Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Manchester United

Though 0-0 is never a result to be sniffed at, and I would have took it before the game started, it ended up being a fairly disappointing day. You could look at Chelsea and City's results and say it wasn't too bad, but you can also look at it as a lost opportunity.
Whatever the result was, I didn't want to hear Van Gaal use the Christmas schedule as an excuse, but to an extent, he did, he couldn't stop himself. A lot of United fans seemed to rejoice when they saw an unchanged line, I wasn't sure why, if ever there was a day you didn't want to see that, it was yesterday. It seemed that maybe he had got things right as United followed the pattern of the Newcastle game by playing as well as we had all season in the first half. It wasn't perfect by any means, we still looked dodgy and far too open at the back. But we seemed to control the game for large parts and to create chances, not something we have managed too often, if ever away from home. It was certainly a far cry from the appalling performances at Arsenal and Southampton.
United managed to control the game in the middle whilst using the width of the full backs well, but it was only down the left hand side where we saw any kind of decent service into the box. Young continued on with his good form, Valencia meanwhile seemed to go into his shell, both of them usually had two men to beat, only Young had the confidence to attempt and  for a reasonable proportion of the time to achieve it. Mata had as good a game as he has had in an away game all season.
We really should have gone into the break at least a goal up, yes they had a couple of chances, but United had five or six guilt edged opportunities. Rooney's first touch let him down whilst clear through leading to him not even getting a shot away. Mata hit the post and Van Persie was unable to follow it up. Then Van Persie was put through into a one on one with the goalie, took a sublime first touch but managed to let Lloris make a fine save, when he probably should have buried it. Finally Falcao had two or three good opportunities, but looked miles off the pace with generally weak finishes. I don't get what some United fans seem to see in him, judge the player on his performances now, not on what he has done in the past. I refuse to believe James Wilson wouldn't have buried one of the chances the Colombian was presented with. It'll be interesting to see whether Van Gaal continues to give Falcao the extended run he seems to be giving him at Stoke on New Years day, in what will surely be a tough game.
And then we came to the second half, Tottenham started stronger pressing us where they had sat back in the first half. United never really deal that well with teams that do that. Couple that with United running out of legs and even though United passed up a couple of reasonable, if not quite as clear cut chances, the game ended with United holding on against the home team.
Van Gaal's substitutions didn't really help us get control of the game back, he's very hit and miss, for me in that regard. If you look at it logically, starting with McNair in an away game this season has generally meant that you will have to take him off at some stage of the game, so you're basically losing one offensive replacement straight away. Alright you can't blame him for Evans abject performance, but the way our defenders get injured, losing a centre half was always a possibility. Whilst Valencia was poor, Rafael didn't really do that much better, though he did set up Mata up with a good chance from a miscued centre. There are times when you can see Van Gaal taking his time to adapt to English football, almost as much time as the players are, in getting used to him.
Anyway as I said you can't grumble too much a point at White hart lane, a win in the potteries would leave us with seven from nine points over Christmas and that would be a decent festive spell. A draw wouldn't be the end of the world, though I would be slightly disappointed with it. A defeat would undo a lot of our recent good work though. As for what I expect, ain't got a clue mate

Manchester United 3-1 Newcastle United

Three points and a first half performance that was as good as we've seen al season. Yet I came away from the game feeling a little flat, the players seemed to feel it was job done at half time. Despite a fine third goal, United never really came out for the second half. The passing was lazy and minds semed to already be focused on tomorrow's game at White hart lane.
It felt a little like a lost opportunity to me, Newcastle weren't really up to much and it seemed a god chance to make our goal difference a little more impressive. Of course if we take the three points tomorow, then full marks to the players, they read the script correctly.
The first half saw United dominate possession, the passing and movement was as good as it's been all season. Young had another excellent game, he's our most consistent performer at present. I'm a big fan of Shaw, but the way Young has taken to the left wing back role I'm not really sure a case can be made for dropping the ex Villa man. He's probably our most creative player at present, that's not saying much for our midfield, it's took Rooney going back to produce any creativity back there, especially given Di Maria's absence. Mata ended up having a reasonably good game yesterday, but for the those first twenty minutes before we scored he was almost invisible, again. Playing in central midfield  and seeing the game played all around you, contributing almost nothing, is not really good enough. But then he dug out the ball to Falcao, who laid it into Rooney's feet for the opening goal. There is quality there, you just don't see it enough for my liking.
The second goal was an even better goal, a quality move and Rooney's finish, superb. Despite being involved in each of the first two goals, overall I wasn't that impressed with Falcao's performance, his first touch was prety shabby all afternoon. He had one or two nearly moments, but always seemed to be flying by the seat of his pants to me. In time honoured fashion, by the time Wilson came on, United had settled for the three goals, and the service to fresh striker was non existant, the same has happened to Falcao when he's been brought on as a sub. It can't be much fun coming on as attacking substitute at United at the moment.
It's not an aspect of our game that that I've much time for, it's hard to see this side ever really putting a side to the sword, you couldn't see this lot hitting six, seven or even eight.
The final goal was completely out of kilter with the half it was played in, a sublime pass from Rooney and a fine finish from Van Persie, it was a harder chance than he made it look. It was a shame about their consolation penalty, but if you take your foot of the gas, these things will happen.
As to tomorrow, who knows what will happen there. I've not been that impressed with Tottenham under their new manager so far, But United away and with three at the back, it's just fingers crosed time!

Caribou - Our Love: His most dance friendly album yet, which would probably put me off the record a little. Problem is, it's a bit of a minor masterpice. His best album  so far!

FKA Twigs - LP1: I'd read a fair bit about this album over the year, without really getting it. But prlomged exposure has really enabled me to

Horsebeach - Horsebeaf:  One of Piccadilly records album of theyear and even if it's home ground favouritism, it is a cracking old school indie guitar album.

Lay Llamas - Ostro: Another Kraurock/pyschedelia indie debut, it's definitely worth a listen, though not at the top end of the spectrum.

Royal Blood - Royal Blood:I'd read differering reviews and heard different views on this two man indie/rock  debut, well it workd for me, a bit of a belting record, Bass and drum rock duo, whatever next.

The 1975 - The 1975: A manchester debut from last year that I never got around to hearing, torn on this one. It is a decent album with some very radio friendly tunes, it's just not really my cup of tea, a bit too 80's and nice.

The Bug - Angels & Devils: Another cracking album, I don't really know what it's categorised as as, but it's pretty darned good.

Ty Segall - Manipulator: Can this guy do know wrong, unbelievabley prolific, Mojo thought this was his best album yet and I can see why. I'm not sure it's his best yet, but he hasn't done anything better, that's for sure. I was going to say he was my favourite rock/indie act of this decade, but  I listened to Queens of the stone age yesterday, still toss up, you'd take that!

Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester United

The run had to come to an end at some time, I have to admit I didn't think Saturday would be the day it happened. Aston Villa aren't much of a side, and there would seem a lot more to the resignation of Roy Keane than has come out so far. Although on that score, I suppose the players could feel liberated, it's pretty obvious Keano hasn't got the people skills to ever make a success of management or even coaching. Nevertheless, they are the type of team we should be going away to and taking all three points, that's if we want to secure a top four berth, never mind challenge for the title.
Yet again, Van Gaal started with three at the back, and again sacrificed Carrick from the middle of the park to do so. Needless to say it didn't work. We had plenty of the ball, but hardly threatened to do anything with it. Fletcher was given a start due to the absence of Fellaini and the withdrawal of Herrera. I was always a fan of the Scotsman, but I'm afraid it's been obvious for a long time that the illness has had a big effect on him. He's miles away from being of the required standard required to be putting on the red shirt any more. It could be that he just isn't playing enough football, who can say, but he can't expect to get the run of games needed to prove or disprove that theory at United any longer.
Anyhow, Fletcher was just part of the problem. Though I suppose United dominating possession could have been seen as improvement after the last couple of away games, apart from a couple of decent chances United just didn't hurt Villa at the back. It had started out differently as Young, having another good game at left wing back, beat his man, on the outside, no less, put in a super low cross that Van Persie should have done far better with.
And then with almost their first foray into our half Villa were ahead. A free kick from the right eluded Evans and Benteke eventually managed to hit a screamer into the corner of the net. Evans has taken some stick for the goal, I don't particularly blame him for allowing Benteke for getting his shot away, but he should have done far better with his attempted header. He has played poorly all season, pre lay off and post lay off, and for all the criticism of Jones and Smalling, he is the one centre half that has really struggled with the three at the back. He hasn't got age on his side, he has always been a confidence player, but he's at an age where that has to be left behind. Time may be running out for him.
Thankfully Van Gaal dispensed with the three at the back at the beginning of the second half, bringing Blacket on for Fletcher, moving Carrick into midfield and reverting to a back four. The difference was immediate as United started to look threatening, as well as dominating the ball. The goal took it's time in coming, but when it did, you had the feeling it was only a matter of time before a second arrived. But then Van Gaal changed it again, hooking Van Persie and bringing on Di Maria, it didn't work. Later Wilson was brought on for Valencia, and it's fair to say that didn't really work either. In fact after the substitutions it was Villa amazingly who came closest to regaining the lead.
The equaliser was a fine goal, Young again beating his man on the left and whipping in a fine cross, which Falcao nodded home with a fine header. It was hard to judge the Columbian's performance as he hardly had any service. But I have to say I don't really get some reds adulation of him, he's not looked anything like the player he was at Athletico whilst he's been at the club. It's hard to shake the suspicion, that he's come back to soon from that knee operation and will never be that player again. For myself, I would sooner see Wilson starting, he's hopefully the future, whereas it's hard to envision Falcao being here at the start of next season.
It's hard to complain at the dropped points after the luck we have the luck we have enjoyed recently, we couldn't keep on scraping results from nowhere. Hopefully the players will now drop all talk of a title challenge and try and concentrate on actually putting in some proper performance's, I'm not holding my breath.

