Manchester United 2-0 WBA

From the memorable last minute win thriller to the more mundane 2-0 home win over West Brom, but this was equally the type of game you need to win championships. I wasn't expecting another 4-3 thriller and to be honest didn't really want another type of game, because i wasn't sure we would have been able to come back yet again. The way the game went, it was probably for the best that we scored first and reasonably early. If we'd had to have forced the game in the second half i don't think we'd have had the legs to get the result needed.
Saying that we played some pretty good football in the first half, it was good to see Kagawa back in the team and nice to see him in his best position. Watching him, it was noticeable how similar his game to Rooney can be, as he dropped to the halfway line at times to get the ball. He forged a decent understanding with Welbeck and it was pity we couldn't finish off some of the chances we created in that first period. It was good to see Welbeck back and i thought he did pretty well considering how little football he has had recently and for the fact a section of our fans can't wait for something not to come off for him to have a go at him. That situation is really getting on my tits, but he will have to big enough to get over it.
The first goal was a bit of a fluke, but once again it shows what can happen when Young gets to the bye line. The effort United took in getting the three points started to tell in the second half as United lost control of the game. I suppose the fact is was first game back for Kagawa had something to do with that as well and he completely dropped out of the game. In fact Welbeck was doing most of his running for him and did well to last the 90 minutes himself. For all their possession though the visitors hardly tested De Gea, Vidic's return may have had something to do with that, he really looked like the pre injury man of rock that we have missed.
The introduction of Van Persie prompted United to start to look dangerous and United had some good chances to get a second. Young should have done better than hit fresh air when in a great position and right near the end Welbeck forced Foster into his second great save of the day, the first being when he pushed Young's shot onto the crossbar in the first half. From the resulting pressure Van Persie sealed the game with a magnificent left foot curler. It's funny that it doesn't seem half as good a goal on TV as when seen live, it was really travelling. Now to Wigan, another tough game and the changes will surely be rung again, if we come away with all three points from that it will have been an excellent Christmas and new period for the reds.

Has Fergie lost the plot or not?

Not for me, though i can't really say i was thrilled with him calling the barcodes a wee club. To my mind it's the kind of thing Mourinho would have said and the reason I'd prefer Guardiola and Moyes as the next manager. Fergie'ss not lost the plot though because he would have thought about what he was saying first. Some have argued that what he did was showhe's not lost and he's got the old us and them mentatility going again. I can't reall say i buy that, as i've never doubted for a moment that he had lost it.
Having said that the stick he gave Pardew was funny and the reality check for the georide nation was the kind of thing that has needed saying. I just wish it had been someone else saying it.

Music

Bob Mould - Silver age: I loved Sugar and this is a real return to those heady days, funny how some guitar, bass and drum trio's can sound so powerful.

Crusaders - Street life: Obviously the title track is one of the most well known singles from the 70's, but it's interesting hearing in the context of the album. I don't know what genre this would fit, jazz soul ,fusion maybe, anyway a cracking piece of easy listening.

Deerhoof - Breakup song: I'm a pretty big fan of the US leftield indie outfit, though i suppose the lead vocalist may be an acquired taste for some. This is another cracking L.P.

Flying Lotus - Until the quiet comes: A pretty good album, reminds me at times of the Avalanches, i'll have to explore his back catalogue.

Mala - Mala in Cuba: Another cracking techno/dubstep album, though the dubstep genre seems to contain some right old crap, it also contains some total brilliance. This firmly belongs in the latter category

Robert Hood - Motor nightmare world 3: More techno, this time from it's US spiritual home Detroit, slow, atmospheric and brilliant.

