The Re-Anglicisation Of Manchester United

[Spav]

Good draw against Chelsea Spav, Mr.Wilson is happy with your progress so far

I'm pleased. It's a nice role reversal for me to be the United manager and for you to be the fan voicing his approval/anger as the results are posted.

[Spav]

The international break meant a busy time for my England players and it was a particularly profitable period for Wayne Rooney.

Rooney started off by scoring the 81st minute winner in a 1-0 victory for Fabio Capello’s team in the Ukraine, playing alongside his Manchester United team-mates Ben Foster, Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young and substitute Gary Neville. That win also secured England’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup Finals.

Four days later Rooney hit all four goals as Belarus were hammered 4-0 at Wembley in the final World Cup qualifier. Ryan Shawcross made his England debut in that match and joined Rooney in a Three Lions shirt along with Ben Foster, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Ashley Young. Owen Hargreaves was also an unused substitute in that match.

*** *** ***

17th October 2009 – Premier League

We were now starting a run of five league matches where the old multi-national Manchester United would clearly have been favourites to pick up maximum points. The teams were Stoke, Portsmouth, Hull, West Ham and Bolton with Stoke the first team to face my new all-English United side that were currently unbeaten in the Premier League.

Davies got his first start up front, Gardner was given a chance to show what he could do at right-back and Osman made his first-ever start on the right wing. It took Davies only 11 minutes to show his strength up front as he held off Collins and laid off a perfect pass for Carrick to crash a low shot past Sorensen for the opening goal. In the 20th minute another fine Taylor cross was headed on by Carrick and Rooney gathered the flick. Just as he was about to shoot Wilkinson lunged in to prod the ball clear, but his toe-poke merely succeeded in sending the ball past Sorensen for an own goal and a 2-0 lead. We were now in total control, but a moan of despair echoed around Old Trafford in the 38th minute when Rooney went down clutching his ankle and immediately calling for the physio. Rooney was carried from the pitch as Cole took his place. Despite our dominance we couldn’t find another goal in the second half, although Davies should have had his first for the club when he headed against the crossbar with the goal at his mercy in the 58th minute. In response all Stoke could muster was Tuncay’s 89th minute header which Foster saved without too much difficulty. The game ended 2-0 with no-one disputing that United were far and away the better team.

Manchester United 2 Carrick 11, Wilkinson (og) 20

Stoke 0

Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey (Driver); Osman, Hargreaves, Carrick, Taylor; Davies, Rooney (Cole).

[Spav]

The first test of the new squad’s depth comes as Wayne Rooney was ruled out for approximately 3 weeks with the ankle strain that he suffered in the 2-0 home win over Stoke. Kevin Davies, Carlton Cole, Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck will all be fighting for the two starting places plus the one bench spot whilst my star forward gets back to fitness.

*** *** ***

20th October 2009 – Champions League Group F

The press were predicting an easy win for Manchester United and I must admit I had the same feeling as I waited for this game to start. Davies had kept his place up front and Cole was Rooney’s replacement with Owen and Welbeck on the bench.

Only 3 minutes had gone when Standard’s keeper Herpoel stretched brilliantly to parry a header by Davies from Young’s corner. The ball then dropped slightly behind Taylor, but he swivelled and hammered it home through a crowd of players to give us a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later and we swept majestically downfield as Cole, Hargreaves and Davies combined with Davies getting another assist as he laid the ball into the path of Young who sidefooted it home from twelve yards for his first goal in a red shirt. Standard quickly pulled back their midfield to sit right in front of their defence and they looked to limit the damage. It stifled our attacking play, but meant that they’d virtually given up on scoring themselves. Up 2-0 at the break, I asked the players for more goals in the second period and Young obliged in the 52nd minute by beating two men and crossing for Cole to plant a firm header into the Standard net. Pressing forward even more, we overextended ourselves in the 54th minute and Mbokani broke clear onto Defour’s pass to beat Foster from sixteen yards via the post and pull it back to 3-1. It was soon back into a three-goal lead though when Shorey sent a fierce cross swirling through the Belgian’s penalty area after 61 minutes with everyone missing it except Young who slid in at the far post to tap it home for 4-1. That was the sign for a slew of changes with Gardner and Driver getting a run and young reserves prospect Sam Hewson making his senior debut. Witsel and Defour both gave Foster a late challenge, but he saved well on each occasion and Herpoel did similarly for Standard as he denied Cole and Hewson.

