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Champions of Europe!

How can you possibly put that into words! What an incredible incredible day!

I hear there is a game tomorrow...

...an important one at that? Well a lot has been said about the game. We are favorities, Fergie needs it for his legacy, we've under-acheived in Europe and must win to set it right, the pitch is bad, we have the lucky dressing room at the stadium, Roman will have influenced the officials, Vidic sat out training, Cole was two footed by Makelele, the list goes on. When the ref blows the whistle, none of this will matter. The eleven players on the pitch have to win it on the day. Nothing that happens tomorrow will change the fact that this has been a great season or the fact that we have been the best team in Europe for two seasons running now. It'd be good to have the trophy tomorrow for validation and nothing else.

Fergie has talked about his selection dilemma, especially on this rare occasion when everyone is fit (yes, that includes paper cup Saha). He does have an interesting dilemma - does he start both Scholes and Giggs? We've not done very well when both have started recently , so should he stick to Park in the starting eleven? Giggs has experience but we can't afford two people having an off day in the middle. My starting line up would be: EVDS, Brown, Vidic, Rio, Evra, Scholes, Hargreaves, Carrick, Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez. That would mean we have the luxury of bringing in the likes of Park, Giggs, Nani and Anderson from the bench. Rio and Vidic, on form, should be able to take care of Drogba. We have to be wary of not affording the likes of Ballack or Lampard any space outside the box. Many teams get caught against Chelsea when the runners pick up the pieces from the front men. In Ballack and Lampard and Essien, they have players who can score from such situations. That is why Hargreaves must start in the holding role in front of the back four to mop all such balls away. Chelsea know only one way to play and they'll play from the back and test our patience. It won't be a classic but I think this one will be more open than the game we played against Barcelona at Nou Camp.

It's another 20 odd hours to kick off, by this time tomorrow we will know how it went down in Moscow.

Worthy Champions of England!

Manchester United - You Beauty!

All eyes on Super Sunday

So it all gets decided on Sunday. It's a tougher fixture than Chelski's but we have our destiny in our own hands.We need to keep it simple. Stick to the basics, play the way we've done all season and we will walk out as worthy champions. Any unusual or special tactics for this game will make it tricky. Wigan has some decent quality in a few areas - a testament to that been that both Palacios and Valencia have been rumored with a moved to United. Up front they have the bulky Heskey and Darren Bent and they could cause a few surprises from set pieces or long balls.

On the injury front, seems like Vidic will be fit for the game, but rumors about Rooney's injury being worse than initially suspected are worrying. He still needs to pass a medical to be deemed available to play. No one can compensate for his work rate and although we can do well without him on Sunday, but in Moscow, his absence will be a big blow. I hope that's not the case and he can play at 100% in both games.

Well, anything but a title win on Sunday will result in a feeling of injustice. It won't be easy to swallow. But one thing is for certain, the team has done all the fans proud. To be so close to two major championships and doing it the right way is no mean feat. This has been a fantastic season all round with the right signs for the future. Some young ones coming through like Anderson and the ones bought in for experience doing their jobs like Hargreaves. It just needs the well deserved icing in the form of the premiership title. That will be superb! It's going to be a heart stopping 90 minutes of action on Sunday!

A game away from the title

A great team effort today barring the stupidity of Nani. Exactly the kind of game we wanted, early goals, settled nerves and an opportunity to rest key players once the job was done. We started the same 11 who played on Tuesday. Still baffled by the absence of Anderson, especially since Scholes had played on Tueday. Hammers started well but it was that lad Ronaldo again who collected the ball on the sidelines, cut in and left the defender on his ass, went into the box and fired one in. A second goal came from a Hargreaves cross that evaded all defenders and surprised Ronaldo. I am not sure what part of his anatomy the goal came from but it was a goal nonetheless. A screamer from Tevez made it 3-0 and it looked like the game was over in the first 30 minutes. Until Dean Ashton capitalized on a botched header from Wes Brown and scored from an impressive bicycle kick. Soon after, Nani, in a moment of stupidity, head-butted Neill and off he went. An action that Fergie promised "to deal with". He could have seriously impacted our title chances today. He left his tired team mates in further mess having to play almost 55 minutes with tired legs and a man short. I expect him to be fined and an apology to the team is in order. Soon after the incident Hammers had a spell that had us a bit fluttered and a goal then would have changed the game totally. Half time came at a great time and we were totally in control after the restart. It also another ex-Hammer Carrick who finally settled it with a long range deflected shot and from then on there was going to be only one winner.
This was another great team effort. The way Tevez has worked up front in the last few games has been wonderful - chasing every ball, covering every blade of grass. Apart from Nani, you really can't fault anyone for lack of effort and now we are just a win at Wigan away from a well deserved title win. I know Newcastle can do us a favor on Monday but I am not expecting it. Given how things have gone season, expect us to still need a win next Sunday to clinch it.

