Friday, 31 August 2012
Return to the Continent
Today is the day that top clubs in Europe and Chelsea have been waiting for, in a little over fifteen minutes times the teams will be drawn and all the British clubs will know what challenges await them on the continent. The eyes of the world will be on Chelsea after their famous win in the Allianz Arena last May and expectation at Stamford Bridge will be high, to high given the manner of victory. United and City will both be desperate to improve on last years poor performance in Europe’s premium competition after both teams would crash out at the group stages. Arsenal will also be involved in the draw but after losing some big players in the summer transfer window I can’t see them challenging for the cup and honestly after last years performance in the league the Gunners fans should just be happy they got into the tournament at all.
Looking at it as a United fan I can’t wait for the tournament to get going because there are few things in life better than champions league nights, as long as they don’t go the same way as last years campaign. In Europe last year United never really got going and I can’t really remember a solid performance in a group that they should have comfortably strolled through. Disappointing as the Basel defeat was, it is a good experience for the younger boys in the squad, the likes of Jones, Smalling and Welbeck have now felt the sting of going out prematurely and hopefully will use that experience to push their performances, that’s the plan anyway and as we all learned last year in football things rarely go to plan.
The draw starts and I have to say it is the most protracted affair I’ve ever witnessed, first a team gets pulled out of the pot and then a group is selected for the team to be placed in, every tie this is done it is punctuated with inane comments and observations from a rather creepy little bald fella that looks vaguely familiar. Its done slowly by a host of former stars including Ruud Gulit and Steve Mcmanaman. There were cheers and groans from the crowd made up of representatives as they found out who they would have to face. While the system may have taken far longer than necessary it did add to the suspense and I am sure the suits in the front row clapped themselves on the back for putting on a good show how ever to the players and fans the show means little. It is all about the draw so I will just get on with it.
Group A - Din Zargreb, Dynamo Kiev, Fc Porto, Paris Saint-German
Group B - Arsenal, Montpellier, Olympiakos, Schalke 04
Group C - AC Milan, Anderlecht, Malaga, Zenit St Petersburg
Group D - Real Madrid, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, Man City
Group E - Chelsea, FC Nordsjaelland, Juventus, Shakhtar Donetsk
Group F - BATE Borisov, Bayern Munich, Lille, Valencia
Group G - Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow
Group H - Braga, CFR Cluj-Napoca, Galatasaray, Man Utd
There are some tasty ties in that draw. In Group A Fc Porto Vs the new found money bags of PSG will be an interesting fixture but I think both of those sides will make it into the knock out stages however Dynamo Kiev could prove me wrong and snake second place if they perform well.
Group B is home to Arsenal, both Olympiakos and Schalke 04 will provide a tough test for the Gunners but I do expect them to progress, I can’t see Montpellier doing particularly well in this group so it will be down to Olympiakos and Schalke 04 to fight it out for the other qualification spot.
The main side to worry about in Group C are AC Millan and I think its safe to say that the giants of Europe will cruise through this year. It’s the first time in the clubs history that Malaga have graced the Champions League proper and I hope the fans are content with just being there as the football is a big step up in terms of football quality and I will be very surprised if they make it through. Anderlecht and Zenit St Petersburg both have a fair amount of Champions League and to be honest I have no clue which one of them will join Bayern out of the group.
Ahh group D, my personal favourite, this one is definitely the group of death. I’m not going to lie I did let a little cheer when Man City were dropped into the melting pot. There is so much talent in this group that literally anything could happen (I mean anything, Carlos but I’m going to be original and say Real Madrid will top this one, past that if you put a gun to my head I would say Ajax to go with them but truthfully that is only because I like how they play their football, this will be the group to watch what ever happens.
Last years champions Chelsea find themselves in Group E and as much as I’d like to see otherwise they should get through however with Juventus also in the group they may well find themselves in second place. Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Nordsjaelland will be tough away trips but I don’t see them having a realistic chance of getting any further.