Manchester United 3-0 Liverpool

Fantastic result, crazy game. On another day it could just as easily have been 3-0 to them. After last seasons disaster at home to them, it was very, very enjoyable. We beat them 3-0 and the man of the match was our goalie, which kind of says it all.
Van Gaal seems hell bent on persisting with three at the back, it just makes me scratch me head in bafflement. Have we played well once playing that system, if we have, I must have missed it. Carrick was superb, Jones not far behind him and yet we still managed to concede so many chances. The amount of times Liverpool players ran straight through the middle of us was embarrassing. We started slowly, hardly creating a thing, until Valencia remembered how to take a man on, and then finding the correct pass for Rooney to fire home. A cracking goal, totally out of keeping with our performance up to that point. To be fair to the system, Valencia and Young both had decent games. The less said about Fellaini the better, he made a few decent challenges, but he is part of the problem not part of the answer.
Van Persie seems to be a man rejuvenated, though during the first half, he and Wilson were living on scraps. Rooney was decent without being anywhere near his best. There was an element of luck about the second goal, as Van Persie's glance on Young's cross played Mata offside, fortunately the linesman didn't spot it and they didn't complain.
The second half was we attack, you attack, fortunately we got that all important third. I say all important, as the way we conceded chances we needed that cushion. In fact Sterling really should have scored just a minute before United swept down the other end for Mata to tee up Van Persie for the third.
It was a pity United seemed to wind it down after that, a fourth would have a good way to send them home, a club in crisis, funny how the tables have turned since we played them at our place last season.

Favourites?

The biggest game of the season and of course the biggest of the season usually comes to town on Sunday. Whether it's well timed or not as far as United fans are concerned, I wouldn't like to say. Of course most reds see Liverpool's current woes and our spurt up the table on the back of five victories on the trot as the best possible time to play them. I'll reserve judgement on that.
It could be the best possible game for them to try and turn their season around, they will presumably go back to basics and fight hard, maybe they'll be happy with a point. As for us, five victories on the bounce is wildly out of sync with how the team have actually performed. Should have lost away to Arsenal, should have lost to Southampton and scraped the win against Stoke. I seriously, seriously hope Van Gaal's seemingly egotistical perseverance with three at the back is not the order of the day on Sunday. If it is, all bets are off.




Music
Brian Eno & Karl Hyde - High Life: Their second offering as a collaboration in the same year, it's as good if not better, lengthier, and more experimental, but rewarding. Hope there's more to come.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Creedence Clearwater Revival: Until recently the only album of their's I had heard was Cosomo's Factory, which i loved. I'm onto my third offering with this debut album, they were a really great group, time seems to have not really given them their due.

Goat - Commune: The follow up album to their brilliant debut is another fine record, if maybe not quite the explosive package of the previous offering.

Jenny Lewis - The Voyager: I really liked this, I like her main group Rilo Kiley, but solo affair has more of laurel canyon type California west coast vibe, good stuff.

Paqua - Akaliko: This is one of my favourite albums of the year, up there with the War on Drugs album. It's been described as disco flavoured, I'm not sure I really see that. Yes it has a groove, but there's a lot more to it than that.

Royksopp - The Inevitable End: The last long player that the Norwegian duo will release if the media are to believed. And it really is a long player, you more than get your money's worth, full of collaboration's it is an excellent way to go out.

The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger - Midnight Sun: Sean Lennon's latest project is possibly the best work of his career. I had a lot of time for his mid noughties album Friendly Fire, which had a fair amount of his dad in it, but it was a good indie/pop album. This one goes further out, yet is still pretty radio friendly, very good album.

Southampton 1-2 Manchester United

I didn't see the game live last night, so my reading of the game is probably not as objective as I'd like it to be. A few weeks ago I thought this might turn out to be as hard a game, if not harder than the trip to the Emirates. But after Southampton's dip in form after their defeats to Arsenal and City, I thought it might be a good time to be playing them.
None of that takes into account Van Gaal's, brave, bull headed, take your pick, decision to continue with the three at the back that saw us perform like a shapeless rabble during the first half at Arsenal. And guess what, they played as if it was the first time they had met each other again, and that was despite being gifted the opening goal, as a careless back pass from Southampton defender Fonte was received gratefully by Van Persie and dispatched beautifully by the Dutchman who had his best game in a long, long time. He was probably our player of the match, there wasn't much competition though, Young had another reasonable game, after that?
Another defensive injury, Smalling went off after ten minutes, didn't help, but seeing as though we kept the same shape, I don't think that can be much of an excuse. Individual mistakes, all over the shop, Mata was invisible, Fellaini was the Belgian we saw under Moyes, Rooney tried hard, but he had nothing around him, no support. Herrera came on, but was no better, as Carrick was pushed back to centre half. It was interesting to note that when Southampton got their equaliser, Carrick was the United player closest trying to close him down. Trouble was, he was still playing in midfield at the time, where were three centre halves?
I'm not sure the second half was that much of an improvement, going forward United created absolutely nothing. The back three were still dicing with death at the back and there were still numerous sloppy passes in the middle of the park. But Southampton couldn't make the most of it, and when they threatened to, they found De Gea still on top form.
So third spot, it doesn't seem to matter how badly we play at the moment, it's onwards and upwards. With Liverpool on Sunday, long may that continue. Oh for a proper United performance though.

Manchester United 2- Stoke City

One step forward, two steps back, with United at the moment, It's getting to the point where you don't know what to think, from one game to to the next. No Di Maria and even no Rooney, can't believe I tyrped that, and we turned into the nothing team of Moyes infamy.
And yet under Van Gaal we won, still not sure what that means, does it mean Van Gaal is a lucky manager and Moyes wasn't. There would be something in that, after watching that tonight, it was as poor as the crap we saw under Moyes. Seeing the team selected ahead of the game, you had to wonder where the vision was going to come from. Well after suffering that 90 minutes, and speaking as one who had started to come round to had started to believing Van Gaal had started to turn the corner, tonight had me lost.
We started reasonably enough, which I suppose is an improvement over the previous manager, but not the kind of standard that will have the top sides of Europe fretting about United any time soon. But the thing about English football is, the opposition will not roll over an die, whatever the rest of the right and wrongs of the rest of the premier league. Don't start me on the best league in the world, I haven't the foggiest.
The opening goal came out of nothing really, but credit to Fellaini, I thought he showed his limitations as a Utd player tonight, but it was a fantastic run and header for the opening goal. I'm Not sure it was really deserved for the play that had gone before. But saying that, you can't really say any more about Stoke's equalier, which itslef came out of nowhere. Fellaini lost the ball far too easily, showing he's not really United quality, which we already knew. It was a fantastic shot for the equaliser, but it should have never have been allowed to happen.
I can't say I was thrilled by our second half perforance or by Van Gaal's late, late substitutions. I couldn't see that winning goal coming, and when it did, it was a total freak really, happy freak obviously. But those late ten nail biting ten minutes were totally predictable and the answer to it was not to sit back and let it come. We got through it, but against a team of a better quality than Stoke and who knows!