Manchester United 4-3 Newcastle United

What a day that was, we win, coming from behind to victory in the last minute, City unexpectedly lose and Liverpool top off the day with a defeat, virtually a perfect Manchester United day. I suppose the big upside to the dodgy nature of our defending this season is it means we end up getting second halves like yesterday. Mind you when we started to miss chances for fun in that last ten minutes i had my doubts that winner was going to come.
I suppose you have to give the barcodes some credit, they made it hard for us, and when they had a chance they threw men forward. Of course we gifted them the first and didn't cover ourselves in glory for their second either. I'll forgive Carrick his mistake for the opening goal because after that he was superb, and anyway De Gea should have done better with the save. I'm a fan of our Spanish number one, but he had one yesterday and i wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't start on Saturday. As for the second goal, once the referee went to the linesman, you just knew he was going to give the goal. There were the usual moans about Scholes and Giggs starting, but they both did alright for me. Giggs didn't have the best first half, but the longer the game went on the better he got on, how many chances did he create late on. Which was useful as Valencia had another of his so so games.
It always amazes me that teams who trouble us, especially at Old Trafford, do so by pressing with speed and strength and yet usually United always up the stronger team by the game's conclusion. There were a few iffy performances yesterday, but Carrick, Evans and Van Persie were all immense. Evra as ever was worrying in defence, but yesterday, more than ever, he made up for it going forward, a goal and some great forward runs.
I don't know what was wrong with Rooney, but it didn't help our cause to not even have him on the bench, and no Welbeck either. There was only really Cleverley on the bench who you'd have thought could change the game. Thankfully he did just that, when he got the chance as he helped United to take control of the game. That last ten minutes was starting to remind me of last years fixture when we absolutely battered them, creating chance after chance, but couldn't get that vital winning goal. Hernandez looked to be having one of those games, missing a hat full of chances, thank fuck the radar came right to tuck the winner away after another great through ball from Carrick. The news that City had got beat was just the icing on the cake.

Swansea City 1-1 Manchester United

Frustrating is the only word to describe that match, it was a game we should have won. Mind you when the fixtures were announced last summer, yesterday was a fixture where i would have probably settled for a draw. So I'm not too down on the result, but we had the chances to keep six points between us and the divs and we didn't take them.
I always try and take something positive from a game, so on the plus side, we went there and almost completely dominated the game, not too many teams will manage that. They had a spell towards half time where they were dangerous, but even then United were creating chances at the other end. It seemed a strange decision to bring Vidic back for this game, which was never going to be easy and unsurprisingly he looked very rusty at times in that first half. I never really fancied us to keep a clean sheet and wasn't surprised we let in yet another soft goal. It was great to see Evra score, and a yet another headed goal from a corner, but I'd swap the goal for the defender of two or three years back. The goal wasn't the only time his defensive play didn't cut the mustard.
I thought we were the better team, even in the first half. They may have got back into the game during the latter stages of the first half, but even then we were creating chances. But the second half was played completely in the home team's half. It just had the feel of one of those days, because when we did create clear openings we just never really looked like we would finish the job. It didn't help that a fair proportion of those chances fell to Rooney, who's day got worse as the game wore on. He wasn't great in the first half, but i didn't think he was, that bad. But as the second half progressed, Rooney got progressively worse, he should have been took of far earlier really, but i suppose Fergie hoped he might produce a moment of magic.
I suppose the form of Valencia will have to be mentioned, it was another out of sorts performance from our right winger. I can't believe we would have come away with all the points if he had been on his game. He just seems to have lost the confidence to take his man on, full stop at the moment. You wouldn't think this was the man who has completely pulverised Ashley Cole at times in the past. It doesn't help our cause when the one winger we have in our squad that can get to that byline, won't take his full back on. Young had a decent game again, it's a good job that he is in reasonable form or we might be going back to a winger less diamond shape.
It will be interesting to see Wednesday's team after Fergie telling the press we will be rotating our squad over the next nine days. Yesterday was as close to our strongest team as you will get, so who'll be left out and who'll be brought in for a game we now have to win. I suppose yesterday's result was all the more galling after City's last gasp winner on Saturday, we can't grumble too much, we have done it enough times ourselves. We need six points from the next tow games though.

