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As United's players trudged off the field at the Stadium of Light they looked a little sheepish after this average display. The fans began the grim drive back from the North East safe in the knowledge there would be no Fergie press conference to catch up on during the journey.
The manager might be feeling the pinch of the increased fines he is receiving for refusing to speak to the BBC. This new press embargo may be a symptom of that, or rather an understandable reaction to his comments about Torres being mis-reported.
• Sunderland blog: We murdered them 0-0!
Many have written about our inability to win away from home in the league this year but few people seem to take the time to look at the actual league table. We are still very much in touch at the top and four games that saw us defeated twice last season have us record four stalemates this term. That’s okay. Never in the history of modern football has a league season been decided after 18% of its fixtures have been completed. 2010/2011 will be no different on that score.
Berbatov and Macheda choose a bad time to play 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes'.
©Getty Images
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Indeed, our opponents have been scoring against us, but the return of Rio Ferdinand has been an instant tonic to that problem. The more cynical amongst us will call it a temporary solution but the optimists will not be writing off Johnny Evans as a footballer just yet.
Dismissing Rooney’s continued absence as merely a ‘blip’ is looking increasingly delusional though. He is bearing all the hallmarks of a guy who is really struggling at the moment. “I’m only human” read yesterday’s unnecessary headlines. Not many 24-year-olds will have to carry the expectations of a nation on their shoulders and then be vilified as the intimate details of their personal lives are pored over in the public glare. There is an argument to say that he could do with a week or two on a beach far away from the madding crowd.
The supporters who travelled to Valencia midweek had more than just decent sangria to show for the experience. A second win on Spanish soil in eight years against the La Liga leaders is a tremendous result. As is understandable in the aftermath of a World Cup, this side has not got into gear yet and that result takes a lot of the pressure off us in Europe.
Six points against Bursaspor should see us through but we’ll need six in the next two league games as well to keep pace. Our next away game sees us take on the stubborn mule that is Stoke City, not the easiest place to record a victory, but something we need to do if Chelsea aren’t going to speed away.
At Stamford Bridge, egos don’t seem to have deflated much after the defeat Manchester City last week. A loss to Arsenal might just send them into a minor panic, but I doubt it’ll happen. Their form against the Gunners has been imperious over the last few years and you suspect Dider Drogba is capable of beating them on his own he is so used to it.
Although we are not in trouble yet, if our midfielders don’t start to fire away from Old Trafford and our defence doesn’t start getting more consistent, Fergie might well have something to say about it when we play at Chelsea in December. If we haven’t won an away game by then, we will look like lambs to the slaughter.
Follow Mark at twitter.com/markjpayne
 
Comments
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Posted by CfC_Justin on 10/03/2010
Ego's have not deflated at Stamford Bridge? Well, we'll see mate, we'll see.
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Posted by brian on 10/03/2010
i think fergie should leave. a lot of fans paid good money yesterday to got the ganme and watch boring united. i am getting fed up with the new fergie droppoing players for no reason at all. banning press confernce ssying rooney out for 3 weaks and then out for one ganme. its time fergie call it a day
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Posted by Urmstonian on 10/03/2010
A 0-0 against a decent Sunderland team who almost nicked a win at OT last season is not a bad result. Nor is a 2-2 against the Bolton roughnecks. But if we lose the title by one or two points, you will know why - those draws against Fulham and Everton.
But there are positives. Macheda, who looks about as subtle as a runaway driverless bus, is providing some - two against Scunthorpe as well as the one against Valencia. Isn't it completely enjoyable to win a game when you don't deserve to?
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Posted by David Smith on 10/03/2010
Only 5 points behind Chelsea is an absolute miracle. Macheda hasn't shown much improvement; Owen looks out of his league; Bebe's a complete mystery and Wayne's suffering from all sorts of ailments: injury, a dire World Cup, no pre-season and his private life splashed all over the tabloids. If it wasn't for Berbatov, we'd be Liverpool.
