Man U 3 v Pool 2

This fixture lived up to it's usual billing and was anything but dull.

When I saw the players selected I thought Roy has picked our strongest line up however when I saw how they lined up I was a little surprised
to say the least. Miereles as the player in the hole behind Torres? Now I think this match was the first match that Miereles has started in the Prem
and to place this weight of responsabilty on his shoulders I thought was a bit unfair. He has not adjusted to the speed of the Prem yet and was given absolutley
no time at all to even think about what he was going to do by the Mancs midfield and defence.

This left him isolated.

Now as he was the link up player to Torres that meant that Torres too was isolated.

So effectively we were playing with 9 against 11 and boy did it show! We were under enormous pressure from the first whistle. I may be wrong but
I don't think Torres touched the ball for the first 30 minutes! When he did we seemed to break into life and had our best spell of the first 45 and I was thinking
that for all the Mancs possession and pressure they had not really threatened our goal. If we can just get to half time 0-0 then Roy can put it right in the dressing room.

Sadly it was not to be and unfortunately it was a Torres mistake in allowing Berbatov to get goal side of him that cost us.

The second half we repeated what we have done in virtually every game this season and came out fired up for the second half with the attitude that we should have started
the first 45 with. I thought we were getting back into the match gradually when Berbatov produced a piece of sheer magic to score his second. Regardless of the fact he plays for the
Mancs I thought he was a class act at Spurs and after a very poor season last year he is coming good for them.

Then Roy changed it taking off Maxi, switching Cole to the right and Miereles dropping back into midfiled and Ngog coming on to play alongside Torres in a more familiar 4-4-2
All of a sudden it was an even match and instead of us looking like some punch drunk boxer we were taking the game to United and getting at their back four.

Torres was brought down for stick on penalty that Gerrard put away for 2- 1 we continued attacking them and the game had totally changed, our passes were finding teamates
the pace of our game was faster and slicker and again Torres was away from O'Shea when O'Shea dragged him down to concede a free kick just outside the box. I think O'Shea should have been red carded as he prevented Torres from being in what would have been a close race between himself and the Mancs keeper for the ball.

Still Gerrard stepped up and hit a shot though the wall to to score his and our second. I thought we could be producing a real shock here today as the Mancs supported were quiet and you could hear our fans getting behind the team.

Sadly it wasn't to be as Berbatov scored again to complete as good a hat trick as you are likely to see in a jump where he soared over the challenging Carra to head just inside the post leaving Reina no chance.

We huffed and puffed from there on and I thought when Roy brought on Jovanovic for Miereles who had been palying well in a deeper position we lost our momentum.

Cracking match that never fails to entertain.

Conclusions;

The system that Roy started with was an interesting experiment and one that I thinks merits being repeated but lets try and choose opposition a little less ferocious than Untited at Old Trafford before we do.

I thought Poulsen had an excelllent game for us and is really adapting well to the Prem. I like Miereles especially his all round picture of what is around him his speed of thought when picking his passes but he needs a little time to adjust but I am sure he will come good.

Torres does not look as though he is at all happy, his body language is all wrong and I think Roy needs to have a serious chat with him about getting frustrated on the pitch and allowing it to affect his game negatively. He needs to channel his frustration and anger against his opponents.

To sum up this starting line up is a work in progress that is going to take a little time to gell, I just hope that Roy will be allowed the time to let it happen.

We should have got a point here. We need to be able to defend better.

Looked at the replay of the Gerrard free kick and it was a clever piece of play from Meireles
who pushed Fletcher just before the kick was taken then moved left taking Fletcher with him to make the gap.

He signalled to Stevie G before he did it and Stevie put it through the gap.

We shoud have got at least a point.

We shoulda been playing against 10 men Webb bottled it and O'Shea should have been sent off for hauling down Nando when he was clean through.
The TV replays showed it was a red card offence and we were cheated.

All this noise Fergie is making after the match is typical his team were lucky to get this win and he knows that it if it wasn't for Berbatov we would have
won and he is trying to cover the truth up.

Well guys the dissapointment is starting to fade and I feel a little better today than I did yesterday.

The truth is Roy is still trying to find his feet with the team and the best shape and get his ideas across to the players.

During this period of everyone getting used to the new system and additions to the squad we have played Arsenal, Man City
and now the Mancs. We are only 3 points off of fourth place so one win with other results going for us and we are right back
in it. I think Roy would have taken this position if offered to him at the start of the season.

Sorry to sound like a broken record but what does he see in Jovanovic? Surely Babel deserved at least a crack at United?

I can only think there is something that Babel has done or said that has meant he is not even being considered and is basically
getting the same treatment under Roy as he got under Benitez. There has to be something we don't know about to explain this?

Me too Shanks feeling a bit better now, I think the only difference really was they have striker playing out of his skin and we don't.

I think Fergies comments show that he knows if it wasn't for Berbatov his team was not that good. He only ever starts mouthing off
when he is trying to cover the truth up. He knows they are not that good and Berbatov is carrying them.