Post-season thoughts, hopes, doom, gloom and Welbeck (and Carrick) love
Ten year anniversary for a key, unsung, cog at United
Podcast: transfer rumours assessed, youth development, buying success and more…
Tweet Authors: Doron, Nik, Bricki, Herzog’s Child, Stretford End and Rob Follow Doron, Nik, Bricki, Herzog’s Child, Stretford...
Tweet Author: Doron Follow Doron on Twitter Naturally, fans tend to think about the players or a manager when either praising or...
Tweet Authors: Doron and Phil Follow Doron, Phil and BTP on Twitter Beyond The Pitch and Stretford-End.com have come together once again to...
Authors: Doron, Written Offside, Nik and Rob
Follow Doron, Written Offside, Nik and Rob on Twitter
Here arriveth the third installment of the “Things” column, covering random highlights and lowlights from last weekend’s football. Musings this week are brought to you as ever from Nik, Doron and Rob (he’s the funny one); with the added treat of James from Written Offside sharing some thoughts on Aston Villa. Enjoy.
Author: Nik
Follow Nik on Twitter
United came away with 3 points from a tricky trip to Villa Park, but importantly seem to be finding an extra gear at last. Jones scored the all-important goal, and there was another clean-sheet, which will please Ferguson. Here are the talking points to come out of the game; we welcome both Villa and United fans to get involved in some discussion.
AUTHOR: – Doron
Ashley Young has been linked to Man United for over six months now. Indeed, even in previous seasons, the young English winger has been the subject of transfer speculation columns. Rumours of a January bid have never been confirmed or denied but recent murmurs suggest a deal is imminent. Today, word from the Man United doctors via Mr Mujac was that Young had undergone a medical last Friday. With that and speculation in mind, here are a few reasons why signing Young may make sense…
AUTHOR: – Doron
Aston Villa’s poor record continued at Old Trafford showed no signs of changing as Man United swept them aside in a 3-1 win (a result that echoes our predicted score in the match preview for a change). Only last year a resolute Villa team kept United out at Old Trafford to win one nil but this time round United ensured that their home record for the season remained almost perfect – it’s now 37 points from a possible 39. Two goals from Wayne Rooney and a thunderous effort from captain Vidic also meant that a club record was equaled – the longest unbeaten run in the top flight. After tough away games at Blackpool and Southampton it was a welcome relief that last night was much more of a formality.
AUTHOR: – Doron
A resurgent Aston Villa come to Old Trafford having not lost a game in nearly a month. Whilst they’re still closer to the bottom of the table than the top, the club under Houllier are finally starting to move in the right direction. Meanwhile United’s unbeaten league run continue and their home form is pretty ominous for the visiting Villa side.
Nemanja Vidic scored an 85th minute equaliser to rescue a point for Manchester United who displayed trademark resolve to rally from 2 goals down and escape from Villa Park with their long unbeaten run intact. With the club having recently celebrated Sir Alex Ferguson’s 24th year in charge, the team once again demonstrated that sometimes just the will to win can be the single most determining and thrilling attribute, in sports.
Fixtures against Aston Villa have been a mixed bag of disappointment and excitement in recent seasons, the last of which ended with United lifting the Carling Cup at Wembley. Just a few weeks prior to that cup glory, United were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against the Villans after Nani’s sending off. And before that United fell to a 1-0 loss against Villa in December. Of course, there’s been plenty of highlights too. Paul Scholes’ volley at Villa Park in the 06-07 campaign comes to mind. And of course, who could forget when Kiko Macheda introduced himself to the world in April 2009? There’s no telling what this match may have in store for us.
Manchester United retained the League Cup today having beaten Aston Villa 2-1 at Wembley today. Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney scored the crucial goals to give United their fourth League cup win, with our number ten getting lots of superlatives thrown in his direction. Wayne Rooney is without doubt the best player on the planet and our star player by a mile – however, United demonstrated their strength in depth today with superb performances from Dimitar Berbatov, Antonio Valencia and Ji-Sung Park as we enter the business end of the season.
Sir Alex Ferguson steered his Manchester United side into the record books once again as it was the first time in history that the club had ever successfully defended a cup competition – a result that wasn’t without fortune, though, and a result that was secured with a familiar combination.
