After the midweek loss to Burnley, Manchester United desperately needed to put it behind them for the weekend trip to Wigan.  Prior to the game there was some negative defensive news with United announcing that Rio Ferdinand would probably be out for another 4-5 weeks recovering from an injury.  Johnny Evans also came out saying that he would, at some point, need surgery on his ankle and currently he has to take painkillers just to play.  On a positive note Vidic was back in the starting line up after recovering from his injury, but United will need both Ferdinand and Evans fit if they are to have a chance at the title.

The result at Wigan would put the Burnley embarrassment well behind the red devils, although with the score 0-0 at half time it looked like it could be another frustrating result.

The game was full of milestones with Rooney opening the scoring in the second half; heading in a Valencia cross to reach 100 Manchester United goals.   A few minutes later Berbatov opened his premier league account for the season to make it 2-0.   Only a few minutes more and Rooney grabbed his 101st goal with a deflected shot.  In 9 minutes United had gone from frustration to demolition.

Michael Owen then came on for Rooney and duly claimed his first premier league goal for Manchester United, from Nani’s setup.  Nani then finished things off with a last minute free kick that ending up in the net.

With United winning 5-0 and Arsenal beating Portsmouth 4-1, next weekend’s match between the two should be an absolute cracker.

Manchester United have been hit hard with defensive injuries at the start of the season; with Vidic, Ferdinand, Rafael and Neville out, and in the opening match of the year against Birmingham their back line looked a bit makeshift.  However their midfield and forwards looked close to first choice.

The game began in the way that many of United games go against the smaller clubs, with Birmingham playing a lone striker and trying to soak up the United pressure.   It took the red devils 34 minutes before Rooney jumped high to head Nani’s cross into Joe Hart’s net.  It looked like United might go on to dominate from this point and grab a hand full of goals, but Birmingham fought back well.

Birmingham almost snatched an equalizer before the break but Evra for the second time in two matches headed the ball off the line.   Darren Fletch, who in my opinion did not have the best game, should have put United 2-0 up when Evra cut the ball back to him six yard out from goal, but he blazed it wide.

In the second half Manchester United certainly didn’t make it easy on the fans’ nerves by putting the game to bed, and although they came close on several occasions, still Birmingham remained just one goal away from an upset.  And when Benitez and O’Connor came on they looked like they might just be able to beat the nervy Ben Foster and grab a result for Birmingham.

One thing that was clearly lacking for Man United in the post Ronaldo era was urgency.  Whenever Ronaldo would pick up the ball from a long throw or cleared corner he would immediately start an attacked, but particularly Valencia and Berbatov seemed to want to hold the ball up and slow the game down although having acres of space to run into.

Michael Owen made his premier league debut for United and in the last 10 minutes he went through one on one with Joe Hart twice.  The first time he was a fraction offside, and the second time Hart saved his shot.  But this is still encouraging as Owen seems to be able to create these kind of chances every game; the finishing will come back with time.

The manager and players on the England team may change but there seems to be a continuous theme; they never make things easy for themselves.  The match versus Holland last night was no different.

I’m not sure if they’d taken intensive training sessions in ‘headers and volleys in your own penalty area’ and ‘shocking back-passes’ or if they’d just eaten something funky for lunch, because the goals they conceded were terrible.

Both goals were so bad there were scored during TV replays, when the keeper should have been kicking the ball.  I think Rob Green was partially to blame on both goals when he decided to play the goalkicks short although the opposition strikers were lurking nearby.

On the first goal he played it out to Lampard, who was immediately under pressure, he in turned played it back to Ferdinand also under pressure, Ferdinand then played any absolutely shocking back-pass which was easily picked up by Dirk Kuyt, who did well to pick his way pass Green and beat Terry on the line.  The whole string of events looked like something you might see at a local under 13s match with the parents on the sideline saying “ooooh, don’t worry Johny”, while Johny walks off crying.  Guess what Ferdinand…do worry, that’s woeful.

