Opening Day blues

It feels as if it's been ages since Man United won the premiership last season. Thanks to the long drawn (and ofcourse frustrating) Ronaldo transfer saga and partly due to the less than happening United pre-season (No summer signings against 4 last season!) The build up to the season has been dry and unstimulating and so was run-up to the season opener. Come to think of it, it seems as if we've forgotten we won the coveted Double just a few months ago. Unbelievable is all I can say!

For a host of different reasons, the starting line-up looked shockingly low on resources and that inspite of having almost the same team that won the Community Shield. But the fact is that the team that started was nowhere near our full-strength side. Here is the list of absentees : Hargreaves, Ronaldo, Park, Saha (due to injuries), Nani (suspension), Anderson (away at Olympics), Tevez (last minute omission for family reasons). Rooney getting fit in time was a consolation. It was no wonder that there was a fear of deja-vu striking - remember last season's frustrating opener against Reading at home. The flip side to it was the excitement of seeing some of United's starlets - the talented Frazer Campbell got a start to play alongside Rooney and also there was the promise of seeing the Silva twins.

United did start the proceedings in their familiar attacking vein. Campbell could have had a memorable goal scored inside the first 15 minutes had it not been for the Newcastle shot-stopper Given who stopped his effort from close range off a brilliant cross from Rooney. Had that goal been scored things would have been much different than the way they panned out. As it happened, the Magpies didn't sit back and play a defensive game but played with sufficient flair and confidence - specially through their new signings Jonas and Colocini. And they were rewarded for that in the 22nd minuted through the talented Obufemi Martins who scored off a powerful header to silence the noisy first day Old Trafford crowd. Jolted by the blow, United answered back almost immediately through Fletcher, who made a smart run-in to square things off. But United didn't have much to smile about after that. Carrick had to be taken off inside the first half due to an ankle injury. And after the start of the second half, Ryan Giggs had to leave the field too, again for injury reasons. With the midfield stalwarts leaving, United hardly had any creativity in the midfield. Consequently, they found chances hard to come by. There were the regular chances created by the likes of Rooney and Vidic, United actually were struggling to find a clear opening. Youngsters Possebon and Rafael de Silva were handed their debuts and were quite impressive but couldn't really do anything sensational to help the team cause. With every passing minute Newcastle appeared to be happy to play for time and obtain a valuable point - something not many teams can relish. They did succeed in keeping off United's usual last minute bombardment and ended with a creditable draw.

It was a disappointing start to say the least for United. To not see 5-6 regular first team faces is a hard one to take and possibly that's what cost us 2 points and more importantly it cost us a lot of pride considering the imperious start Chelsea had to their campaign. One thing this match underlined for certain is the growing necessity of a striker who could fill in for either of Rooney or Tevez - perhaps Berbatov signing is going to be a no more a luxury, specially with the lofty ambitions of retaining a double being nurtured. Youngsters getting a look-in probably was the only take away for United. Campbell looked very sharp but seems to lack the physical strength - something he should be able to build with more first team chances. The Silva twins also look like they're here to stay - who would mind having more of the Brazilian flair in the middle! Hopefully with the likes of Tevez , Anderson and Hargreaves set to return, we can put this result behind and get back into the reckoning.