A Derby You Can’t Miss

With United having the opportunity to be 9 points clear of Chelsea, who won’t be playing until the next day against Arsenal, this is a derby that you can’t miss. Manchester City during tha past few years somehow have been able to overcome United, although United is highly confident coming into this game knowing both Premiership and Champions’ League run are in a promising state.

Expect United to play fast and free flowing football at the yet again sell-out crowd. Heinze might come in for Evra with Fletcher playing some important part later in the game. Ronaldo might yet again be the key to the opening score with midfield controlled by Scholes and Carrick.

mindcubes’ long tail:
MAN UNITED 3 – MAN CITY 0

Manchester United 1 – Chelsea 1

It’s the final whistle after a 3 minutes added time, and two giants, Manchester United and Chelsea, shared a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. United led through a brilliant goal from Saha, although Ronaldo could’ve sealed the victory early in the second half, only to snatch at it. The miss along with another half-chance from Heinze’s cross on the left apparently came to haunt United when Ricardo Carvalho headed an equalizer on the 70th minute. United clearly dictated the play from the width of the field throughout the first half although Chelsea clearly taken the initiatives from the midfield throughout the second half.

A couple of notes from the game :

+ I would’ve hoped that Ferguson made a substitution midway through the 2nd half when Chelsea clearly were controlling the midfield while United is up 1-0. Putting Fletcher for Saha would put another body in the midfield, and Giggs could be playing in a withdrawn role, while that would give Saha a breather for the next game.

+ Did Saha somehow headed the ball into his own net? The replay TV somehow suggested that might be the case although it could’ve been just a slight touch.

As a United fan, I’m clearly disappointed that we are not leading by 6 points at the end, although as a football fan, it was an impressive game for both sides, high tempo, frenetic, full of passion and energy with an absolutely amazing atmosphere. As one football commentators indicated, at the end, the winner is football. I couldn’t agree more.

Brilliant Saha maintained United’s lead

A well-struck goal by Louis Saha on the 64th minute fired Manchester United back to 3 points clear of Chelsea –who had crushed Watford 4-0 earlier– at the top of the Premiership table.  It started from a deep cross from John O’Shea on the right flank which was cut superbly by Giggs back across the goal for Saha to smash the ball back into the roof of the net.  It was a goal well deserved for United, who have controlled the majority of the match, and despite heavy rain and winds in the beginning of the match have played beautifully flowing football throughout the first half and created two clear cut chances which were wasted by Rooney.  Ferguson jumped euphorically right after the goal, and that was understandble, knowing it would be a tricky night for the visitor while referee Mike Riley hasn’t helped the cause by calling a few questionable calls, such as a non-yellow card for a reckless challenge by Tugay during the first half on Ronaldo, and a non-advantage play when Ronaldo escaped a foul to setup a beautiful one-two with Rooney, and a penalty claims when Saha was brought down just before break.

Nevertheless, United stood firm, and despite the late scare from Blackburn when van der Sar needed to be at his best to denied Benni McCarthy twice.  United were the better side, and they deserved to win, although credit to Blackburn for fighting the lives throughout the game, and they nearly came away with a point if it were not for a determined and gutsy performance by the whole United team. It was hard-fought win, and Chelsea can now even smell the instinct that United is the main force this year, and they will recognize that truly at the end of the season.  BRILLIANT and FIGHT ON UNITED!!!

mindcubes’ ratings:

van der Sar (8) : the Dutch international captain once again proves to be the difference by holding firm to the late surge by Blackburn.

Neville (7): Solid first half performance, although injury has forced him to be replaced by O’Shea.

Vidic (8): Another great performance by Vidic, who provided a number of important interceptions.

Ferdinand (6.5): Looks shaky at times, and a few misunderstanding with O’Shea towards the end of the game nearly provided Blackburn with their much-needed set-play.

Evra (6.5): Strong in the second half although a few missed tackles at the end almost proves to be disaster

Scholes (8): Brilliant touches on the ball, dictates the midfield throughout the game

Carrick (8): Solid performance, timely tackle, and was brilliant in breaking and sending in long passes

Giggs (9): Man of the Match, fought tirelessly througout the game, and his assist proves to be the only difference separating the two sides

Ronaldo (8.5): Amazing runs, take on defenders with no fear, and most of the times, beat them easily.  If he could improve on his finishing, Ronaldo will be at Old Traffford for a very very long time.