After losing in the final on home soil I reckon that Bayern Munich will top Group F just to prove a point to themselves how ever it isn’t a certainty with Lille and Valencia provided stiff competition and second place is very much up for grabs and BATE Borisov will look to shock everyone so nothing can be taken for granted.
Celtic have found themselves with a real mountain to climb, they had the misfortune to get picked with the team everyone wants to avoid, Barcelona, not to mention the small matter of Benfica and Spartak Moscow. The Scottish side probably won’t see Champions League football after Christmas and my picks to go through are Barca and Benfica.
Last but by no means least we get to Manchester Uniteds group, Group H. Galatasary will be the toughest games for the Reds and Turkey is a notoriously difficult away trip. Braga will not be an easy game either. When alls said and done I think United will qualify top of the group with Galatasary in second but after last year I know that’s not a given. CFR Cluj-Napoca will relish the opportunity to play against the rest of the group and will love every minute of the experience but that’s al it should be for them, an experience.
So that’s the draw, all that’s left to do now is kick off an personally cannot wait for the best club competition in the world to get going again so we can have more glorious evenings of world class football and here’s hoping we get to see the men in red lift that famous trophy at Wembley nine months time.
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Manchester United Vs Fulham (15:00 25/08/12)
After watching the United boys slump to an uninspiring one nil defeat at the hands of an Everton side who in fairness played really well and thouroughly deserved the points I had been hearing from United fans all week that they are already worried for this season. Van Persie didn’t make any impact against Everton they said, maybe he won’t fit in. I just shook my head and told them all to calm down. Whether you smash a team five nil or get smashed five, nil nobody wins the title or gets relgated on the opening day. So going into the first home game of the season against a Fulham side who did start the season on the right side of a five nil battering I was confident they would get the win every Red Devil was craving. That’s no disrespect to Fulham I think they are a great club and play some great football but Manchester United at home after a defeat, I’d bet the house.
Sir Alex must be screaming at the God of Defenders for smiting him again with four defenders still out of action meaning Michael Carrick was forced to fill in at the back for a second game running how ever there was some goodnews in the shape of Rafael, making his return at right back and leaving our new number seven free to fill his usual post, terroising left backs down the right wing. The main news of the day was that Wayne Rooney, who last season could only get dropped if he turned up to training with a raging hangover, started the game on the bench with new boys Shinji Kagawa and RVP getting the nod. Apparently this came as a bit of a shock for many but after his insipid peformance against old club Everton perhaps Fergie wanted to send a warning shot across the bow, with the first team bursting at the seams with attacking talent nobody is safe from the cut. You need only look at the bench which boasted Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez to see that competition for places this year is going to be fierce. With Nanis future still an uncertainty Ashley Young started on the left with Anderson and Cleverly in the middle, both of whom need a good season, Cleverly to cement his position as a young talent and Anderson to save his United career.
