Stoke city 1-1 Manchester United

The bubble had to burst some time and this was the type of place it was always likely to happen. A draw at Stoke isn't the worst result in the world, i can't say i'm that suprised that we couldn't replicate our early season form. They set the tone for the evening in the first ten minutes chopping down anything in a United shirt that moved.
After losing Rooney to a supposed hamstring injury picked up in training the day before, the last thing we needed was to discover Jonny Evans in the pre match warm up. Maybe the Rooney injury was a blessing in disguise, fuck knows how he would have reacted to Stoke's strong arm tactics.
We had a double blow early in the game as Woodgate was lucky not to give away a penalty but in his attempt to stop Hernandez he bundled the Mexican straight into the goalie and though he managed to get back onto the pitch eventually he didn't last long and was eventually replaced by Michael Owen.
This wasn't really the game for a Berbatov Owen partnership up front and they never really threatened the home sides back four. In fact with Anderson once more reverting to type, Berbatov ended up dropping deep trying to help us keep the ball. It took United a while to fashion any kind of domination onto the game, but when we did start to look dangerous it was through last weeks man of the match Nani to start to worry the Stoke back four.
Even so his goal, which was a real beauty did come a touch out of the blue. Jones started at centre half after Evans dropped out with Valencia coming in at right back. And once again he was mightily impressive making two brilliant surges forward that ecliped anything Anderson or Fletcher could manage. He really is some player. Saying that, I'm not criticising Fletcher who looked somewhere near back to his best rarely giving the ball away even though under intense pressure. We didn't have much penetration on the day though.
When we got to half time a goal to the good i really thought we would come away with the spoils. But it wasn't to be, as the freak himself Crouch actually managed to break his duck against us with a header from a corner that was a soft goal for us to have given away. He showed how much our chants must get under his skin with his reaction to the goal. In fact you wonder if he got a bit too giddy as not long after he had a glorious chance to put Stoke into the lead but couldn't beat De Gea and whilst it was a great stop, the lanky git should have buried it.
Eventually United managed to get a grip on the game and it looked like we might lay siege to their goal. But Fergie brought on Welbeck for Berbatov and Giggs for Young and for some reason we couldn't keep the pressure on. Truth be told i thought Berba should have stayed on and Owen took off, but i suppose Fergie was never going to do that.
But deep in injury time Giggs had a glorious chance which he couldn't hit the target with and that was that. Still top of the table then but the pack has come back to us then.

It's a good chance we have got the squad we now have because we are being hit with injury after injury, it looks like Rooney will be out longer than we had first been led to believe.

Mark Ogden thinks Saturday was the day that David De Gea came of age in a Manchester United shirt, he had a fair game but there are probably more wobbly games to come as he settles into a different football culture.

The press couldn't help getting themselves into a lather over the Elland road trip the other night. The Telegraph talk of a baying mob outside of United's hotel, whilst Andy Cole reminiscses over his appearances at Leeds United with United.

Owen Hargreaves has a pop at United's medical staff, according to the press, though some at United feel he was misquoted apparently. Fergie was having none of it, praising his medical staff 100%.

James Lawton thinks Michael Owen was a scorer of great goals who fell short of greatness. His first touch was never anywhere near good enough to be bracketed as great as Jaap Stam wrote in that infamous book.

Glenn Chapple tells the Indy he was determined not to cry, he thought i'm not going down that route. He has been a magnificent servant o the county. As has Gary Keedy the other Yorkie playing for the red rose and who signed a new deal for the club last week.

Craig Murray points out the double standards and immorality of US foreign policy in central Asia.

Nick Robinson blogs of a small announcement from Ed Miliband and the Labour party, but a big idea. And the big idea seems to be remembering what the Labour party is supposed to be for, with Miliband moving to the left.
Ed Hodges thinks it's a bold, brave strategy and suicidal. What would the Blairites actually do if he actually won an election positioning the party to the left, would any of them actually defect. I mean to the tories as well not the Lib dems, and if there was a coalition with the Lib dems how many of the orange bookers would stay in that party, interesting times indeed.
Bennedict Brogan thinks that the Labour party needs a truth and reconciliation movement to escape the shadow of the Blair/Brown years. Martin Kettle argues that Labour remains in denial about its economic record in office and that this applies to bothe left and the right of the party.

Steve Richards wonders how Cameron responds to the Lib dems claiming to be the progressive element of the coalition as his strategy was to show the tories had changed into a progressive modern one nation party. That is a very good point, that seems to have been forgotten by most commentators.
The FT's Westminster blog points out that though Tim Farron may be in the dog house with Clegg and orange book leadership of the Lib dems these days he may be positioning himslef very astutely with the party membership come the next election. I hope he is right, i still don't know whether i will be able to vote for them come the next election, as far away as that is. Bagehot explains why the Lib dems party conference was a relatively upbeat affair.
Mary Anne Sieghart wonders whether Ed Balls and the Labour party can escape their past and more importantly earn the electorate's trust on the economy.

Ben Chu of the Indy asks if the IMF have forgotten there part in the wrong headed policy prescription followed by most of the developed world. As with the credit agencies, the ECB et al, the IMf are part of the problem, not the solution.
Larry Elliott argues that it could be 2008 all over again, only worse. I do have some time for Peter Oborne, but not for his grasp of economics. Today he argued that things coan only get worse but George Osborne musn't lose his nerve. That was bad enough but to describe Osborne as a strong chancellor with genuine credibilty in the city of London shows that he doesn't seem to understand that the city of London is at the root of our problems. We need a city of London that doesn't call the shots and a chancellor in thrall to them.
When Samuel Brittan argues that the government should use the UK states bank holdings to speed a recovery and lament that the world has a less than adult attitude to budget deficits.
Paul Krugman looks at the origins of the Eurozone crisis and highlights a fascinating article from Kash Mansori.

Nicholas Shaxon argues that the British and German sordid tax deals with the Swiss authorities is doomed to failure. As Richard Murphy has argued on his blog everything about this deal stinks.

Ian Duncan Smith's new universal credit is now top of George Osborne's to do tray, what a suprsie that the IT system is the problem.

It was a bit of suprise that REM anounced they are to split up, as this Indy piece says they brought out some great albums. Actually i have thought their last two albums were pretty good, maybe that was good time to go out.