Richard Murphy warns feral finance has to be taken on and put back in its box.
Robert Skidelsky thinks that Osborne's austerity gamble is fast being found out and again argues for a green investment bank as part of a plan A+.

Of course the current state of woe is built upon twin pillars, the possible disintegration of the Euro and the hit the banks will take from that and the increasingly gloomy news afflicting the US economy after the budget debacle. Take your pick whether you agree with Mehdi Hasan, and Paul Krugman who argue the president has surrendered or with Tim Stanley who thinks that the Republicans have shot themselves in the foot.
I'd have to go with the former myself. Even if the obviously Clintonite, Blairite third way argument of Stanley were right what on earth does Obama do with a second term where he has virtually boxed himself into a Republican spending cuts agenda. And if there is no improvement in either the economy, seemingly unlikely, or his performance he will surely face a challenge in the primaries for the democratic nomination that he is not certain to win after the demorilisation the democatic foot soldiers have taken from this episode. As Michael Tomasky pointed out Obama has virtually capitulated in front of US right, pointing out that this marks the beginning of conservatism being the driving force of US politics for years to come.
Paul Harris explains how the US tea party won the debt deal and argues it's time the Democrats stopped whining and started copying. I have some time for that argument, as loopy as they obviously are at least they stood up for what they believe in. Hopefully in the long run, the US electorate will see there economic arguments as the hogwash they are. George Monibot takes a close look at the Tea party and describes how the billionaires broke the system and how the tea party supporters are voting against their own interests.


Music
Charles Bradley - No time for dreaming: A superb piece of Stax type soul from the present day, all the classic traits including a great horn section.

J. Masics - Several shades of why: Dinosaur Jr.'s front man unplugs with a mainly acoustic offering. It's not bad, he shows that even on acoustic , he is an excellent guitarist.

King Creosote and John Hopkins - Diamond mine: A decent collaboration of ambient and Hopkins indie pop.

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - The kings of Benin: Urban groove 1972-1980: More west African brilliance, but this time from Benin. Afro beat meets cuba at times, it's gloriously catchy.

The Jayhawks - Hollywood town hall: A US indie country rock outfit from the 90's that i never listened to at the time. There are some cracking tunes on this, but the lesser tracks, whilst there is nothing wrong with them, stop it from being as good as it might have been.

The Limananas - The limananas: A French group with a sound that blends vintage 60's styles get the thumbs up from me with this debut effort. Organ to the front with a dirty scuzzy guitar sound to boot and the songs aint bad too.