Manchester United 2-3 Athletic Bilbao

 I can't say i was very confident ahead of this game and i know i wasn't alone, but i can't say i was expecting such a chasing. The late penalty tucked away by Rooney flattered United to put it mildly, 3-1 was a far truer reflection of the game. We knew that the Basques were a good side and they certainly showed that last night, but i have never believed the protestations from the club that they are taking this competition seriously. The evidence has been in front of our eyes for the first three games with one average performance to put alongside two stinkers.
The way we have played in this competition so far it's hard to see United winning by the two clear goals that they will have to get next week even with that last gasp penalty. To be honest i won't be too upset at an early exit, but that doesn't mean i want to go and see completely outclassed as were were last night especially in the second half.
It really has been a jeckyl and hide season, you just never know which United are going to turn up, let's hope the right United turn up on Sunday. Let's hope too that Antonio Valencia is back Sunday or soon because i feared when he limped off in Amsterdam  that we would miss him badly. Without him we have looked short on creativity, in fact even when he was playing brilliantly i was worried just how much we relied him. Because basically all we were doing was just giving him the ball and waiting for him to skin his man and put the ball on a plate for the forwards.
On paper Park on one wing and Ashley Young didn't look particularly threatning to the opposition and unfortunately it wasn't just on paper as both players were pretty innocuous. I'm afraid i am sadly coming to conlcusion that the £15 million we payed Villa for Ashley Young wasn't the best piece of business we have ever done, especially since we don't seem to have a pot to piss in. He just isn't good enough, he scores the occasional classy goal as he did at White hart lane but his contribution to the match and our attack is pretty limited. He seems to be a wide man who doesn't even take his man on never mind beat him, i knew he favoured cutting inside whilst at Villa, but i assumed he occasionally took his man to the byeline. Well i got that wrong, i think i can probably count on the fingers of one hand how many times he has actually beat his man on the outside.
As for Park well, well he was Park you know he is'nt going to be giving his full back a roasting as he will be cutting inside. But as agaist Barca at Wembley against top quality opposition he is just a passenger. I'm not blaming him, but unfortunately for him his name has happened to be on the teamsheet for a fair number of our games to forget this season.
Our home record in Europe this season is truly appalling, Played 6, won 1, drawn 2 and lost 3. When you take into account that the Romanian team were one of the worst we have seen in the champions league it really stinks. I take what Gary Neville has said today about this season being a learning experience and how United struggled at times in Europ in the mid 80's but we were never as bad as we have been this season. And where we generally got found out then was away from home not at Old trafford.
I',m not thrilled to have to admit it but i don't thin 4-4-2 is working very well for us in Europe, especially with as unsettled and inexperienced a central midfield we have to cll on this season. With a young defence and a new goalie to bed in, they aren't really getting the protection that they were always going to need. I am a fan of Jones in midfield but it didn't work for him last night, and really with Giggs next to him that wasn't ideal.
I have to say going up to the Ajax game i was pretty confident that if we could get the three points at White hart line that we would have a great chance of the tiltle. But after Sunday and last night's performance my confidence has dimmed a little
  
Fergie admits that we Bilbao outplayed us last night but feels that we can gain revenge over there next week. Well i suppose he has to say that and he has to belive it too. He also told the press that he may have to re-asses how United approach European football tacttically in future, sounds like 4-4-2 may be on its way out again. Our only problem there will be fitting Valencia into a 4-3-3 because he was born to play right wing in a 4-4-2, which is a worry as he is our main creative outlet. Problems.
Jim White ponders United's home fallibillities in Europe this season and is concerned at our inability to handle fast counter attacking teams. I'm not certain i'd go along with that, my concern is that we don't and seem unable to control games. It's the middle of the park again.

So it seems it really is bye bye Paul Pogba, i'm not really sure what to make of this whole episode to be honest. He looked very promising last season in the youth team, though not as good as Morrison and maybe Will Keane. But during the first part of the season, when playing for the reserves when the injuries started to bite and people wondered why he wasn't being called up the first team, his form frankly didn't warrant in my eyes.
Then all the rumours started and our injuries reached crisis point to the point that Scholes returned, but he still he wasn't called up. His performance in his fifteen minute cameo at home to Stoke was promising, more so than i had expected. But had he done anything to warrant the wages he was demanding, no chance. So it is suprising to read Andy Mitten write that Fergie actually ended up offering him the same wage as Juventus but not the £2 million that the agent will receive. After that i really do not know what to think, except footballers wages in general are a disgrace. They should be in the doghouse with the bankers really, when everbody else is struggling to get by the sport just takes the piss.
But my final footballing thought on the matter would have to be, you reap what you sow, we knicked from Le Harve and Juve have done the same to us, United can't really cry. I would be more than happy if left poaching yongsters from other clubs alone. But then we recently poached Perraira from PSV and supposedly he is the dogs bollocks, supposedly. You can't really win. It has made me wonder just where the club is heading though, is it as happy a ship as it has been.