Before kick off the worlds fastest man and United fan Usain Bolt was paraded in front of the crowed with his three gold medals and in his address to the crown he again joked about getting a trial to a racus reception. With the warm up act complete the Old Trafford crowd was in good voice as the teams made their way out but when Van Persies name came across the loud speaker the roar was loud enough for them to hear over at the Ethiad. So as the clocked ticked over to three o clock the referee blew the whistle to start the first home game of the season. The party atmosphere was to be short lived, inside two minutes Michael Carrick gave away a soft free kick against Malden Petric as he tried to cut inside from the left. The free kick came straight off the training ground with Bryan Ruiz playing a low ball across the box towards Damien Duff who was powering across to meet it. Ashley Young was the player that was supposed to be tracking him but it was all he could do to clutch his arm and tumble to the turf to try and get a free kick, it wasn’t and Duff was free to drill it hard and low past David De Gea into the right hand corner. Credit where its due it was a well worked free kick but I can’t see SAF being to pleased about conceding from another set piece. The crowd that had been so vocal a mere minute before were stunned into silence. I myself wasn’t to pleased by conceding such a soft goal but the fact it was so early gave me cause to be happy, I even commented to a friend of mine that it would hopefully make them play with more intent than they did aganst Everton. The response to the set back was calm ad controlled. Keeping the ball well United played it around the pitch comfortably searching out a way behind the Fulham back four with Valencia doing what he does best, dropping the shoulder and muscling past people to put dangerous balls into the box but to no evail. The signs were there tough and it didn’t take long for the breakthrough to come. On ten minutes Patrice Evra played a ball into the box, as it left its foot I imagine he let out a groan as it was pretty poor, the ball bounced just in front of Van persie who was striding to meet it ahead of Hangaland. Taking it first time on the half volley Van Persie hit the ball with great technique and sent it curling away from the outstretched Schwazer into the top left hand corner. It was the moment every single united fan had dreamed of since RVP arrived and it came with out of his explosive left boot so magnificently that it was the perfect way for the United aquaint themselves with Robin Van Persie in that famous red strip. Relief swept around Old Trafford, the game had been levelled again but mostly I think it was who scored more than that they scored but those thoughts were saved for after the game because as Van Persie slid on his knees, arms out and fists clenched United fans the world over should have been right their with him, it was nothing short of pure joy.
Fulham were looking a threat when ever they could get on the ball with Moussa Dembele looking to get past the midfielders every chance he got but it was beginning to look more and more like normal service had resumed at the Theatre of Dreams. Rafeal was pushing further up the field leving me to question at times who was actually playing at right back, him or Valencia. United piled on the presssure as the half wore on with Young, Kagawa and Valencia all working shooting chances and you felt that a goal was coming. In the thirty fourth minute it came. Robin Van Persie swang in a left footed corner that Diarra manages to head clear however the ball drops to Cleverly who had been lurking on the edge of the box, he drills a shot hard and low which Schwazer got down to save well but can’t hold and Shinji Kagawa is there to tap in his first goal at Old Trafford. I’m really excited about this lad, from what I’ve seen he makes intelligent runs and smart passes and when he gets into the last third he is always looking to play someone in or go past a defender, I thinnk he will prove to be a real threat this season. Three minutes after scoring he is there to back up my case again when he picks up the ball in the box, takes the ball left evading two Fulham defenders and strokes a shot against the post. The rebound fell to Young who did the right thing by putting a shot across the face of goal that Schwazer again could only parry with the ball again falling to a red shirt, Rafael, who again put the ball in the back of the net. This time though the linesman waved his flag and the celebrations were cut short.
It didn’t take long for Rafael to get goal he had been denied as he got on the end of an Ashley Young cross at the back post putting the home team two goals clear. It was starting to look like a very long day for Fulham as the half time whistle blew but in the second half the dominance subsided a little as Fulham tried to come at United more and more, half chances and efforts from range came from both ends. Fulham got their reward for the more attacking approach in the sixty fourth minute, they deserved the goal but what was De Dea doing, a cross is put into the box by Matthew Briggs, its not a particularly threatening one and De Gea comes out to it but rather than powering over/through Vidic and Petric like you would expect a keeper to do he decides to try and step around Petric and gingerly jumps, allowing him self to be eased out of the way by the Fulham forward, the ball hits Vidic and rolls in to the empty net while De Gea picking himself up off his backside looks accusingly at Vidic, so he must have some courage. I do rate David De Gea because he can pull off match winning saves that we started to see at the end off last season but he is weak in the air and I find myself holding my breath every time a ball is played in against him, even if there aren’t any attackers around. I will stand by him though and say he his going to be with the club for a while and be great, eventually. The rest of the game provided a nervous back and fourth where Dembele looked the best player on the pitch, creating chances and getting involved where ever he could. Late on Wayne Rooney slid in to block a shot from Rodallega and as the Colombian came back down he took a sizeable chunk out of Rooneys thigh, it looked a nasty one and Rooney had to be stretchered off, it was a complete accident so no free kick was given and we were treated to a rare competitive drop ball complete with players hacking at each other to get it out, ah old football where have you been?