Rooney (7): Solid game, strong holding up balls and possessions, although missing a few chances might’ve cost United on another day

Saha (8.5): Strong, take on defenders, nice touches, and just in the right time at the right place to smash home Giggs’ cut.

O’Shea (7.5): Provided the much needed flair at the right flank, initiated the goal, although there were a couple of misunderstanding with Ferdinand at the back towards the end of the game

Silvestre (7): Came in with strong legs and better aerial coverage for a slowing Evra

Fletcher (6): Came in for only a couple of minutes for the limping Ronaldo

Manchester United @ Blackburn Rovers

In a little over an hour, Manchester United will be playing Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. It’s a tricky encounter for United especially with Mark Hughes’ records of never lost to his old boss, Sir Alex and the memorable double completed by the Rovers last season with a 2-1 win and 4-3 win at Old Trafford and Ewood Park respectively.

Sir Alex, still in the glory of celebrating 20 years in charge, has mentioned that he’ll be naming the same team that beat Bolton and Portsmouth convincingly in the past couple of weeks. That means we can expect to see Giggs and Ronaldo at both flanks, with Carrick and Scholes directing in midfield. Saha will continue his good run up-front with Rooney while Vidic and Ferdinand at the back started to form great partnership similar to the days of Bruce and Pallister. As usual, Gary Neville will be the captain with Evra claiming the spot on the left back and van der Sar at the goal. Expect the game to be high tempo with Brad Friedl –Rovers’ American goalie to be at his best.

mindcubes’ longtail … I don’t see United losing three times in a row to the same team, and with both Sir Alex and Scholes picking up Manager and Player of the Month Award for October respectively, it’s a perfect match for Manchester United to bounce back from the humiliating defeat during midweek to Southend. Scholes, will be the key playmaker in the midfield with Vidic producing anoter stellar performance and Carrick scores his first goal for United. ROVERS 0 – UNITED 2.

Rooney, Denver, and kernel …

You might’ve wondered what does Rooney has to do with Denver, and what the heck are those related to kernel? Have I gone out of my mind? Oh, well you’ll find out!!

The Rooney Show

By far, Manchester United 4-0 performance against Bolton away at Reebok stadium last Saturday is the best team performance this season, led by the tenacious birthday boy Rooney’s brilliant hat-trick. Everyone is involved in the game, from van der Sar, who made an important save just before half-time to keep the score 2-0 to Carrick who showed why he is worth over 19 million pounds. Two assists including a magnificent inch perfect long pass to Saha who setup the third goal for Cristiano Ronaldo. The scoreline might’ve been a little unfair to Bolton who showed their resiliency midway through the first half and showed some promises in the beginning of the second half, although at the end of the day Manchester United fully deserved to win, and not only winning, but winning with style, a flowing football style that was the characteristic of the Cantona-led team during the 90s that ignited the English football. Brilliant!!

The defense finally leaked

In a game where Peyton Manning showed the world why he got picked first before Ryan Leaf –oh yeah if anyone still remembers this guy — Denver defense finally leaked, and not only leaked out but is sent back from immortality that was hyped after an inspiring start to the season. It didn’t surprise to me that they finally gave up the TD, but to give up over 30+ points playing at home against a team that has lost their running game is a little too disappointed. The Broncos offense finally contributed positively, with Plummer’s ratings above 100, but it’s the same story that keeps repeating in each of every Broncos’ lost to the Colts, a weak secondary that is overly exposed by Manning’s perfection in reading coverage and adjusting the play at scrimmage. This time, it wasn’t Lenny Walls, but it’s Darrent Williams, who prior to this game hasn’t been that much exposed and contributed hugely to the Denver’s defense from the successful secondary focused draft class.

It’s a disappointing loss, especially when it happened at home, breaking up a streak, but losing this game early on is much better than rollin’ high only to lost like this in the playoff. I’m speaking with the assumption that the Broncos will make it to the playoff, and I do believe they will, although competition is now tight with both Chargers and your truly Broncos sitting altogether at the summit of AFC West at 5-2.

Next stop: @ Pittsburgh!!

