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Character is alive and well at Manchester United FC. With all due respect to last year’s Mickey Mouse Cup Final this was probably the biggest match off between the two clubs since the sixties. United were fantastic.
As one of our readers has pointed out, the commentators on ESPN were very Spurs biased (thanks Roberta) which was pretty out of order. I’ll turn the sound off and take the three points any day of the week.
Seeing who played well is a bit like staring into the sky at night. You know all of the stars are there but you only really see the ones which shine the brightest. United’s nebula occurred around Rooney, Giggs and Fletcher on Saturday. Berbatov did not do enough.
I have remained deaf to the critics of the Bulgar but in this game I could see their point. However, we don’t want to get on any of our own player’s backs- we can save all that for City next week. I still think Berbatov is one of the most skillful players in the league.
Spurs started amazingly but with just ten men we really outplayed them as they tailed off. Could this be a microcosm of the season they have to come? Stranger things have happened, after all, Tevez thought moving to the temple of doom was a good idea. Life is an unpredictable place sometimes.
Talking about unpredictable places we are in Turkey this week. Football crowds there make the average Saturday night in the Wig and Pen look like a church council meeting. Besiktas might not be Brazil 1970 but it’ll still be quite a tough test. Let’s hope we can display some more of the character shown at White Hart Lane.
Follow Mark on Twitter @markjpayne and www.thedevilinme.co.uk
Photography from ringsofsaturnrock's at FickrC.Coms
Comments
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Posted by peter opiyo on 09/14/2009
I think it was good game but I think Berbatov should be told that he has not to go upto six yards to score goals he shuold try from far,he hold the ball to much, even as much as the fellow colleagues open for the the ball please Mr. Furgie advice him he is good but holding to much,we look to see winning team when playing manchester city on sunday keep the team spirit alive.
Peter opiyo Luomba,
Nairobi Kenya
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Posted by Aganyo on 09/14/2009
That was, to me, The Match of the Year/Season.... I may be wrong having in mind that the Derby Clash is on next weekend... It was an awesome display.
I have never seen that kind of confidence in The Red Camp before... and maybe an advice to Fergie, [Consider benching a player with no substitute in future to create some space in the field] I thought they saw each other better and moved with greater precision with one man less!!! Cheerz Man-U!
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Posted by welikhe j. steven on 09/14/2009
one saying goes;grow first,die first.spurs grew very first in less than a minute but died v. first and thanks to saf and the entire manutd for supurb display at white lane.to those who thought the departure of ronaldo and teves would cause damage,better change the idea now.
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Posted by jude on 09/14/2009
It was a wonderful victory on Saturday, no doubt. For me though, the disappointment has not been Berba as most say but Carrick; He has not stepped up to the plate and taken his share of responsibility like Fletcher has done admirably. He is one-paced and has no fight. I'm afraid if he doesnt step up, he will not be guaranteed an automatic start when Hargreaves returns.
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Posted by Immanuel on 09/14/2009
please we want to see real man u on sunday and dissapoint the new owners of man city with their loads of players.
Kalunduka Immanuel
Oshakati,Namibia
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Posted by Ladi Lowell on 09/14/2009
I still believe tenaciously that berbatov is one of the best player in the premiership and contrary to your assertion that he has not been playing well enough, i disagree with that. He's our most skillful player any day especially now that CR7 had left. He could be unfortunate not to have scored that day but i believe he still has a lot up his sleeve.
Our match against Spurs, i hardly believe that that was the same Spurs that trashed Liverpool last month as they appeared very ordinary in the game against us despite the fact that they had the upper hand barely few seconds into the match and that we were a man down for more than 30mins of the 2nd half. United were so fantastic and superb that our host could not find their footings. United for Life!!!
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Posted by Hans on 09/14/2009
I know we are all pleased that they came back, but watch the fact is that the central midfield is still missing. Fletcher is doing great, but Spurs aren't a quality team. Arsenal exposed it already. Watch highlights of the 98/99 season and see how much productive wing play we had. Our wingers are nearly non-existant. We have been able to play up the middle thanks to Ronaldo, but now can't. With no strong central midfield, teams are eventually going to crowd the middle. No Dennis Irwin, no 26 year old Giggs, no Beckham, no Blomqvist. This equals too much pressure for Rooney as the season goes on and a slaughtering in Europe. Did anyone notice that Rio had a weak match? He rushed back from injury like the UCL final last year and the effects were similar. He was beaten by Crouch all day long. Let me repeat that, Peter Crouch!