We were very poor at Bolton; dire at Valencia and as uninspired as I can ever remember a United side being up at Sunderland. Vidic was absolutely immense at the Stadium of Light and Rafael had a good game, but other than that, this team offers no real hope at the moment.
United sides of old would have seen Chelsea and Arsenal get beat on the Saturday, then gone out the next day (Bolton) and absolutely throttled them. With the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez, the glaring weaknesses of Anderson, Fletcher, O'Shea, Nani and Carrick just to name a few, are not only going to be exposed, but part of the reason why our title challenge will be over by Xmas.
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Posted by Klaatu on 10/04/2010
Yet again another poor performance. I think Fergie got the formation wrong by holding back Scholes's passing game and asking Anderson to take on the playmakers role. Nani seems to think he is irreplaceable and is back to playing nonsense. His playacting has to stop, it is embarassing! Owen should be kept as an impact player and when I saw the team sheet, it looked as though we were looking for a draw! Why leave the form player on the bench. We escaped with a draw whilst playing badly at Valencia and Fergie thought we could do it again! New formations and "First Starts of the season" should be tried out at Home or at cup games not in the League, especially away! We threw the game away by giving possession away too easily! By X'mas....no! title already lost if we have to rely on Nani, Anderson, O'Shea, Rafael, JiSung and Evans. Fletcher is just a 5th defender, needs to contribute more in Assists and Goals column!
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Posted by MUfan on 10/04/2010
come on!!!!Guys!believe me. SAF will deliver it OT(On Time).don't worry...the boss knows very well where to loss points and where to gain points.End results are the only matter for him. EPL title! FA cup! League Cup, And Champion League!!!!. Most games wins? most games draws? or loss....just forget it.he will get enough points to win it back.and the Team will definitely execute his plans OT to get the result.
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Posted by Maverick on 10/04/2010
What a crap performance against Sunderland. The players were lethargic. Sunderland all credit to them for making United look ordinary. After 7 games, I do not see us lifting the PL at the end of the season.
If we do win, I would say it a damn miracle.
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Posted by saiful azuan on 10/04/2010
anderson gave the ball too easily. how i wish that kid learn a lot just like nani. hope he won't be playing again anytime soon.
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Posted by adam on 10/04/2010
before the start of the season I was treating this year as a rebiulding year to bring on some of the younger players- I never expected to seriously challenge - a good safe top three finish is all I expect. The failure to buy a creative attacking mid field player ensured we would struggle to compete!!!! Hopefully this year players such as anderson will grow and be gamebreakers next year
Oh, and note how good Van De Vaat has been for spurs - top shelf!!!
why why why did we not buy him for 8 million - biggest mistake of the season
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Posted by Patrice-Kigali on 10/04/2010
Here is a brief comparison of the ManU we used to know before(MU-Old) and the one since 2009/2010 season(MU-New).
1. MU-New: Surrenders to the opposition in the last 15 minutes of the game. MU-Old: The opposition surrendered in the last 15 minutes.
2. MU-Old: Whenever beaten or drew, the next five games would all most likely be wins(15 points registered). MU-New after a loss or draw, next single win is by luck and mostly is another draw.
3. MU-Old: whenever a game was lost or a draw, the Boss would not tolerate any thing less than 3, 4 or 5 consecutive wins. MU-: After a loss or draw, the Boss is contented with a draw in the next game.
4. MU-Old: Strong in every department.MU-New; Weak links in every department.
5. MU-Old; Counter attacking team. MU-New; very slow to build a quick attack.
6.MU-Old; fixed 11 starters. MU-New; 11 starters changing all the time. etc
Worst of all, SAF doesn't seem bothered at all!!
Title in this season without a change? Dream on!
ManU4ever.
