Fletcher wants to top group

After admitting that United haven't got the balance right between defence and attack during the mini revival, Flecther looks forward to tomorrow nights game against Portugese giants. He points out the benefits to topping the group pointing out what happened to Arsenal last season when they drew Barca in the first tie of the knockout stages.
As much as they were outplayed in both legs, with a little bit of luck they could have actually got through that tie, though that of course would have been a travesty. Fletcher is right of course though, were we to draw any of the heavyweights first up it would be hard to be too optimistic. Of course that is a long way off and the balance between defence and attack may have been solved by then and the confidence restored. I very much doubt we will be buying any central midfielders in the mid season winter break though. So we would have to hope Cleverley and Carrick are both fitand then wonder who Fergie would play alongside them presuming we go with three in midfield that is.
I don't think tomorrow is going to be an easy game so the news that Wayne Rooney sat out this morning's training session is a bit of worrying news. If he is out i would stick Berbatov into the team for tomorrow night.


Michael Carrick tells the teams critics to judge us after christmas, we may not have been as fluent as we would like, but we keep on picking up three points and we are actually in almost the same position as we were last season when it was Chelsea that got off to a storming start. It is a fair point, United do know how to chase a championship and whilst City are obviously a better side than Chelsea were last season, when push comes to shove at the end of the season, United have been there and City haven't. I see Mancini has told his fans that they will get beaten a some stage this season, there is nothing more surer.
That doesn't mean that they won't win the title, just that it's too soon to count United out, as of the moment City are unarguably the better team. Of course if Silva broke down and was out for any length of time that would balance things up again.
Ferguson described the 6-1 defeat to the berties as a wake up call, all the success we have had has started from a solid foundation at the back. He was happier with our defence on Saturday from the team as whole, describing Carrick's performance as magnificent.
This fascinating Indy piece about a Fabien Barthez interview with Fergie shows the emphasis that Fergie places on the collective. You need the great players, but they will be nothing without a team that believes in themselves and in each other.

Danny Welbeck goes back to his old school and reveals that he is living the dream, playing football for a living, playing for his boyhood team and playing alongside boyhood heroes such as his favourite player Ryan Giggs. Both Welbeck and Cleverley have been a breath of fresh air this season, it's a pity both of them can't seem to put a run of games together without getting injured.

Gary Neville looked at Liverpool's progress under Kenny Dalglish ahead of yesterday's clash at Stamford bridge and compares them to the United of the eighties. They can more than mix it with the best, but fall down by not being able to lift themselves for the lesser games like last week's scoreless draw at home to Swansea. After yesterday's victory over the rent boys, let's hope they can raise there game once more when the face City at home next week. At least we can be fairly certain that Craig Bellamy will be up for it.
Alan Hansen wasn't impressed with Chelsea yesterday, he thinks at least they could argue that they played reasonably well against United and Arsenal where poor defending let them down. But yesterday their catastrophic defending conspired to a defeat that has left them trailing City by twelve points, and a poor performance that must have heaped the pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas.

This wasn't really what the doctor ordered for Salford City Reds ahead of a new season at their new ground. I can't say i'm mad on appointing Aussies that haven't any grounding in the game over here. If i was Salford i would be looking at somebody like Brian Noble to guide them through the next couple of seasons. They need to have some continuity if they are going to attract the kind of crowds they must be hoping for at the new stadium.

Nick Cohen looks at the reponse of the left to the events occuring in the Eurozone and doesn't see much of one. If they don't find one and soon, they will leave the door open to some pretty dodgy customers, nationalists, fascists, anarchists and unreconstructed Marxist-Lenninists.
Ambrose Pritchard-Evans sees the Spanish right return to power, but thinks it won't change anything unless Eurozone strategy changes.

Danny Blanchflower thinks that something happened at the end of August that terrified policymakers. As others, Will Hutton for one have let slip, policymakers within the coalition and at the treasury are in a state of blind panic behind the scenes whatever impression they are giving to the outside world.
Paul Krugman thinks at least the Bank of England are putting in a decent performance as they don't cave into the pressure to respond to inflationary pressure.
Larry Elliott argues that we are in for years of depression unless policymakers tackle the debt issue imaginitively, i think they do know that and as far as the Bank of England are concerned that is what we are going to get. Hence the panic amongst the coalition and its friends.
Martin Wolf of the FT looks at Iceland's response to the crisis of 2008 and compares it favourably to the Irish experience. But ends by arguing that the market economy will not endure if it is seen to be a racket run by insiders against the interest of the vast majority of outsiders.
Robert Peston has been filming a two part series on the western world's addiction to debt and what a struggle it is going to be to drive it down whilst at the same time trying to keep the economy growing.

Jonh Snow asks who understands the bubble, why are the financial instruments that helped to get Europe and the US into mess we are currently in, still in fashion or even still legitmate.
Jim O'Neill has a new book out and here explains why he thinks the balance of economic strength will tilt back to the BRIC countries and argues that even he has been suprised by the economic expansion of Brazil. He laso thinks that the next economies poised for promotion to the big league will come from a grouping he labels the N-11 countries that will include Mexico and South Korea.

This government is rapidly turning into one of, if not the worst goverment of my lifetime, have they called anything right? This new housing strategy reek of short termism of the worst kind, as if they have learnt none of the policy disasters that led us to the credit crunch.
The Torygraph's personal finance editor reckons these proposals are barking mad, whilst Mary Ann Sieghart argues that ministers really wish for housing prices to come down, but daren't say that for fear of upsetting the Daily Mail. So much for Cameron learning the lessons of Hackgate!


Music
Africa Hi Tech - 93 million miles: This has grown on me, i wasn't too sure at first about the mix of dubstep and house influences. But the more i listened the more i thought it melded well together.

Bob Dylan - New Morning: Classic Dylan, the more you listen to his late sixties, early seventies output the more you realise that he invented Americana before the term was invented.

David Holmes - Bow down to the exit sign: I'm a big fan of the Northern Irish DJ/techno/Free association man. I honestly thought i'd listened to this but i'd just heard a couple of tracks which at least led me to go back and listen to his pre group era music. Excellent stuff, rocking, funky, i love the eclectic nature of it.

Ian Siegal & the youngest sons: British guitarist and sons of US blues legends deliver up a superb blues album. This is a terrific effort from an atrist i hadn't heard of.

Jonathan Wilson - Gentle spirit: the second album from the California singer songwriter is an absolute blinder, maybe a classic even. This is one of the must buy albums of the year.

Ornette Coleman - Ornette: An excellent album from the free jazz man, though not as far out or as classic as The shape of things to come.

Vintage trouble - The bomb shelter sessions: This didn't get much of a review in Mojo, after listening to it i'm not sure why. It's pretty retro of course, but so what it delivers the goods, with its mixture of blues rock and sixties soul, it hits the spot.