After the effective, if not inspiring, performance of the second string in the Carling Cup earlier in the week, normal service resumes this weekend as United face Blackburn in the Premier League.

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Just two clips for today. Some curious bit of stuff from Ferguson.

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You’re only as good as your last game and following eleven without defeat, Sunday proved something of a wake-up call. United certainly need to up the ante and fortunately they won’t have to wait very long to attempt to put things right. A little over 50 hours to be precise as a trip to Barnsley in the Carling Cup will hopefully lift spirits, if ever so slightly, following the depressing result at Anfield.

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Defeats to Liverpool makes me sick. But looking forward to exciting young talents making their first team debuts helps lift the gloom. The official site reports Gabriel Obertan is expected to start on the left wing against Barnsley tomorrow.

Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed to ManUtd.com on Monday, “He’ll play tomorrow against Barnsley, it’s a good start for him.”

Let’s make no pretence about this: we were beaten fair and square by Liverpool. We can talk all we want about refereeing incompetence; true there were a few errors but the crucial ones were offset on the other side too. Nothing however disguises the fact that yesterday was a defeat that was fully deserved.

This makes it a hat trick of Liverpool wins and that’s what makes it hard to stomach.

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RoM has an exclusive interview with Phillippe Auclair, the author of Cantona: the rebel who would be king. Worth a read.

Could there really be a better time to beat Liverpool? If there is, I’d like to know the scenario. The struggles of our bitter rivals have certainly been well documented over the past few days as they endure their worst sequence of results for some 22 years.

Victory for United at Anfield on Sunday would signify Liverpool’s fifth straight defeat and would open up the gap between the two sides to 10 points in the Premier League.  Furthermore, despite the recent vote of confidence, a negative result for the Merseysiders could quite plausibly call a halt to Rafael Benitez’s reign at the club.

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It’s been quite a week! From beach balls to touchline brawls and slack marking to summit embarking. Now Moscow and the artificial pitch awaits for Ferguson and his charges where three more points would go even further to sealing United’s progression into the next phase of the Champions League.

It’s worth noting that trips to the Luzhniki Stadium haven’t been too unkind in recent years either, although CSKA certainly won’t be a proverbial walk in the park synthetic grass.

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The Guardian has an interesting piece on a forgotten tale involving United players, 100 years ago. Here’s an extract:

The first meeting of the Association Football Players Union in 1907 was chaired by United player Billy Meredith – the “Welsh Wizard”, who was one of the first footballing superstars. The union campaigned against FA rules such as the £4 ceiling on wages and the lack of compensation for injured players. In 1909, the FA withdrew its recognition of the union because it didn’t like its authority questioned; players were ordered to resign from the union or have their registration cancelled. Many players did resign, but not all. Heroically, the whole of the Manchester United team refused.

Read the whole piece. Well worth your time.