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Posted by Andrew on 09/14/2009
Mark, like you I've resisted criticizing Dimitar as it was his run which resulted in the foul which Giggs calmly slotted into the top corner. His movement is still sublime, and while he hasn't ever hit his goalscoring potential, his movement and passing are just remarkable. I liked Scholes in the game as well.... up until those two dumb tackles. I think Fletcher has been the brightest spot for Utd this season. You expect Rooney to do well, & you expect Vidic, Evra, Rio and (insert name here) to be solid, but the role of holding mid was missing last year - I think Fletcher has the ability to become the next Keane...maybe not as mean, but he covers every blade of grass on the pitch and has made all the necessary tackles for Utd this season - Wenger can poke his "anti-football".... at 25, I hold a lot of hope for him.
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Posted by george on 09/14/2009
how could you actually mention people who had the game bucked down and not mention the role of scholes and anderson.to me it tells me u dont watch football from the middle, but from the wings.for the first time in years SAF picked a balanced team..not skillful and unbalanced.
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Posted by Denny on 09/14/2009
V SAR, RIO, VIDIC, EVRA, OSHEA, FLETCHER, ANDERSON, NANI, VALENCIA, ROONEY, BERBATOV. That I think should be our regular starting eleven. This I think gives us a good attacking flair and a sturdy defensive quality. I know the opinions might eliminate a couple but no other eleven can be as balanced.
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Posted by HC Lam on 09/15/2009
It was a good game tactically for us. This season I reckon SAF is relying more match tactics than individual brilliance to win games. Our wing play was almost non-existent agst Spurs but that primarily due to the fact that we needed to have strong defensive midfielders to track back and cover the likes of Lennon and Ekotto. SAF knew how dangerous both of them can be, thus starting with Giggs and Fletcher on the wings. Both Giggs and Fletcher covered the flanks very well defensively, thus nullifying the effects of Lennon especially.
I believe we have our tactics right in the last 2 matches agst Arsenal and Spurs. And in Ben Foster we finally have an able replacement for VDS. Bring on Besiktas and City this week!
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Posted by Michael Mangami on 09/15/2009
That was a great perfomance by a Great Team. I still believe the team can even achieve better than last year. We have great players and the best coach in the World. Keep the fire burning guys!
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Posted by Lambert on 09/15/2009
I would leave it to fergie to select.Enough said on who should start and who wouldn't.No one else knows best but him.Wanna proof? Nuuh,I leave it to the gaffer,let him decide.
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Posted by manchester nkgwang on 09/15/2009
m nt shy 2 sai dt Berba stil remains da bzt playa eva...a playa of his caliber his ability 2 hold da ball ,easily penetratin da opponent n dos hospital killer passes he onli nids 2 work on hiz scorin rate..ayooooooooooooooooooooooba DA RED DEVILS ayoooooooooooooba Sir Fergi da master of tacticion 4eeeeeeeeeva UNITED TIL WI DIE
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Posted by Infinideas on 09/15/2009
Well said HC Lam. I was surprised to see the starting lineup, but can't help to praise SAF for this spot-on-lineup. The use of Giggs, Anderson and Evra, these 3 lefties are obvious to help stop Lennon who's the most dangerous in the Spurs side since the beginning of the season. Even though the first goal came from a cross from our right, but still, Spurs left side attack is not that strong with Keane tends to drift in the center. And how good Fletcher has becomes!!! He's absolutely the new Keane I reckon. He plays simple short passes most of the time and over the whole box to box area. And when you need a miracle pass, he even delivers that to set up Rooney for the 3rd goal.
As of Berba, I reckon he did pretty well so far in the season. The Spurs game is hard to judge as he was took off for the sake of defending with 10 man. But I think he didn't really try to score from 6 yards as someone mentioned. Didn't he took a nice quick left foot shot that was on target from around edge of box
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Posted by Hans on 09/15/2009
george, it sounds as if you think wing play is unbalanced. Watch highlights from the Treble year in 1998/99. See how many goals came from the wings. Watch highlights from Cantona's career and see how many assist Giggs and Beckham had. In 98/99, Beckham had something like 25 assists. Not that playing down the middle is bad, but Berbatov will score more goals when we have stronger wing play. If we become a team that always goes down the middle, teams will start crowding the middle and stop us like Columbia was stopped in the 94 World Cup (they couldn't play on the outsides to save their lives). Everyone is already picking our starting 11, but I say you give Hargreaves a chance to get back in shape, add him with Fletcher, and get Valencia to play down to the touch line before crossing and our goal output increases immediately.