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Posted by johanzul on 10/04/2010
With all due respect to the fans,
my personal view on this, I do not think that at this point of time and this season to be exact, MU shall be a genuine title contender and winner in BPL + CL. My personal vote, I'll accept MU with no title won this season if SAF lets more youngsters play time to gain experience. Thus, again, please give those youngsters more chance to play (wait a sec, where's Obertan b.t.w?) but drill 'em hard, push 'em to the limit + get somebody real fast and damn good (Sneijder will join MU? is it true?) to play with Scholes in midfield inter changing attacking and defending. Anyway, we surely need to be thankful that Liverpool is not doing good enuf this season too, in which still holds the 18th title level. MU fans can still be proud of the record eh?
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Posted by van der on 10/04/2010
- unrational, too fond with Fletcher (maybe same scotland)play as right midfield, which should be central.
- too optimistic by playing the youngster, not keeping the best team. bench Berbatov (while in top form), not take Park (which more experienced)at least as substitute.
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Posted by Arzerouni23 on 10/04/2010
Certainly the results have been disappointing for Man U this season, however if you consider the fact that Chelsea beat Arsenal twice last season and lost to Man City twice, then you can see a trend there. Man Utd lost the EPL last season by a single point, thanks to the exploits of Rooney, this year we have replaced rooney with Berba (whom I've always criticized and yet admit that his scoring is good this season). Chelsea have not signed anyone new who can enhance their game significantly, Utd have signed one or two, and certainly Hernandez seems to be the one which will make an impact. Utd lost to Everton and Fullham away last season, where as we managed to pick up 2 points there. We drew against sunderland at home last season, while we drew away this season. There is no reason to wave the white flag already. We are still undefeated this season, and I'm sure if we remain that way till the end of the season, then the EPL will be ours. We must improve and we will, especially in defense
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Posted by ivan on 10/04/2010
This is an absolute disgrace of a team.
Ferguson needs to go.He no longer has a clue when it comes to picking a team. Sucess has gone to his head, and he thinks no matter what he does it will give the right result.
It is painfull watching this rubbish week in and week out.We let Tevez go,could not be bothered getting Van Der Vaart.Supporters wear Green and Yellow to show there disapproval of the Glazers, what colour should we wear for Ferguson?
He is supposed to be the graetest manager, but kept changing strikers against Sunderland-I think everyone else could see the problem was in mid-field, not upfront.
I dont mind losing or drawing, as long as its a great game and the players put in effort. what we are seeing in disgaceful. they should have their Salaries.I Haaaaaaaattttttteeeeee Ferguson
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Posted by timon on 10/04/2010
well i wouldn't be so critical but concerned..
1st i dont think evans is a better center half compared to experienced brown or the young smalling so for me he shouldn't be the third choice, we have all seen how that has been proven this season.
2nd sir Alex did a huge mistake not to award the captancy to the deserved Rio we all know he is a better leader than nemanja and that was proven in the last 2 cleanshits. I dont buy the excuse ferguson gave of saying that hes continuosly injured. A captain should be judged on how he leads the lads when he's around not when he's in the hospital.
Thats all i have to say but am the title is ours stay positive guys.
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Posted by tony on 10/04/2010
fans need to look closer at this years manutd team and realise we are in real trouble. the only reason we finished a point behind chelsea last year was the insane form of wayne rooney...and he has really struggled this year. wayne is now missing his best provider in valencia and does not seem to be the world beating lone forward he was a year ago. in midfield there is nothing special about the players we currently have. in united teams of old these average midfielders would be fringe players, but now the unspectacular fletcher and the aging scholes are expected to provide the difference the likes of essien barry and fabregas are providing. this is the weakest united team i have ever seen but i've only been avidly following since 02. our midfield can not match up with chelsea, arsenal, or even man city. truthfully we are barely better than liverpool in the middle of the field. forget the champions league and matching up with the likes of barca..this year i'll be happy if we finish top 3
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Posted by Tapiwa Mubonderi on 10/04/2010
I think our team is looking strong and once the foot goes on the pedal heads will roll. A draw is better than a loss. We need to keep a positive outlook, I hope we go on a winning spree when the trophies are won. The goal scoring duties will be evenly distributed, just wait the titles are coming back home.