Manchester United 3-0 Hull City

Given our record against Hull, this seemed to be a good time for this particular fixture to come around. Three victories on the bounce, four if we can Beat Stoke tomorrow night, was just what the doctor ordered after our indifferent start to the season. The sooner we can start to pull away from the teams immediately below us, the sooner I will start to believe that that all important top four spot and Champions league football next season is likely rather than possible.
I don't know what it is about United, but that 5-3 aside, Hull City have never really turned up at United. They seem to occasionally give the big boys a bit of fight, but they offered nothing last season and offered even less on Saturday. Once United took the lead, it was only ever a question of how many goals United would score, not whether we'd bag the three points.
Once again Van Gaal surprised us with his selection, bringing Rojo back, deploying two wingers as full backs and in seemingly starting Van Persie behind Rooney and Di Maria. The Van Persie positional switch didn't really have time to prove worthwhile or not, as Di Maria's injury and replacement saw the Dutchman revert to the number 9 spot I'm sure he'd much rather start the game in.
Carrick's return to the team and United's improved form, or at least our improved run of results, is not an accident. It would seem the Geordie's poor form of last season is yet another black mark to be put at the door of ex manager Moyes. Since coming back from his enforced lay off, he has shown how much United have missed him. The quality of his passing, both simple and the adventurous, as with the ball that saw van Persie's header brilliantly saved by the opposition keeper, have been badly missed. I'd rather not see him move back to centre half for the last quarter of an hour as he has been for the last couple of home games, but even that shows how highly Van Gaal rates him.
I suppose I better remark on Rooney's vastly improved form over the last month. He is playing miles better that's for sure, it's still not the level I'd ideally want from the number ten, but it's a massive improvement on what we've had to endure over the last couple of seasons. The question for me, is where has it come from, can we chalk this Loony Van Gaal and the coaching staff or has it come from within.
It was nice to see Van Persie rediscover his scoring boots, that was a quality goal. Though if truth be told, his play in general was pretty much where it's been so far this season. He did improve in the second half, but he has a fair way to go to get back to the form we saw in the first six months of his United career.
I can see tomorrow's match against Mark Hughes Stoke being a far tougher proposition. For one, whilst I don't think they have too much craft in midfield, they have pace and do possess a goal threat going forward as well as being well organised as Hughes teams generally are. Losing Di Maria will make us a little less direct, I wouldn't mind seeing Wilson getting a start tomorrow, if fit, his pace would come in handy. Looking forward to it anyhow, you didn't say that too often last season.

Questions

Questions for this weekend

What formation?
Can Van Persie really start every week, when so out of form?
Can our defence last 90 minutes without picking up yet another injury?
Can we win 3 games on the bounce?
Why oh why, couldn't we be playing Liverpool NOW?





Music

Clipping - CLPPNG: Superior left field hip hop, I really liked this, top drawer.

Gulp - Season Sun: Is there anything the Super Furries or the various offshoots do that's less than excellent. Guto Price and the Mrs deliver this poppier effort.

Ibibio Sound Machine - Ibibio Sound Machine: Afrobeat with the emphasis on the funk from this London based international colective, superb.

Jungle - Jungle: Very 80's sounding, but in a good way

Matthew Halsall & the Gondwana orchestra - When the world was one: The bar was set high, but I think this is his best album yet, very Coltrane!

Peter Buck - I Am Back To Blow Your Mind Once Again: Wasn't really sure what to expect from a Peter Buck solo album, think it's safe to say it wasn't really a dirty scuzzy rock n roll album. Needless to say, I love the dodgy as fuck vocals even add to the charm.

The John Steel Singers - Everythings a Thread: Another excellent Aussie indie band, I've seen them bracketed along with Tame Impala, I don't that's fair, no they're not as good, but they veer more to the cosmic wig out than Kevin Parker who I always think has a big Beatles influence hidden away in his songwriting.

White Fence - For The Recently Found: Innocent. Sometime TY Segal collaborators, hit their own motherload with this excellent heavily 60's influenced cracker.

Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United

What a weird game, we got the three points which was vital, but jesus we were stomach churningly bad for the first half an hour. How Arsenal didn't score during that period of domination, god only knows. The Wilshere miss was a real howler, all he had to do was pass it into the corner of the net, instead he hit it straight at De Gea. The big Spaniard had another fine game, but there were times when he shouldn't have been given the chance to shine.
I can't say I was thrilled when the rumours of a three man defence first started to surface. We haven't got the players to make it work and the players never look comfortable in that formation. That first half an hour was just plain embarrassing, nobody played well and nobody looked as if they had a clue about what they were meant to be doing. Let's be honest, at least the debacles at home to Liverpool and City last season were against decent teams at the top of their game, you couldn't say that about Arsenal yesterday, Moyes would have been murdered for a performance like that yesterday. What got me about the reversion to a back three, was that it completely handed them the intiative, that they failed to take advantage was just pure luck for our part, ineptitude from their's. Maybe Van Gaal is a lucky general, because you just know that last season we would have lost that game yesterday. I have to be honest though, I'm starting to think that I'm never really going to warm to his methods.
At least when we managed to emerge from that nightmarish opening the game became a more even affair, as United actually enjoyed some decent possession for the first time in the game. Even so I couldn't really see a goal in us, and it was no surprise that when it came, it came with a huge slice of luck. Di Maria whilst being nowhere near as impressive as he was in those first few games in the middle, was at least far more involved in his more central position. He really should have scored when clean through, thankfully Rooney spared his blushes when the Argentine put him clean through near the end to hit that all important second goal. Important, because Giroud's blast in the dying minutes made it a bit more arse twitching than it had looked like being when Rooney had made it 2-0.
So we're back in the top four, and we have our first away win of the season, things are looking up, or is it just such a poor league this season?

Injuries!!!

International breaks are getting ever more irritating, there certainly seem to more of them, but when halfway through this particular break, we have seemingly lost Carrick for next Saturday, De Gea possibly our player of the season so far, and now Daley Blind for who knows how long it's getting a touch beyond a joke.
As if we don't seem to lose players on our own, week in week out, the last thing we need is for them to get crocked playing for their national teams. Fingers crossed there are no more!

Music

Abdulla Rashim - Unanimity: Swedish electronica that's maybe too beat driven to be ambient, but leans towards te more chilled out at times, it's good stuff.

Ethan Johns - The Reckoning: The producer turned recording artists second album, his debut was pretty good and this is on a similar level, it's hard to believe he's English sometimes, it's such an American sound.

James - La Petit Mort: A pretty solid James album, wasn't too sure after the first couple of listens, but it's a grower.

Klaxons - Love Frequency: It's a decent enough album, but I'm not sure that their sound will be a model for band longevity.

Manic Street Preachers - Futurology: I've always liked the Manics but never loved them as others do, but over the last decade they have produced consistently excellent albums, so maybe I should love them. This is another corker.

The pains of being pure at heart - Days of abandon: A heavy Smiths/Belle and Sebastien type influence pervades the US indie/pop bands third album, it's a good album, but their debut, which was a real belter, had a hint of power that they seem to have lost, not for the better.

Tori Amos - Unrepentant Gerladines: The US left field singer/songwriter is still delivering the goods and this really does deliver.

Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace

Just when you think United may have turned a corner, as the draw against Chelsea and the creditable defeat at City seemed to suggest, we get Saturday's lacklustre performance. Still it was absolutely imperative that we got the three points, and with a bit of luck we managed it.
We continued the 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1 formation, that has seen us get tighter at the back, but as Van Gaal admitted after the game, it seems to be at the expence of attacking threat. It doesn't help so many of our attacking players are just not clicking. Van Persie really should have been dropped by now, you could see the difference when Wilson came on and immediately we had speed up front. Di Maria seems to have lost his spark, since he's been moved from the middle to his current position on the flanks. I have been a big fan of Januzaj, but his form has absolutley slumped, he seems to have lost all his confidence. One of Van Gaal's big plus points was supposed to improving young players, something has gone badly wrong there.
I couldn't understand why Fellaini was chosen in front of Herrera, it didn't do much for our creativity, that's for sure. I'm presuming he was picked for his height at set pieces, but was that really necessary against Crystal Palace at home. The big plus points were the return of Carrick, who showed was we have been missing right from the start of the game. It was a touch strange that he ended the game at centre half, but given Blinds lack of pace, I wasn't that unhappy at that move. The other big plus was the improved form of Shaw who really looked the player people have been saying he is capable of becoming.
I have to admit being non plussed at the introduction of Mata for Januzaj, not player for player, that was fair enough, but at the introduction of Mata on the right hand side of our attack. We were slaughtering Moyes for playing him out wide last season and I still think it was a dodgy substitution. But, he came up with the goal, so all's well that ends well. He could have had another at the end and Rooney should definitely scored right at the death. It was game we had to win, and win we did so there's only so much grumbling to be had at the performance. Given Arsenal's woes at the moment, that is going to be one hard to call game at the Emirates in a couple of weeks.

Music

Bob Mould - Beauty & Ruin: His last solo album was a bit of a cracker, this is a solid follow up, without touching the same heights.

First Aid Kit - Stay Gold: Another good effort by the Swedish folk/rock sibling duo, the more listens, the more it delivers.

