Monday, February 27, 2012

Norwich city 1-2 Manchester United

Yet another late late show from United, and just to put the icing on a delicious cake, that boy Giggsy scored the winner on his 900th appearance. As others have said maddeningly United waited for the Norwich equaliser with seven minutes to go to play the best football of the match.
Having said that i don't really go along with the theory that the best side lost. Norwich opened the game showing that theye weren't going to worried about reputations. But once United got a feel for the game they kept the ball well enough and the passing looked good enough for us to threaten the home team. When the opener came, it came from a slightly unexpected source as Scholes gifted in at the far post, as in days of yore to head home. If we do manage to go on and pip the berties to the title, i will point to his return from retirement as the moment when our challenge turned the corner.
United continued to play well and had a couple of decent chances, Welbeck coming closest after a one two with Hernandez was brilliantly saved by Norwich goal Ruddy. But then as against Ajax, United took their foot off the pedal, allowing the home team to gain confidence. The home team had been playing reasonably enough, but United started to pass for passing's sake to no great purpose. Norwich's hard working midfield's pressure started to force United into giving the ball away and all of a sudden we started to come under a spell of sustained pressure.
Norwich had been watching the video's and tried to target Ge Gea, but the Spaniard coped with everything, making some fine saves in both first and second halves and possibly having his finest game in a United jersey. Our defence was a little shakier than i would have liked once more but we got through to half time with the one goal lead.
The second half saw United keep the ball better, but Norich still made it hard for us. But whilst we might not have been at the top of our game we did make some good chances. With eight minutes to go, unlike most commentators i thought we would see it through and maybe pick up another. And really, whilst it may have been a good finish from Holt, it was a pretty soft goal to concede, there were four red shirts around him when he turned to shoot.
But then United through everything at the home team and only Welbeck will know how he came out of this game without a goal. His first chance wasn't a bad effort, the goalie got out well to smother his shot, but the missed header after it being put on a plate for him by Giggs was a howling miss. I wouldn't be too hard on him, because otherwise, once again he had a cracking game, but he will have to improve his finishing, and i'm sure he will as he gains more experience.
The winner from Giggs in the second minute of injury time and the celebrations were just pure United, nobody does that better. It was actually a superb finish from Giggs, it was not an easy chance, but his touch made it look so simple. So off to Tottenham next week, if we can come away with the three points next week, a big if, but maybe not as big an if after their debacle yesterday we will have one hell of a chance of retaining our title. A draw wouldn't be that bad a result, because that would be all our top six games over apart for that vist to the boo camp, which could end up a title decider, though i can't see that myself.

Scholes agrees that United know they may have to win all there remaining games if they are to retain the title and that's why they threw everything at Norwich during those last five minutes. I can't see City winning every game going for their first title since 1968, somewhere along the line before they play us the prssure will tell. Whether we will be able to take advantage before we got to their place is the question.

No suprise that Rooney and Cleverley are out of this week's international against Holland, presumably Rooney will be back for the trip to Tottenham on Sunday, it will have been a nice break for him ahead of the title run in.

I'm sure i can't be the only one to conclude after recent events that Paul Pogba will be on his way in the summer. Left out and not even on the bench last Thursday against Ajax and then left out all together again on Sunday. The return of Ryan Tunnicliffe can be seen as keeping numbers in midfield in the squad, although i suppose he could have been brought back to help persuade him to stay. The odds must be on him leaving though. Time will tell, but if he does go, it just shows that footballers really do live in another world.
I'm not going to argue that he should show United any loyalty, he didn't show any to Le Harve and we took advantage which i was never entirely comfortable with. It's from a football perspective it doesn't make sense, alright United as a club have been slowly slipping in strength since 2008, yet we are still competing for the title against the club with the deepest pockets in the world of football.
Yet he is considering switching to Juve, who whilst a big club, especially in Italy, aren't much of a force in European football at the moment. If it had been Barca, Real, Bayern Munich, AC, Inter or even though it pains me to say it City, PSG or one of the clubs to have benefited from an Arab windfall i could at least understand it.
For all those that say this shows where the club have ended up under Glazernomics, i can only say we'll see. I'm not sure there is much the club could have done to have kept him. It doesn't look good to have lost two of the brightest talents to have come through the academy in recent years, but Morrison, who was the most nailed on, given the right attitude, had to go, it could be argued United should have got rid sooner. If Pogba is asking for the kind of money quoted without doing anything to convince he has what it takes, bar one short cameo in a game that was already won, then i don't see United had much choice. Surely you have to walk before you can run.
There is still plenty of talent coming through the ranks, this years academy squad looks really talented, it looks like Fergie's succcessor will be the man to have the task to bring them through to the first team. Which is of course where i have a problem with Mourinho being the supposed heir apparent, he has absolutely no history of bringing talented youngsters through a club's system.

George Monibot argues that democracy faces a fight against the billionaires and corporations, proved by the recent leaks from The Heartland Institute.

Of course those same billionaires and corporations are the intended beneficiaries of the coaltion's NHS "reforms", Polly Toynbee sets out the cheating behind NHS waiting lists as claimed by the coalition.

I'm sure there was a BBC series based around the late M.R.D Foot's history of the S.O.E 1940-1946, this Telegraph obituary plots the path of his research. That was a brilliant series, the most interesting, oddly enough for me was their operations in the low countries which were a total faliure. I wouldn't mind seeing that again on any channel.

David Blancflower sets his target on the Bank of England for the first time for a bit, claiming its forecasts of rapid eceonomic recovery are far too optimistic and lays the finger of blame at the top, Sir Mervyn King.

Yesterday looks like it was the start of a long week, weeks even for Rupert Murdoch and News International, David Allen Green describes today as an explosive start to the second module of the Leveson inquiry.
Alistair Campbell reckons Gove's intervention last week on the Leveson inquiry will have had the full backing of David Cameron. This week is going to test that strategy then.

Daniel Knowles of the Torygraph is fast becoming a must read feature of that paper and he is right to say low pay is as much a problem as youth employment. The coalition aren't even fighting the last was they are just trying to give us rehashed Thactherism four years after it was totally discredited.
Martin Bright argues that David Cameron's political reputaion will be on the line if he does not get a grip on the governments back to work reforms, which thanks to Emma Harrison and her firm A4e haven't been out of the papers for the last few days. She was always just part of the neo liberal elite as Paul Mason has described it or gravy train as others might.
I can't help wondering what political reputation Bright is imagining, he's a great PR man for his party every now and then, but a complete non entity for the majority of the time.

Kraftwerk

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