ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Manchester United

Posted by Mark Payne on 01/29/2012

January is one of the year’s less charming months. The Christmas hilarity is long gone and the Easter break seems a million miles away. The return to work this year has been particularly painful for some of us and, despite the fact that we’ve had so much decent sport to watch, the month ends on a pretty big downer.

The vintage of January 2012 was going so well. The dust was settling on another pulsating clasico, there was a humdinger of a match between Federer and Nadal and we were still basking in the glow of our victory over Arsenal. Then we went to Anfield.

The behaviour of the Liverpool fans was predictably woeful and it is unsurprising that an arrest warrant has been issued for one of their supporters who used a racist gesture. It beggars belief that they remain unwilling to take responsibility for such appalling conduct. That is their business, I suppose.

There were also reports of Hillsborough chants coming out of the United section. I didn’t hear them but if that is the case then I apologise wholeheartedly on behalf of every true Manchester United fan. That is not something we either tolerate or condone.

It was a horrible game to lose, in a horrible way and there was very little for either club to be proud of in this fixture. United played the better football but the story of our season has been that we seem to lack ruthlessness, and it showed again.

Scholes is more than welcome back from retirement. His passing held us together for the first sixty minutes of the match, but he faded visibly after that. It was precisely at this time that Liverpool started to make inroads and Dalglish really trumped Fergie by getting his substitutions out first and more effectively.

We began to look very leggy towards the end of the match and you could sense that our good work up until that point was going to go to waste. Saying that, a replay at Old Trafford would have been unwelcome and I for one will be very happy to see the back of Liverpool after the league fixture in a couple of weeks. They can spend the rest of their season spreading their hatred and racism elsewhere.

So, a frustrating end to the month for United but there is nothing to do but dust ourselves down and face the next challenges with fortitude and lessons learnt. With Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool on the horizon there is never a dull moment. They are still our players, this is still our team and I am proud of them all.

Follow Mark on twitter.com/markjpayne

Comments

Posted by Sam on 01/29/2012

How I've missed this blog.

Posted by Philip on 01/29/2012

What a joke this writer is! Instead of concentrating on where the game was won and lost he chooses to vilify a whole club for the behaviour of one fan. And when you've so much as admitted Manchester United's fans have their black sheep as well, why can't you use the same yardstick for Liverpool? Being a fan of a club shouldn't cloud your rational thought.
The two clubs have their own interpretations of the Suarez-Evra incident. That is a thing of the past and you needn't repeatedly bring it up to mask the fact that United lost a game they should easily have won, from the balance of play.
And I'm a neutral, I just hate silly emotional arguments.

Posted by O on 01/29/2012

A little bit of karma perhaps for Berbatov diving to win the penalty last year?

Posted by Lance on 01/29/2012

Congrats to the Merseyside Reds. They did a 'United' to us who looked more like "Arsenal" on Sat - dominate possesion, pass to death yet never scores. Reminds me of the FA Cup final against the gunners the last time the latter won it. Welbeck lack support after Scholes left the field. Rooney was sorely missed. Perhaps Berba should have been brought on earlier -he seems to do well against pool. And to rub salt to wound, our dear Evra forgot to track Dirk before he scored the winning goal.. was gutted to see KD and Suarez's faces of 'vindication' once the ball went in. Felt like a racism victim being arrested for racist abuse. Enjoy this moment while it lasts pool fans cos based on Sat performance, you won't get many of it :)

Posted by Curtis on 01/29/2012

Another very good article. Too right that we have lacked our usual ruthlessness this season in the games that matter. Yes, the game did go down hill for us when Scholes was off. I am so happy he decided to come back because we need his class and ability badly. Two points I observed about the loss are such: First, is our injury list. Have we managed to piss off the God of Injuries this season or something? I have never seen more injuries to the team or key players being out then this season. Still, that is no excuse for the complacency we are showing in games to allow teams chances to get back in the game. The lads on the pitch need to step up. Liverpool can hype up this win and their triumph over City all they want, but I have never seen a team more able to raise themselves up for the games against the big clubs and win and never be able to beat any little teams (3-1 loss to Bolton at Anfield comes to mind) as Liverpool. That's why the title will always be beyond their grasp.

