RedsUnite: a man utd blog

I know that Manchester United has been a bit erratic of late.  They have experienced massive fluctuations in form within extremely short intervals.  They have amazed and awed, then stunned and confounded us.  From our demoralizing loss to Manchester City to our triumphant slaughter of Arsenal, just which Manchester United side you will get has been difficult to predict.  I’m willing to stick my neck out on this one however:  Manchester United will win convincingly at St. James Park tomorrow.

There is no evidence to suggest that Newcastle United will succeed this weekend.  Consider these indicators:

• Last time we met, Manchester United destroyed Newcastle 6-0.
• Newcastle has taken two points out of its last eight league matches, the second worst form in the EPL.
• During those eight games they have scored three, conceded 19.
• Manchester United are undefeated in their twelve matches against Newcastle.

Usually I write pretty thorough match previews.  I just can’t seem to find any reason to spend any more time analyzing a match that is comically imbalanced on its face.  I’ve been staring at my computer screen for two hours, trying to find a clever way of writing what we all know: Manchester United can only defeat themselves this weekend, for Newcastle United is beneath us by any conceivable metric.

Yeah, I don’t really know anything about the match last night that I didn’t read in the papers. It wasn’t televised here in the States and I had to work during the match, so I wasn’t able to Sopcast it either. Poor me.

From what I’ve read, however, there seem to be a few talking points:

• Sir Alex needs to stop favoring “over-the-hill” experienced types
• Giggs looked horrible and Scholes not much better
• Rooney was ineffectual as the lone striker and should have done better with the chances he was offered
• Ferdinand was a couple of feet away from one of the greatest calamities in Champions League history
• Nani and Tevez added an instantaneous spark to the side and should not be left out
• Rooney’s attitude leaves something to be desired
• Benzema is a going to cost us a fortune (more…)

It’s match day. This evening we face Lyon in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Thus, it is time to check in with Fergie and his lads to see how United are feeling today.

Evra’s Take

United seem to be a confident bunch coming off the heels of Saturday’s victory over Arsenal, but Patrice Evra advises that we do not discount the abilities of Lyon, stressing the need to “respect our opponents.” Referencing a victory over Real Madrid he experienced while at Monaco, Evra stated: (more…)