Q.P.R 0-2 Manchester United

United took the pitch at Lofus road with that collectors item, an unchanged team, which the way the season has gone was probably the only time he has been able to actually name one. After last Saturday's encouraging response to our champions league exit, an unchanged line up was just what the doctor ordered.
Pleasingly the team carried on where they had left off at home to Wolves, starting at a fastish tempo, keeping the ball well and carrying the game to the opposition. And just as last week we looked a lot better in midfield with Carrick and Jones keeping the ball better, protecting the back four reasonably well and combining with the front line. All the plaudits will once again got to Jones, and deservedly so, he was magnificent again but Carrick has brought as much to the team. It is no suprise that we have looked a lot more assured at the back, well through the middle anyway, with Carrick patrolling the space in front of the back four.
Evra had another stinker, it's almost every game with him now, i don't know whether Zeki Fryers will be the answer eventually but if Evra is a liability against even QPR, you fear for him against a Barca or a Real Madrid. He was disastrous at home to City, lest we forget. I am reasonably confident for the cup tie at the boo camp, but if they can get at him again, well it doesn't bear thinking about.
I wouldn't be as hard on Smalling, full back isn't really his position, in fact when the twins get back i would like to see him move him into the middle. But he has had two less than stellar performance last week and this. He isn't a full back and for the last couple of games hasn't really looked like one. Stiil given the twins inability to last a game or stay fit for any kind of run of games, he will probably be our right back for most of the rest of the season.
The goal inside of the first minute was the ideal start it goes without saying, a great cross from the reinvigorated Valencia somehow made it's way to Rooney's head and he made no mistake. As much as you might dominate the game, in such a tight stadium the home side were never out of it whilst whilst only a goal down, so it was pretty galling that United failed to take advantage of the numerous chances to make it two before half time. And there were some chances! Jones made another of his now trademark runs but was foiled by a great sto by the keeper Cerny. Cerny also made a great stop from Valencia but Evans was gulity of missing an open goal.
United started the second half just like the first when Rooney was put through, but his first touch was poor and the chance was missed. The second and decisive goal saw a rare sortie up front from Carrick who ran half the length of the pitch before before slotting home to score his frist goal in 70 games. Maybe that is a good sign, if memory serves me right he does tend to get the odd goal or two when he hits his optimum form. We could have had a third when Jones burst forward again to hit the post, but the last 20 minutes saw United on cruise control . It was a pleasant suprise to see Hernandez on the pitch and get half an hour on the pitch in the second half. That half hour cameo though, did show us how much more dynamic United are when Welbeck plays up front. He may not be the finisher that the Mexican is, but he brings so much more the teams play.
It was a pity about the two results later in the afternoon, but at least City didn't looks as convincing in victory as they might have. They don't look unbeatable any more and i have a feeling the second half of the season is going to be very interesting.

I thought this was a pretty lame, lazy piece from Sabotage times trying to warn us not to get too excited about the emergence of Phil Jones and then going on to compare him to John O'Shea. Anybody who has watched for United for more than five minutes can see that Jones is the real deal.
It's not just anybody that can make the runs from midfield that he has been making from midfield during the last two games. And lets not forget he was making great runs from right back and even from centre half. And it's not just the runs, there is invariably an end product to those runs. He isn't the finished article by a long shot, but that is what makes watching his emergence all the more exciting, i mean just how good is he going to be.

All yesterday's and today's back pages are suggesting that Benfica's Gaitan transfer to United next summer is a done deal,well we'll see i suppose. I notice Mendes is involved in a potential United purchase yet again, i'm not too thrilled at that news. Still with half a season for the Argentine to push up the asking price i wouldn't mark this down as a done deal yet. If not City then i wouldn't be suprised to see Real Madrid sticking their noses into this, another club to have close connections with Mendes of course.
Alan Hansen doesn't think that we will be entering the transfer market in January unless a top class defender becomes available. I don't think he will full stop

Fergie finally broke his silence on the Pogba rumours, giving credence to the chances of the youngster moving on. I can't fault him on this, he hasn't done anything to warrant what he is reportedly asking for. He may turn out to be the player United hoped he would become when he was poached from Le Harve, but he is nowhere near it yet.

I was expecting Keano to have a pop back at Fergie and sure enough in an interview in the Sunday times yesterday he did. If the watching world didn't know before, they do now, relations are at a permafrost temperature, no love lost at all. Knowing Keano it's hard to see diplomatic relations being restored.
I would back Keano up with quite a lot of his grievences, but he will be fighting a losing battle going public with it, if i were him i would have waited form him to retire before commencing battle.

It wa sad to hear of the death of Czech playwright, dissident and ultimately president Vaclav Havel, truly one of the great European figures of the second half of the 20th century. He was also one of the last great Liberals, name a great Liberal European statesman still alive, because i'm struggling to think of one.

George Monibot unmasks the press and wonders if we have ever been so badly served by the press. Of course they are supposed to hold power toaccount, but when there owners are part of that power elite, it's not really going to happen is it.
Robert Fisk is fed up with reading the drivel written in the western press about the Arab spring, arguin that the true comparison between the situation in the Arab world and the protests that we see in the west is that the bankers are dictators of the west.
I'm fairly sure that Ambrose Pritchard-Evans wouldn't really go along with that, but this piece arguing that the disasters that have befallen the European left, that he thinks should see them rethink their whole approach the European left isn't a milion miles away from what Fisk was getting at. Ha-Joon Hang compares the Merkozy proposals to 18th and 19th century capitalism revisited, and wonders whether we will going back to a world of child labour, debtor prisons, workhouses and bank runs.
As Aditya Chakrobortty writes Britain is ruled by the banks for the banks and wonders why the city of London deserved David Cameron's kid glove treatment whilst it fails to pay its way nor lends effectively.
Ahead of today's announcement in parliament Ben Chu described the cities lobbying against meaningful reform as dishonest and damaging.

Neil Young & Crazy horse with like a hurricane from the live rust DVD, which i finally watched this last week, it's excellent, shame the quality isn't as good as it might be.