Aldershot 0-3 Manchester United

The best thing you can have after a disaster like Sunday's is another game as quickly as possible, so last night was a blessing. I suppose it was nice to have a fairly easy game as well, as Fergie was always going to pick a pretty experienced side so an embarrasing defeat was pretty unlikely.
The only youngster to get a start was Zeki Fryers who started his second carling cup tie for the club. I'm a bit surprised that he has been picked out for two full starts as when i saw the youth team last season, the defender to stand out was Tom Thorpe. I can only surmise that Fergie thinks that Fryers is more physically advanced than Thorpe. That isn't to have a go at Fryers though, as against Leeds he didn't do anything wrong and gave a very mature performance.
The return of Cleverley to the ranks was the big plus of the night and for the hour that he was on, he played as well as he did at the part of the season. His energy and first time passing was what we have been missing over the last few weeks. Fingers crossed he stays clear of any long term injuries. It's been said since Sunday, that it's putting too much pressure on his young shoulders, citing him as our saviour. I'm afraid Fergie has put that pressure on him by not reinforcing the midfield during the summer, it's not exactly been a secret how short of real class we have been in this part of the pitch.
United completely dominated the opening half an hour eventually taking the lead through forgotten man Berbatov. The Bulgarian played well and could have had more goals on the night going close a couple of times in the second half. Valencia seemed to be more like the player that came back from injury so well last season and even graced us with a great goal early in the second half.
The most pleasing aspect of the night was seeing Pogba and Morrison coming on to get a touch of the big time. Morrison wasn't on for long but showed glimpses of his talent and showed that he will never want for confidence. Amos spent most of the night a spectator but when he was called upon right at the end he made a fine save. It would have been nice to see a couple more youngsters involved, starting or being brought on but, with some of our experienced players not getting games we were always going to see this type of team.

Henry Winter likes the look of Morrison, as do we all, but who knows if he will make it or not.

Mark Ogden claims Rio Ferdinand and others will suffer the consequences for Sunday's humiliation. This just seems to be conjecture, he picks the right three players in my opinion, not just because of Sunday though, Sunday was just the cumulation of where all three players form has been leading.
To be fair to Ferdinand, it's not that he been playing badly, more that as somebody has commented since Sunday, he can't run anymore. It's ironic really, because the first time it struck home that his athleticism was on the wane was also against City in a much more memorable game for any red the Owen last gasp 4-3 victory.
As for Evra his defending has been hit and miss for a couple of years now, but it always seems to go mssing in the biggest games. I don't know if Fabio is going to be his long term replacement, or if Fergie is in the market for a left footed left back. Maybe Fryers has been earmarked, if that is the case, it's a few years off.
And to Anderson, to me he has only really ever had one good consistent run in the side, in his first season when he came in for Scholes who was out for a couple of months. He has never come close to that form or consistency since. It must be time to admit defeat, he has had chance after chance. I thought he looked big again on Sunday and it seems i wasn't the only one who noticed this. Fergie must know he isn't good enough, how many times is he the first player hoisted off when things aren't going well.

As Andy Mitten writes here the last time reds saw their team ripped aprt like this was at Wembley in May. I actually thought of that when i was coming out of the stadium on Saturday, because if we are honest it could well have been six that night as well. And at the end of day it was down to the same problems, a lack of quality in midfield and dodgy defending.
Of course there was a bit more of an excuse on Sunday with Jonny Evans sending off. But even though we dominated possession in the first half they looked classier in possession when they had it. And just as at Wembley in the semi, once they had weathered the early storm, they gradually strengthened their grip on the game.
He also bemoans the existence and amount of half and half scarves last Sunday and at Anfield the week before. The amount of day trippers for Sunday's game for the biggest league derby between Manchester's big two was off the scale. I and others have said it before, but if post Fergie we ever hit a real lean spell that lasts more than a season or two, the amount of empty seats at Old trafford will be unbelievable.



Has the Eurozone crisis been taken off emergency care for the time being after Thursday morning's agreement. Faisal Islam thinks it's better than a lot of people expected, but the devil will be in the detail.
Larry Elliott thinks even if the Euro has been saved, the hard work has only just begun. He isn't very sanguine about the prospects for growth as all available solutions have big problems attached to them.

It's been and still is a big week for David Cameron, but it hasn't started too well. Bennedict Brogan argues that the referndum vote tells us that the tories are divided over Cameron, not Europe. Nicholas Watt of the Guardian writes that Cameron is both weak and heavy handed over Europe as his backbenchers vented their anger at an aloof prime minister hamstrung by his coalition partners. Tim Montgomerie thinks that the tory rebellion crystalises the parties deeper suspicions of Cameron's leadership.
Steve Richards claims the rebellion over Europe is a proxy battle and finds it ironic that as the country moves further away from the real Europe, the Eurosceptics rage about"Europe". I'm not sure that a referndum would be lost myself, for one what would the question in the referendum be. Richards called the Voting reform early and wrong, it's a bit early to call a referendum on Europe when we haven't got a clue on what we would be voting on.
Gary Gibbon wonders "where next for David Cameron" after a vote that has dented his leadership of his party. Matthew Norman wonders whether Cameron's luck has finally ran out as the week has implanted long term doubts about his judgement.

Richard Murphy blogs that the US demands tax justice from the Swiss unlike a certain country just of mainland Europe.
Andreas Whittam Smith writes that the bankers are to blame for this mess and still don't get it. They won't agree to reform so stop wasting time asking them, just do it.
Adam Posen wishes he could have persuaded his fellow MPC members that QE needed to be introduced once again six months ago instead of waiting for the economy to start "cratering".

Two differing takes on the state of the German economy, Phil Mullan argues that the success for the German economy has been overdone whilst John Kampfner argues that whilst some parts of the experience of living in Germany in the eighties did his head in, the way they have ran their economy has proved far more successful than the deregulation mad little England policies beloved of the tory backbenchers.
Ben Chu writes about the battle waged between the Bank of England and the ONS over whose statistics are proving more accurate.

Stewart Lee is always interesting to read whether it's his own stuff or being interviewed, i'm going to read the book mentioned in this interview over the next few weeks.