GoGo Penguin - v2.0: The debut album from the Mancunian jazz tinged outfit was pretty good, this follow up is even better.

Jack White - Lazaretto: His first completely solo album Blunderbuss was one of his very best, this follow up is good, but not quite as good, no shame in that, most artists would die for an album as good as this.

The Soundcarriers - Entropicalia: The first album I've heard from this UK blissed out psychedelia flavoured band, and it hit the spot almost straight away.

TuneYards - Nikki nack: This album got some impressive reviews, yet i noticed some people out there seemed to absolutely hate it. I can see why, some times I listen to it and thinks it's alright, at others I want to turn it off after a coule of tracks. Not one for the memory banks.

Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United

I was confident going into this derby, not so much because we we were on top form, but because we  seemed to be improving, whilst they seemed to be all over the place. Even though the game went against us, it was a reasonable assesment of the game to come.
Whilst we seemed to dominate the first 20 minutes, terrtotorially, we didn't create the chances that the possession deserved. And then out of nowhere, De Gea had to make two wonder saves to keep us in the match. One day somebody will explain to me, what it is exactly that leads them to believe Valencia can do a job at right back. Smalling was idiottic to get sent off, but it was easy to see why he lost his head, when he thought he had to charge into the right back position to get the Soth American out of another mess of his own making. The only problem being he was as of the pace as Valencia.
Any chance we had of winning the game disapearred at that moment.There can be argument over the substition of Januzaj, he had looked one of our more more promising forward players. I wouldn't have took him off that is for sure. But fot all Van Gaal's big talk we have all seen he will not take Roney or Van Persie off when it matters. Though the late substitution of Van Persie may signal that the Dutchman is no longer untouchable.
Once Smalling was sent off, I feared the worst, expecting us to get murdered. So from that point of view the second half can only be seen in a positive light. There was a spell when it looked as if we may be in for a humiliation, but once we got over that wobble. United put in a reasonable display. That was helped by City's performance of course, their display over that last fifteen minutes or so, against ten men and against that back four was unbelievable. It's hard to be sure of how the game would have panned out if it had been eleven against eleven, but it's hard to believe we would have come out of that game without something to show for it.
Despite our poor start, results and points wise, you can see we are heading in the right direction. Though the defence is going backwards, injury wise and playing wise, their is miles more character and fight from the players than there was under Moyes. It still defies belief though, that we didn't buy an established centre half during the summer. That said, I can't say that I'm jumping for joy at any of the centre backs that we've been linked with in the press over the last couple of months. Once we get the Arsenal game over and done with, we have a run of games where we should be able to go on a good run. If we that doesn't happen, the journalists who this morning have tried to paint a picture of doom over Old trafford, will really have something to write about.

Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea

Before this and next weeks game, I would have happily took two draws, so yesterday was a pretty good start. Having said that, on another day we might have come away all three points. Unlike last season where under Moyes we didn't look as if we belonged on the same pitch as City and the scousers, yesterday we looked liked we belonged again at this level. To make that even more commendable, we managed that whilst our best player this season so far, Di Maria had his quietest game since his arrival from Madrid.
The surprise team news, was probably not that big a surprise, Jones was out injured, again, with Chris Smalling taking his place. I can't have been the only one who feared the worst, when they heard of Smalling's selection, but to be fair to him he had a very solid game. Rojo, on the other hand was shaky, his passing was pretty good, but he looked vulnerable defensively. Rafael was poor, I'm starting to think that he's not really going to ever make it, defensively he just hasn't improved. Shaw on the other hand put last weeks ropey performance at West Brom firmly behind him with an excellent display. Blind had a decent game, but his lack of pace was shown up a couple of times. The real surprise was Fellaini, given a man marking job to do on Fabregas, he acquited himself admirably, keeping the Spaniard firmly in his pocket.
I noticed Januzaj getting a bit of stick from the crowd, it seems some have already given up on him. He was nowhere near his best yesterday, but he still managed to put in possibly the pass of the match to put Van Persie clean through on goal during the first half. I thought it was a good move putting him on the right during the latter stages, I've always thought he's more dangerous cutting in from the right onto his left foot, ala Robben.
Van Persie realy ought to have done better with that first half chance, but again, to be fair, that was probably his best performance in a while. He looks far happier being the lone man up front. But I wouldn't get too carried away yet, he was better, not brilliant. Mata on the other hand, gave yet another completely innocuous performance, he couldn't complain at being replaced by Wilson for the last twenty minutes.
It was a really soft goal to give away, especially after De Gea's save minutes earlier. As to that save, yes it was an excellent save, but I didn't think it was the best attempt from Hazard, he hit it staright at De Gea.
Chelsea resorted to the usual Mourinho tactics after going a goal up, playing within themselves, and then when United ramped it up during the last ten minutes foul after foul, which obviously came back to haunt them when Ivanovic got his second yellow card and his marching orders. United's equaliser came moments later, poetic justice, I thought.

West Brom 2-2 Manchester United

Well another entertaining game, not always for the right reasons if you're a red though. Yet again we looked far better going forward than we doid at the back. Even in attack though, there are still problems, and once again, you finish the game wondering what on Earth we'd be like without Di Maria in the team. I hope the knock he came off with isn't too serious, because we need him badly for the next two games against the rent boys and the divs.
Van Gaal brough Jones back into the team at centre back and gave Januzaj his first start of the season. It has to be said neither really covered themselves in glory on the night. All the back four looked shaky, some think Rojo had a decent game, I suppose he was better than the other three, but that's not saying much. Shaw had a stinker, I thought he had showed some promise on his first two outings, but he was completely off the pace last night. I would persevere with him for the time being, but he'll have to improve dramatically on last night's display.
I never really worked out what our formation was last night, was it 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, whichever it was, Januzaj didn't seem to appreciate it. I couldn't work out what was wrong with him, I can't ever remember watching him and seeing him never take a man on. I know he was double marked, but that doesn't generally stop him having a go.
Mata gave another of his ineffectual displays where he runs around getting and giving the ball, neat and tidy, but causing the opposition no problems at all. He's a nice footballer, but he's not the answer at number ten. Mourinho knew what he was doing when he got almost £40 million for him.
Ahead of him Van Persie had the kind of game we have seen from him all season, what was worse was he had a couple of decent chances and couldn't finish them. Add to that his greed when he should have teed Mata up in the first half after the goalie had forced him wide and even I have to admit, if it's a choice between him and Rooney, I'd go with the scouser.
I doubt I was on my own in fearing the worst when he brought Fellaini on, but he had a decent game, even if you took the great equaliser out of it. Herrera was piss poor during the first half, you can only surmise that he wasn't fit and that Van Gaal will play people not 100% despite his protestations that he doesn't do that. Blind had a decent game, I do wonder how he'll cope against players with power and pace though. I'd like to see Carrick back in the team on Sunday, let's put it like that. The late equaliser was a superb effort, if Blind adds goals to his game, he could become some player.
We really needed to win last night, given the two games ahead of us. I really don't know what to expect over the next couple of weeks. I'd take a couple of draws right now, even though points wise that wouldn't really do us much good. I just think if we could show we can live with the two best teams in the league at the moment, that would be more of a boost to our players confidence than anything else. I mean, I can't really see us taking six points, can you.

Let the roller coaster reommence

Well thank fuck for that, the international break is over. Apparently there were a few decent games, as I only watched the two England boreathons, I obviously missed them. Anyway the next three four weeks are where it's at, it's as if the season proper season starts.
Those games against Chelsea and City are going to show us where we really at under King Louis reign. Saying that, given our abysmal away record so far, and remember they were at Sunderland, Burnley, MK Dons and Leicester, can we be that confident of taking three points away from the Hawthorns. Let the roller coaster recommence.


Allah-Las - Worship the sun: The follow up to their excellent debut album ploughs a similar furrow, it may be nothing new, but as long as it's good, I've no problem with retro.

Aphex Twin - Syro: His first new album in over a decade, you can't really say it's been worth the wait, but it's excellent as almost everything he does is, one of my favourite recording artists.

Nat Birchall - Sacred Dimension: The Manchester jazz saxophonist's 2011 offering is even better than its predecessor Akhenaten. More than a touch of John Coltrane, can't get enough of that.

Natalie Merchant - Tigerlily: I wasn't a massive fan of 10'000 Maniacs, but liked some of their stuff, so when i saw the good reviews for this I wasn't sure if it would really be my thing. Glad I took the plunge, because it's a superior album of indie singer/songwriter offerings.

Sharon Van Etten - Are we there: Another female indie singer/songwriter, it's not as easy a listen as Merchant's Tigerlily but it has it's moments.

Sunlightsquare - King Yoruba: I'm not really sure how you'd categorise this, latin jazz/soul, even seventies film score almost other times, anyhow it ticks the right boxes for this listener.

