In an hour time, Manchester United will face Watford for a place in the 2007 FA Cup Final at the historic new Wembley stadium. The morale is high after a 7-1 thrashing of the Italian side Roma during the mid-week, while Watford is coming-off an impressive 4-2 victory over Portsmouth, who beat United 2-1 last week in a game where nothing was right for United.
Watford’s best player, their Man Utd’s on-loan goalie, Ben Foster will miss this game due to Premiership rule that doesn’t allow a player to play against his parent club — a rule that I supported wholly especially when looking at what Fernando Morientes did to his own club, Real Madrid while he was on loan at Monaco. United themselves, will be again without Saha –who’s still not yet fit for this match, Gary Neville –who faces another week on the sidelines, and the latest injury victim, John O’Shea who picked up a calf knock early in the second half on the game against Roma.
Man Utd will likely play with 4-4-2 or rather more of 4-2-3-1 with Giggs in a withdrawn role to support Alan Smith upfront and with Rooney lurking in slightly from the left side of the field. Scholes is expected to start, mainly due to his enermous exprience in the FA Cup –although Fletcher’s performance in midweek might suggest differently. Evra will most likely come in for O’Shea at right-back, while Heinze, Brown, and Ferdinand will continue their defensive partnership.
MINDCUBES’ CORNERKICK: Although Watford might try to produce the biggest headline story this year, I thought they might just end up putting too much pressure on themselves. If Man Utd managed to get a goal in the first 20 minutes, it’s all over for Watford, BUT if Watford can pull one in in the first quarter of the game, I think they might have a good chance of making the history –by disrupting United’s flowing rhythm. The confidence though is very high for United, and I just don’t believe they will let this slip-up. Alan Smith will get another chance for another headline, and he will surely take it. WATFORD 0 – MANCHESTER UNITED 4
It’s been a few days since the magnificent seven goals “best-ever” European performance that Sir Alex’s team has ever produces –according to the man himself — and I’m still feeling the euphoria, this awesome feeling knowing that this team has character, this team is hungry, this team has the togetherness that when everything just seems not right for whatever reason, we’re all standing together, re-group, and pull one back –a big one that make everyone else looking at us in great awe –with respect.
4 assists from captain marvel Giggs, two amazing goals from Carrick, the determination and relentless performance from Alan Smith –his first European starts since his horrified broken leg injury more than year ago — that ignites the stadium, the scintillating performance from Cristiano Ronaldo, a compose and confidence back-line inspired by the energetic Heinze, and the list could go on and on … this was truly the best ever performance that I’ve seen from all the United teams that I’ve watched growing up.
Brilliant lads!! … and Old Trafford was singing and dancing all night long !!
In a little over an hour, Man Utd will try to erase their misery over the past week when they host AS Roma, with 1-2 deficit. With Scholes suspended, and a lost at Portsmouth along with injuries to Gary Neviille, Park Ji-sung, Vidic, Saha, Ferguson still managed to joke around during the press conference today. I have to admit that as a lifelong fans, I’m worried of United’s attacking force that depends too much on Ronaldo to create “magic” and finishes it as well –although Rooney’s at times showed why he is so highly rated. Giggs, playing in the position of slightly behind the striker in a central role looked lost, and normally good things happened when he switched to flanks –as to what happened in the play that preceded the goal at Liverpool. With Scholes out, and Park also injured, it will be interesting to see whether Ferguson will play Solskjaer in the right side of the wing. I hope that’s not the case, as here’s what I would imagined the best team for United’s tonight against Roma:
4-4-2:
left-back: Heinze : no doubt about him, his battling qualities brings life to Man Utd although Evra is better at creating chances upfront and not conceding fouls
right-back: O’Shea: utility man showed he could be dependable
center-back: Ferdinand: inconsistency may cost United
center-back: Brown: powerful enough to slot-in for Vidic, but lack of speed could be easily exposed
left-wing: Giggs: with Panucci at right back, Giggs could swap around with Ronaldo to confuse Roma’s defense
right-wing: Ronaldo: without question, is the key to this Man Utd team, he needs though to improve on his finishing
center-midfielder: Carrick: worthy successor to Keane, need to bring himself to attack more
center-midfielder: Fletcher: needs to be at his best or otherwise it’ll be Taddei’s night again
forward: Rooney: scored the vital away goal at Roma, well simply he needs to take his chances again tonight, even if there’s only one
forward: Solskjaer: experience will prove vital
MINDCUBES’ CORNERKICK: United will bounce back, as with Totti’s not fully fit and Perrotta out, United’s supported will need to sing all night long. MAN UTD 2 – ROMA 0
The title was part of the commentator’s tribute to Manchester United’s shortly after their third goal against the Blackburn Rovers, after going down 1-0 at halftime and losing their key defender for the season early in the first half. I couldn’t agree more with him, this is a team worthy of champions, a team that’s hungry for success, and a team whose togetherness has brought them pretty far this season. Character is one of the key point on this team, so ready to de-throne Chelsea from their arrogance that has lasted for nearly 3 years.