Giggs and Scholes are still a smash hit as United aim to replicate AC's golden oldies

Andy Mitten profiles the troubled Gerard Pique, I saw the sending off and it looked very harsh to me. I have to admit every time i have seen Barca this season he has played pretty well, i must have missed the poor performances.

Peter Oborne thinks the finest government in a generation will be over before they year 2013 is out. It has started to seriously look that way, thankfully, where do you start with that description though. It's whole economic startegy has been a total disaster, meaning the whole raison d'etre of the coaltion has been wrong.

Private Eye wonders why Whitehall doesn't learn lessons in its history of outsourcing. Because it doesn't want to would appear to be the answer.

Peter Hook is interviwed over his Joy Division present as he discusses his New Order past and the fall out with the rest of the group.http://louderthanwar.com/peter-hook-is-about-to-play-the-still-album-an-interview/

Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Manchester United

I've absolutely no idea how we came out of that 90 minutes with a 3-1 victory, but i'll take it. The first half was an embarrassment, i couldn't believe we we could play so badly in such an important game. I heard Fergie blame himself for that first half performance, saying he got his tactics wrong, playing deep and try to get Tottenham to come on and catch them on the break. That's a reasonable excuse up to a point, but it doesn't really explain our poor passing or inability to create anything.
So how did we come out of it with that scoreline, decent defending, another good performance from De Gea and probably the main reason was that it was a good day to be playing Spurs who were without Bale, Van Der Vaart and Parker.
The first half really was bad, from about 20 minutes in, i couldn't wait for half time to come, so Fergie could lay into them. Though to be fair for all the Tottenham possession and pressure they didn't really create much. The problem was United created even less and did not looking likely to create anything. So that goal from Rooney on the stroke of half time really was a bonus, coming from absolutely nowhere.
If we thought that would gee United up we were wrong as United started the second half just as badly and Spurs once more were on the front foot.
And then 15 minutes into the second half United found themsleves 2 goals up as the home team went to sleep Walker losing Nani who crossed for Young to fire a fine volley home. It has to be said that Young had disappointed again for the majority of the game, yet he came up with two great goals. When he picked up the ball for the third goal i fancied him to finish it off, i don't know why because when you see the replay you realise what a cracking goal it was.
It was only really after that when United started to dominate the game. It was a pity about the home sides late goal but given the way the game had gone you can't really get too upset at it. We have got a great run in now, i wouldn't be suprised if United are top of the table by the time we visit the boo camp next month. Though the way this season goes anything could happen i suppose. It will be nice to get Valencia back, we haven't half missed him the last couple of weeks. 

Alan Hansen reckons that United's easier run in and title chasing experience just gives us the edge in the title run in. I think Villa Boass sacking was yet another ridiculous decision from Abramovitch, but it was probably timed to perfection for us, given the fact that certain players obviously weren't trying for the ousted manager. That Chelsea game just got that much harder for the blues.
I see most pundits are linking Mourinho to the job, to which the only response can be, why the fuck would he want to leave Real Madrid for Stamford bridge and Abramovitch. I suppose stranger things have happened but i really can't see that happening.

Dvid Blanchflower argues that unemployment isn't funny and accuses Osborne of playing politics instead of trying to get the economy growing again.

Robert Peston blogs on last week's embarrassing unpaid tax debacle, Mervyn King isn't very happy about the behaviour of our banks. Richard Murphy wants to shatter some myths surrounding the Telegraph 50p tax rate letter. Robert Skidelsky continues to call for a British investment bank telling the tories tax cuts and printing money aren't enough.

Charlotte Philby asks what went so right for BBC's 6 music, it plays good music, simples.

Rooney's back for Sunday

Rooney will be back for Sunday's Tottenham clash after his, ahem, throat infection, is anybody that suprised to hear that he's trained all week. I always felt he was rested last week  and that Pearce or even Capello if he had still had been in charge would have wanted to look at other striking options with Rooney missing the first two games of this summer's tournament.
I thought United did alright at Norwich without him, but it will great to have him back and hopefullt firing for this vital game.
Fergie thinks that TV scheduling will not trouble United, but will be new to City and wonders how they will react to it. I can't see the Chelsea game being re-scheduled, they might not even still be in the cup by then.
Paul Wilson had asked earlier in the week if Sir Alex Ferguson is United's biggest advantage in the title race as the pressure starts to crank up a notch as we enter March and the beginning of squeaky bum time. That and the return to an almost fit squad makes that a yes, if Vidic wasn't out for the season, i would be uber confident, but there's always that nagging doubt about us at the back. Thankfully after tomorrow there is only the game at the boo camp to really test us in that department.