The Black Keys - Turn Blue: The Ohio duo continue with thie rock/blues schtick, though it's a more commercial sound nowadays. It's not one of their very best, but that still leaves most of their competition trailing in their wake.

The Horrors - Luminous: The fourth album from the UK indie outfit, it's a solid enough effort, but they've not really progressed as far as you might have imagined they would.

Manchester United 2-1 Everton

Three points, a decent performance, but a strange game at times. The only change to the starting line up was Mata coming in for the suspended Rooney, McNair staying at centre back in an unchanged back four.
Everton started well for the first five to ten minutes keeping the lions share of possession, but never threatened to do anything with that possession. Then United got hold of the ball and dominated the rest of the half. Falcao and Van Persie both had decent chances, but it fell to Di Maria to open our account with a fine finish. Once again, Our Argentine new number seven was at the heart of most of our good moments, linking up well with Shaw, who impressed again, if he did give the penalty away. It was fitting that De Gea saved that penalty because Everton definitely didn't deserve to go into the half time break all square.
The second half saw the blue half of scouse land get more of a foothold in the game, even if United were still the team in the ascendancy. But that foothold saw the visitors level the scores ten minutes into the second half as the left half our back four went missing to allow Naismith to head home. Maybe Shaw should take the lions share of the blame, but I didn't think Rojo covered himself in glory either. Rojo has done alright so far, and maybe it's too early to judge, but he doesn't really look as if he's ever going to approach the level of Ferdinand or Vidic. And at the end of the day, if we are going to challenge for Premier league titles or even champions league trophies that's the level we have to be looking at.
The injury curse struck again of course, it's every fucking game now, this time Shaw had to go off, thankfully this one doesn't seem to be too serious. United had regained the lead by then though. It seems as if Di Maria can do no wrong at times. The 4-0 victory over QPR saw him mishit a shot badly only to see it run straight to the feet of Mata who made no mistake. Ditto yesterday as a badly scuffed shot saw Falcao intervene to open his account for the club and fortuitously give United the lead.
United had chances to increase their lead, but failed to take. That nearly came to haunt us as United once again seemed to falter over the last ten minutes. I don't know whether it's fitness or nerves, but we had De Gea to thank for the three points as he made two world class saves during that period. I didn't really get the criticism he received recently, but the Spaniard rammed it back down his critics throats yesterday.
I think it would be more worrying if a second half relapses are down to fitness, the energy didn't seem to be there over the course of that final ten minutes. With the club not involved in Europe and out of the league cup, we're only playing one game week, so we shouldn't really be running out of juice late on in games.
As for individuals, Di Maria was superb again, De Gea brilliant, the back four did alright, given the changes. I thought Valencia had one of his better games as the right side of the midfield diamond. On the debit side, Van Persie is really out of sorts, and though Falcao opened his account, he's not really ripping up any trees at the moment. You do get the feeling that both of those players would sooner be the lone man up front. Other reds thought Mata had a decent game, I can't really go along with that, the number ten has got to do more than he did yesterday, for me anyway. We didn't miss Rooney, but Mata will have to do far better than that if Van Gaal is think about about leaving the scouser out of his starting line up. Of course I would sooner see Januzaj than either of them, but at the moment, the young Belgian doesn't seem to be in Van Gaal's plans, much to my regret anyway. 
So we hit the top four, only to be hit by another international break, don't you just love international breaks.

Music

Aloe Blacc - Good Things: I'd read the rave reviews this got when it came out and would have to say they were pretty much spot on. Excellent soul music with touches of Beatles in their amongst other things.

Cherry Ghost - Herd runners: Another consistently decent album from the Manchester based outfit, the only criticism would be, the lack of a really memorable tune or two. They don't hit the heights as say I Am Kloot manage to do.

Imelda May - Tribal: The fourth solo album from Irish rockabily rocker, if you've liked her last couple of albums, you won't be disappointed, it follows the same winning formula.

Lee Fields - Emma Jean: Hot on the heels of the excellent Faithfull Man, the US soul man continues to find his mojo with his latest release.

Mr Scruff - Friendly Bacteria: Another excellent mix of tehcno/jazz/ hip hop and the rest from one of Manchester's finest.

Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal: Not as good as their last album which was a bit of a belter, but it's a decent indie/rock enough album.

Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott - What have we become: I liked the Housemartins but was never that keen on The Beautiful South, so when i read the good reviews that garnered i was tempted to give it a miss. Glad I didn't because it's one of the best albums I've heard this year.

Manchester United 2-1 West Ham United

Another eventful afternoon for followers of Manchester United, but this week the three points were ours. Van Gaal gave a debut to McNair, partnering Rojo at centre half, with Luke Shaw making his debut at left back to complete an almost unrecongnisable back four. McNair has improved over the last year, but I still find his inclusion over Tom Thorpe absolutely bizarre. Thorpe has been superb for the youth team and apparently impressed at Birmingham in his short spell there on loan. You would have thought that he would have to had been first choice, if Van Gaal waas going to go with a youngster. But no,  the young Irishman was given the nod. That's the kind of decision that would be leading me to think it's time to start looking for a new club.
Anyway that gripe over, United started well and a fine move down the right saw the rejuvenated Rafael put a lovely cross in for Rooney to drive home. Almost immediately the visitors had the chance to equalise, but West Ham's Valencia wildly smashed the ball over the ball. United went two goals up after a decent link up between Falcao and Van Persie saw the Dutchman open his account for the season with a composed right foot finish. United continued to play attractive football and could have added to their tally, but went into the half time break with the two goal lead.
I'd expected the east Londoners to give our makeshift defence a sterner examination than they managed during the first half. But they did up their game at the beginning of the second half. What Rooney was thinking of when he launched into Downing, fuck knows, despite the crowd reaction, it was about as blatant a red card as you could wish to see. From then on, it became a rearguard action. Fair enough, down to ten men, you've got expect to come under pressure. But I was amazed that Van Gaal didn't try to rejig the line up to try and enable us to retain a reasonable amount of possession or leave us with some kind of attacking outlet. Injuries didn't help of course, but to me at least, it was pretty unimpressive stuff. I read somebody on one of the messageboards suggest it was like watching the Bayern Munich champions league game where Rafael got sent off and we ended up just waiting for the Germans to score, that was a good comparison. With all the debate over the offside, what hasn't really been mentioned is that Nolan should really have been able to keep himself onside.
At least the remaining ten players showed at bit of steel, unlike last weeks second half collapse. I thought Valencia and Fletcher did better than i'd expected them to when introduced and i really like the look of Luke Shaw, good going forward, but he can defend as well. He should be able to make that left back spot on his own, but under Van Gaal, who knows.
Three points were vital, more for the fact of trying to put last week behind us than our position in the league table, but it's all very much a work in progress at the moment. I just hope there's lot more progress been made for that clash against the rent boys, because at the moment, I find it hard to see us getting three points on that particular Sunday afternoon

Leicester City 5-3 Manchester United

What a difference a week makes. To be fair, if you had told me last week we would get beat 5-3 at Leicester, I wouldn't have been that shocked. Whilst we looked great going forward, when QPR remembered that going forward wasn't a criminal offence at the beginning of the second half, they got through to De Gea far too easily. The shock of yesterday was the fact that when the third goal went in, we were so on top, you were wondering how many more goals we would get, not how many points we would come out of the game with.
I suppose getting beat 5-3 is an improvement on the dismal Dave season, it's more, United, to get beat 5-3 than the turgid defeats of last season. Worryingly, though our attacking play is on a different planet to last season, our defending seems to have got worse. The summer transfer strategy still appears bizarre, we all knew a centre half and a dominant box to box or defensive midfield dynamo were priorities. We got Rojo, who was sold to us as a left sided centre half, but has played as left back in his two games so far, whilst the £30 million left back Shaw has yet to appear. Rojo didn't particularly impress me last week, but yesterday was worse. I'm sorry but Blackett is never a Manchester United centre half, he has only had this run of games because Van Gaal likes to have a right footer and a left footer at centre half. Johnny Evans seems to have reverted to the panicky defender we hoped we had seen the back of. When he's fit that is, I'm close to giving up on the trio of Jones, Evans and Smalling. It doesn't matter how good they are, if they are forever picking up injuries. As for Rafael, I didn't blame him for the penalty that led to the second goal, that was diabolical refereeing, that completely changed the course of the game. But we have seen him long enough to know he is never going to be the best defensive right back. If Tom Thorpe doesn't get a chance at United over the next couple of months, he should start looking for a new club, because if he doesn't get a run in this defence, he'll never get a go.
In front of them Blind and Herrera are both decent midfield players, but both are a little too lightweight and slow to protect such a dodgy defence. Carrick can't get fit quick enough for me, those reds who suggested he might find it hard to get back into this team got their answer very quickly.
Going forward was a strange one. Yes we played some great stuff and scored three excellent goals. But for all the talk of philosophy, the goals and most of our better moments in their third of the pitch were the result of brilliant players doing things off the cuff. And for me, for the second week running, when Di Maria had to be replaced, the team reverted to the slow ponderous aimless football of the Moyes era. It's frightning how important to the team he seems to be, don't get me wrong I think he is a fantastic footballer, but when he isn't on the pitch, the rest of the team have got to step up to the plate.
It's pointless for me to talk about Rooney, he didn't do enough, in his "favourite" position, but the talk from Van Gaal on Friday that his captain was close to undropable was fucking depresssing. Van Persie wasn't terrible, but was nowhere near the level you'd hope for. It's too early to judge Falcao, it was a brilliant turn and cross to set up the first goal and the lob that struck the crossbar was sublime. That front three as a combination doesn't look right to me though. So one step forward, two steps back, I thought the Moyes era was over.