Posted by Aegean on 01/30/2012

I don't know why idiots like Philip come here to comment.

Then you look at their Liverpool blog and there have been 0 comments for the last 7-8 posts.

Posted by David Smith on 01/30/2012

Unfortunately, we're out of the Cup, but we've had far more joyous celebrations at the expense of the bin dippers than they've ever had against us. Let's count our blessings that we don't live on past glories like Liverpool fans do or that our players only give 100 percent when they're at home to one of the Big Boys. R.I.P. Scummers. Rafael was absolutely fucking brilliant at Anfield. Valencia was immense, as was Smalling, Giggs and Scholes. Even Park and Evans made telling contributions to the cause. Evra wasn't nearly as effective as he was at Arsenal, but then again, he didn't have almost 40,000 arseholes booing his every touch either. As we did at the Emirates, United let inferior opposition back into the match in the second half. Couple that with Evra's inexcusable "marking" of Kuyt and, well, it's no surprise Liverpool won their Cup Final. De Gea is an absolute basket case at the moment, but at least we don't have to claim Andy Carroll as one of our own. Stoke next and NSR.

Posted by fab on 01/30/2012

@Curtin.

Get your facts right. It was away to bolton not anfield u dung

Posted by Dayo on 01/30/2012

Stupid Philips, U shldnt be calling a writer as gud as Mark Payne a joke. Shame on LFC, imagine 2 bullies crowding de gea in d build up to d first goal. Rily shameful. They shld learn 2 score gud goals lyk d one we scored.

Posted by torontored on 01/30/2012

January may have ended with a thud but the upcoming fixture list gives me more reason to worry. Stoke, Chelsea, Liverpool will be a test as will Norwich based on the reverse fixture. Citeh on the other hand have Everton, Fulham and Villa. Hopefully we can stay in it as we are really only in the league anymore. Europa doesnt count i am afraid as we should be nowhere near this turd of a tournament and i imagine fergie will be treating it that way based on the insane injury list.

While we may have looked the more likely to score and controlled much of the game we are still unable to put teams away. Injuries are surely an issue but it continues to show the squad players are not good enough. We need reinforcements but i think we all know they are not on the horizon.

they may not be quite good enough this year but their effort is amazing. Never say die even as we are losing limbs left and right. We may not have the horses but fergie certainly has them playing their guts out!!!

Posted by Chuck on 01/31/2012

You are a terrible writer, Mr. Payne. Show some class and maybe the slightest hint of objectivity for once in your pitiful career and perhaps consider that maybe there are Liverpool fans out there that are as objectively opposed to racism as any Manchester United fans. How you can categorically lambast Liverpool fans for the actions of a single man in the crowd (one whom I would never consider a fellow fan) while vindicating the Manchester United fans for Hillsborough chants is absolutely shameful.

Accept that both teams have their black sheep. I for one relish the idea of beating Manchester United, and love to watch the derby as it adds an extra layer of drama and excitement to the singular joy of watching a great football match. But please spend more time on analysis and less time on your typically sensationalist journalism. Let the issue die already. The players have done their best to promote a more calm attitude, let's follow their example and return to our usual rivalry.

Posted by Kumar on 01/31/2012

@Philip

Did you watch the game? Mark was talking about Liverpool fans booing Evra the entire game. Think about it. They are booing a player who was racially abused and then reported it. THAT is why they were woeful. Not even gonna talk about the lone idiot who did the monkey thing.

Anyway, when you hear United fans boo a player because he reported being racially abused, then maybe we can use the same yardstick.

Btw great article again Mark.