West Ham Preview

This one can get us a game away from the title. A win will result in a huge amount of pressure on Chelski to win away on Monday. Anything less than a win and the title is over. We've lost the last three games against the Hammers so this is not an easy fixture by any means. Our ability to take chances early in front of the goal will be the key. If this is 0-0 in the 70th minute, we are bound to be more desperate and prone to trying different things and in general panicking. The mantra is to kill the game early - don't flirt with chances - no foreplay - just penetrate - goals goals goals - as early as we can.

Rooney and Vida are not fit to play. That means we will see Hargreaves at right back again. My pick would be Anderson,Fletcher and Carrick in the middle and Giggs and Ronaldo on the wing. There are no other options up front than to play Park and Tevez. Scholes deserves a rest. I expect it to be a physical game and they will do their best to make it disruptive. I do think though that Tuesday's game would have lifted the team and they'll go all out for a win tomorrow and get it.

There's a lot of transfer speculation going around - but with a game like this in the horizon and the title at stake, I don't want to spend any time discussing that. That's what summer's for. 3 points tomorrow will make my weekend, anything less will destroy a season. 4:30 PM PST kickoff means another sleepless night.

Moscow - Here come United!

There is something cyclical about football. It was proved  yet again today. Nine years back, the ginger prince was wearing a suit and watching in the stands as United picked up the famous trophy at Nou Camp. A win that was made possible largely due to his displays earlier in the tournament. But the game can be cruel sometimes and he had to sit out what would have been the biggest occasion of his career. Fast forward 9 years and United need to beat Barca to reach the finals of the same competition - so who better than the ginger prince to get us the goal to get there! As Fergie said after the game, he will be the first name on the team sheet in Moscow - and who can argue with that?
Having said that, today's was as complete a team performance as it can get. Every player ran tireless and worked hard for the cause. The back four, without Vidic, was immense. I can't stop praising Rio and it is displays like this that will cement his place as the best central defender in the world. Brown and Evra were formidable today, so was Owen, playing at right back. Tevez and Park covered every blade of grass and gave all they had. Scholes got us the goal and Carrick made some important interceptions to break their play. Overall a great great team performance.

The loss of Rooney  and Vidic before the game made this win even more special. Both are players of immense stature and influence, and to come away with a win in such a huge game without them is very satisfactory for everyone concerned.

I've been highly critical of Fergie's selection and tactics  for the last few games. I think some of it was deserved as well but so far he has proved me wrong. We've been guilty of being tactically naive in the past and playing the same brand of football no matter the occasion or the opponent, but this year , our displays against Roma and Barcelona have been full of tactical nous. It's not always pretty to watch, not always breath taking, but functional and effective. Even today when I saw the team sheet, I wasn't impressed. It's hard to understand what Anderson needs to do to get a game - he has been stellar all season and I think is highly suited for games like these. I do hope he has a part to play in the remaining few games to come.
So, It is Mocow on May 21st, our opponents would be either CSKA Chelski or Liverpool. I wonder how much influence Roman may have should Chelski reach the finals - it isn't hard to imagine Roman having his say in Russia - his backyard.

Anyways, focus is back on domestic matters. Games like this are energy zapping and highly draining both physically and mentally. Hopefully, the lads will recover in time for the game against West Ham on Saturday. I am also awaiting news on Rooney, Vidic and Evra who was stretchered off late in the game today.Hope all of them are available on Saturday - a win against West Ham will mean one hand on the trophy!

Good News, Bad News and a small matter of a CL Semi Final

Not that it is a surprise, but Cristiano Ronaldo is PFA's Player of the year for 2nd year running. The guy has been miles ahead of everyone else and long may it continue. As he himself said though, it will be worthwhile only if we have anything to show for his form at the end of the season. This week will tell us a lot about that. So that was the good news and its out of the way.
It was also good to see Rio and Vidic as central defenders of choice for the team of the year - they really pick themselves up for those spots and this is really a world class partnership in the making. Our mean defense this season is really the reason we are top of the table right now - just ahead of Chelski on GD.

Now for the bad news. Contrary to Fergie's firm statement post Chelsea game that both Rio and Vidic will play on Tuesday, reports today suggest the haven't shrugged off their injuries yet. They didn't train with the squad and that really not good news. Both are very vital for us and in a game of this stature, we will definitely feel their absence. This injury bug has really hit us at the wrong time. I just hope Fergie's gamble of leaving it this late and not clinching the advantage early doesn't cost us the season.

