Ugly Devils

The 2009/10 EPL season is about to start in August. I am sad to know that Nike has picked such an awful design for the Red Devil's home strip!

Putting a big V above the AIG logo is just tasteless..... Even as a supported of Manchester United, I would never buy the replica for the upcoming season.

Manchester United - EPL Champions 3 Years In A Row!

A goalless draw with Arsenal yesterday was enough to ensure Manchester United completed a hat-trick of Premier League title triumphs. The celebrations were held after the match at Old Trafford.








A win over rivals Arsenal at home would be better but United's attack was toothless. Credit to their defence for soaking up the attacks from Arsenal. Perhaps this draw also helped eased Arsene Wenger's pressure after succumbed to Chelsea 1-4 last week and the humiliated by United in the Champions League semis 1-5 on aggregate.

After Manchester United's coach Sir Alex Ferguson first took over the team in 1986, he vowed to "knock Liverpool off their perch'. The team is now just one league championship away from doing just that. Currently 18 titles were bagged by Liverpool and United respectively throughout the history of the EPL (English Premier League). The target will be a 19th title next year.



After securing the 3rd straight EPL title, the immediate focus now is to retain the UEFA Champions League title by beating Barcelona in Rome on May 28, 2009. May the best team in Europe win!

The Reds Roll On

Sorry for the long absence as I have been caught up in the CNY (Chinese New Year) mood.

Man. Utd is now top of the EPL table! After the morale boosting win over Chelsea, they strolled on to back to back wins and the defence also broke the record for not conceding over 1200 minutes without conceding a goal.

The table was pretty different 1 month ago where the reds were still trailing behind Liverpool and Chelsea.

But it is still a long way to go until May'09. Man. Utd is on their way to another EPL crown if they could continue the momentum.

Thrashing The Blues At The Theatre Of Dreams

MAN UTD 3-0 CHELSEA

That was written on the front page of soccernet.com website when I logged on to check the scores this morning at 5am. It was a pleasant surprise and many pundits predicted a draw for these 2 teams. I was not able to watch the match last night because it was shown on TV at 11:30pm and I had to wake up with my toddler early every morning.

I was glad to see the huge score, especially when it is rival Chelsea being crushed at Old Trafford. I will have to watch the highlights later tonight but Vidic, Rooney and finally Berbatov were on the score sheet. According to the reports, it was a convincing win over the blues and Berbatov, who costs United over 30 Million Pounds made a significant impact by creating both the first 2 goals and scoring the last one himself.

So after the match, MU had closed the gap between them & leaders Liverpool to 5 points with 2 games in hand, thus strengthening MU's position towards their 3rd consecutive year of being EPL champions.

What I Want For Xmas

A picture says a thousand words.... The original costs RM250 but I was too stingy to spend that amount, so I guess a good replica will do (as long as the quality of the material is silky smooth).

Back In Business

Finally Manchester United are back to their winning ways with some thanks to the referee who called for a dubious penalty kick against visiting Bolton.

Ronaldo was brought down in the United penalty area but the Bolton defender had a clean tackle. Perhaps the ref was under the heavy influence of the red crowd in Old Trafford? He pointed to the spot and Ronaldo converted the spot kick.

The Bolton defence was resilient and United were clearly frustrated until the penalty kick. Then Wayne Rooney came on as a sub and combined with Ronaldo to make the score 2-0. United never looked back after that.

It was about time that Rooney broke his duck to score after a few frustrating matches. New signing Berbatov also showed some glimpse of his magic. A few more games and Berba will fit in nicely as United's attacking threat.

With this win, United moved up to the top half of the table but they still trail leaders Liverpool by 7 points with a game in hand.

Win Back Some Pride

After the 2-1 loss at Anfield, Manchester United will need to win back some pride tonight when they take on Spanish side Villarreal at Old Trafford.

This is the first UEFA Champions League (UCL) game for United, who are the 2007/2008 season champions. Rivals Chelsea just thrashed French side Bordeaux at Stamford Bridge 4-0 yesterday.

