Oh how it hurts to lose to one of the teams that we absolutely hate losing to; Liverpool. How the faces got gloomy and sullen after a defeat like that. The emotions felt at this point of time would be one of heartbreak and disappointment after a late winner by Liverpool in a game that was in most parts dominated by Manchester United. The Scousers would feel that justice had been done as Patrice Evra let Dirk Kuyt in to volley home the winner but we dominated large parts of the match which is scant consolation at the end of it all because we have been knocked out of another cup competition this season and that to at the hands of our rival. Read the full story

Sir Alex Ferguson has spent 25 years as the manager of Manchester United and he has won the Premier League 12 times, FA Cup 5 times, League Cup 4 times, the Champions League twice, 10 Community/Charity Shields and one each of the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup, Intercontinental Cup, FIFA World Club Cup and UEFA Super Cup. In his time, he has build and rebuilt at least 4 teams that have contributed in a large part to the trophies he has won and the legacy he has built at Old Trafford. The biggest and the highlight of all his achievements would undoubtedly be the Treble of 1999.  Hours away from our big FA Cup tie against our neighbours and current Premier League leaders, Manchester City, let’s look back to understand how special the Treble triumph was. What better way to do that then by assessing the trophies that we missed out on, on a couple of occasions as one of Sir Alex’s great teams went close to winning the Treble before and after 1999. Read the full story

First game in the new year and we commenced it with where we left off in 2011, with a defeat but the defeat this time, our third in the league already this season was a resounding one. The defeat was as resounding and as one-sided as the trashing we got in St. James’ Park in 1996. The score-line reflected it to an extent. There was much talk pre-game about Manchester United responding from the disappointing defeat we suffered at home in our last fixture of 2011 at the hands of Blackburn Rovers and coming out fighting like wounded tigers but instead, we responded meekly like tame cats. Read the full story

Just a few observations to make….

(1)   It’s the passing stupid! Every time Man United lose or play badly the passing is dreadful, and therein lays the causality. I don’t think there’s anything more frustrating than watching, not just professional footballers, but those who are supposedly at the peak of the game not be able to play a pass 10 yards in order to be able to start an attacking move. This has been a feature at United for the past few years now, and it’s even more frustrating considering how good the passing had been in the 5-0 wins against Wigan and Fulham, and even QPR and Wolves.

I’m not trying to take anything away from Newcastle here, of course their pressing was great tonight (particularly when compared to ours), but we made them look like they had 15 players between their defence and attack.

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After witnessing Manchester United defeat against Blackburn Rovers for our New Year’s Eve match, I would touch on another significant matter to the football world, the opening of the transfer window. I have heard a lot of United fans voice out in blogs, newspapers and talk shows on the need for United to sign someone in January and I have been asked on my view on this topic a few times. My opinion on this matter is that I don’t believe Sir Alex Ferguson will sign anyone in January. If he does, I will be genuinely surprised now whether the surprise, is positive or negative, only time will tell. Read the full story

In my post-match review cum pre-match preview in the aftermath of the 5-0 trashing we handed out to Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day, I had warned that the greatest danger Manchester United faced now were from themselves and of being over-confident. I had warned about the over-confidence coming from the team selection of Sir Alex Ferguson and true to cue, United were undone on Sir Alex’s 70^th birthday at home at Old Trafford against strugglers, Blackburn Rovers. That is now our third home loss in the season in all competitions. Old Trafford has lost a bit of its invincibility; it isn’t much of a fortress anymore. It might be premature of me to suggest that but if FC Basel and Benfica can come to Old Trafford and play without fear and leave with a point in the Champions League, Manchester City can put 6 past us at home and Crystal Palace can knock us out at home in the Carling Cup, I might just have a point when I say that this season Old Trafford is not much of a fortress anymore. Read the full story