Music

Echo & the Bunnymen - Meteorites: It sounds as if it could have been made in their eighties heyday, which means it's a pretty good album. Though I'm not sure there's a track on it that would have made it onto a greatest hits record. Still back on form.

Fujiya & Miyagi - Artificial Sweetners: Another fine album from the indie/techno outfit, I never read much about them in the press, but they are one of the better UK bands.

Gruff Rhys - American Interiors: Another album without the rest of the Super Furries, this one his fifth solo album. Whoever he records with, he delivers, one of the best recording artists in these islands at the present time.

Little Dragon - Nubuma Rubberband: An excellent indie electro pop albumfrom the Scandanavian outfit, I've heard them before, but not a full albums worth, good stuff.

Shit Robot - We Got a Love: A fine second album from the Irish dj/producer, tunes to get you on the dance floor, but no cheesy crap.

Smoke Fairies - Smoke Fairies: The third album from the UK female indie/folk duo is decent enough, but not as memorable as some of their competition.

Thee Oh Sees - Drop: The prolific US indie outfit have another album out and it's another winner, not one of their very best, but still a cracking bit of noisy guitar indie rock.

Manchester United 4-0 QPR

It's hard to not get a little giddy after Sunday's performance, that was the most attractive and promising game of football at Old trafford for a fair while. But we have to take into account just how poor the opposition were, the first half especially, they looked like a team that should expect to go straight back down. But how can you not get excited at being able to watch Di Maria every week, or seeing something that resembled a competent central midfield dominate proceedings.
The moment that the team was announced, or should I say the moment it was announced that United would start with a back four, things were looking up. The players looked far more comfortable lining up with a back four. Van Gaal has said he hasn't finished with a back three, if so it will be interesting to see whether we get anywhere near yesterdays level of performance when we got back to 3-5-2.
We got better performances all around the pitch, not just the obvious ones of Di Maria, Blind and Herrera. Rojo put in a decent 90 minutes at left back and rafael seemed rejuvenated, that was his best game for a long time. It has to be remembered they weren't greatly troubled, until the second half at least. When I saw the team i had expected Rojo to start at centre half with Blackett at centre half. If there was a down side to the day, it was when QPR did wake up in the second half and had a bit of a go, we did look shaky through the middle. And whilst I don't think Evans and Blackett is a centre back partnership for the future, that wasn't the only problem defensively.
Blind was a revelation, his use of the ball was superb, neat and tidy, give and go, keeping thing ticking over nicely. But we had read about his lack of pace and lack of physical presence and that could be a problem. I read some reds suggesting Carrick would struggle to get back into the team, well not for me. What yesterday showed was that whilst Blind and Herrera are both nice footballers, they are both a little on the slow side, so against a City, Chelsea et al, I would still be wanting to Carrick in front of that back four.
That's a problem fore the future though. The revelation has to be just how good Di Maria is, he is world class, we did not overpay for him. He's a far more complete footballer than Bale for instance, that little dinked ball with the outside of his left foot for Van Persie in the second half was worth the admission money on it's own. He was involved in everything.
We have to get to it eventually, but Rooney and Van Persie still aren't the answer for me. I know I bang on about Rooney's lack of mobility, and it's still there, but yesterday he was involved in the build up play and did link up well at times. But Van Persie didn't excel at all, he actually doesn't really even look like he's enjoying his football at the moment. I watched him playing for Holland against the Czech Republic on TV  last week and he gave the same kind of scratchy performance he had given in the world cup. Falcao didn't too much when he came on, but that was due the rest of the team not picking out his runs. He made some great runs, and I can't see it being too long before he gets a bit of a run in the side. At the moment Van Persie would be the man most in danger of losing his spot.
How long will it be before Januzaj starts a game, he was only for ten minutes or so, but he made things happen and on another day could have bagged a couple of goals. Watching him and Di Maria in the same side is going to be a joy.
So it's official, we can look forward to going to games at Old trafford again, praise fucking be for that.

Galacticos United

Some United fans are delighted that United have finally splashed the cash and splashed it big time, others are a little disturbed that the club has lost it's soul a little, though recognise that we have bought top quality. I tend to go with the latter, though having said that, i can't deny that I'm very excited about the thought of Di Maria and Falcao in the same side.
It wasn't the fact of us spending big, I've wanted us to do that for a couple of seasons, it's the fact that we all knew the two positions we really needed to fill were a top class centre half and either a box to box midfield dynamo or a top notch defensive midfielder. True we have got one out and out central midfield player and two who can play there, but only time will tell whether they are the right fit. We haven't managed to sign a top class centre back, and i feel we may still have to fix that at some point. The signing of Falcao really came out of the blue, and though I would have said a centre forward was the least of our problems, at least in relation to elsewhere in the squad, having watched the first three games, it looks as if it was going to become one. Van Gaal came in apparently with the idea of fixing the teams formation around Van Persie and Rooney up front. Maybe he's seen what we've been seeing for two seasons now, they just don't gel. I'd like to think he's seen that Rooney has seen better days and is planning for the future, you live in hope.
I was bitterly disappointed that we've let Welbeck go, when i watch Rooney and for that matter, Van Persie's lethargic performance over the last season or so, I can understand why he was demanding first team football. I fully expect him to do well at Arsenal and what's more I hope he does. But if he does, I'll always think that he should have been doing that in a red shirt. I've never argued that he was going to be the next Ruud Van Nistelroy, but not all forwards are. Mark Hughes and Cantona as a partnership weren't really 20 goals a season men, but they got their share and brought other players into the game making us more effective. Anyway it's done now, I'm going to try and forget all about it.
Danny was the last real Manchester lad, that was a nailed on first team squad member, unfortunately. The Manchester in Manchester United means something to me, so I hope Van Gaal is able to bring a Keane, a Thorpe or a Pearson through.
All said and done, though we have made some great signings, I hope nobody is kidding themselves that Manchester is the dream club of all these Spanish speaking players you can bet you're life they would jump at the chance to join or in Di Maria's case go back to Real Madrid, if the chance ever arrives.
Woodward has been basking in the acclaim that's been to readily given by some of the more clued up reds to my surprise, I'd like to know the list of targets Van Gaal gave him after the Swansea defeat, we'd really be able to judge the job he's done then. The one big plus is that the Glazer family have had to used United money that we can be pretty sure they hadn't wanted to spend on improving the squad instead of their own bank accounts. Roll on QPR at home.

Music

Brian Eno & Karl Hyde - Somedays: I wasn't really sure what to expect from this, Underworld with a bit of input from the experimental Eno or an album leaning more to the Eno sound. It's more to the Hyde side without sounding too much like Underworld and it's pretty good.

Fatima Al Qadiri - Asiatisch: Eastern tinged techno ambient that really hits the button.

GoGo Penguin - Fanfares: During the 80's and the 90's of Madchester it would have been hard to conceive of a jazz scene in Manchester, yet we have Matthew Halsall, Nat Birchall and a couple of years this outfit entered the scene. This their debut is a tremendous stuff.

Hakon Stene - Lush laments for lazy mammal: The latest album from the Norwegian jazz/avant garde percussionist, it's minimalist, heavily leaning to the avant garde side of his repetoire, it takes time to get into it, but it's worth the investment.
Liz Green - Haul Away: Another manchester based artist, this is singer/songwriter leftfield, jazzier elements more than woman and guitar, it's pretty good.

Michael Yonkers Band - Microminature: Cult US guitarist whom i had never heard of until i read about this album some time ago now, only just got around to listening to it. I can see why it's got such fervent fans, it's a belter.

Muyei Power - Sierra Leone in 1970's USA: I know nothing about these, except it's superb African funk.

