The moment one regrets that pre-match kebab
Well, first off, congratulations to Birmingham on winning the Carling Cup. After their supporters had to put up with a week of presumptuousness that would even make the Special One shake his head, its nice to see that no one was going through the motions, and it was not an elaborate sending off for Cesc to lift a trophy before he heads off to Barca. The audacity for the request to even be made that he could lift it despite not being available to play. I asked around to see if he was allowed to lift it if, shock / horror, they did not win. And thanks to great granddad Obafemi Martins, I got the answer to my question. And for those of you really concerned out there, to the best of my knowledge, no water bottles were harmed in the conclusion of this ‘meaningless’ bid for early silverware. And for those of you who are unaware, on some levels, we were somewhat responsible for this loss...Didier Drogba was in attendance. Drogba with Arsenal at Wembley is nothing but lethal to the Gooners...well that and their comedy duo of Koscielny and Szczesny.
Anyways, enough of that, I know that’s all long forgotten after a little match last night. Now, I had mixed emotions going into this one. There was a person or two that were meant to be at this particular fixture on its original date all the way back in December, and due to some constraints were unable to attend *not that I’m bitter about flying 3000 miles to see it, and it get postponed for a dusting of ‘snow’*. However, if this match had in fact gone on at that time, there were a couple of other someones that wouldn’t have been in attendance and they certainly were the difference in this match. Luiz was magic. Not just for the goal, but this man has no issues getting stuck in and is amazing to watch on the ball. I mean, we knew this from his debut as a sub, but he’s more than adapted to the English game. Sure, he’s a little rash at times, but lets just chalk that up to his feisty Brazilian blood. Although it was a shame to see him get subbed off, it was definitely in all of our best interests so he didn’t get Vidic’d. It will be a shame not to see Nemanja get his annual red card at Anfield, but for this we’ve all been awarded the joy of watching Wes Brown (for those watching Liverpool v United this coming weekend).
Torres and Drogba may not have scored, but both definitely contributed to the fantastic second half performance. We may not have got out of injury time without Drogba absolutely wreaking havoc in the corner. Along with the return of the Bison! Where’s that man been all year? His passing percentage was like 93% accuracy. In fact, watching yesterday made me remember that we do in fact have a midfield, and its exactly what we’ve been missing all year. The men at the back have kept up their end of the bargain all season as we still have the best defense in the league, but without Lamps and Essien playing or playing at their best...we’ve been a hot mess not being able to win / hold the ball or offer any service to our strikers. Last night was the perfect moment to work that out! Now can we maintain that consistency? We’ll find out on Monday against a plucky Blackpool side. Last night’s match didn’t exactly send us soaring up the table, we just really have to keep our heads down and focus on the next match ahead and never mind about May...for now.
And for a man who’s, unfairly in my honest opinion, taken so much slack over the past couple months, I’d like to just say that I’m proud that the man with the eyebrow is out their representing our club. He is as gracious in victory as he is in defeat. He offered a gentlemanly handshake to Vidic as he did his walk of shame down the tunnel, and spoke eloquently after the game. And although I clearly wasn’t in the dressing room at half time *let me just take a minute to take in that thought.....ok done* to hear his team talk, between him and Terry, they certainly managed to get a performance out of the team.
And to any United supporters reading this. Shhhhh. Enough. The hypocrisy and ironic drivel that spews forth from you week in and week out is ridiculous. This ABU nonsense is a complete fallacy, and it’s all a bit rich that you or your overlord have anything at all to complain about with regards to refereeing. Sure, maybe our curly haired maestro should have been sent off for a challenge on Rooney, but Rooney shouldn’t have been on the pitch in the first place. A flying elbow to someone’s ear (off the ball I might add), is without a doubt a sending off. The tanned wonder that is Clattenburg gifted you not once, but twice with that. Take it and run. And as for Rooney, maybe if you hadn’t dove like Ashley Cole had shot your arse with an air rifle in the first half, Atkinson may have considered carding Luiz for the challenge. Boy who cried wolf, innit. So, just do us all a favour and do one.
And thank you Gary Neville for your spectacular display in the stands. It made a great win all the more amusing.
j xx
ps It was also nice to see Joe Cole get one of his many starts for Liverpool. I mean, it’s the whole reason he left, right? Gawd, he must be getting tired from so much first team action....
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