Posted by Mike on 01/31/2012

Liverpool fan here: Fans can boo whoever they want for whatever reason they want, and they will. LFC said anyone saying anything racist or caught doing anything racist would get banned for life, and that 1 bloke probably will be. They have an opinion on specifics of the Suarez situation (calling him the same thing his own wife calls him all the time) which was naive, but cracked down hard on the Adeyami thing as well as this. And what Evra received is only a fraction of what Suarez is about to receive on the 11th, lets be honest.

Valencia was very good, and Rafael was awesome and the Park goal is exactly what we were nervous of with him. It used to be Fletcher/Wes Brown but it's never who you think is gonna score. Carroll had his 2nd best game. I was happy to see Liverpool pull a Man U "sure, you can pass around half-line all game. we'll just wait to steal and score"

The Liverpool correspondent waits forever to authorize posts, it's annoying. That's why there's 0 of them

Posted by David Smith on 01/31/2012

"Show some class," says the bin dipper, Chuck.

Oh, the irony.

Tool.

Posted by David Smith on 02/01/2012

Well, what an absolute bore that was. Stoke City were simply shite. At least Wigan had the excuse of being a man short for an hour during their recent Old Trafford snooze fest. That wasn't a Premier League match; it was a fucking training session witnessed by 75,000. No use raving about the United performance, as my 8 year old nephew would of looked good against that sorry lot. I will say this though, Chicharito certainly hasn't progressed this season. In fact, he's digressed. He got a consoling hug of appreciation from Fergie after being hauled off, but he's nothing like the player that lit up the league last season. Lindegaard's injury sounds serious and couldn't of come at a worse time. With tricky away fixtures at Chelsea and Spurs on the horizon and De Gea looking more and more suspect, Fergie has his work cut out for him. Citeh getting beat last night at a depleted, makeshift Everton could eventually prove massive in the title race. Just the sort of tonic we need for Sunday.

Posted by oz on 02/01/2012

Liverpool supporters,

this is getting boring!!

every time we play you, the united blog gets these stupid comments from Liverpool supporters, yet your blog is always empty

yawn!

Posted by Kirk on 02/02/2012

Great article again Mark.
I cannot for the hell of me see why SAF would go into a match like this with a 4,5,1 formation when you have Berbatov on the bench. He should be playng a 4,4,2 so it just doesn,t make sense to me. Every body else seems to think that Evra is in form but I keep seeing him in an attacking role, can't get back, and no one is covering for him, and his defensive duties are left wanting and putting pressure on the other defenders. I am also very wary of Rafael as he seems to commit unnessary fouls frequently and this has me concerned. Scholes and Carrick has been great, Valemcia seems to be unstoppable and awesome, but as far as De Gea is concerned, the lack of experience showed. Liverpool did a job on him and they must be congratulated but experience could have stopped it and our defenders didn't help. I still think that as long as Rooney is out, we should start with Berbatov and either Welbeck or Chicharito in front.

A Red Devil for 50 Years,
On to title # 20

Posted by David Smith on 02/02/2012

Kirk,

Fergie's been using a lone striker away in Europe for years now. A tight, cup match away at Anfield will always see United go with just one up front. Berbatov manages to bang them in against the dregs of the Premier League, but he's clearly not the sort of player who can be trusted in the pressure cooker of Liverpool away. If he was, Fergie would call on him, obviously. No one on here really thinks Evra's on-form either. He had a great game against Arsenal, but for most of the season, he's been shite, lazy and just down right negligible. In fact, he's the reason we lost at the death to another Kuyt cup goal. Rafael was our man of the match at Liverpool, but I understand your concerns. He and Fabio can be spaz' at times, but all defenders commit unnecessary fouls - it's the nature of the job. When Rooney's out, Welbeck is now the man to get the job done. He was over-awed at Liverpool, but he's young and the experience will do him a world of good. Here's to number 20. Believe.

Posted by johanzul on 02/03/2012

First of all, I'm a United fan always have and always be. I think Evra is professional enuf as a professional footballer to handle himself. I dun blame Evra for his mistake simply because the way United played the game.