Wednesday saw United compete in the quarter finals of the FA Youth cup at Old trafford against Charlton Athletic and what a game it was. United were more the more skillful outfit but with the majority of them eligible to play in next years competition as well they are always liable to be up against it physically.
Twice United took the lead, towards the end of the first half and with quarter of an hour to go and both times the lead only lasted a minute. United were unable to play Charlton off the park as they had Swansea and the away team gave as good as they got and after they had equalised the first time should have taken the lead minute later.
United had their moments of good possession and troubled Charlton with their excellent passin movements but never managed to dominate the midfield as they did against Swansea. United's goalie Sutherland needed to be on his mettle and unlike youth teams of the last few years our goalie was one of the stars of the show. The outfield to most catch my eye was Daehli. he had an excellent game in the last round, with his use of the ball and his ability to not give ti away cheaply. On Wednesday he continued that good work but added some fine runs both dribbling with it and off the ball as well. He seems to have grown a little which doesn't half help, he was pretty small the first time i saw him. He is definitely a player i will be keeping my eye on, he seems to have a bit of everything.
United were fortunate that the oppostion went down to ten men four minutes from the end through injury after they had made all the substitutions. But to be honest from that moment it was really the away team who looked like winning as players went down like flies with cramp on both teams, Charlton's big fast lad up front Sho-Silva threatened to win it on his own. But United's last great move saw them nick it three minutes from the end of the ten minutes of injury time as Wilson finished off Van Velzen's fine pull back. A 3-2 win may have flattered them but given their size and speed it was a cracking performance and even at youth level and not just this year, United never know when they are beaten.
So Chelsea over two legs in the semi final again, if they can get through that, i have no idea how good Chelsea are, they must have a great chance of adding to United's record number Youth cup wins.

Ahead of Sunday's game United's engine room gets the one over from Saturday's papers, with Guardian profiling the quiet cog in Manchester United's engine room and Mark Ogden tipping Paul Scholes to carry on next season. I can definitely see Scholes giving another season, why give up when you can give the perormances he has recently. Fergie has been going out of his way to praise Carrick recently, justly so he has been magnificent since christmas, not that he'd done anything wrong before that.

De Gea will be placed on a strengthing programme to help him bulk up similar to the programme developed for Hernandez last season in an attempt to help him adjust to the robustness of the English game.
Peter Schmeichel has been impressed with De Gea and thinks he can become as good as Joe Hart, who he believes is one of the best around. He is another who sees United's know how being a big advantage in the forthcoming title countdown.

The Mail report that United are to take up the clause in Berbatov's contract to keep him for another season meaning that he will be here next season. That could of course be interpreted as meaning that he will leave in the summer and that the Glazer's will receive some much needed wonga for him. I would lean to that, but for knowing what will happen to Owen. He must surely be on his way this time, what's the point of him, he's never fit, never mind not being good enough. Which would leave us with four fit strikers, and if we were to suffer the injury problems we have suffered everywhere else in the squad this season, they would all be needed.
So i'm not sure what will happen, i had hoped that Josh King would have a good loan season and come back to be a back up part of the squad next season because i really rated him. Bu it's not happened for him, with his injury and lack of games he hasn't progressed at all. It's hard to know where he is in the pecking order now.

It sounds like Darren Flecther must have been reading the last Red Iss as he popped up to remind the press he is still here last week and working hard to try and overcome his illness to resurrect his United career. The word on the street claimed that the Glazer's bean counters were on the case and wanted proof that they won't be paying for another passenger ala Hargreaves. I'm afraid that was what i expected to happen, i was always amazed they let the Hargreaves saga drag on to the end. Given the length of time that Flecther has been at the club and service he has given, he deserves better than this though. If they do terminate his career, we will know how tight things are financially.

Andy Mitten reckons United are losing the battle to keep Paul Pogba, i hope he's just using journalistic license to use the Vierra analogy, because i have never reall see that. He sums it up perfectly at the end though, he does owe us nothing, but that doesn't mean he's making the right decision for his career.

Michael Wolf, Rupert's biographer thinks that son James played corporate politics lost and claims that he will not be missed, he thinks that this has finished him and has once again loosened Murdoch senior's rip on News international.
Peter Oborne writes that it will only be a matter of time before the question will have to be asked if Rupert Murdoch is a fit and proper person to run a company. I'm tempted to say Micahel Gover, over to you. Paul Mason asks is Britain bent after Sue Akers statement on Monday.


Richard Flannagan asks how did such a flawed man such as Kevin Rudd ever become prime minister of Australia. James Rose describes last week as the strangest of recent Australian political history and claims that we have only just reached the first commercial break.

James Blood worth declares that the prohibition of drugs has been an abject failure with a devastating human cost in his Independent health blog.

Racehl Polonsky aks if Putin has now become a national joke as he becomes a more openly and widely mocked figure ahead of the forthcoming Russian presidential elections. You can only hope that this is the beginning of the end of the alliance between the old security service and oligarchs and their ongoing state thievery.
I suppose the ousting of that corrupt regime could be bad news for the city of London and maybe London itself, there's a lot of corrupt Russian money salted away there.

Lou Reed circa 1974