No Moral Victories Here Pal – Manchester 9th Of April 2014

It was no surprise Bayern Munich won, If they’re not the best side in the world at the moment then they are certainly amongst them. The trepidation last week prior to the match about the potential humiliation was a genuine one. Bayern historically have no respect for reputation. Last season, Bayern annihilated an excellent Barcelona side both home and away. On present form, especially after the recent games against City and our biggest rivals Liverpool, it certainly had a plausibility of happening. Nobody would’ve been surprised if it had happened. A tight, disciplined if unspectacular United performance was undone tonight with three Bayern goals in eighteen second half minutes.

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Reds in the city of Munich this afternoon (photo courtesy of the Ralph Milne Ultras)

Continue reading No Moral Victories Here Pal – Manchester 9th Of April 2014

Wednesday Nights Watching Coronation Street – Manchester 19th of March 2014

Old Trafford wasn’t overcome with confidence pre match tonight. Sure we all knew that United could and should beat Olympiakos, but after the first leg and the shambles on Sunday, it was a cautious crowd walking down Warwick Road.

The crowd were frenzied early in the game. The noisy contingent of Greeks in the upper tier of the Scoreboard End were drowned out by the fervour of United fans. This isn’t always the case for home matches in Europe but a comprehensive defeat in Piraeus three weeks ago had rallied the Old Trafford crowd in the hope of rallying the team.

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Robin Van Persie opens the scoring in the 25th minute following a push by José Holebas (photo courtesy of Neil Meehan) Continue reading Wednesday Nights Watching Coronation Street – Manchester 19th of March 2014

Birds Of A Feather, Norwich 28th of December 2013

Four days after the turkeys were stuffed, United decided yesterday to continue the avian theme and stuff the canaries in deepest Norwich. After a lie down and a warming bowl of porridge, I’m now of the knowledge that yesterday was a good win for United against a staggeringly poor Norwich.

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United fans in the Compleat Angler on Prince of Wales Road before yesterday match

United fans had already resigned themselves to being one down in the 15th minute when Wes Hoolahan somehow missed an open net in the Barclay End of Carrow Road. Continue reading Birds Of A Feather, Norwich 28th of December 2013

Behind Enemy Lines – Birmingham 15th of December 2013

United haven’t lost at Villa Park since a League Cup match in October 1999, which resulted in a 3-0 win for Villa. I say this as if ever United could’ve come a cropper at Villa Park since that night, it would’ve been today. Everton and Newcastle have both recently lanced long held unbeaten records at Old Trafford for United. With those results in mind, it wasn’t beyond the realms of ridicule that Aston Villa could end another long unbeaten run for United. That was the feeling ’til just after kick off.

United beat Shaktar Donetsk last Wednesday night in as low key a game as you can imagine at Old Trafford. Maybe the midweek result, courtesy of a rare Phil Jones goal, gave a United a badly needed confidence boost,something that had been badly lacking in the previous two games. The talk quietly emanating out of Aston Villa fans before the game was that United were there for the taking. There weren’t many United fans of my acquaintance who disagreed with that opinion. What nobody had banked on was just how bad Aston Villa would be. I’m sat here scratching my head like Stan Laurel wondering how Villa have somehow managed to beat both Arsenal and Man City. From what I saw today, Villa are garbage.

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View from my seat amongst the Villa fans in the Witton End, as Wayne Rooney is about to take a late corner for United

Continue reading Behind Enemy Lines – Birmingham 15th of December 2013

Fasten Your Seatbelts – Manchester 4th of December 2013

Anybody who remembers the last time Everton won at Old Trafford in August 1992, will remember a smash ‘n’ grab which gave Everton an unfairly emphatic 3-0 result. Tonight was the same, Everton had chances for sure and the longer the match went on, the more confident and assertive they became. For all that, by the time Everton got a grip on the game on 85 minutes with a Kevin Mirallas free kick which hit David De Gea’s right hand post, United should’ve been out of sight. A minute later, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, Continue reading Fasten Your Seatbelts – Manchester 4th of December 2013