A slightly nervous few minutes insued but on the whole it waas a deserved victory to start our home season and with defenders still to come back I am confident they will tighten up at the back and get even better going forward as Kagawa and RVP really start to settle in, we saw glimpses of what to expect against Fulham and I’m salvating at the thought of whats to come.
Man of the match for me was either Valencia or Kagawa. Rafael would have been in with a shout but his defensive ineptitude let him down.
After watching the United boys slump to an uninspiring one nil defeat at the hands of an Everton side who in fairness played really well and thouroughly deserved the points I had been hearing from United fans all week that they are already worried for this season. Van Persie didn’t make any impact against Everton they said, maybe he won’t fit in. I just shook my head and told them all to calm down. Whether you smash a team five nil or get smashed five, nil nobody wins the title or gets relgated on the opening day. So going into the first home game of the season against a Fulham side who did start the season on the right side of a five nil battering I was confident they would get the win every Red Devil was craving. That’s no disrespect to Fulham I think they are a great club and play some great football but Manchester United at home after a defeat, I’d bet the house.
Sir Alex must be screaming at the God of Defenders for smiting him again with four defenders still out of action meaning Michael Carrick was forced to fill in at the back for a second game running how ever there was some goodnews in the shape of Rafael, making his return at right back and leaving our new number seven free to fill his usual post, terroising left backs down the right wing. The main news of the day was that Wayne Rooney, who last season could only get dropped if he turned up to training with a raging hangover, started the game on the bench with new boys Shinji Kagawa and RVP getting the nod. Apparently this came as a bit of a shock for many but after his insipid peformance against old club Everton perhaps Fergie wanted to send a warning shot across the bow, with the first team bursting at the seams with attacking talent nobody is safe from the cut. You need only look at the bench which boasted Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez to see that competition for places this year is going to be fierce. With Nanis future still an uncertainty Ashley Young started on the left with Anderson and Cleverly in the middle, both of whom need a good season, Cleverly to cement his position as a young talent and Anderson to save his United career.
Before kick off the worlds fastest man and United fan Usain Bolt was paraded in front of the crowed with his three gold medals and in his address to the crown he again joked about getting a trial to a racus reception. With the warm up act complete the Old Trafford crowd was in good voice as the teams made their way out but when Van Persies name came across the loud speaker the roar was loud enough for them to hear over at the Ethiad. So as the clocked ticked over to three o clock the referee blew the whistle to start the first home game of the season. The party atmosphere was to be short lived, inside two minutes Michael Carrick gave away a soft free kick against Malden Petric as he tried to cut inside from the left. The free kick came straight off the training ground with Bryan Ruiz playing a low ball across the box towards Damien Duff who was powering across to meet it. Ashley Young was the player that was supposed to be tracking him but it was all he could do to clutch his arm and tumble to the turf to try and get a free kick, it wasn’t and Duff was free to drill it hard and low past David De Gea into the right hand corner. Credit where its due it was a well worked free kick but I can’t see SAF being to pleased about conceding from another set piece. The crowd that had been so vocal a mere minute before were stunned into silence. I myself wasn’t to pleased by conceding such a soft goal but the fact it was so early gave me cause to be happy, I even commented to a friend of mine that it would hopefully make them play with more intent than they did aganst Everton. The response to the set back was calm ad controlled. Keeping the ball well United played it around the pitch comfortably searching out a way behind the Fulham back four with Valencia doing what he does best, dropping the shoulder and muscling past people to put dangerous balls into the box but to no evail. The signs were there tough and it didn’t take long for the breakthrough to come. On ten minutes Patrice Evra played a ball into the box, as it left its foot I imagine he let out a groan as it was pretty poor, the ball bounced just in front of Van persie who was striding to meet it ahead of Hangaland. Taking it first time on the half volley Van Persie hit the ball with great technique and sent it curling away from the outstretched Schwazer into the top left hand corner. It was the moment every single united fan had dreamed of since RVP arrived and it came with out of his explosive left boot so magnificently that it was the perfect way for the United aquaint themselves with Robin Van Persie in that famous red strip. Relief swept around Old Trafford, the game had been levelled again but mostly I think it was who scored more than that they scored but those thoughts were saved for after the game because as Van Persie slid on his knees, arms out and fists clenched United fans the world over should have been right their with him, it was nothing short of pure joy.