The second awful goal was more an individual effort by Garreth Barry, than a team collaboration.  Although again Green passed the ball out short putting Barry under pressure; Barry managed to play a comedic through-ball for Arjen Robben all by himself.  Green did well to save the first shot but could do nothing about Rafael van der Vaart’s followup; who was able to pick up the rebound because Barry had not even tracked back after his mistake.  Barry needs to take a hard look in the mirror if he thinks he’s going to be playing in South Africa, with Carrick looking to steal his spot.

The worst part was that England had been the better side for much of the match, but two school boy errors had put Holland 2-0 up.  The difference between England in the past, and England under Capello was shown in the second half when they battled back and almost won.  With two goals from Jermaine Defoe England managed to gain back some of their pride.

Capello should record the first half and play it back for the defenders before every game, to show them what not to do, because this should never happen again.

Player Reviews:

Robert Green: His goalkeeping was decent, and he looked good on corners, but his night was overshadowed by the poor goalkick decisions which led to the goals.
Rating: 3/10

Glen Johnson: Played reasonably well, but needs a lesson in ‘no nonsense defending’, he got caught in possession and played some poor back-passes.
Rating: 5/10

Rio Ferdinand: Defended well most of the time, except the terrible blooper which will be remembered for some time.
Rating: 3/10

John Terry: Not to blame on the goals, but did make some poor lunging tackles which were easily avoided by the strikers.
Rating: 6/10

Ashely Cole: Played well, and got forward well.
Rating: 8/10

David Beckham: Still has a great range of passing, but failed to have a big impact.  Also seemed to lose his cool too easily…
Rating: 7/10

Frank Lampard: Had a hand in the goal, but shook it off and played well for the rest of the match.  He is a key player for England.
Rating: 8/10

Garreth Barry: Failed to have much of an impact on the game, except for the goal that he gifted to Holland.
Rating: 2/10

Ashely Young: Not very effective, and was not able to get many good crosses into the box.
Rating: 4/10

Emile Heskey: The defense neutralized him well, whenever he tried to use his strength he would concede a free kick, and whenever he played for a free kick he would not get the decision.
Rating: 4/10

Wayne Rooney: No matter how badly the team is doing Rooney is always the player to want the ball and give 110% to turn things around.  His efforts lifted the team as a whole but he was unable to create many chances.
Rating: 7/10

SUBS:

Shawn Wright-Philip: Did not look capable of beating defenders.  Continually had the ball caught up under his feet and did not make an impact.
Rating: 4/10

Michael Carrick: Came on for the shamefaced Barry, but made some poor mistakes of his own, did nothing to cement his place as Barry’s replacement.
Rating: 4/10

James Milner: Gained his first England cap and was a breath of fresh air, seemingly able to beat defenders at will, he put cross after cross into the box, and created the second goal.  Could definitely become the first choice on the left by the time South Africa rolls around.
Rating: 9/10

Jermaine Defoe: This lad has only one thing on his mind; Goals.  And he netted two last night saving England from embarrassment.  He is surely close to sealing his place in the South Africa squad.
Rating: 9/10

Carlton Cole: I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play this well.  He held up every long ball played in to him beautifully, and seemed to have the ball on a string.  He has strength to hold players off and the skill to go past them.  The skill before his shot, which went narrowly wide, was sublime.  He caused the defenders all kind of problems; I didn’t even realize he was capable of playing this well.
Rating: 9/10

Warning this post may contain some Liverpool bashing, read on at your own peril!

Last night I attended the Liverpool vs. Thai National team friendly in Bangkok with my wife.  I’m not a Liverpool fan, or a Thai national team fan, but it’s not often you get to see a Premier League team in Thailand.

My wife had bought a Liverpool shirt that she wanted to get some autographs on and we had bought VIP tickets (cost almost $90 each) so that we could be in a good spot and hopefully get some close up pictures and autographs with the players.

The stadium was almost full with probably around 50,000 fans (as reported on TV), most wearing Liverpool shirts, as Liverpool are very popular here in Thailand.

The players slowly filtered onto the pitch 1 or 2 at a time to warm up and we waited at the front hoping that some of the players would come over to sign some names.  But they did not seem interested in the fans, and we figured they were just focusing on the upcoming match.