Manchester United 3-1 Sunderland

Another game to do your head in, the first half and the first ten minutes of the second half was as good as we have seen all season, but the last half hour saw us sink back into the mediocrity we've seen too often of late. To have only won the game by two goals after the pummeling we gave Sunderland in the first half and for all the chances we created, even when we went off the boil over the last half hour, was disappointing. Fergie said he was determined we wouldn't be beaten on goal difference again this season and yet we always seem to ease off in games, and the substitutions made, seemed to suggest our management weren't too concerned that we didn't get the goals we should have done.
Moan at the second half over with, that first half was great to see, all the components of the team seemed to step up a gear. Carrick and Cleverley carried on the good work against City and surely proved they they are our best midfield pairing at present. Carrick has been one of our most consistent performers over the last season and and a half and seems to be woefully under valued by most reds. It was no surprise it was only once he had gone off, that Sunderland having brought on Wickham themselves, got themselves back into the game.
It only seem like yesterday that i was getting a bit worried about Cleverley's form but the last couple of games have banished that. He was outstanding on Saturday, i can't help feel that it's been a run of games that have turned things around for him. Another to catch the eye was Phil Jones playing at right back, he was superb in the first half, he ran out of legs towards the latter stages of the game, but that was the kind of form that had us raving about him during the opening stages of last season.
It took us a while to get going on the day, but once that first went in the floodgates threatened to open as we created chance after chance. It was nice to see Young get to the byline for the first goal converted by Van Persie, can we see that more often please. But it has to be said Young impressed again, maybe he is going to prove us doubters wrong about him. It has certainly helped our cause , the return to the team and return to form of our wide men. The form of our full backs going forward has helped the cause as well. Valencia may not have been back to his best, but i didn't think he deserved some of the stick I've seen him receive of the forums and twitter over the weekend.
There were some great moves that would have been capped off perfectly with a goal, but the only one to receive the perfect ending, Cleverley's curling finish was the type of thing we'd like to see a bit more often. It's going to be interesting to see where Fergie tries to fit Kagawa back into the team when he is up for selection, I'm sure that was the type of goal Fergie hoped the Japanese international would be regularly providing us with regularly when he sealed his signature last summer.
It was a surprise and a bit of a disappointment to see Carrick removed at half time, injury was given as the reason, i suspect it was more to do with giving Paul Scholes some game time myself. Still it didn't stop our attacking intent at first, we could have had  three goals in the first five minutes of the half. Van Persie and Rooney were both guilty of failing to convert great chances.
I suppose you have to give the away team some credit for forcing their way back into the game. But you also have to look at the way United seem to completely ease off at times. I didn't understand the introduction of Giggs when the game seemed to be crying out for a Welbeck or a Hernandez. The way the game was going i thought attack was the best form of defence. Anyway we gave away the obligatory goal we have got in the habit of conceding when our defensive unit collectively stopped playing as Campbell ghosted into the back post to head home. The final minutes saw us worrying about Sunderland getting a second, which was a joke given what had gone before. Still three points, three goals and six points above second placed City as we enter the Christmas programme, I'll take that.

No revenge

Fergie told yesterday's press conference that despite the events of the last day of the seaon up there on Wearside last season, United won't take the field with revenge on their minds. I now it's Fergie's philosophy that revenge is not a good emotion in football, but it would be nice if a couple of the players had it in the back of their mind's today, if only for the sake of our goal difference. It really is about time we gave somebody an absolute chasing and today seems as good a day as any.

Music

Grizzly Bear - Shields: It starts off sounding very Jeff Buckley to my ears, no bad thing, but as the album progresses, the band's own voice really hits the mark, the final track Sun in your eyes is one of my favourite songs of the year.

Jimmy Edgar - Majenta: I'm a bit of a fan of this guy, and though this didn't wow me straight away, it got me tapping me feet to it soon enough. More dance floor techno than i generally listen too, sexy in a good way.

Samuel Yirga -Guzo: World music or jazz, it veers more towards jazz for me, but whatever it is excellent. Ethiopian seems to have a vibe all of its own, well it reminds me at times of Mulatu Asatke, that's as far as my knowledge od that goes.

The Jon Spencer blues explosion - Meat and bone: I'm partial to the distorted heavy blues guitar work of Jon Spencer and this a pretty good return album from the trio, to be played loud.