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Posted by madarooy on 10/04/2010
to say fergie has to go is absolute insane. Man Utd is always seen as a slow starter to the season. To be undefeated is a good thing right now and hope the winning form will arrive soon. BELIEVE.
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Posted by Mike on 10/05/2010
Why all the hard talk - football is played on the day teams like west brom can beat arsenal- so we can n go on n beat chelsea , man city and tottenham and the title is ours and defeat the low table teams.
The same man utd team as last yr with a few additions - chicarito, smalling, bebe and less injuries. The same team last yr finished a point off Chelsea and done in Europe on away goals. And all our players are fit now except Valencia go 2 see Hargreaves back! We had 2 many defeats last season - 7 in all we aint defeated yet
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Posted by Ian on 10/05/2010
I think we're completely undone by our lack of depth in the middle of the park. Fletcher is running himself to the ground considering that he looked rather jaded in the last 2 matches. Scholes was rather subdued. In the Sunderland game, both our wingbacks were terrible in their crosses. We have sufficient talents in the attack and Bebe seemed pretty comfortable running with the ball.
We need better cover for Scholes and Fletcher than what's available on the bench right now. Look at how Van Der Vaart has performed for Spurs. Together with Modric, they're driving the team on. Let's hope we land a "Snejder" next season, otherwise our engine room will be reduced to that of a mule-cart!
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Posted by klaatu on 10/05/2010
We will endure losses and draws during any season. The difference in previous season was that very seldom did the team play badly. They would dominate games but sometimes results would go against them. I didn't mind then, I felt satisfied with the performance. The 4 draws we got this season, so far left me saying we deserved what we got as we played badly! Lose or Draw if you must, but please play well and show me effort. Don't show me errors. Guts and Glory and we will back you all the way! We should have been saying "we murdered them 0-0" instead of Sunderland. Give me a performance to be proud. Win, lose or draw it doesn't matter......entertain me!
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Posted by Eddie G. on 10/05/2010
I'm kinda disappointed to see so many 'fair-weather' fans in the United camp! The season is far from over and people are calling for the manager's head? The very same manager without whom the club would not be enjoying its immense success now no less? Is this how we show gratitude and appreciation?
As a United fan, I love to see it when the team wins trophies and all, but I have also come to terms with the fact that we won't always win. And I get absolutely livid because there are many bandwagoners who cast their lots with United only when they're winning - and such is the attitude that fans from other clubs are associating Manchester United with.
Just you all wait and see! By the end of this season, United would be up there making a serious challenge for the title (even if we don' win it again) and all those naysayers talking smack today would turn around and start singing Fergie's praises again. Sodding hypocrites.
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Posted by darcey on 10/05/2010
Sir Alex is currently rebulilding the team bit by bit lik he did in 2004-2006 then guess what happened after that, we won 3 epls and the champions league!! Rooney will get back to his best and Nani will become Ronaldo eventually and he already is becoming more like him every game remember at Arsenal the fantastic goal he scored. SAF will sign some new youngster eg Marek Hamsik from Napoli or he will go out and spend big and by a temporary player like Sneijder.
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Posted by D-Man on 10/05/2010
What we are currently seeing is the same thing that happened at Liverpool 4 or 5 years ago. ie: bad owners tying the managers hands and not being able to buy the 1 or 2 top shelf players every year to keep the side at the top while the younger players get experience. If the Glazers don't go we will end up at the same place as Liverpool when their loans come due.
The only difference is SAF is alot better than Benitez and are youth system is the best in Britain.
