The Big Fuss about Form

**This is a post as a Man Utd supporter***

Its a funny old game isn't it? Two draws and a loss didn't worry me at all, but a 1-0 win over Spurs did.

Unlike the Man City game where Micah Richards and Richard Dunne were Men of the Match and Kasper Schmeichel led a charmed life in goal (mind you, he's Peter's son so I'll always be rooting for him on some level), Man Utd's chance creation rate looked a few shades poorer and, while again having much possession, created only a few real opportunities. With a central midfield of Scholes, Carrick and Hargreaves, it got cramped occassionally and with only Tevez up front, United lacked penetration. While Nani showed occassional brilliance and a willingness to make tackles, he still looks like he needs to toughen up abit before he really gets into the rough-and-tumble mode that is the Premiership. Giggsy seems to be lacking that extra bit of pace to beat the top defenders and the space that Tevez found again and again at the Eastlands was missing at Old Trafford. If Fergie is to continue this 3-part midfield, I think Carrick needs to get a more advanced role around the edge of the area. Although he's more famed for his long passes, his short passes are sweet too and he possesses enough awareness to start a few attacks of his own; this will help against teams that hold back.


Hargreaves's performance impressed me again as it did at Eastlands and I can't wait to see him in a combative role against teams like Chelsea. I think we all miss the old Keane-Vieira battles and its great that we have a Keane-type player to start a new era of classic clashes; think Hargreaves-Gerrard, Hargreaves-Mikel or whatever.

The solitary goal of the game, a Nani piledriver, was decent enough, but my money was on Paul Robinson to save it were it not for Tevez's shoulder giving it a slight deflection. Even luck, perhaps, for the deflection on Geovanni's shot. Hopefully, Saha can return soon to provide more firepower upfront.

Berbatov didn't get his name on the scoresheet, but showed his class with a control-drag that befuddled Ferdinand and another defender who I couldnt see clearly(blame Sopcast) and followed it up with a curling effort inches wide of the top corner. This was preceded by a relaxed backheel to set up Robbie Keane who hit the crossbar in the first half with his own curling shot. Its always entertaining to watch certain players and I'm sure both Berbatov and Keane fall into that category.

******

Elsewhere, Juventus return comfortably to Serie A with a 5-1 win over Livorno. Looks like its back to business for them. Any bets on whether Juve need a season to recover, or will they bounce right back into it? Worthy recruits include Jorge Andrade and Vincenzo Iaquinta. No more runaway lead for Inter this season...