<< rewind ; [#] `-
Sunday, October 30, 2005
I'm warning you personally. Do not read this post. Seriously - I'm only experimenting with my writing skills. (ha what skills?)
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man u 4 - 1 middlesbrough
that kind of a score line would look pretty acceptable.
man u 1 - 4 middlesbrough
hell u think? no way? crazy? impossible?
man u have once again defied the odds. by losing by four goals to almost NUTHING.
for a moment i thought that Hasselbaink and partners had switched teams with Rooney and co.
WTF MAN. if i were a travelling fan watching from The Riverside, then i would have:
a) demanded an immediate refund of match ticket + travelling expenses
b) thrown a banana at Park Ji-Sung and hoped that it hit Rooney as well
c) felt that the soul of Graeme Souness had taken over Ferguson as the manager of United. (I don't think Newcastle fans will understand this joke)
the only consolation for man u is that they scored their 1000th premiership goal.
so back they go to Old Trafford to face Chelsea next week - and judging by the scoreline this week, it's gonna be a huge thrashing. 8 - 0 u reckon?
looking at the statistics, it seems rather hilarious. Middlesbrough attempted 7 shots, of which 4 were on target. Guess what - they scored four goals. United with 14 shots and 8 on target only made one touch the back of the net. It only goes to show two things.
1) United's woeful defending. No wonder Ferguson decided to take Ferdinand off in place of Wes Brown, who's defensive record is so woeful that even Ruud Van Nistelrooy could defend better than him. (For the record - Ferdinand cost United 29.1 million pounds)
2) United's unproductive strike force. Combining the talents of Rooney and the magical touch of Van Nistelrooy did not pay dividends today. Thus 45 million pounds down the drain. In fact it took a midfielder who is currently being charged for rape to open the scoring for United - but then again too little too late.
United were definitely seeing red today - in the form of the red hot middlesbrough. Also with this defeat, they failed to capitalise on the draw between spurs and arsenal, and the defeat charlton suffered at the hands of bolton - which could have seen united climb up to third place, behind runaway leaders Chelsea and Wigan (yes its Wigan... no need to rub yer eyes - u ain't seeing stars)
Furthermore Wigan have one game in hand - and a victory would mean that they close the gap between 1st and 2nd to six points - definitely an assailable lead by any means.
Who said Chelsea had already won the premiership?
So this brings us back to United, who were judged by many as the only real contender to prevent Chelsea from defending their title. I guess now they can only look to newly promoted Wigan as the only hope.
Newly promoted side Wigan have once again showed their calibre and strong will and determination by overcoming high flying Fulham, who had just beaten Liverpool soundly one week before, as they scored the solitary goal of the game in the 90th minute. Tyco u reckon? Well all i can say is that they seem a reminiscence of the Everton of 2004, where 1-0 seemed to be their lucky number.
Bolton leapfrogged Charlton in the tight premiership race as their solid defence once again proved decisive as they held off Charlton, who showed that they severely lacked something in their strike force when top scorer Darren Bent did not play due to injury. Captain Kevin Nolan scored the decisive goal in the 72nd minute.
Robert Pires, who suffered a backlash last week when he made an amusement of a penalty, came this time to the rescue of the gunners as his goal in the 77th minute helped Arsenal cancel out a 17th minute header by Spurs captain Ledley King.
However, this was definitely not the kind of result Arsene Wenger and his men were looking for as they struggle to gain a foothold in a season which has seen them all but concede the title to league leaders Chelsea.
Then again, looking at their dismal first half performance, one should have been happy to leave White Hart Lane with a point.
Tottenham once again showed their class and that they were true contenders for the Champions League spot but failed to finish well and thus dropped two potential points which would have seen them tied with Wigan for the 2nd spot in the league.
Chelsea rounded up a poor week with a routine performance which saw Lampard shine once again. They won 4 - 2 over a determined Blackburn and Mourinho soon hailed Lampard as "the best player in the world"
Everton followed up on a draw with leaders Chelsea last week with a win over Birmingham. This is only their second win in god-knows how many games but will do them much of a favour in helping them push out of the relegation zone.
Liverpool capped off a dismal week, which included consecutive losses to Fulham and Crystal Palace, with a 2 - 0 win at West Ham, and took some pressure off Rafael Benitez's shoulders. For once, Peter Crouch was left on the bench with the more experienced Morientes taking his place, and Captain Gerrard once again inspired his side to victory, and showed the true abilities of European champions. They need more performances like this if they are going to have any hopes of salvaging their season.
For now, its Wigan Wigan Wigan!
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Conclusion? Being a sports journalist is fun.
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10/30/2005 02:41:00 AM
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