The FA Cup Semi-final between Everton and United ‘B’ was significant for two reasons. The first was the United ‘B’ itself. In what seems like an ‘I’ve written this off’ move from Sir Alex, United took to the field without Roon, Ron, Van der Sar, Berba, Giggs, Carrick, Evra and Scholes. The second reason was for an incident that established that Mike Riley is a blind old cunt.
A slightly amusing piece of information from the team-sheets was the presence of the twins, Rafael and Fabio in the starting lineup. Clearly the strategy was to confuse and conquer. If the starting lineup was a surprise to most United fans, the game and style of play only added to it. Normally so free-flowing and attacking, United were content to sit on the ball for long periods of time. Park on the right was not even trying to make any runs, with only Tevez at his hustling best. Not to take anything away from Gibson, Macheda and Welbeck but as of now, the only thing they seem to do is play 1-2s around the wingbacks. Lack of creativity and experince being slightly obvious.
There was almost nothing by way of chances in the first half. Rafael whipped in a cross which Welbeck turned towards goald and Lescott nearly put into his own net. That was the only bit that could get into a highlights package. The second half saw United come out with more determination and also purpose. There were moments of slick passing which showed that United had finally decided to up the game and go for the win. The introduction of Evra and Scholes also brought a more United ‘A1/2’ look to the team, though the 3 of the front 4 still had a combined experience of three Premier League games. And it was this period of domination that gets us to the second significant point of the match.
Welbeck was sent clear by a hopeful punt upfield, and beautifully controlled the ball and took it past an on-rushing Howard with his first touch. After that, it was merely question of putting it into the empty net, when he was bundled over by Phil Jagielka from behind. Referee Mike Riley was approximately 6 feet away. From that distance, you can see a midget in an invisibility cloak trip up a player. Jagielka isn’t one and he was in bright blue, and he came together with a man in bright red. How tough is it! Sir Alex was, to put it very, very, very mildly, annoyed with the decision. To not put it mildly, he ran 10 paces down the touchline, flailed his arms about in a way you wouldn’t believe 67 year-olds could and treated Mike Riley to the best language that Aberdeen and Glasgow taught him. Not to mention Manchester. We shall not go into the details here since, as already mentioned, this is a G-rated blog.
“It was a penalty, I was blatantly barged as I went to take the shot and it put me off balance. Then the defender clipped my left heel. There was no need to dive. I would have scored. I am very disappointed.”
That, from the horse’s mouth, and I agree. I mean, he was one shot away, why in God’s name would he dive! And if it was not a dive, and he went down in the box, and hence it’s a foul, why isn’t it a penalty? All this from a referee who’s been accused of being biased towrds United, primarily for this incident. But if that was playing on his mind, or David Moyes’s comments about his not being comfortable with Mike Riley as referee, we’ll never know. All that remains was that this non-penalty led to penalties deciding the FA Cup semifinal.
Tim Howard, ex-Manchester United man made sure he was on hand to ruin United’s party in the penalties. Cahill must be applauded for his penalty though. It wasn’t in the corner, it wasn’t low, and it wasn’t down the middle. It just rose, kept rising, and ended up 15 rows behind. I don’t even want to talk about Berbatov’s penalty. With footwork even lesser than Sadagopan Ramesh, it was highly unlikely that the penalty would go in. It didn’t. Taking the written-off attitude to new levels indeed. United duly lost the shoot-out, and thus has gone the quintuple.
Sir Alex said he didn’t field the first team because of the pitch conditions. And with the Premier League coming to a tight end and the Champs League semis to come, that’s an understandable worry. Also, it was a game United should’ve finished off in the 90 minutes. They didn’t, and to beat the cliche to death, they paid the penalty.
A penalty ruled out. That i has left me gutted. And the penalty shoot-out which gave us both the community shields(2k7 and 2k8), the League cup and the Champions league. Seems we have kinda ran outta luck. return of Fabio and Rafael was a noteworthy positive.
Berba Berba Berba..FUCk!
Rafael is simply a god man, I love this kid. Fair play to Neville and all, but this guy’s quicker, and connects with his tackles. I have too many images of Neville swiping at air with Ashley Young.
Ducky,
What about Fabio?. ..Heard from one of my friends that he is the brighter of the twins but couldnt get enough game time due to injuries and all.
Dude, I’m pleased united signed Berba, atleast the Sheva bashers would be quiet now..:P
On a more serious note, how that guy manages to keep Tevez out of the squad i’ll never know. Tevez is exactly what Berba isnt, pace, hard work, sheer determination, plays for the shirt.
Keyur,
Berba does not work hard. But sometimes his sublime first touch is enough to turn the game on its head. The Sheva bashers will remain Sheva bashers. Berba in the PL is far better than Sheva. And on a lighter vein, he scored one and created one against Chelsea.
So tell me Vishwa, do u guys think it is justified that Berba holds down a starting spot ahead of Tevez…keeping in mind that this might see Tevez leave ?
Whats ur opinion ?
I would love to have both of them . Also i would like to remind you that it is only now that Berba has been showing that Lazy attitude for Man Utd and before that in January he was the player of the month. I
Berbatov is just putting the chill, da… With every game, he seems to become lazier and lazier..
When it comes to laziness, the only one who can beat him is Riquelme… But, on the other hand, Riquelme puts 2 sublime passes every 5 min (for every 100m he runs, or walks..).. I think Berbatov’s ultimate goal in life was to start for United, and now that he has done that, he is putting peace.. Time for some Fergie hairdryer treatment?
And thanks to IPL, all I got was text commentary on sportinglife 😦
Ah, the travails of watching matches in hostel no. I fully sympathize. And player’s ultimate dreams change between seasons da. So don’t pay too much heed to that.
Berbatov is a 30m pound waste. Robinho hasnt exactly been worth 30m but with team mates like that he isnt bad !. Probably 20-25m !. I guess united would be better off playing tevez. He is the proper no 9.. Berbatov is too lazy !
Those are fair points, but Tevez does not have Berbatov’s comfort on the ball. Even when he came on in this match, his first touch was to pluck a high ball out of thin air right under his foot. That sort of touch is worth quite a lot in a striker.
True. Except Zlatan Ibrahimovich and Drogba not many strikers have a first touch as potent as Berba’s.
RVPs first touch is often excellent. hardly ever lets the ball get away from him.berbatov does bring the extra bit of genius into the team when he sets up team plays but I feel he`s ineffective without ronaldo and rooney. He does look better playing one off the striker like how he did at tottenham.
@ vishwa,
aye they mentioned Fabio’s skill was superior. Rafael got the opportunity at the right time and i quote’ if it wasnt for the fact that evra is brilliant in his place fabio would have got the chance rafael did ‘ and rafael would be known as the other twin. the results of the reserved matches are pretty impressive
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