The 4-1 win took us to the top of Group F on 7 points as Fiorentina could only draw 1-1 at Sporting Lisbon to sit in second place on 5 points.

Manchester United 4 Taylor 3, Young 6, 61, Cole 52

Standard Liege 1 Mbokani 54

Foster; Neville (Gardner), Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey (Driver); Young, Hargreaves, Scholes (Hewson), Taylor; Davies, Cole.

[Spav]

25th October 2009 – Premier League

Things couldn’t have started better at Fratton Park when Cole had the ball in the net after 48 seconds, bringing down Davies’ cross and turning his marker Kaboul in the same instant before sending a low shot across James and into the bottom corner of Portsmouth’s net to make it 1-0. Five minutes later it was 2-0, courtesy of Cole again as Young cut in from the right wing and drifted across the face of the box before sliding a pass into the feet of the former West Ham man who again drive a low shot into the net. After such a start, the final result wasn’t ever in doubt. Portsmouth battled as gamely as they could for the next eighty minutes, but only a Kaboul header and a Boateng shot could find their way on target and Foster saved both efforts without much difficulty. As for us, we kept James very busy as he dealt with on-target attempts from Hargreaves, Shawcross, Young, Scholes, Taylor and Cole, with the Pompey keeper saving at least eight shots that could have added to our two-goal lead. I would have been happier with another four-goal haul to be honest, but at 2-0 the points were ours and that was what counted.

Portsmouth 0

Manchester United 2 Cole 1, 6

Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves, Scholes (Osman), Taylor; Davies (Owen), Cole.

[Spav]

Matty Taylor joined Wayne Rooney on the injury list when he suffered a back strain in the weights room at training. Taylor has been in outstanding form on our left wing and we will miss his crossing and free-kick expertise over the next 3-4 weeks whilst he is out.

At this stage Ashley Young will revert to the left wing and Leon Osman will get the chance to show me his talents on the right side of our midfield.

*** *** ***

31st October 2009 – Premier League

With Hargreaves resting on the bench and Rooney and Taylor out injured it was just as well that we were facing 17th place Hull at Old Trafford. Scholes was starting today as was his fellow veteran Neville whilst Osman began only his second league match in a red shirt.

Hull battled gamely from the first whistle, defending resolutely and relying on the reflexes of keeper Myhill to keep the scoreline at 0-0 until the 42nd minute. Up until that point Scholes, Davies, Young and Cole had been the closest to finding the net, but the Hull number one was doing his job well. That changed when a quick Shorey throw-in found Cole well advanced on the left side and he just as quickly lobbed the ball into the box. The speed of the move caught out Hull’s defence, but not Davies who leapt well at the far post to nod home his first goal for Manchester United and make the score 1-0 at the same time. For the first twenty-five minutes of the second half the same process was repeated and I could sense the feeling of frustration that was coming from the team at their inability or just plain bad luck to extend their lead. As I had done back on the opening day at Sunderland I introduced Gardner for Scholes and he immediately injected a new sense of urgency into our midfield. Within seven minutes of his arrival Gardner had won the ball from Marney and sent Cole galloping down the left wing. A superb back-heel from Cole caught the Hull defence wrong-footed and Young hit a first-time shot low past Myhill at his near post to make it 2-0 after 77 minutes. Gardner then got a goal himself, capping a superb twenty-minute cameo as picked up Neville’s square ball and rifled a dipping shot high into the top corner from twenty-five yards to make it 3-0 after 85 minutes and wrap up the game in our favour.

As the other results came in from around the country we found ourselves as sole leaders of the Premier League on 29 points, two points ahead of Chelsea and Tottenham who were both on 27 points with Everton fourth on 25 points.