All eyes will be at Old Trafford on Tuesday and both gaffers have come out stating their teams will go out and "attack attack attack". Well Fergie said that before the first leg and we didn't see that happening. This time though, I don't think we have any other options. An early goal for them is what I dread - I hope we don't concede all night. This is the kind of game the squad should be up for - the mathematics is simple - win it and you go to Moscow - lose it and you've let a great great opportunity to lift the European cup go by again - a chance that may not come back soon. It promises to be a cracker and contrary to the events at Nou Camp, I actually do think it will be a more open game with both sides showing intent to play. Team selection for us will be vital again and I hope its a balanced selection - not like the one we saw at the weekend. Alright then, tomorrow we will know if we are going to a European final for the first time this decade - it'll be sweet to do it in the 50th anniversary of Munich - but there is work to do yet.

Fergie strikes again

What can I say? Once again, we've left it to the end by taking an approach that is mind baffling to say the least. Not only did we rest Ronaldo and Tevez today, we started with Fletcher and Nani which made it a rather strange combination in the middle. Fergie clearly set out the team to not to lose, rather than go for the win to clinch the title today. You may argue the game on Tuesday made the selection justified, but this was a bigger game, there is no point fucking up the title after failing to gain advantage over Barcelona. I for one can never understand what's going through Fergie's mind at the moment. We have clearly given away the advantage and given our record against West Ham, Chelsea must be favorites to win it from here. There is no evidence that we won't drop points again whereas Chelsea are just grilling out results at the moment.

Having said that, I thought we had a good second half. Nani was very wasteful, think Ronaldo circa 2005 and multiply the wastefulness by 10. He had no clue when to release the ball and was generally poor. Giggs didn't have much impact either, which has been a regular feature this season. Alan Wiley was the villain for me - he gave too many bad decisions against us and the penalty wasn't decisive and in such a big game, it shouldn't have been given.

With news of a brawl with Chelsea ground staff after the game, this has really not been a good day all around. We don't want to be bottlers like Ars*nal. We don't want to come across as sore losers. Lets get it together for Tuesday - and I am looking at you Fergie. More than the referee, you'll have a lot of answering to do on your decisions of this past week come the end of the season.

Now its Barca on Tuesday, a game that we've left a  of hopes on. The kind of game we've lost in the past. Fergie has taken a huge risk and lets see now how his plan unfolds. I for one, am prepared for the worst. We've let this season slip from our hands in the past week and now I know how it feels to be an Ars*nal fan.

Anti-Climactic Damp Squib!

Yesterday was probably the most disappointed me and most fans have been coming out of an undefeated game. I was aware this was not going to be all that classic as everyone expected, but what was on show was so pathetically dire, it belied belief. Once again, Ferguson didn’t walk his talk. Once again, he played players out of position. Once again in European away games, we didn’t play to our strengths. What resulted was an utter bore fest, with us chasing shadows for most of the game. Rooney was frustrated on the wing. Ronaldo was the only outlet who the team could hardly get the ball to. Scholes and Carrick huffed and puffed and chased all game without threatening to play forward. Barcelona as expected saw all of the ball, but didn’t really penetrate that much. If anything positive came off it was the fact that we didn’t concede even after they kept the ball for almost all of the game.

Now once again, Fergie and players have come out and spun this performance as a "highly tactical" one and there are noises of “mission accomplished” coming out of the camp. Expectedly. It’s all B.S. Players and Fergie have come out and said “Now we will attack at OT”. Now being the operative word. We’ve left it late once again and I am afraid and prepared for the worst on Tuesday. It’s happened before and it’s very likely to happen again on Tuesday. Fergie risked a whole lot yesterday. He should be prepared to pay the cost.

The penalty came too early and not many players are mentally up for it in the 2^nd minute  You could see Ronaldo was also not too sure – the stutter was missing and he missed it. We can only guess how the game would have unfolded should he have scored. A lot of experts have come out and criticized Ronaldo once again and have made direct comparisons between Ronaldo and Messi. How can you judge Ronaldo in a game where his team had 20 odd % of possession? When everyone else played behind the ball for almost the entire game? When the likes of Rooney and Park and Tevez were wasted and hardly knew their roles? It was all down to Ferguson’s selection and tactics yesterday.  I can’t fault the players for that.  And given all of that, Ronaldo had a penalty, was denied at least one more clear shout and Messi didn’t trouble EVDS even once. I think Messi is a great talent, I saw Barcelona play at Nou Camp November of last year and he clearly stood out as the best player on the pitch then; but these comparisons based on one game aren’t valid as judgments on players.

Overall, this was a huge huge disappointment. How big a cost we’ll have to pay for this? Well we’ll know in 6 days. Meanwhile, it’s a trip to Stamford Bridge on Saturday, a win will clinch us the title – so as games go this is the biggest league game of the season. It seems like we’ll have to do it without Vidic. I am positive about our chances, and only a defeat will hurt our title chances. More on that coming soon.