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Posted by aussiered on 10/05/2010
To all those short memoried, half stupid so called fans, I find the comments and nature of such to be nothing more than infantile. So what if we have a bad season so what if Chelsea win the league again. The upshot and postive to it all wil be that all the above fans will move on and support City.That is where you all deserve to be, If you can remember the 70s and 80s you will also remember to bask in whatever glory that befalls this great institution. Watching a team come through a sticky patch is far more enjoyable than watching anything pre SAF. So lighten up pull up your sticks and leave the arena you baying hounds.
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Posted by kelvin on 10/05/2010
well said Eddie G. on the fair weater fans....my thought exactly!!!!
We did not look good at Sunderland, definitely not our usual selves. But did anyone look at the Sunderland performance..or the Bolton performance for that matter. The opposition played good games with lots of blood and guts. The fact that on a not so good day, we sucked it up, and stood toe to toe...is not a "disasterous performance" as far as this fan is concerned.
Wayne needs time to get his mind back on track. The boss is treating him as a "son" and giving him (forcibly) time and space...rather than just treating him like a piece of meat and playing him for every last penny worth of his substantial salary. To this fan, thats a good thing and a sign of a decent people manager.
If we play Scholes (with Giggs) too many games, in our usual all action style, our midfield is going to lose legs towards the last 15 mins, and we will not be closing down well. Lets see how the boss addresses this.
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Posted by mwila chiluba on 10/05/2010
no matter war others say,this current team is nt gud enough to win anythng.they will be luck to finish in the top four.man utd has players like oshea and evans who cant evn get into average teams like everton,villa,evn stoke city but they ar viewed as world class by ferguson.its very sad that fergy has decided to turn a once top team into a middle table team.wat is more frustrating is to see fergy think he cwn do anything without being questioned..so lets wait until our beloved team stops qualifying for the champions league like liverpool.
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Posted by Noah on 10/05/2010
Personally & obviously,i feel evra & oshea need to up their games as they've both been below par this season..johnny evans may be inexperienced but at least has been putting his effort to the table.on a last note,we as fans need to be patient & believe in SAF as I believe he knows what to do in situations like these,moreover the season's still early..GO UNITED
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Posted by kardajo on 10/05/2010
well I think the biggest positive is that we haven't lost, but last year Man City put up a ton of draws in a row and they lost their manager and their chance at the champions league....
Those of you who think Fergie should be sacked, wow, why sack a manager who's won so much when you're still in the top four and literally the title is still in your hands (we win against Chelsea twice, all else being = and we win the league)
Also those against Fletcher, sure he probably should sit out a game, after all he contributed a deflection in two consecutive league games, but really the guys good and he's a team player. Scholes might be older, but there aren't many playing better with more precision. And Nani is fantastic and improving every game (though I hope diving doesn't become a habit) For me Rafael is great and improving so a season as first choice would make him epic.
One thing I like about united, every season it's someone new. Tevez, Ronaldo, Rooney now Berbatov. Never the same talisman
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Posted by sk2110 on 10/05/2010
I don't know why everyone is complaining about the manager. He hasn't lost a match this season. Can't blame him for the draws against Everton or Fulham. Can hardly blame him for the draw against Bolton.
I'll admit that this weekend's performance was poor, and the selections made were surprising. But the players essentially had crap flowing through their dressing room.
Ferguson has not lost United any games this season. His players have failed to defend and squandered points. Everyone hated Berbatov, now he's being hailed as the savior of the season. Perhaps this is the brilliance of Sir Alex, that he knew Berbatov would be a pivotal player in times like these. The Rooney train wouldn't always be in operation. Season is not over. United are still strong. Chelsea will age throughout the season, City will fall apart. United will drop points, but nothing is over until its over. United will win a double this year.
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Posted by aizat man utd on 10/06/2010
nani common,, do it like the old days an dmake your fans proud,, we must beat chelsea
Posted by olu on 10/07/2010
I need more expetion 4rm man united.it's olu.akim 44rm lagos,nigeria.
Posted by TheJepit on 10/09/2010
Still early days.
Only 6 points dropped,..hopefully we all can be patient and the gaffer will sort things out eventually.
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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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