Dominating Newcastle

Scunthorpe was defeated with a little bit of difficulty as Manchester United played the second team. I have been looking forward to an opportunity to play Kuszczak in the goal in lieu of Van der Sar. The line up in this match against Scunthorpe was

Kuszczak
Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra
Miller, Fletcher, Sung, Richardson
Rossi, Smith
Manchester United won 2 – 1. The two goals were scored by Rossi and Saha, who came in place of Smith.

The following match with Newcastle saw a goal feast. Manchester United won 4 – 0. All four goals were scored by Rooney. Ferdinand was unfortunately sent off in the 45th minute and Smith was immediately taken off, Vidic coming in to bolster the defence.

Newcastle versus Manchester United
0 Goals 4
5 Total Shots 21
3 Shots on Target 14
10 Tackles 34
3 Fouls 4
0 Bookings 1
1 Corners 5
0 Offsides 0
64 % Passing % 78 %
35 % Possession % 65 %
60 % Shot Accuracy 66 %


Match events
4th minute – goal Manchester United – Rooney
32nd minute – goal Manchester United – Rooney
42nd minute – goal Manchester United – Rooney
45th minute – Red Card Manchester United – Ferdinand
45th minute – Vidic in, Smith out
77th minute – Emre in, Babayaro out
84th minute – goal Manchester United – Rooney


After the match the Team Chemistry is 45, my Job Security 77 and Fan Support is 59.

4 - 1 WIN AT OLD TRAFFORD

As predicted the Bolton match gave a thumping win to Manchester United. 4 – 1 is no easy task, any day, against any side. And mind you, this Bolton side is good. But Manchester United showed true class, attacking through the flanks, shooting hard at the goal, 22 in number. Had it not been for Jaaskelainen, C. Ronaldo would have himself scored 4 goals. It was a tough opposition, whose defense collapsed just before the half time whistle was blown.

If you look at the events, you will note that the last five minutes before the end of the first half was where the entire match and its fate were decided. Five minutes and fours goals. And kudos to Rooney, who came good in this match – pumping in two goals in rapid succession, snatching away the match from Bolton.

The teams :

Bolton

Jaaskelainen

N. Hunt, T. Ben Haim, A. Meite, I. Campo

K. Nolan, I. Tal, G. Speed

Diouf, K. Davies

Anelka



Manchester United

Van der Sar
Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze
C. Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs
Rooney, Smith


The Events

41st minute – goal Manchester United – Rooney
44th minute – goal Manchester United – Rooney
45th minute – goal Bolton – Nolan, from free kick
45th minute – goal Manchester United – Carrick, from C. Ronaldo’s corner

At half time Manchester United was leading 3 – 1

75th minute – Manchester United – Evra in, Heinze out
75th minute – Manchester United – O’Shea in , Neville out
77th minute – Manchester United – J. S. Park in, Scholes out
77th minute – goal Manchester United – Smith


The game statistics

Manchester United versus Bolton
4 Goals 1
26 Total Shots 11
22 Shots on Target 3
20 Tackles 22
4 Fouls 5
0 Bookings 0
7 Corners 0
0 Offsides 0
82% Passing % 70%
55% Possession % 45%
84% Shot Accuracy 27%

Clearly Manchester United was the better side today.

The Team Chemistry is 42, my Job Security 71 and Fan Support 56.

With nine points in five matches, Manchester United is currently ranked fourth after Blackburn at 11, Liverpool at 10, Chelsea at 9 from 4 Matches, leading the pack.

The next match in the fixture is with Scunthorpe United in the League Cup. Manchester United should have it easy and I am planning on resting ALL key players. To carry forward my previous plan of trying out Kuszczak, he will replace van der Sar in the next match for sure.

Rooney 1 - 1 Henry

The match against Arsenal was fantastic. Both teams battled out well and the final outcome was the result that one could only hope for. Personally, I feel the Arsenal side was much stronger, and they proved it over and over again. Lehmann was simply outstanding repeatedly fending off powerful shots from Rooney, Smith and C. Ronaldo. At the end of it, I am happy with the result.