Liverpool had brought most of their big name players with them, such as Mascherano, Alonso, Torres, Reina, Kuyt and Johnson.  Liverpool started the first half brightly and Babel looked especially quick as he caused the Thai defense all kind of problems and managed to get on the score sheet within the first 6 minutes.  Some other stand out players in the first half were Insua at left back, and Lucas in the midfield.  But it was clear that Liverpool were not fully fit, and not used to playing in such hot and humid conditions.

The Thai team played some good quick passing football and were often able to find space on the right wing, but every time they’d get near to goal Carragher seemed to be there to clear it.

Again at the end of the half we waited right where the players exit the field, still no autographs.  Jamie Carragher did throw his warm up jersey to the crowd, but that became the highlight of fan interaction for the evening.

The Liverpool players came out for the second half with a largely changed team.  It seemed to be a stronger side, with more confidence in their play.  There were however some players who really were woeful.  Jay Spearing seemed to always want the ball in the middle of the park, the trouble was every time he’d get it he would scuff a pass into the crowd or stub his toe trying to shoot.   El Zhar also did not make an impact in his 10 minutes of play, he came off “injured” but it seemed like he didn’t want to be there at all.

Mascherano played well until he started putting in some really disgraceful tackles, if it wasn’t a friendly he could well have received 4 or 5 yellows.  And the 1 yellow card he did receive could well have been a straight red.  I lost count of the number of times he clattered through the back of Datsakorn Thonglao, the Thai captain, in the midfield.

The Thai team managed to pull a goal back towards the end of the match to tie it up at one all, with a smoothly played one-two and a good finish off the inside of the post by Sutee Sumsomkit.

Torres started to warm up and the crowd went wild, he was clearly the fans favorite by a long shot.  He came on with 10 minutes remaining along with Riera.  With Torres first touch of the ball the atmosphere was electric and he ran at the heart of the Thai defense, put through a ball for Vornonin, who continued his disappointing performance with another miss.

Riera looked very sharp, running the midfield like his own personal training camp, for me he was Liverpool’s man of the match, a pity he only played for 10 minutes.   For the Thai side I think Thonglao was the man of the match, he was at the center of everything the Thai’s built, and after the nasty tackles he took from Mascherano no one can doubt his heart or commitment.

Again at the end of the match we waited at the front for the players to come and sign some autographs, but again nothing, they just walked right back to the changing room barely acknowledging the 50,000 fans who had turned up.  We then walked to the bus loading area, and waited by the fence, where we expect the players to sign some autographs before boarding the bus.  But to my shock they just boarded the bus, again without even a wave for the few hundred fans queuing for autographs.  They just sat on the bus on their cellphones starring through the crowd in a similar manner that one might ignore a homeless bum begging for a quarter.  It was almost degrading.

I was especially disappointed with Rafa Benitez, I didn’t even see him sneak onto the field, the first time I realized he had actually shown up was went he appear on the big screen already in the dugout.  And at the end of the game he walked quickly off the pitch surround by security and an umbrella, head down, didn’t even look up at the fans, let alone wave, sign any autographs or pose for some photos.

Reminds me why I’m a United fan, when you see the great man, Sir Alex Ferguson himself, signing autographs on the way to the dugout although he has already won more awards than Rafa could ever hope for.

It couldn’t have been scripted any better; Michael Owen came on as a second half substitute in front of 100,000 fans in Malaysia to make his first appearance for Manchester United, and scored the final score to seal a 3-2 red devils victory.

It could be said that United would be expected to beat the Malaysia XI team, but that won’t matter to Owen who’s confidence will be sky high after getting off the mark for his new club already.

In a way it’s more of a confidence boost to score a winner in a close match than score a meaningless goal at the end of a 6-0 rout.  Rooney was also looking on form scoring the first, and setting up the second for Nani.

On the defensive side Manchester will want to improve; especially Ben Foster who really needs to step up to the plate this season if he wants to secure a spot as Van der Sar’s permanent replacement.

Manchester United will play the Malaysian team again on Monday for a rematch due to their Indonesian tour being canceled because of the hotel bombings in Jakarta.