The xx - Coexist: After listening to their debut, i thought i might as well listen to this years effort. It's definitely more of a grower, slower more of a challenging listen. It's good, though i'm not sure the songs are up to the standard of the first album. Maybe i need to immerse myself in it even more.

Wayne Shorter -  Speak no evil: You can't go wrong with mid sixties Wayne Shorter, great playing with a great band behind him, his skills as a songwriter set him apart in the jazz world.

Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United

I thought we were going to end up robbed, after that game changing few minutes where we had a perfectly good goal disallowed and then they went up to the other end to pull one back, so that last minute winner was just so, so sweet. Some reds have said they are glad it happened the way it did, as it pissed them off even more. I know where they're coming from, it's a tough call, but if we'd got that third, who knows what score it could have ended up and what it would have done to their confidence. Anyway justice was done in the end as we were definitely the better team.
I can't say i was thinking that after the first ten minutes, as City bossed the game and United had hardly been in their half. In fact it was basically our first attack, never mind first attempt on goal, that saw Rooney give us the lead. Now it was City's turn to look nervy and concede possession as United bossed the game. I'll be honest as dangerous as we looked going forward i was never really totally convinced about us at the back even in this spell of dominance. Seeing Kompany go off, can't have done our lads morale any harm and the second goal was just as incisive as the first as Valencia fed the overlapping Rafael who found Rooney in the box and he made no mistake to give us a commanding two goal lead.
For some reason we weren't as fluid in attack at the beginning of the second half, but City weren't really causing much bother at our end of the pitch. I wasn't sure at the time whether Evra was brought down or not for a penalty, but it was another decision that didn't go our way. Then came the few minutes that changed the game, even before I'd seen the replays I'd thought he was onside, and they say we get all the decisions. De Gea was unlucky to concede their first after two great saves and had a pretty good game in general, i was more than happy to see him in the starting line up.
It now became end to end, but they started to look as dangerous as us. I thought Fergie should have made a change or two with about a quarter of an hour go, and the way Welbeck made things happen after coming on I'm convinced he should have done. It was probably down to the changes just made that led to their second as nobody manned the edge of the box allowing Zabaleta the time and space to hit the back of the net.
And then came redemption from that left foot of the man who turned down the oil riches of City for the history of United, a fitting finale for the day. Tevez was lucky to stay on the pitch after kicking Jones, you can bet your life if Paul Scholes had done that, he'd have seen red straight away, mind you he probably would have took his man out properly as well.
I thought the whole team played well, Rooney was outstanding and reminded us what a great player he can be, but my man of the match was Carrick, he was outstanding, he really is our main man in central midfield nowadays, not that he'll ever please some. I actually thought he had a cracking game at their place last season, he was about the only unfortunately. Valencia had a pretty good first half, really going at his man for the first time in ages. He faded away a bit in the second half, but it was nice to see him somewhere near back to his best. I'm no great fan of Young but that was a decent performance from him as well, in fact he has shown an improved level of consistency over the last few games that suggests things may be looking up for him in a red shirt.
Next weekend could be very interesting with City going to geordie land presumably without Kompany and Sunderland visiting us. Could it be another great weekend?