Burnley 0-0 Manchester United

I know if you had looked at the line ups of either team ahead of the game, you would have had to have United as big favourites to come away with all the points on Saturday, but did any red really have any confidence in us to do the business. The introduction of Di Maria was positive, or should that be desperate, that midfield looks as threadbare as ever, no time for the Argentine to bed himself down into his new club.The front three stayed the same, Rooney and Van Persie up top with Mata behind and Valencia and Young out wide.
I was disappointed to see no Januzaj in the starting line up, I'm starting to worry that maybe the young Belgian isn't Van Gaal's cup of tea. The fact he has played in about three different positions when he has been introduced makes you wonder if Van Gaal sees something in him he's uncomfortable with.
The back three of Evans, Jones and Blackett once more looked totally ill at ease in the new look back three formation. The three central defenders just isn't working, that's plain for all to see, I can't say for sure we would have took the points if we'd started with a back four, but I'm sure we would have given it a better crack. Until players are brought in who are comfortable and understand the position, I'm not too sure things are going to get that much better any time soon.
United started slowly, though Di Maria showed enough to look as if he is going to be a proper Manchester United signing as Gary Neville inferred on Twitter during the first half. As usual the midfield has come in for plenty of stick, Di Maria started in the middle but seemed to be as far forward as Mata at times. Fletcher tries, but it's just not there any more, it still seems a bizarre decision to appoint him vice captain, he really should have been a part of the clear out. Mata couldn't get in the game again, and the excuse that he couldn't because of the back three flinging long balls out of defence when they were pressed at the back, maybe a partial excuse, but not a totally convincing one to me. As Di Maria showed, especially in the first half, it was possible to make things happen, Mata just wouldn't try anything the least bit risky.
In front of our non creative creator were the pair who some still seem to think will come good, if they're just given the right service. The service was poor, especially from out wide, there's no denying that, but it has been as plain to see as you can get that those two just cannot, don't like, playing alongside each other.
Van persie wasn't great, he probably should have scored at least one of the couple of chances that he was presented with, but at least he got on the end of those chances. But Rooney was abject, how many times was the ball pinched of him. I've seen Mark Ogden and Danny Taylor write that he may have to move deeper following the arrival of Falcao today. But that lack of pace is as much a hindrance in midfield as it is up front. I sometimes wonder what the fuck is going on there, why on Earth do the club pander to him so fucking much. He's not the player he was and he is never going to be, we should be looking to life beyond him, Christ you'd think he was Ronaldo the way everybody is always discussing how we are going to fit him into the side. You would like to think the arrival of perhaps the best natural centre forward in the world would mean the gruesome twosome are the undroppable's no more.
Given the injuries and incoming signings, I don't know whether this is a good time for us to go into an international break or not. I do know that I'm not exactly looking forward to the next game as I wasn't exactly looking forward to Saturday. I think the project is going to take a lot longer than three months. If we end up playing the kind of football that Van Gaal ended up introducing to Barca and Bayern Munich, it'll be worth the wait. I dread to think where we'll be if that doesn't happen.

Angel Di Maria is a good signing, I was never quite sold on him as a winger, though given the paucity of talent we have out wide, he is far better than what we have at the club at the moment in that position. But I do like him a lot when he plays more centrally, and that's centrally as in midfield, not a number ten. He's top class, and not, yet another number ten, given the state of the squad at present we can't have enough top class players coming in.
We've got to hope that he won't be the end of the signings though, we are crying out for either a defensively minded central midfielder or a dynamic box to box version. We could probably do with another centre back as well, if were going to persevere with a back three.
The question then though is, do you go for what's available, or do you wait for the right man to become available, Strootman say. Given the mediocrity of the present squad and the standard of most of our signings over the last five seasons, I wouldn't be splurging top dollar for someone like Blind of Ajax. I like the look of Vidal, and given where we are, he would be worth the risk, given your going to get injuries through a season, you'd imagine that we will go into a fair few of the big games with only one of Carrick or Hererra. If that remains the case, we will be struggling to get back into that top champions league spot come May with that engine room.
So the question for the Glazers would then be, how much is champions league qualification to them, because if it is vital, and it surely is, busting a gut to get Vidal, even if he only played in half our games would seem like a no brainer to me. If they could live for one more season without it, maybe waiting for Strootman to recover from his injury at Roma would be the way Van Gaal would want to go. Both options involve risk, they should have gone when Fergie left, shouldn't they.


Anthony Joseph - Time: I didn't know anything about him until I read an aproving review of this album, it's a fair record, sort of along the lines a late era Gil-Scott Heron.

Bo Ningen - III: I loved this frenzied psych/punk affair from the Japanese band that formed in the UK.

Papercuts - Life among the savages: This took me a few listens to win me round, but i ended up warming into it's dreamy indie/pop charm.

Pink Mountaintops - Get Back: Canadian indie super group, they do like these combinations, The New Pornographers are another, and just like that band Pink Mountaintops more than deliver the goods. There seemed to be a UK influenced indie to a few tunes on it that seemed a little unusual, good album though.

Polar Bear - In each and every one: I absolutely loved their last album Peepers, this album has seem them move on to a more avant garde electronica phase, i like it, it has enough good moments on it to enable me to say that, but it's not as successful as that last album.

Ratking - So it goes: Left field hip hop from the States, has it's moments, but no real highlights.

Woods - With light and with love: I'm new to this US indie band who are fairly prolific, but if this is the standard set on their previous work, i better go and discover their back catalogue, it's an excellent album.

M.K. Dons 4-0 Manchester United

Van Gaal was a s good as his word, he said he wasn't happy about having to play two games in forty eight hours, and that he would play a completely different side for last night's league cup tie. I suppose, the morning after the night before, the question must be, does he regret that decision after United were humiliated by the division one club. Going off his reaction, signing autographs for home fans after shaking hands with the opposition bench and then his interviews to the media, it would seem he doesn't. To be fair to the Dutchmen, if he is confident that it will come right and that last night was just part of the process we are going to have to go through to get where wants us to be, then I can live with that. Fuck me after last season I've got used to us being shit again. What I would say is, when Van Gaal was appointed I thought the humiliation of the home defeats to Liverpool and City last season were to be a thing of the past, the sooner this bedding in process comes together, the better.
I can't pretend I was that happy with the team selected or the formation for last nights game though. Anderson shouldn't have been anywhere near that team last night or in fact ever, I didn't think we'd be seeing him in a red shirt again and he was as useless as ever. Fuck knows where he'll end up when he finally gets the heave ho from our club, that was a team two divisions and millions of pounds below us and he got bossed. I felt a bit sorry for Powell, it's been fairly obvious since he arrived at the club, that whatever his best position is, it isn't central midfield. And yet whenever he gets a chance at first team level, that is where he gets picked. He comes alive around the opposition penalty area and has a great shot, but he doesn't seem to have the short passing game needed for the middle of the park. And to cap it all for the lad, when he got his chance he has to play alongside Anderson and in front of that defence. He's looking like yet another unfathomable late era Fergie signing.
United started reasonably well, with Welbeck showing that he had the beating of their back line. Hernandez however looked like a player that can't wait to leave. When Welbeck crossed the ball early on to find the Mexican at the back post, only for Hernandez to control the ball and then fall over, his performance for the night was set. Even in that first season when he was dynamite in front of goal, his game outside the box was seriously wanting, now, it's just wanting everywhere. Welbeck was one of the better performers on the night and though his performance level did drop in the second half, he was still one of the only players in red still bursting a gut, right up until the final whistle. So to see some of the abuse he attracted on twitter and on some messageboards, completely non plussed me. Sure you can not rate him, but to question his commitment, I mean just fuck right off.
Within minutes of coming on Wilson showed why he should have started ahead of Hernandez and why he can take the Mexicans place as our fourth striker. He was only on the pitch for about half an hour, but that's how long it took to show that he is a very serious prospect, almost scoring with a fantastic left foot shot and a header that the home goalkeeper made a great save to keep out.
The longer the second half went on, the more obvious it became that United were completely lost playing this system. I felt sorry for Keane and Vermilj, Keane in particular had the kind of night that could kill him, I've always rated him, he played well on Sunday when he came on. But last night with a non existent central midfield in front of him to pass into and the senior pro Jonny Evans regressing to the kind of nervy shaky centre half we thought we'd seen the last of, three years ago, he ended the game a shell of the player he can be.
Another sign of United's unease with the system was the amount of time it took for Januzaj to make any meaningful contribution to proceedings once he'd replaced the unlucky Kagawa. I couldn't understand converting Januzaj to wing back in the second half, he will never be a wing back. Peraira did better than I expected when introduced, I still don't think he'll have the pace for top level football, but he definitely has the skill and imagination.
One thought did bring a smile to my face at the end, the Glazer's finally having to fork out serious money to put things right and then on top of no European football, now not even league cup football revenue to aprt make up for that, it's gotta hurt.

