Leeds United 0-3 Manchester United

I was working last night so i have only seen 15 minute highlights so i can can hardly review the match. One thing i will say though, was when i saw the team i, along with plenty of others, no doubt, thought that this could be one of those nights. Leeds must have been poor because that was an unblanaced line up to say the least.
The first eye popper was the defence, Valencia at right back, Carrick at centre half, partnered by the one youngster given a debut Fryers and Fabio at back. It was surely a gamble to go into this game with that central defensive partnership. You would have thought you'd want to give Fryers his debut next to a Vidic or a Rio. Nevertheless it came off or we got away with, not having seen the game i can't say. Playing Macheda and Diouf isn't really something i'd like to see replicated in the next round either. Thankfully the class of Owen, Berba and Owen saw us through the tie remarkably easily.
The first goal was a nice move if the finish was a touch scrappy from Owen, but the second was absolutely superb. And then Giggs completely put the tie to bed in the last minute of the half with another sensational goal beating his man like a seventeen year old not a thirty seven year old.
It was nice to see Pogba get a good run out in the second half, it was a shame Fergie couldn't have picked a team allowing him a full game, maybe he will get that in the next round. I have been told that Macheda was poor, but as much as i think his career is going nowhere as he should have gone out on loan, he can't play out wide so i would forget this performance.
An easy win, squad players got game time, three youngsters got a debut with Cole coming on as well and no injuries, a perfect night really.

Mark Ogden isn't impressed by the hatred as he reports after the pantomine opening the real venom and hatred take centre stage. Whilst Paddy Crerand was impressed with the performance he was not taken with the chants of Istanbul. As he says we should be better and rise above that kind of thing, it's not going to happen though, i'm afraid.

Paul Pogba won't be going on loan according to Fergie, though it might be an option next year. The riches we have in our forward line are as formidable as they have ever been. Fergie hailed Michael Owen after last night and admitted he is not getting the games he deserves, and let's face it, he probably isn't going to.
It doesn't look as though Hernandez will be out for as long as feared, good news for him, bad for the rest? foregetting Rooney of course. Actually i have been more impressed by our form when Welbeck has partnered Rooney as he is more of a footballer if less of a finisher.

The Glazer's seem to be finding it hard to convince investors that they are a good bet, it's possibly a good time for a bit of market uncertainty as far as they are concerned.

As if we didn't know the global economy is going down the shoot, now the IMF is signaling tha alarm bells. This isn't really what Osborne was hoping for, when he supported Lagarde for the IMF role. Larry Elliott writes that the IMF have warned the Eurozone to grow up and behave like adults, it's up to the Germans in reality though isn't it.
Martin Wolf of the FT argues that a Euro exit from either Greece or Germany would be disastous and that Europe brought the Eurozone into being and if it wants to avoid a disaster that would spread around the globe it will have to proceed with an aggressive economic expansion at its core. A touch of Keynes in other words, the Germans have never been Keynesians though and it's hard to see them biting the bullet, especially with Merkel in charge.
David Blanchflower tells Osborne how to prevent another meltdown, it's gone beyond Osborne as well though, we need global economic co-ordination and that looks as far away as ever.
Richard Murphy accuses HMRC's Dave Hartnett of doing dodgy deals, no doubt prodded on by Cameron, Osborne and chums. I am totally with Murphy in what the response should be, but i couldn't see that happening even with a Labour government. Balls and his party have a bit of history with the City of London.

Time to leave the EU asks Frasier Nelson, Political betting's Mike Smithson thinks the tory Euro sceptics would be on to a loser in any referendum.

Simon Jenkins argues that Clegg has done better than he predicted in keeping the coalition together but wonders what the Lib dems have to show for the pain they have suffered.

A blast from the past, Manchester's World of twist who Mark Riley talks about in last months Mojo