Maybe Not This Year

So, it seems like the ribbon on the Premier League trophy this year would be blue in colour. And to be honest, they probably just about deserved it. United was hardly vintage this year, and the loss may actually gorse us to do something to galvanise the squad. We really could do with a fresh set of players, some established World class players rather than those with potential. At times, we lacked the cutting age to be the real Champion.

So, City beat the Toon by a couple of goals. In the next half an hour, United would kick off against Swansea at Old Trafford. Should we win, the Championship would go onto the final day. We then would be hoping that Mark Hughes would do us a favour by making City drop points. But we still have to win the final game of the season ourselves though.

Away at Arsenal

Personally, I was rather tired last night and the fact that Balotelli slotted in late minute penalty for Manchester City destroyed my mood further. As far as I was concerned, he should have been sent off for his kick on Parker. I am sure however that he would be receiving a ban soon when the FA had a look at the TV replays. I would not be surprised if Lescott also receive a ban for his elbow on Kaboul.

Anyhow, United played well against Arsenal and at the end of the day, was good value for their 2-1 win. I was glad to see that Wenger, for some reason decided to bring off Oxlade-Chamberlain after their equalizer spite him setting up the goal and other chances, and being Arsenal most effective attacking player. That boy can play!

Van Persie took his goal really well and I was hoping that Jones would recover soon from his ankle turn. It looked nasty. As for the winner, Wellbeck finished up a great team effort, and a very good assist from Valencia again. Apart from that, I thought Wellbeck was a waste of space.

Three points away from home is always welcomed. Next week would be the fourth round FA Cup tie against Liverpool. Should be another cracker!

We Came Up Short

You win some. You lose some. And occasionally you get well beaten. And tonight was one of those occasion. Citeh played well. They wanted the game more. We were lackluster. We lacked passion. We deserved to get beat. And did they not half delivered it to us. Would really hate to be in United's dressing room at this very minute. The hairdryer must be out at full blast!

Hopefully we would learn a thing or two from this mauling. We were far too comfortable. And that bread overconfidence and arrogance. I felt that we did not give enough respect to the opponent. They had certainly improved. And in all honesty, only Rooney turned up for the game.

The only consolation was this heavy defeat came early in the season, with enough time for us to adjust. Hopefully, in the next few matches, we would get things back on track, while hoping City drop a few points as well. There were times when we were soundly beaten before and went on to win the Premiership - although to be fair, these tended to be away from home.

At NZ earlier, getting my tandoori fix before the game. Obviously that did not work this time ....Sports-wise, it had certainly been an eventful day. The horrific death of Marco Simoncelli at Sepang MotoGP. The Old Blacks lifting the Webb Ellis on home soil. And then this defeat. My thoughts though goes to Simoncelli's family. RIP!

The Preparation

United would be playing Arsenal later tonight. And as usual, made my preparation by ordering some tandoori and mee ladna from NZ. The boys were still abuzz at home, so I had to get some roti telur for them.

While sitting there waiting, the Spurs-ManCiteh game was on, and Spurs we being given an absolute hammering. Citeh just scored the fourth just now. An unbelievable goal from Kun Aguero.

Kick-off would be around midnight and it looked like Anita might not be able to catch the game since with the maids were away, she had to prepare the sahur for the family. So, would be watching it alone I think.

Charity Shield!

I thought that we were going to lose the plot in the second half, but to the players' credit, they dug in, and was rewarded with the win. Scoring in injury time was just rubbing it in, but as the penalty shoot-out neared, that seemed almost inevitable. United was just relentless.

I knew, it was only the Charity Shield, but the match was played at high tempo, and it was the most competitive Charity Shield match I have seen in years. Galvanised by the fact that it was essentially a derby - between a true champion and an upstart!

We were down by a couple of goals. Our new young keeper should have done better on those goals. So, what did Alex do during the break? Replace the first-choice centerback partnership with a new young combination. I thought Claverley and Jones impressed in the game. We already knew what Ashley Young can do, and he did not disappoint.

On the whole, I thought that it was a good results, especially judging from the level of fitness of the players. They were clearly fitter than the Citeh player by the end, and the mistake that Kompany made I was sure was down to fatigue and loss of concentration. He was otherwise a consistently sound defender. All of this clearly bode well for the new season.