Fulham were looking a threat when ever they could get on the ball with Moussa Dembele looking to get past the midfielders every chance he got but it was beginning to look more and more like normal service had resumed at the Theatre of Dreams. Rafeal was pushing further up the field leving me to question at times who was actually playing at right back, him or Valencia. United piled on the presssure as the half wore on with Young, Kagawa and Valencia all working shooting chances and you felt that a goal was coming. In the thirty fourth minute it came. Robin Van Persie swang in a left footed corner that Diarra manages to head clear however the ball drops to Cleverly who had been lurking on the edge of the box, he drills a shot hard and low which Schwazer got down to save well but can’t hold and Shinji Kagawa is there to tap in his first goal at Old Trafford. I’m really excited about this lad, from what I’ve seen he makes intelligent runs and smart passes and when he gets into the last third he is always looking to play someone in or go past a defender, I thinnk he will prove to be a real threat this season. Three minutes after scoring he is there to back up my case again when he picks up the ball in the box, takes the ball left evading two Fulham defenders and strokes a shot against the post. The rebound fell to Young who did the right thing by putting a shot across the face of goal that Schwazer again could only parry with the ball again falling to a red shirt, Rafael, who again put the ball in the back of the net. This time though the linesman waved his flag and the celebrations were cut short.
It didn’t take long for Rafael to get goal he had been denied as he got on the end of an Ashley Young cross at the back post putting the home team two goals clear. It was starting to look like a very long day for Fulham as the half time whistle blew but in the second half the dominance subsided a little as Fulham tried to come at United more and more, half chances and efforts from range came from both ends. Fulham got their reward for the more attacking approach in the sixty fourth minute, they deserved the goal but what was De Dea doing, a cross is put into the box by Matthew Briggs, its not a particularly threatening one and De Gea comes out to it but rather than powering over/through Vidic and Petric like you would expect a keeper to do he decides to try and step around Petric and gingerly jumps, allowing him self to be eased out of the way by the Fulham forward, the ball hits Vidic and rolls in to the empty net while De Gea picking himself up off his backside looks accusingly at Vidic, so he must have some courage. I do rate David De Gea because he can pull off match winning saves that we started to see at the end off last season but he is weak in the air and I find myself holding my breath every time a ball is played in against him, even if there aren’t any attackers around. I will stand by him though and say he his going to be with the club for a while and be great, eventually. The rest of the game provided a nervous back and fourth where Dembele looked the best player on the pitch, creating chances and getting involved where ever he could. Late on Wayne Rooney slid in to block a shot from Rodallega and as the Colombian came back down he took a sizeable chunk out of Rooneys thigh, it looked a nasty one and Rooney had to be stretchered off, it was a complete accident so no free kick was given and we were treated to a rare competitive drop ball complete with players hacking at each other to get it out, ah old football where have you been?
A slightly nervous few minutes insued but on the whole it waas a deserved victory to start our home season and with defenders still to come back I am confident they will tighten up at the back and get even better going forward as Kagawa and RVP really start to settle in, we saw glimpses of what to expect against Fulham and I’m salvating at the thought of whats to come.
Man of the match for me was either Valencia or Kagawa. Rafael would have been in with a shout but his defensive ineptitude let him down.
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