Sunday, January 29, 2012

Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United

Gutted, with the team that almost picked itself due to yet another injury crisis, to have put in such a good performance at Anfield and to get knocked out five minutes from the end wasn't what we deserved. But if you give such soft goals away you get what you deserve, i suppose.
It's being said by some reds today that what use was there in controlling the game if you don't really look like doing anything with it. I don't go along with that at all. When was the last time we went to Anfield and bossed the game, it's that long ago i can't remember it. Even the last couple of times when we actually won there, we were poor and basically nicked the three points. To have gone there with so many injuries and to have controlled the game was an achievement. It hasn't escaped my notice that it was done with a three man midfield with Scholes in the middle of it. I think Scholes delivered a fitting reposte to those who though his return from retirement was a retrograde step.
To be honest i'm not sure why Fergie brought him off, i know he probably isn't 100% fit and he may struggle to do 90 minutes, but he didn't seem to be tiring when brought off. And one again i would have to query Fegie's decision to bring Hernandez on. I know he had a great season last year and i know he's a goalscorer, but almost every time he has been brought on lately we look less like scoring when he comes on than we did before. If we had to make changes i would have kept the same system 4-3-3 and brought Berbatov on for Park and stuck Welbeck on the left.
Having said all that it shouldn't have mattered as the winner was such a soft goal to give away. Evra who had a decent game all things considered should have done better and i thought De Gea didn't cover himself in glory either. I wouldn't put as much blame on the Spaniard for the Liverpool opening goal, i thought that showed how much we are missing Vidic. What were the defenders doing pussy footing around before the corner was taken, they should have been all over those Liverpool attackers letting them know they wouldn't be bossed around, instead we got a couple of half hearted shoves, and then no jump at all as the ball came over. It does have to be said though, that De Gea doesn't inspire confidence, physically he just looks like he can be bullied every time. I wouldn't have played him myself, but that would be more down to the fact that with an ever changing back four we should at least try to have one position of stability at the back. I can't think that will have done much for his onfidence, he is going to have to show some cojones to come back from this .
If the injuries keep on coming as thick and fast as they have all season then the league title is going to be an almighy ask, which is why yesterday was so galling. I have thought for a while that the FA cup was our best chance of silverware this season, and it's about time we won the thing. Old jug ears might not be the trophy it once was, but it' still a trophy worth winning.

Fergie laments the sickening blow that was the scouse late winner, but he is happy with our new midfield signings, i suppose, for once, he might have a point with his favourite mid season catch phrase.

Andy Cole likes what he sees in Danny Welbeck and belives that Capello should be taking him into the England squad for the European championships in ths summer. I don't for a minute think believe Capello will leave him at home.
It looks like Mame Biram Diouf is to move on to pastures new with a move to Bundesliga Nurnberg on the cards. I'm not sure how good Nurnberg are these days, to be honest i would have though the Championship was more his level.
Yet more contract problems at youth level according to the People, if there is anything to that,a big if, it beggars belief on so many levels, it's not true. I can't say i'm that convinced by him to be honest, last season Thorpe was the young defender who looked the business, Fryers didn't really stand out. He has done alright in his first team appearances this season apart from one terrible mistake that he got away with. But his distribution hasn't looked good enough for me.

Robert Skidelsy asks does debt matter, not if your the boss of RBS it doesn't, Aditya Chakraborrty argues that the payout to Stephen Hester is a disastrous deal for the taxpayer. Was anyone ever in doubt that this deal would go through, the tories were never going to block this. Though to be fair to them, i don't for a minute believe Labour would have behaved differently. It does sicken me sometimes watching Labour berate the government over incidents like this when you look at how they behaved in office.
George Monibot wasn't impressed with the governments proposals on executive pay reform, as modest as they are i wouldn't be suprised if even these aren't enacted.

After last weeks news that Britain's national debt rose to over £1 trillion, Frasier Nelson argues that George Osborne owes Alistair Darling an apology, he really had it in for Osbornomics last week. Larry Elliott writes that last weeks dismal GDP figures spell trouble for George Osborne and wonders how long it will be before the credit agencies start to seriously look at Britain's triple A rating.
William Keegan doesn't mince words in today's Observer, claiming the George Osborne is the most dangerous chancellor he has ever known
Faisal Islam argues that as a UK slump returns it would be hard to blame the Eurozone crisis for its re-appearance, it won't stop them trying and probably succeeding in getting the electorate to believe them though, will it.

Anfield revisited

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