I do not see United turning in a big score line against Villareal because Dimitar Berbatov is still adjusting to playing with United, Cristiano Ronaldo might only come on as a substitute & mid-fielder Michael Carrick is out through an ankle injury.

Game prediction: Man Utd 1-0 Villarreal
Scorer: Wayne Rooney

A win at Old Trafford will increase United's confidence ahead of their Sunday clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Go Red Devils!

Heart Break At Anfield

Manchester United took the lead at the 3rd minute through a beautiful pass from Berbatov to Tevez to shock Liverpool at Anfield stadium.

Then came the bizarre own goal from Wes Brown - a deflected shot went across the United goal, keeper Edwin Van De Sar came off his line to palm the ball away, only to see it come off defender Wes Brown to his own net. Football pundits claimed that Van De Sar should not have come out for the ball but I think it was just unlucky of him.

From that time onwards, United played poorly and Liverpool dominated the mid-field, especially after mid-fielder Michael Carrick limped off with an ankle injury and was replaced by Ryan Giggs after half time. United were still playing catching up despite the score being 1-1.

The score was level until Ryan Giggs (the oldest player in the team) made a mistake at the corner line at United's half. He wanted to shield the ball to let it go out of bounds but did not see Liverpool's Mascherano coming from behind to poke away the ball to substitute Ryan Babel, who made no mistake by putting the ball through a couple of United defenders to the top corner of the net. To add insult to injury, United defender Nemanja Vidic was sent off for a second bookable offence - elbowing an opponent during an aeriel duel for the ball.

My prediction of the 2-1 score was correct, except it was Liverpool 2-1 United. I also got one of the scorers correct, Carlos Tevez for United.

To sum it up, it was just an unconvincing display from United. I am especially disappointed at United's new signing Berbatov who just faded away from the game after the first half. The champions United will have a lot to work on before this coming Wednesday's UEFA Champions League group game vs. Villareal (Spain) and next Sunday's game at Stamford Bridge against rivals Chelsea.

I will just go to sleep after venting my frustrations & disappointment on this post!

Big Match Of The Week (Liverpool vs. Man Utd)

The highly anticipated football match between Liverpool & Man Utd will be screened live on Aora TV at 6:40pm today. I have invited 2 colleagues over to have a football-pizza dinner at my place.

Based on recent stats it seems like Liverpool has an inferior record against United despite playing at home.

However, with the Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and mid-field dynamo Steven Gerrard fit again, the Kop (Liverpool's nickname) should provide the Red Devils (Manchester United) a good challenge.

United will also be boosted by the arrival of new signing Dimitar Berbatov and a possible early return of Cristino Ronaldo (top scorer for United last season).

My prediction: Liverpool 1-2 Manchester United

Scorers: Torres (LIV), Tevez & Berbatov (MU)

Go Red Devils! Can't wait for the match!!

United, Here We Go!

I have been a Manchester United (MU) fan since my teens. I have been a great admirer of former MU captain (dubbed "Captain Marvel") Bryan Robson. Some of the great achievements of the club include the 1998/1999 treble (European, EPL & FA cup champions) and becoming the 2007/2008 EPL & UEFA Champions League champs.

I am glad that for the 2008/2009, MU managed to secure the service of Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspurs after a long transfer saga.

MU really needed an out and out striker that could help them score despite Cristiano Ronaldo's 31 goals in the 2007/2008 season (Ronaldo won the European Golden Shoe & UEFA Footballer of the Year). MU needs a goal poacher with the likes of Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

Berbatov is the Bulgarian national team's captain. He has a very impressive scoring record of 1 goal in every 2 games that he played from 1999–2008:

CSKA Sofia - 50 games played (25 goals scored)

Bayer Leverkusen - 154 (69)

Tottenham Hotspur - 101 (46)

I can't wait to see him in action for the Red Devils against arch rivals Liverpool next weekend!