The man of the match could go either Scholes or Carrick, although if I were to pick, Scholes would be my pick. His equalizer is the key to the game, especially with the way he danced through almost 4 defenders before putting the ball into the net with great composure. His goal, and the timing of the goal gave plenty of time for United to keep pressuring Rovers’ defence while at the same time getting rid of their frustration as chances built-up have been denied by either poor finishing or Fridel’s brilliance –as he showed twice denying Rooney from point blanks.
It was a great result for United, the second successive 4-1 (after last week’s result against Bolton). The way United pressed, passed, and controlled the game during the second half is virtually second to none, not even Barcelona matched that performance. Ronaldo, again proved to be the flair and the creative genius on the wings coupled with composure off Scholes and Carrick in the middle, and the tireless Park supporting and fighting the ball everywhere.
Game Analysis (Premiership, Old Trafford, MANCHESTER UTD 4 – BLACKBURN ROVERS 1)
Blackburn’s 1st goal: Panic, simply the result of panic after Vidic was injured and United’s hurriedly trying to get their first goal
United’s 1st goal: absolutely brilliant, one of Scholes’ best goal of all time
United’s 2nd goal: amazing composure from Carrick, the goal is crowded, but the shot selection is just perfect
United’s 3rd goal: Park again showed positioning is important, slotting in the rebound into the opposite corner
United’s 4th goal: Ole, Ole, Ole!!! This is an amazing guy, his confidence and minutes to goals ratio this season is unbelievable (when you think of his age and him being out for nearly 2 seasons)
Brilliant game, excellent result, although Vidic’s broken collarbone will sideline him for the rest of the season. It’s a blow for United considering his contribution on defense (and attacks) this season, although looking at the bright side, this is an opportunity for Brown to get good run of matches in the central defence (and probably make his cases with England), and with Gary Neville out of three weeks, O’Shea will prove to be an important of this squad, now plying his trade at right-back position. Alan Smith is showing nice touches as well, and I just thought Sir Alex might just be right on his confidence and trust on this squad.
United need to win tonight to keep the 6 points advantage over Chelsea before a visit to Stamford Bridge at the end of this month. That, is a fact that everyone aware of, although with Saha, Solskjaer out due to injury, and Larsson no longer with United, Rooney will be the lone striker tonight, unless Ferguson opt to get Alan Smith his first start in more than one year in Premiership. That I thought, would not be too wise.
It’ll be interesting to see how United players react to this situation, given Scholes is also out due to suspension. The team though this year has shown some character and togetherness, that even Eric Cantona has given praise to this generation of United. It’ll be a long day if Bolton managed to pressure United to make mistakes in the first 15 minutes to concede a goal, although I doubt it’ll happen. Playing at Old Trafford, with Ronaldo at top form, I’ll give a depleted United side an edge over Allerdyce’s Bolton team. It won’t be pretty but the boys will get it done. UNITED 2 – BOLTON 1
Ooopss … that’s probably not the best article title … Anyway, I’ve been down with sore throat and cold the past week, and the last few days probably I’m at the last stage of all this mess, where all the mucus turned yellow and green and I gotta keep cleaning up my nasal every half an hour or so. I went to see a doctor a few days ago and as usual he gave me antibiotics to get rid of this little annoyance, but that doesn’t seem to help me. So, I went into wikipedia, and tried to dig any useful information and this sort of caught of eyes …
” Generally mucus is clear and thin, serving to filter air during inhalation. During times of infection, mucus can change color to yellow or green either as a result of trapped bacteria, or due to the body’s reaction to viral infection.
In the case of bacterial infection, the bacterium becomes trapped in already clogged sinuses, breeding in the moist, nutrient-rich environment. In this case, the clogged sinuses are a result of some other condition (such as allergies) and the bacterial infection is secondary to this original cause. When two different colors of common bacteria become mixed (such as yellow Staphylococcus aureus and blue Pseudomonas pyocyanea) the resulting shade is often green. Antibiotics may be used fruitfully to treat the secondary infection in these cases, but will generally not help with the original cause.