The teams:

Arsenal

Lehmann

Eboue. Terry, Toure, A. Cole

Ljungberg, Fabregas, Gilberto Silva, Rosicky

Van Persie, Henry


Manchester United

Van der Sar
Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze
C. Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs
Rooney, Smith


The Events

48th minute – goal Manchester United – Rooney

At half time Manchester United was leading 1 – 0

54th minute – goal Arsenal – Henry
53rd minute – Arsenal – Drogba in , Kalou out
56th minute – Arsenal – Flamini in, Ljungberg out
63rd minute – Arsenal – Eboue Yellow Card
90th minute – Manchester United – Saha in, Smith out

The game statistics

Manchester United versus Arsenal
1 Goals 1
21 Total Shots 7
10 Shots on Target 4
21 Tackles 21
1 Fouls 1
0 Bookings 1
4 Corners 3
0 Offsides 0
77% Passing % 61%
56% Possession % 44%
47% Shot Accuracy 57%


After the match the team of the month was announced and three players from the Manchester United team were selected – Ferdinand, Carrick and C. Ronaldo. The Team Chemistry is 42, my Job Security 68 and Fan Support 53.

After 4 matches
Rank Team Points
1 Blackburn 10
2 Liverpool 7
3 Tottenham 7
4 Chelsea 6 (3 matches)
5 Manchester United 6
6 Sheffield United 6
7 Wigan Athletic 6
8 Newcastle 6
9 West Ham 5
10 Arsenal 5

The next match is with Bolton. My guess 3-0 in our favour.

A WIN! FINALLY!

A WIN! FINALLY! CHEERS AT OLD TRAFFORD

The first home game this season saw Manchester United defeating Chelsea 3 – 2. The scoreline could have easily read 5 – 2, but for Petr Cech. Wonderful goalkeeping. Whereas, age is starting to show on Van der Sar. Maybe in one of the next few matches I will have to try Kuszczak in his place. There was one change in this match. Saha was kept out. In lieu of Saha, Smith played and delightfully well. A 9 pointer. His match experience points also increased by 9 points. However, my Man of the Match was C. Ronaldo. Scoring the first goal in the eleventh minute and then following it up with a fabulous corner to assist Rooney to net the second in, controlling his side of the midfield and the amazing runs forcing Bridge to commit three fouls, all deserving Yellow Cards, C. Ronaldo ruled this game.

The teams :

Chelsea

Cech
Ferreira, Carvalho, Gallas, Bridge
Essien
S. Wright-Phillips, Robben
Lampard
Kalou Shevchenko



Manchester United

Van der Sar
Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze
C. Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs
Rooney, Smith


The Events

11th minute – goal Manchester United - C. Ronaldo
28th minute – goal Chelsea – Lampard
41st minute – goal Manchester United – Rooney

At half time Manchester United was leading 2 – 1

53rd minute – goal Manchester United – Smith
53rd minute – Chelsea – Drogba in , Kalou out
56th minute – Yellow Card Manchester United- Heinze
70th minute – goal Chelsea – Drogba
77th minute – Manchester United – Evra in, Heinze out

The game statistics

Manchester United versus Chelsea
3 Goals 2
15 Total Shots 9
10 Shots on Target 4
25 Tackles 23
2 Fouls 4
1 Bookings 0
5 Corners 1
2 Offsides 0
77% Passing % 66%
55% Possession % 45%
66% Shot Accuracy 44%

Clearly Manchester United was the better side today.

After the match the team of the month was announced and three players from the Manchester United team were selected – Ferdinand, Scholes and C. Ronaldo. Also, I was asked to rest key players before the Bolton match. The Team Chemistry is 41, my Job Security 68 and Fan Support 53.

