Had you asked me before the game what I was expecting I would have told you a draw. Everyone had this down as a game we would lose and we have emerged with our record relatively blemish free.
The game was a hard fought one, I as well as everyone else, was aware of our away form going into the game and with Spurs strength people picked against us but a solid defensive display sent a lot of people’s accumulators down the pan.
I thought the game would have been more entertaining than it was but it wasn’t loaded with chances, Van der Vaart’s late attempt probably being the highlight.
I keep saying it and if you want me to stop tell him to stop doing it but Vidic really is a monster at the back. On the floor and in the air he refused to budge and beside Rio and with Edwin behind them I have a confidence in our ability to not concede. Vidic is looking like a captain and we are lucky to have two men who seem leaders playing in the heart of our defence.
Rafael was a huge talking point before the game, with his battle against Bale mooted as the key battle on the field. At Old Trafford, Rafael was a lot more disciplined but today he focused on his game and whilst we benefited with his forays forward, he wasn’t as solid defensively.
Bale was allowed to get down the line and put balls into the area, thankfully he wasn’t as pinpoint as he can be with his crossing so we weren’t made to suffer but the game showed that as Rafael is developing as a player he offers massively to the team both going forward and defending.
His sending off was quite harsh and whilst his first yellow was reckless the second was a joke (hope Rio doesn’t tweet a pic of Dean in a Spurs kit!) but I don’t suppose you will hear too many people complaining about Dean’s performance.
Nani was disappointing for me, didn’t have the best of games and was subbed off for Anderson but talk of him being in a slump seems a tad premature. Didn’t have the best game against Liverpool either but before that scored the winner against Stoke so I’m not sure where it has come from.
Wrote about Hernandez earlier this week and thought it was going to blow up in my face when a sloppy mistake almost allowed Van der Vaart to score late on but he more than made up for it late on when he tracked back and put in a challenge stopping Lennon from getting his cross in.
Giggs in his 600th top flight appearance looked good and the fact he did the whole 90 is a tribute to how good a player and a professional he is. If some of the youngster can watch and learn from him we will be OK in the future.
So back top with 2 games in hand over our closest rivals and another tough away game out of the way, we just need to keep struggling on and May will be here before you know!
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fuck me that add startled me! (the one on the left!)
I thought Rafa was doing great till the ref decided to put wanka credentials into practice. The obvious choice is Vida “Vidic proved to be a mountain to climb in the united defence” stated the commentator after the match and rightly so.
We were lucky not to give away a penalty for the shirt pull on VDV and be sent off for waving an imaginary yellow card
We are a shit side and we parked the bus today
Ps. I’m a grade A Twat
A point was good enough. We had decent chances, I think we had better chances than Spurs. But as expected Modric controlled the midfield, the guy is a genius.
Rafael did well today, but he was being a bit too excited, like he was early in his Utd career. He did very well against Bale I thought, but he was an accident waiting to happen. Unlucky with both cards probably, but the card-waving antics were not particularly impressive!
Anyway, before the match, I would have taken a point but knew we could beat them. But after the match, a point looks very good and that’s one tough away fixture done!
Vidic MOTM by a country mile.
Rafael to me looked a lot more settled in the period right before his sending off. Nice to see Rooney back him up because that yellow was a disgrace. I think when Valencia’s back it will allow more of Rafael’s attacking forays since Valencia can cover defensively if needed.
I hate to say anything that may seem negative of Fletcher, but seeing Ando go in his spot (on the field) continues to prove my point that a Carrick/Ando central midfield is probably more effective than Carrick/Fletcher. I’d even rate Fletcher higher than Carrick individually, but the Carrick-Ando tandem is very complementary to their respective skills and strengths. Any chances we had when down to 10 usually had Anderson as a major factor.
Being away and down 10 men, I’m happy with the point.
carrick n fletch are dead bodies it was a good point but it felt like a defeat because of the way they handled that midfield i mean even palacios is better than carrick n fletch put together