1st half was interesting to watch as we, United fan can see that the players went for attacking mode rather than defensive and try to counter-attack. 2nd half was a different story, United held back, unable to counter-attack and waiting for Liverpool to attack and attack they did in which resulted mistake done by Evra. If there're people to blame, blame the ones who set tactical approach of United game on 2nd half.

Players, coaches and even managers are human being, they will make mistake. The question is whether players, coaches and even managers are man enuf to admit their mistake. It takes guts to admit mistake, for that I salute Mancini on his comments. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1016152/mancini-admits-to-mistakes-against-everton?cc=4716.

Posted by Torontored on 02/04/2012

I have to agree with david smith here, what team was that wearing stoke colours. No fight despite playing a banged up United. Pulis must've have been a treat in training the next day. I also agree on the regression of Chico this year. He doesn't seem right. Invisible for long stretches, isn't making those great runs. I do disagree on berbatov though. while he is not everyones cup of tea his talent is simply sublime. He finds more passes, holds the ball better and scores more goals than welbeck (7 in 10 games to welbecks 6 in 17) yet gets stick for being lazy. Regardless I do like welbecks evolution but do i think we should be seeing more berbatov. As for nerves, he did pot a hat trick vs the bin dippers last season so I am not sold there.

Also wanted to mention pogba. His playing was inevitable but he played well and seemed to be enjoying himself and the team fed off him. Hopefully we can lock him up and not lose him.

Atta boy gibbo! F citeh and f chelski. Let's grab number 20!!!

Posted by David Smith on 02/04/2012

You're first mistake, johanzul, was coming on here and "saluting" Roberto Mancini. What a tit. The longer you follow United from afar, hopefully you'll come to realize that proper United fans are the least politically correct bunch you'll ever come across. You and that pointless link belong on Wallace Poulter's blog. When a player makes a mistake, he does so wth minimal fault. Evra's dire "defending" of Kuyt was not a mistake; it was absolutely shocking marking. Fergie doesn't need to publicly admit when he cocks things up either. He's led United to their most glorious period in 133 years and built several great teams that will stand the test of time. Besides, there was nothing wrong with Fergie's second half tactics, per say. Did you honestly think the bin dippers were going to lay down for another 45 minutes and let Manchester United walk all over them at home? United are going to beat Chelsea on Sunday, so you'll have an opportunity to say you're sorry and salute him on Monday.

Posted by Bertrand on 02/05/2012

The irony of LFC fans lacking love from their own blog to come to the Man Utd blog to post comments.

And then complaining about the lack of objectivity on the Man Utd blog.

Priceless!

Posted by samuel kolawole on 02/05/2012

alex.why is joans always score home goal,we need 22oek on ds guy

Posted by johanzul on 02/07/2012

Dear Bertrand, I rest my case on Chelsea vs MU result :). Btw, I always salute SAF when I think he is right (been here in Mark's blog for a while now) but when I think he is wrong, I'll speak my mind in which it doesn't mean that I didn't acknowledge his contribution to the club which is priceless but as SAF is a human being, he'll make mistake and as not arrogant human being (as he should be), he should apologize to the fans for the mistake he had done.

Again, am a MU fan but sorry not a fanatic one, what is white is white, what is black is black. If Fergie fanatics wanna bash me for what I had stated, so be it.

Posted by kevin brodie on 02/07/2012

Very decent article except for this line: They can spend the rest of their season spreading their hatred and racism elsewhere.

We both have our supporters that put black marks on our clubs. both evra and the FA said Suarez was not a racist. You sing about the 96, we sing about Munich and both sets of supporters that do this are a disgrace.

Posted by David Smith on 02/09/2012

Kevin Brodie, fuck off back to running the bin dippers board and while you're at it, figure out how to accept/post replies from the scum Liverpool supporters. Cheers, mate.

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