It's been almost two weeks since my last post so for anyone who is reading, which probably isn't much, sorry for the delay. I am sure you were just waiting on pins and needles for this next post. Well, for all you anti-United fans the UNITED Front is all smiles. Smiles? Smiles? 'You can't score more then one goal a game?' 'You have virtually no youth system?' Smiles?
Yes, I am all smiles because for one I can relax until December. The ultimate revenge that was supposed to be Totti and his Roma Revengers ended up being not only a dud of a game but immensely dissapointing for those who feel a real rivalry was building. Take away the fact that I have a Roma fan at work who always taunts me about how horrible United are even AFTER what he dubbed the 'worse loss in the history of Rome', this could have been a bloodbath! An absolute BLOODBATH!!!! Did anyone see Totti's face during the pre-game handshakes. He was a frickin' HULK! He was going to smash United into pieces with pure intimidation. He even said he wanted to win the next game 7-0! But one lackluster performance later we get a 1-0 win for United and a continually beaten Roma team. Totti should be ashamed.
I even said that Roma were going to beat United due to the fact that Roma was basing it's entire season on destroying United while United had bigger issues and didn't really care. But does this 1-0 win show that Roma and in turn the middle-to-near-top Italian sides stand no chance against the Premiership OR is it that the under pressure Red Devils are in fact WAY better then people think.
This leads to my second reason for smiles! THE DEFENDERS! That is goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar and defenders Wes Brown, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, and Nemanja Vidic. These guys are the foundation of a title-defense United. I was at first dissapointed with United's play. Hell, anyone who witnessed 7.5 months at the top of the Premiership while scoring 3-5 goals a game last season would be dissapointed with 1-0 affairs. But these guys have made me fall in love with boring defensive football and made me see past the glean of the aging midfielders United glorifies.
Please don't get me wrong: Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are legends and I LOVE them but Giggs is getting a little slow and Scholes is losing his field vision. Meanwhile, big time signing Nani is throwing passes to the opponents on purpose (and then making up for it by setting up goals) and Anderson can't control the ball if he was playing one on one with the keeper. Oh and Michael Carrick. . .do you know how many times I've said 'is Carrick playing today?' while watching games. His lack of presence is shocking.
The midfield is causing the defenders more headaches then most of the opponents' offense. Forget the fact that the striker's can't score. It's the midfielders who can't get the ball to the forwards. Save Cristiano Ronaldo, the Red Devils are severly lacking in the middle NOT the front. But, enough sadness. The DEFENDERS are keeping opponents and bad passes at bay! They are here to serve the loyal fan! To protect Old Trafford from perilous goals! To keep clean sheets for man kind, for MAN UNITED! I always love to see a clean-sheet now and if we win it by one goal I am happy as long as my defenders keep their clean sheets.
I have been lucky enough to see eight United games this year and seven of them were victories while only one was a draw. Now, put the goals on paper and you may seem a bit dissapointed but give me seven wins ANYTIME. I am all smiles!
--Will (thanks to ESPN.com for images)
