It's been a lazy start to the new season as far as this blog diary is concerned!
This is my first post for the season and already 5 games have been played! Evidently there is so much to write about not just about what has happened in these 5 games that have gone by, but also the build up.
This season was the most anticipated as far 
as I was concerned. There were a couple of reasons for that - Firstly, the loss of our most prolific player by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. Ever since it was declared that United had agreed to sell Ronaldo for a record-shattering sum (80 million Pounds), it was more than a million dollar question as to how United would cope without him. Just the fact that Ronaldo was our best player for the last 3 seasons during which we won all the League titles including a Champions' Trophy was enough evidence to suggest that question was on everyone's mind. And the second reason was the result of the last match of the last season - A humiliating defeat to Barcelona in Rome in our quest to retain the Champions' trophy. You didn't have to see Sir Alex Ferguson's face after that defeat at Rome to understand what he felt about that. And for millions of United fans like me, it was a result that just couldn't be digested easily and it's not easy when you are left reeling for an entire off-season because of one bitter night. Without going too much into the Ronaldo saga, all I would like to say is that we all knew he was going to go someday. And that day just arrived this summer. But knowing what happened at Rome, I felt Sir Alex would definitely buy a strong replacement - somebody like Silva or Ribery. But then nothing of that sort happened which for me was difficult to fathom given the money we had. And yeah, the transfer market had gone absolutely bonkers in terms of valuation which I'm sure contributed immensely to that outcome.
With just Micheal Owen, who could go down as one of the most shocking of our buys ever and Antonio Valencia being the most notable of our acquisitions, I wasn't too convinced United would be the same force in England and Europe. That being the feeling, I was happy to know that we were playing the new boys, Birmingham and Burnley first up. The match against Birmingham wasn't very convincing as far as United were concerned. But we still ended up winning that game. With United yet to settle down, they went to Burnley and we were beaten by a very spirited team playing in top flight after more than 30 years in front of their home crowd. United, it seemed, were just following their regular ritual (something they've been doing last few seasons) of having false starts to their new seasons. Match 3, they go to Wigan and by half time are trailing by a goal at half time. And that's when United decided to show their true colours - the ability to fight adversity. In about 25 minutes United settled scores with all detractors by scoring 5 goals!
But wait a minute, the real test of the season had yet to arrive for we still had Arsenal to play at home in game 4. Again, it was a case of United struggling. Andre Arshavin put a thunder bolt into United's net and United have an uphill task again. United came out and showed a bit of class in the second half. Rooney won a penalty and converted it (and giving us some good news on the penalty taker's situation) and Diaby gifted an own goal that sealed the tie in United's favour.
But believe me Game 5 was the real acid test yet. Tottenham had a perfect start to their s
eason till then and playing them Away with some of their players flying really high on confidence was not an easy task. We needed to be at our best to avoid dropping points for the second time so early in the season. And the way the game started, it seemed it would be more than an acid test for United - Jermaine Defoe scored spectacularly off their first move and United were a goal down inside 50 seconds. The Hotspurs looked to be in a hurry to finish off United and they could have scored a couple more inside the starting 10 minutes. But that's that. United didn't hold back too much. The open attacking style of Tottenham meant United found the kind of space they love playing with. The midfield combination of Anderson and Scholes along with Fletcher and Giggs on the wings started to control the proceedings. Anderson and Fletcher looked particularly impressive with some quick incisive passing. Berbatov and Rooney too seemed to find their rhythm upfront. That spawned the opportunity for the equalizer the Red Devils were looking for - Berbatov was brought down, a free-kick was awarded, in-steps Ryan Giggs and the years are rolled back! Giggs brilliant curling kick opens the scoring for United!
United didn’t stop there. They pressed on and with Tottenham showing no restraint, the game was virtually played end to end. On one side, United’s strong defence (with the combination of Vidic and Ferdinand back again) saw out most of the threats, United looked to be getting closer and closer at the other end. Ultimately they did take the lead and it was Anderson who scored his first goal for United and he did that in some style, putting the ball past Cudicini from outside the Tottenham box. So United went into the break with a well-deserved lead.
Come the Second half, United seemed happy to carry on still on the lookout for goals. Rooney and Berbatov who hadn’t yet scored looked to press on the pressure pedal. But there was a twist to the story, Paul Scholes went into a rash tackle and was given the marching orders with a second yellow. Replays actually suggested that Scholes was trying to pull off the challenge in the end. Nevertheless that meant United had to protect the one goal lead for about 30 minutes which lead to Berbatov getting sacrificed. But that’s where United showed their true character during this match. At no point during the whole of the remaining second half did United look like a 10 men team. Fletcher, Anderson, Evra and Rooney in particular seemed to almost double their work rate. Tottenham didn’t seem like they could make use of the sending off. To add to that, Rooney came up with a brilliant individual goal wrestling through two defenders and nonchalantly scoring between the keeper’s legs to put the tie to an undeniable rest.
This was definitely United’s best performance of the season so far. A team that seemed to be hit hard by Ronaldo’s departure finally put all doubts about their abilities to rest and proved they are good enough to retain the title. Almost everybody looked top-class – Giggs, Anderson, Fletcher, Evra, Berbatov, Rooney - the whole pack. My man of the match was Anderson. He looked a very busy player always willing to run from defence to the attack. Considering doubts were cast on his abilities since the Barcelona debacle, this was a refreshing performance from the Brazilian youngster. The Berba-Rooney combine seemed to come off in this game. Fletcher obviously is turning into a mid-field maestro! And Evra is undeniably and still the best left-back in England.
So all in all, an utterly brilliant game for us and that made my weekend. Glory Glory United!
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