In the case of a viral infection such as cold or flu, the first stage of infection causes the production of a clear, thin mucus in the nose or back of the throat. As the body begins to react to the virus (generally one to three days), mucus thickens and may turn yellow or green. In these cases, antibiotics will not be useful, and are a major source of misuse. Treatment is generally symptom-based; the only cure is to allow the immune system to fight off the virus over time. “
Check this out, one of my favorite songs by a Taiwanese band, Wu Yue Tian (五月天) or literally translated as “Mayday”. They are considered the next Beyond, one of the best ever HK rock group. The song is called Tian Shi (天使).
In a few hours, United will be playing their first UEFA Champions’ League last 16 matches in 2 years, yes, it’s not a typo, they’ve been out in the group stages in the last two years. One of the opposition that caused them to fail last year is none other than Lille, the team they’ll be playing tonight.
United will be at full strength, with no one out of injury –a rare occasion at United, and Sir Alex is expected to field a full strength team as followed: Neville and Evra at both flanks, Vidic to partner Ferdinand in the middle of the defence, Scholes and Carrick to control the tempo from the midfield, supported by Ronaldo and Giggs from the wings. On the front, Rooney is expected to explode with Larsson forging a great partnership along with him so far. The only position that Sir Alex might ponder is goalie with Kuszcak playing pretty good during van der Sar’s absence. My guess is that van der Sar will start.
mindcubes’ longtail: It’ll be a difficult game for United as Lille a team that works hard, nevertheless, Evra and Neville will prove as the keys tonight as the width of the football field will make a little difference to the outcome of the game. LILLE 0 – UNITED 2
4-0 at White Hart Lane, that’s no small feat and all two thumbs up to my United. It was a master class performance, and the second half football is just absolutely beatiful and efficient. The taint was of course van der Sar’s broken nose at the end of the game, although O’Shea performance at the goalie is absolutely fantastic!! Denying Keane and another corner punched, that was one of the most interesting game!!
Vidic deserved to be the Man of the Match although Scholes, who won the award, dictated the midfield along with Carrick, whose in-swinging corner found Vidic to seal the game in the early minutes of the second half. Everyone deserves an applause last night, including van der Sar who made two great saves, one similar to the goal that was conceded against Henry a couple weeks ago, only this time Berbatov’s header was safely tipped over the bar, en route to a second consecutive clean-sheet.
Will it be another defeat for United at White Hart Lane on yet another late kick-off game away from home? My gut telling me it might be. That’s a tricky answer, especially if you’re a lifelong fan, and your gut is most of the times a pretty good predicament of what’s going to happen to your beloved team.
Four points in the last four away games, United has been disappointing in that sort, and co-incidentally all those games are late games on Sunday. With Chelsea winning last night, I hope United can put together a performance that proves me wrong. Carrick might hold the key to breaking down the midfield and play a pressure and possessions football for United throughout the game.
mindcubes‘ longtail: If I were not a fan, I’ll say the most United can do is a draw, but I can’t do that to my team. So, I guess Larsson and Rooney will produce another night to remember. HOTSPURS 0 – UNITED 2
… the magnificent seven!!
It’ll be interesting to see how United players react to this situation, given Scholes is also out due to suspension. The team though this year has shown some character and togetherness, that even Eric Cantona has given praise to this generation of United. It’ll be a long day if Bolton managed to pressure United to make mistakes in the first 15 minutes to concede a goal, although I doubt it’ll happen. Playing at Old Trafford, with Ronaldo at top form, I’ll give a depleted United side an edge over Allerdyce’s Bolton team. It won’t be pretty but the boys will get it done. UNITED 2 – BOLTON 1
In a few hours, United will be playing their first UEFA Champions’ League last 16 matches in 2 years, yes, it’s not a typo, they’ve been out in the group stages in the last two years. One of the opposition that caused them to fail last year is none other than Lille, the team they’ll be playing tonight.
4-0 at White Hart Lane, that’s no small feat and all two thumbs up to my United. It was a master class performance, and the second half football is just absolutely beatiful and efficient. The taint was of course van der Sar’s broken nose at the end of the game, although O’Shea performance at the goalie is absolutely fantastic!! Denying Keane and another corner punched, that was one of the most interesting game!!
Vidic deserved to be the Man of the Match although Scholes, who won the award, dictated the midfield along with Carrick, whose in-swinging corner found Vidic to seal the game in the early minutes of the second half. Everyone deserves an applause last night, including van der Sar who made two great saves, one similar to the goal that was conceded against Henry a couple weeks ago, only this time Berbatov’s header was safely tipped over the bar, en route to a second consecutive clean-sheet.
Will it be another defeat for United at White Hart Lane on yet another late kick-off game away from home? My gut telling me it might be. That’s a tricky answer, especially if you’re a lifelong fan, and your gut is most of the times a pretty good predicament of what’s going to happen to your beloved team.
