Match report to follow 
[EDIT By RR]
Great stuff by the lads. Outstanding support from the crowd. They won’t be able to talk for a week, I’m sure. Let’s savour these moments for now. I’ll put some videos or pics as I find them, but the match report will come up only tomorrow. Hang on tight, and feel free to rant your guts out.
Over to you…
Found this on video Youtube, don’t know if it’s relevant, but enjoy!
Continue reading “Moscow, we’re going to Moscow!”
Red Rants had some problems in the last 10 hours or so - first our server was under maintenance for a looonnnggg time (they picked one hell of a time to do maintenance), and then there was a problem with our database that didn’t allow people to post comments. Both problems are resolved now, and I thank you for your patience and hope that you haven’t migrated somewhere else in the meantime.
We will be shifting servers in the near future to avoid any such future problems.
Ok, back to the match itself. In case you haven’t seen the game, I suggest finding a place to download it and watch it again, or trying to catch a replay on TV. My hangover prevents me from going play by play over last night’s events, although to the teams’ credit I managed to go through the whole game without sleeping (as opposed to the shit on a stick affair at Anfield when I dozed off 10 minutes into the game). If you’re pressed for time, read the beeb’s report or guardian’s minute-by-minute coverage.
What I DO want to discuss though, is the nature of United’s performance and what that holds for the coming days (both the Chelsea game and the second leg at Old Trafford).
Continue reading “Barcelona 0-0 Manchester United - Much better than last season”
Blackburn Rovers v Manchester United
Ewood Park, Saturday 19 April 2008, 17:15
The numbers point, as usual, to a United win - Blackburn have lost to United more than they’ve lost to any other team since the Premier League started, we did the double against them last season, Blackburn have lost 7 out of 7 fixtures against the Big Four this season, lost the last game to Liverpool while United are on a high after beating Arsenal.
Blackburn’s season is more or less over - they have an outside chance for qualifying for Europe via the InterToto Cup but that will require several results to go their way. United have, after beating Arsenal on Sunday and watching Chelsea draw with Wigan, one hand on the title, but it will take all their professionalism and focus to finish the job off as champions.
Continue reading “Blackburn v Manchester United - Preview”
Good news for United - Brown’s contract wrangle has been finally sorted out (I’m betting that United gave in a little to keep Brown onboard), Rio’s new 5 year contract has been finalised and Carrick’s got himself a new long-term contract as well.
Things could get better, I suppose. Fabregas could go to Barcelona, or Roman could go back to Russia, or Benitez to Madrid. But in terms of how things are at United - they’re great, but there’s still a couple of things to sort out:
Continue reading “Manchester United confirm new contracts for Brown, Ferdinand and Carrick”
There was a time when Manchester United fans were mocked for their manager’s dealings in the transfer window. If the point had been about spending money, we could have handled it. But the accusation was that the manager had signed players unfit for United, and it stung all the more because they were right.
However, since summer 2005, every single player the gaffer has brought in has proven their worth as a valuable squad member. Fergie has a perfect record in transfers for the last 2 seasons, and yet no one seems to have pointed this out as a contributing reason for United’s success in the last 2 years.
Let’s take a look, shall we?
Continue reading “Celebrating Fergie’s 100% record in transfers”
It’s hard to terrorise opponents when your attacking trio boasts of an ageing 34-year old whose time, according to his own fans, is up at the club, a Korean imitation of the Energizer Bunny sans the coolness and impact, and a hobbit brought over from Argentina.
Behind them sat 2 defensive midfielders and a player turning 20 this Sunday who had been anonymous in the first leg. Behind them stood a crocked center-back, a green 21-year old, an alien making his comeback from injury, a right-back no one rates as being good enough and a 37-yr old keeper whose best days are behind him.
Either Luciano Spalletti didn’t do his homework, or his scouts lied to him about some of these players.
Continue reading “The Attack Of The Hobbits…”
Some shite tabloid went with the headline ‘Manchester United fans want Giggs axed’ and when I read it, it pissed me off. It’s the fkn business end of the season, do we really need knee-jerk reactions and idiots who hit the panic button when they can’t find where they put their keys to represent us?
Axing Giggs is NOT the answer. When he plays well, everyone harps on about how his critics are wrong. When he plays poorly, the critics have a ball. No one’s getting to the real problem - our own ridiculous expectations.
Continue reading “Fickle Fans, Old Legs and Injuries”
In an interview with the Irish Times (via SS), we hear what Roy Keane has to say about his departure from Manchester United.
I’m not going to sugar-coat this or give you a preamble - have a read.
Roy Keane:
Continue reading “Roy Keane on leaving Manchester United”
Manchester United won 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to goals before and after the break by Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. The Red Devils take a vital 2-goal lead into the 2nd leg, to be played on Wednesday, 9th April 2008 at Old Trafford. The semi-final beckons, and with it another crack at history.
Highlights (You can read the play-by-play match report here on ManUtd.com):
Cristiano Ronaldo scoring an away goal in a crucial game for Manchester United - showing a resolve that seemed missing in seasons gone past.
Wayne Rooney’s all-round performance, easily the man of the match for his work-rate, creativity and commitment. Ronaldo stole the show with his goal but the rest of the game was more about Rooney.
Vidic’s injury - a knee strain as he landed awkwardly after jumping for a header - will be a cause of concern but hopefully it’s not a long-term injury like last season.
Roma’s wastefulness in front of goal - granted, by the end of the game both teams had their fair share of chances but there were periods of time before both goals that Roma had clear-cut chances to score, and they bottled it. For United to grab those crucial away goals in difficult games - at Lyon and now here at Rome - is a good sign of maturity from their players.
Continue reading “Rooney and Ronaldo punish wasteful Roma to give United 2-0 away win”
After the disappointment at the international stage (some might call it a Newcastle-like tendency to expect too much) we return to Premier League action as United take on Villa at Old Trafford and with Arsenal and Chelsea facing relatively easier opponents (Bolton (away) and Boro (home)), the pressure is on the champions to win this game ahead of their CL quarterfinal away leg against Roma.
Aston Villa have taken something of a stumble, losing two games on the trot. On the other hand, Manchester United have been in title-winning form over the last few games, winning the last 5 and not conceding for 300 minutes. I could quote you more stats (we’ve never lost at home to Villa in the Prem) but the long and short of it is - United are on form and at home, Villa are out of form and away from home, and from only that I would point to a 2-1 or 3-1 win tomorrow evening.
But if only it were that easy!
Continue reading “Manchester United v Aston Villa Preview - Tougher than it looks”