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Posted by wazir on 09/15/2009
I wish today is our good starting i uefa due to obligation which we did give ROONEY
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Posted by ARIONG MOSES on 09/16/2009
Well, all has been said. this must surely be one of the best games of the season....full of Flair, Skills display and Tactics from the managers- especially SAF. Abt Berba, he is excellent at holding the ball, passing and controlling and that makes him the most skill full player in Man U. he simply needs alittle more time!
Glory glory manutd!!!!
Ariong
Uganda
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Posted by sammy on 09/16/2009
I personally think that we really played like champion on that day. we played with much confident and composture. First, we were 1 goal down very early, but we bit our time, remain calm and wear the opponent out and we go for the kill. next came the red card, giving spurs the numerical advantage. but then again, it seems that the spurs did not manage to even utilise this advantage as we covered the missing pieces very well. we even manged to score the 3rd goal dispite having 1 man down. all in all, i think the widz-kid of manu, giggs being captain really control the team and the game well. his composture and leadership really command much respect. if we continue this kind of play, i don't see why the championship is not ours..ONLY A CHAMPION PLAYED LIKE A CHAMPION..
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Posted by RHAMMIE ALIAS on 09/16/2009
Sir Alex Ferguson know what's he doing right now even though some small interuption through out the new season.Need to give a bit more time to VALENCIA or OWEN before he got going on the right direction n same goes to BERBABTOV as well.
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Posted by odongo Moses on 09/21/2009
It was a fantastic game against Man City.
But I think Fedinand and Ben Foster should be rested if they have no explanations to their leziness and gifting City with free and easy goals!
Let W. Brown and Van Da Saa Start playing.
Our strentgth (Defence) is being compromised.
We don't have to loose against stoke City to
start benching the none performers.
Thank you.
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Posted by Charles on 09/21/2009
I am begining to loose interest in Premiership. Ask me why?I have come to realise that match officials favours man u more than any other team.
When Mourinho was shouting about this, I thought he was making noise. Recent match between Man U and Arsenal, also that of Mancgester City confirms the whole thing.
If Arsenal match with them will not be a pointer, then lets consider their match with Manchester City.
One of the referee crew at the bench displayed that there is 2min extra rime to go and at the middle referee extended the game to 6 minutes. I see that unethical and anoying. Premiership official just kept silent on it. But it did not take them up to a week to take a decision on Adebayor's case.
We Nigerians love premiership do much, because we believe that there is fareness in the management. Today, the reverse has become the case because of lot of things that are comming out now.
I think something should be done about it.
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Posted by Denny on 09/22/2009
After another disappointing display by Foster I think that Sir Alex now has no choice but to put Kuszczak in goal. Waiting might prove to be our final undoing. Foster is a good shot stopper, but his positional play and his overall judgement leaves a lot to be desired. Until V'Sar is fit and ready we should now take heed and alow the better keeper to take his place in goal. Exciting match, glad for the win.
Posted by Aziz on 09/23/2009
I Think Rooney Will Take The World Best This Time And Not Messi ..Because He Has Everything That A Player Should Have When Playing Foot Ball ...I Really Trust C.Ronaldo And He Was My Man But Now I Think The Coach Have To Go For Torres And Xavi
Posted by abraham ajibola on 10/12/2009
went is owen hargreaves resuming training
Posted by Maurice Tharao on 10/23/2009
I really think that the Queen should Knight Ryan Giggs.
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About
Mark Payne writes about football for a variety of media outlets. He reported on the 2010 World Cup for Australia’s ABC network and worked at one of the FIFA fan sites. He has been ESPN’s Manchester United correspondent for four years. His writing attracts a worldwide following and in 2011 this blog was nominated for an award. To contact Mark for football discussion e-mail him on markpayne.editor@hotmail.com at any time. He wears lucky socks on match days.
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