However, the transfer window closed and I failed to bring in neither Terry not Tevez. Without Tevez moving in, and Saha not being my favorite, I guess Smith will be into the playing eleven on a rather permanent basis. By the way, I do not intend to use Solkjaer unless there are any injuries to the key players and I a, really short of strikers, and I also plan to sell him off in the January transfer window.

No luck at Blackburn - Kuqi steals the show

The trip to Blackburn was disappointing. The game started off well with Carrick scoring in the fifth minute and the midfield playing strongly. Manchester United scored four goals but that wasn’t enough to seal a victory. Blackburn pumped in four goals. The match ended in a draw. Van der Sar alone couldn’t be blamed, the defence collapsed collectively.

My team – Manchester United:

Van der Sar

Neville Ferdinand Silvestre Heinze

C. Ronaldo Scholes Carrick Giggs

Rooney Saha

Some of the highlights of the game:

5th minute goal – Manchester United – Carrick
15th minute goal – Manchester United – C. Ronaldo, with Saha assisting
39th minute goal – Blackburn – Kuqi
41st minute goal – Manchester United – Giggs

Half time, and Manchester United was leading 3-1, who would have thought that the game wouldn’t be won. Perhaps complacency crept in gave away the second half and the winning opportunity.

49th minute goal – Blackburn – Gamst
58th minute yellow card – Blackburn – Gray (deserved a red card)
61st minute Manchester United – Saha out, Smith in
65th minute Blackburn – Emerton out, Tugay in
76th minute goal – Blackburn – McCarthy
79th minute goal – Manchester United – Smith
84th minute goal – Blackburn – Kuqi
84th minute Manchester United – Scholes out, Park in

Result 4 – 4
DRAW

BLACKBURN versus MANCHESTER UNITED
4 GOALS 4
9 TOTAL SHOTS 17
6 SHOTS ON TARGET 11
21 TACKLES 17
3 FOULS 5
1 BOOKINGS 0
1 CORNERS 3
1 OFFSIDE 0
67% PASSING % 78%
38% POSSESSION 62%
66% SHOT ACCURACY 64%

With so much possession and such a high percentage of passing, Manchester United should have won the game. And Rooney should have scored. He had his share of opportunities, and so did Saha. It was thanks largely to the midfield that Manchester United could salvage a point, or else the match would have been lost along with the pride.

After the match, the Team Chemistry is at 41, my Job Security at 61 and Fan Support remains at 50.

The current standing of the teams in the league
1. Tottenham 4 pts
2. Blackburn 4 pts
3. Sheffield United 4 pts
4. Wigan Athletic 4 pts
5. Aston Villa 4 pts
6. Bolton 4 pts
7. Chelsea 3 pts
8. Manchester City 3 pts
9. Arsenal 3 pts
10. Liverpool 3 pts
11. Newcastle 3 pts
12. Everton 3 pts
13. Manchester United 2 pts

I had bid for John Terry but Arsenal has already signed him. Well, I have bid for him again and also for Tevez. I am seriously considering sidelining Saha and perhaps selling him during mid-season transfers.

After the match, I was asked by the board to rest some key players before the Arsenal match. Huh
I have a good mind to rest them all. In any case, the next match is against Chelsea. Can’t let them have it easy.

Here is the order for the next few matches
Chelsea – home
Arsenal – away
Bolton – home
League Cup 2nd Round
NewCastle – away
Westham – home
Sheffield Utd - home

On Orkut

Fifa 2007 is a great game. And very popular too. Just a couple of days back I joined a community on www.orkut.com on the game and found that it was highly interactive and had loads of good quality tips. Quite a happening place.

If you want to join in and have more fun, follow the link here http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=18375409

Manchester United Squad

Manchester United faces Blackburn in the next match. It will again be an Away match.

Here’s a look into my squad for Manchester United:

With the transfer window open, I am trying to buy John Terry. And yes, I need to sell some of the defenders. Also perhaps a couple of the strikers.

Against Blackburn, I intend to play an aggressive game and use the full force – the best players in the squad.