Sunderland 1-1 Manchester United

Given the players available, the new manager and tactics, I wasn't expecting much, a point might even be a result at the moment. With Herrera injured United took the field boasting a midfield two of Fletcher and Cleverley, not a pairing to get the blood flowing. Fletcher was poor last week, but yesterday, and there's no other way of putting it, he was abysmal. His first touch was shocking, he gave the ball away repeatedly, he has been an excellent servant to the club, but he really shouldn't be anywhere near the first team any more i'm afraid. Cleverley wasn't quite as bad, but he just seems to have completely gone at the game. There's a rumour that he has been told he can go, if that's so you'd have thought he would have been bursting a gut to impress any suitors out there looking at him. On that performance it'll be a championship club, not a premier league team.
Van Persie was fit enough to be handed a start by his fellow Dutchman Van Gaal. So we were back to that old chestnut, the partnership of Van Persie and Rooney. Of course the service to them was pretty poor, but yet again they just didn't work as a partnership, neither of them stretched the home teams defence. I get fed up of wondering what on Earth fellow reds and the media pundits really see in Rooney that makes him undroppable. For the second game running, he contributed next to nothing to our performance. In fact it was only when Van Persie was took off and the seemingly departing Welbeck was brought on that was looked as if we might actually get at the home teams backline. I found it comical when Gary Neville got excited as United looked to counter attack at pace, only for Rooney to get completely out paced by the home defender and bring him down in frustration.
I'm starting to think Chelsea have got this transfer market down to a tee, £50 million for David Luiz and almost £40 million for Mata. Once again he floated around spraying tidy little passes keeping possession, but creating next to nothing, he was almost completely anonymous, the goal apart. The jury is well and truly out on him, as far as I'm concerned we should be getting a whole lot more from somebody costing that amount of money. Yes he has a decent goalscoring record, but he still hasn't taken a game by the scruff of the neck.
I was hoping that Januzaj would start, but once again he was to come on from the bench during the second half. I don't think central midfield really suits him, but whilst he didn't set the world alight, he was still an improvement on the two that did start. Given the paucity of top players we can choose from, I'm a little puzzled why Van Gaal hasn't started with him yet.
The back line wasn't great, Jones had a decent game, Smalling was defensively reasonable, but once again was poor on the ball. I'm not sure why Van Gaal started him as the central centre back, Sunderland were happy for him to run out with the ball and generally do nothing with it. I was actually happy when he went off, because I knew that Keane would be far better on the ball, which he was.
Our game came out of nowhere, Valencia rolling back the years to beat his man and beat the first man with his cross. He had a reasonable game to be fair, right wing back was made for him. It wasn't quite the same on the other side, after Young's impressive pre-season in the States, he seems to have regressed to the Ashley Young of last season, diving for a penalty, just for old times sake.
The defending for the equaliser was poor, we've generally been pretty good defending set pieces over the last few years. But three points yesterday would have been papering over the cracks, so much for an easy start to the season.

Manchester United 1-2 Swansea City

Well all that optimism, vanished into thin air the first 90 minutes of the new season. To be fair I haven't got as carried away as some, pre-season doesn't really tell you that much. In fact the one game that did tell me something was the Liverpool game, yes we won 3-1, but the performance was pretty much a throwback to last season, the passing was too slow, we looked dodgy at the back and the victory flattered us.
The lack of transfer activity, incoming and outgoing, should have been annoying the Twitter Glazer out hashtag merchants before Saturday's game, not after, when it just looks like slapped arse time, because all the expectation a new manager could sort everything out, went by the wayside.
I expected a tough game, but when I saw our starting eleven, the reality that all three results were pretty much in play really hit home. I'll say it now, and hope that I look like an idiot later on in the season, but I'm not as enamored with our new manager as the vast majority seem to be. That starting eleven and formation was always going to struggle. I like Jesse Lingard, but right wing back, I can't really see what attributes led Van Gaal to play him there for his first home start for the club. I not much of a fan of Tyler Blackett, picking him ahead of Keane and Thorpe because he's left footed, doesn't enthuse me, especially when he plays the right footed Ashley Young at left wing back and then left back.
Don't get me wrong, Van Gaal is a massive upgrade on Moyes and he was probably the best candidate for the job. But it's not really "United" having a manager who regards the system as more important than the players, for this red at any rate. Great players moulded into a great team was the Busby and Fergie way. I see some of the players we are being linked with, and wonder how happy Van Gaal would be if we did get them, is it really enough that they can fit into the system.
Anyway back to the game, the change of formation ensured we weren't overrun in the middle of the park, but didn't solve many other of the problems that have surfaced over the last few seasons. There was, yet again a lack of pace all over the park, creativity was conspicuous by it's absence and the build up play from defence to midfield was woeful. I don't think any formation can hide the fact that was haven't got a footballing centre half at the club. The way Van Gaal sets his teams up, especially with three centre backs, demands that those defenders be comfortable on the ball and to really make it work it needs a proper footballing centre half. I suppose Evans could pass muster for being comfortable on the ball, but he's out injured again. Jones had a decent game, but when he's in trouble his first instinct is to run with the ball, instead of releasing it into midfield. Smalling is the one i really worry for, he isn't comfortable on the ball at all. If Arsenal really asked for Jones or Smalling to go the other way if they released Vermaalen, I'm not really sure why we didn't bite the bullet and let Smalling go.
I say we haven't got a footballing centre half at the club, but I still think that Michael Keane could develop into such a player. Yet I read that he's being linked to another loan period, and a loan period in the championship, at that. I really don't get that. I don't think Smalling is ever going to be United quality, whereas Keane has a chance.
The build up play was so slow that there was never a chance that the wing backs would be able to overlap as i presume was the intention, so I thought the stick that Young got for passing back and sidewards whenever he got the ball was a bit harsh. I'm no great fan of Young myself, but given the situations he got the ball in, I'm not sure what he was supposed to do, hoof it forward aimlessly or head down charge forward aimlessly.
Yet another question mark I'll have to air is, is Juan Mata really all that. That wasn't the first game where he has floated around the pitch and had a negligible effect on the game. He can score some great goals, and is capable of producing superb assists, but how often does he do it when it really matters. On his United career so far, he does seem a bit of a flat track bully, scoring when we're already in front or against the lesser teams. But when we have really needed someone to stand up and be counted, when the going is tough, ala Cantona, Ronaldo or a real top United player, Mata has so far almost always failed to deliver.
Van Gaal has insisted that it takes three months for the players at a new club to learn his methods, my worry has always been, have we got the players at the club to make those methods work and is Woodward up to the task of bringing in players that can make it work. Early days, it's not looking great so far.

Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United

I've just watch United's under 21's take the first silverware of the season after demolishing City 4-1, and can honestly say the main difference between the two sides was James Wilson with his four goals. City dominated the first half, but didn't really create as many chances as they might have done. Still if they had gone into the half time break a goal up as they deserved to, who knows how it would have gone.
But that wonder goal in first half injury time seemed to knock the stuffing out of them. To be fair to them, it did come out of absolutely nowhere, Wilson won the ball near the half way line and then basically just ran straight through their back line finishing with a shot into the corner of the net.
Rothwell was took off at half time, pity, he doesn't seem to have started pre-season that well from what I can gather. He was replaced by Harrop who looks promising, and it was he who started the move that led tp Wilson getting the second. If you add Tom Lawrence to the list, United really started to dominate affairs and every time United found one of Wilson's runs, City were in trouble. I hope Van Gaal was watching, because there is no getting away from it, Wilson is just a little bit special.

Music

Buzzcocks - The Way: Stll going strong, it's a decent album, though there's not really anything on it that gets anywhere the quality of those first classic albums.

Downliners Sekt - Silent Ascent: Spanish electronica duo deliver a decent album that's apparently easier on the ears than their previous stuff, that's interesting because this isn't exactly radio friendly, like I said thoug worth a spin.

Fucked Up - Glass Boys: Another enjoyable slab of hardcore punk rock from the Canadians, not quite as good as their last long player, but not far off.

Kamkatchka - The search goes on: Scandanavian hard rock, at times they remind me a touch of Queens of the stone age, not as good obviously, but on a couple of tracks they're getting there, pretty good.

Matthew Halsall - Sending my love: Yet to hear his latest album that had the rave reviews, but I went back to his debut album and it's another little gem of a record.

Paolo Nutini - Caustic Love: Pretty enjoyable soul/rock from the Scot, I haven't really given his music a chance in the past, maybe I should go back to his earlier stuff.

Spain - Sargent place: I have read a couple of pieces about this US indie act, and they sounded like the kind of band that would be up my street. Well it did take a couple of listens, a bit of getting into, but once there, I did absolutely love it. So I will definitely have to delve into their lengthy back catalogue.