Kernel

These few days I’ve been busy with recompiling my Linux 2.6 kernel to include support for DRI, of which I need to have my brand new 1440×900 widescreen LCD to show-up nicely. It’s been quite a while since I last messing around with the kernel, and I need to refresh some of my memory, especially on changing the Makefile and where to find my config file! I’ll post more on this later on.

Oh and back to the beginning of the story, well, that’s it folks. It’s almost Wednesday here in Singapore, have a good the rest of the week!

It’s a Wonderful Day!

Super Sunday with an early kick-off at Old Trafford marked a great day for Manchester United. A day full of history, a day when Paul Scholes made his 500th appereance for the club, only the 9th finest individual ever to do so, a day when Sir Bobby Charlton marked his 50th year at the club, yes, it’s the 50th year!, a day when Wayne Rooney marked his baby steps of 100th appereance for Manchester United at the age of just 21, a day when it’s all summed-up with a dazzling performance from the whole team to a convincing 2-0 victory to its biggest rival.

It was a classy performance by United, capped by a fine goal by Scholes (who displayed tremendeous energy and flair, and was awesomely honoured as Man of the Match) and Ferdinand with an absolute beauty in the second half. Everyone lives up to this great day in Manchester United Football Club history, and as a lifelong fan, it’s a wonderful day!!

credit to fergie for man utd 3-1 win at wigan

giggs was the key to man utd’s 3-1 win last night at wigan’s jjb stadium.  it was a great tactical substitution by sir alex right after the break.  shifting o’shea to right back was probably one of the best decision he’s made this season –i’ve never thought o’shea was a good central midfielder as he lacks the confidence to surge up when he breaks up a play.  playing in full back or wing-back suits him well as his flair and techincal abilities allow him to do more compared with wes brown.  credit to vidic who’s rock solid at the back and sparked an awesome comeback with a convincing header to level it up 1-1.

the second goal was a classic saha while ole gunnar solskjaer continues his fairy-tale comeback with an icing on the cake goal at the last minute of the play.  manchester united deserved the win, solely on their performance on the second half, while wigan bravely showed what they can do during the first half.

another win that keeps them at the summit of the premiership table, another performance that keeps me happy watching them play the way they were playing in the second half.  this is a united team that is famous for its flair, resilience, and character.

roll up the dice

in the past few weeks i’ve made a number of predictions for the english premier league and nfl, which i’ll start calling it ‘roll up the dice‘ … well just for the records, so far the dice has been rolling pretty favorably, it’s 3 out of 4, with good for manutd vs. newcastle (2-0), good for benfica vs. manutd (0-1), good for broncos vs. new england (a win for the broncos) and bad for reading vs. manutd (1-1).  not too bad for a bloke operating at the very long tail of a sports analysis/predictions. 

man utd 2 – newcastle utd 0 !!!

today is by far the best performance so far that i’ve seen from manchester united this season. scholes and carrick produced a stable and dominating midfield performance, while ronaldo is inspirational in the victory for the red devils. ole gunnar solskjaer produced the type of efficiency that any manager would’ve wished for a center forward, while vidic and ferdinand formed a rock solid partnership at the back. both full-backs, evra –who replaced the injured heinze early on and gary neville produced a confident performance, while fletcher made his case for a regular starting role with an industrious display throughout the game –where he could’ve scored himself if not denied for the woodwork off his thundering strike and midway through the second-half where he should’ve been awarded a penalty for one of newcastle defender’s hand ball. at the goal, van der sar produced a couple of great saves to keep the game in a safe bet for manchester united en route to a confident display sending a warning message to chelsea –who was held at home the previous day. brilliant display by the red devils!!

mindcubes’ ratings:

van der sar (7) , neville (7), ferdinand (7), vidic (7.5), heinze (6.5), evra (7), ronaldo (8.5 –man of the match), carrick (7), scholes (7), fletcher (7), rooney (6), solskjaer (8).

chelsea is held at home

martin o’neill does make a difference to aston villa. villa is a fighting team now, a trademark of o’neill’s team. though being bombarded by chelsea throughout the 2nd half, i thought sorensen made a number of great saves and the defense stood up to the attacking force of the home team –especially after wright-phillips was injected to the right wing halfway through the second half. great game, a fully deserved point for both team –and more importantly, a great chance for man utd to leap to the top of the table with a win tomorrow night!!