Manchester United 0-1 FC Cluj

Not a night that will live long in the memory, but then i never expected it to be. With a mix of youngsters and the likes of Jones and Smalling returning from injury it was never really going to be that much of a spectacle. To be honest i half expected something even worse, but to be fair, i didn't think that we were that bad and the defeat was more than harsh on the players selected.
I suppose the criticism to be made of the team last night is that they did create chances, they just didn't take them. There was plenty of endeavour but the final bit of quality never materialised.
I was surprised to see Wooton start the game, not that he has done anything wrong, i just expected Smalling and Jones to pair up at centre half. I'm guessing Fergie had more than half an eye on Sunday afternoon. It's a pity that Michael Keane is on loan/injured, I'm not sure what the score is with him at the moment, but last night would have been a perfect night to have started him.
I was glad Welbeck got a timely start up front pairing Hernandez, and it was no real surprise to me that he gave a vastly improved performance in his favoured role. Pity that Cleverley couldn't manage to stand out before his enforced withdrawal before half time. His game really seems to have dipped at the moment, that i think needs a run of games to get back. Still it was a blow as i would think, even off form, he would have started on Sunday. He was replaced by Scholes who will surely now have to start on Sunday. Despite losing the ball that led to the goal, he looked in pretty good nick if he does get the nod against one of his favourite opponents.
The game didn't really hit the heights in the first half until the last five or so minutes when we could have scored about four. The save to keep out Welbeck's header from a corner was out of this world, in fact their goalie was the stand out player on the pitch for me. He made a handful of cracking saves and completely dominated his area, especially in the second half.
For all United's huffing and puffing, when they took the lead, and what a goal it was, no blame can really be ascribed there, i just felt it wasn't going to be our night. United tried alright, but that little extra conviction was missing from a game that we all knew didn't really matter, and with the game that really does matter, only a few days away.
So we go to City on Sunday for the biggest game of the season, not really in the best of form, if we're honest. But then i thought that when we went to Stamford bridge and we ripped them apart for the first twenty minutes, so I'm not too worried. It's not as if they are in the best of shape either, they were poor again in Dortmund on Tuesday. The only thing i ask for, is for us to go there and at least turn up this time, unlike that debacle at their place at the end of last season. 

Reading 3-4 Manchester United

I'm on record as saying if high scoring games and attacking football was going to be the result of signing Van Persie and Kagawa but no defensive midfield player in the summer, then I could live with it. But Saturday was stretching it for me, it may have been exciting and there may have been the odd moment of good football, but in the main it was just schoolboy stuff at both ends. I hope we have got that out of our system before we go the council house.
I wasn't over enamoured when the teamS were given out, though that seems to be par for the course at the moment. United didn't start as slowly as we have at times over the course of the season, yet we still conspired to go behind to the first goal of the game. All three goals we gave away were soft, we looked all at sea from crosses and corners for the entirety of the first half. But I thought Rafael was harshly dealt with, when subbed after just half an hour, he was by no means the worst defender at the back and i was glad to see him react in the way he did. I've lauded Evans improved performances of late, yet he had one hell of a mixed game on Saturday. In general play i thought he did reasonably well, but as with the whole of the side when any corner came in during the first half he as all at sea. Ferdinand wasn't much better and Evra had one of those games, a liability at the back but i suppose he was excellent going forward, combining pretty well with Young, who gave a half decent performance for once.
It was hard to judge us going forward, there was some great movement, but in their desire to go forward, they left themselves wide open at times at the back. I thought it was vital that we responded quickly to them taking the lead, so i was relived when the equaliser came, and what a great finish it was from Anderson. As usual with the Brazilian, if he was good going forward, and he was, he didn't bust a gut to get back, which the formation requires. Jones wasn't as creative when he replaced him just before half time, but he got back to make us more solid. Anderson looked gutted when he went off, and whilst it was sad for him, at least it means Fergie can't be tempted to play him in the derby. I don't think he would have started, but you never know, especially this season.
The rest of the first half was unreal, when they gifted us the penalty, i thought normal service had been resumed. Only for us to completely fall apart at the back and go behind again, with the type of defending that won't be winning any titles. To United's credit, they managed to turn it around with tow classy goals. I suppose one of the big pluses of the day was Rooney's return to goalscoring form. I think the formation that the we played on Saturday is the way forward for the time being, i certainly hope we start that way again against City.
United became more solid and we should probably have gone on to get another, Van Persie, was denied a goal before half time that was shown to be over the line and should have scored after dispossessing the keeper only to miss the target. I thought Jones did reasonably well in the second half. It was a pity he ended the game limping again, I hope he isn't going to turn out to be injury prone as well. Smalling didn't do anything wrong at right back after coming on. But I hope United are going to stick with Rafael, he has done enough to have made that right back position his own for the rest of the season.
It's bizarre how us and City seem to be pulling away from the pack when neither us are pulling up any tree's, form wise. I don't want us to go there playing for the point, as we did at the tail end of last season, but the way we're playing, I can't say I'd be unhappy coming away with a point.