Manchester United 3 Davies 42, Young 77, Gardner 85

Hull 0

Foster; Neville, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Osman, Carrick, Scholes (Gardner), Young; Davies, Cole.

[Spav]

2nd November 2009 – Premier League Table:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|Pos   | Team        | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|1st   | Man Utd     | 11    | 9     | 2     | 0     | 22    | 4     | +18   | 29    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|2nd   | Chelsea     | 11    | 8     | 3     | 0     | 25    | 7     | +18   | 27    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|3rd   | Tottenham   | 11    | 8     | 3     | 0     | 24    | 10    | +14   | 27    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|4th   | Everton     | 11    | 8     | 1     | 2     | 16    | 8     | +8    | 25    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|5th   | Liverpool   | 11    | 6     | 4     | 1     | 16    | 6     | +10   | 22    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|6th   | Aston Villa | 11    | 6     | 2     | 3     | 12    | 10    | +2    | 20    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|7th   | Arsenal     | 11    | 5     | 2     | 4     | 17    | 13    | +4    | 17    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|8th   | Man City    | 11    | 4     | 3     | 4     | 14    | 11    | +3    | 15    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|9th   | West Ham    | 11    | 5     | 0     | 6     | 15    | 17    | -2    | 15    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|10th  | Blackburn   | 11    | 4     | 2     | 5     | 13    | 16    | -3    | 14    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|11th  | Fulham      | 11    | 4     | 2     | 5     | 17    | 21    | -4    | 14    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|12th  | Portsmouth  | 11    | 4     | 1     | 6     | 12    | 17    | -5    | 13    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|13th  | Wigan       | 11    | 3     | 3     | 5     | 8     | 10    | -2    | 12    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|14th  | Bolton      | 11    | 2     | 4     | 5     | 9     | 11    | -2    | 10    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|15th  | Sunderland  | 11    | 2     | 4     | 5     | 12    | 18    | -6    | 10    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|16th  | Wolves      | 11    | 3     | 1     | 7     | 9     | 15    | -6    | 10    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|17th  | Hull        | 11    | 1     | 6     | 4     | 14    | 20    | -6    | 9     | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|18th  | Birmingham  | 11    | 2     | 2     | 7     | 9     | 21    | -12   | 8     | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|19th  | Stoke       | 11    | 1     | 2     | 8     | 10    | 20    | -10   | 5     | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|20th  | Burnley     | 11    | 1     | 1     | 9     | 8     | 27    | -19   | 4     | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[Balthazars]

You're not doing a very good job of ruining United, Spav...

[Spav]

You're not doing a very good job of ruining United, Spav...

No, I'm not. I honestly thought that the team would have been weaker for the changes I made, but so far they are coping admirably. I'm not playing anything fancy when it comes to tactics either - just a slightly tweaked version of the default 4-1-3-2 formation.

Maybe over time things will deteriorate, but I will still try to buy the best-available English players as I originally set out to do.

[mark wilson27]

Very good Mr.Spav, liking the top of the table

Keep up the good work mate

[SCIAG]

Why don't you try to win, Spav? After this and Barca, you've proved that trying to lose makes you win

[cuzn1984]

Brilliant idea, think i may have to have a go with this myself!

[ohaio]

Make it a challenge

Do it with Arsenal instead!

[Spav]

Why don't you try to win, Spav? After this and Barca, you've proved that trying to lose makes you win

I am actually trying to win each individual match (without going into lots of tactical analysis and in-match tactical tweaking), but I mistakenly made the assumption that buying lesser players would result in an immediate drop in United's fortunes. Over time the team may drop down the table, or it may be that I will be able to buy English players of a decent-enough quality that I'll be able to keep the club at the top of heap in England.

We'll soon see, but as with my earlier story on FM08 with Barcelona I think I've proved that a high reputation club doesn't surrender its dominance without a challenge or a major disruption to its usual playing standards.

[Spav]

4th November 2009 – Champions League Group F

With Osman ineligible for European matches Young goes back to the right wing and Driver starts his first big match on the left wing. Within 3 minutes Driver set Cole free down the left with a sweet pass and the striker’s cross to the far post was beautifully headed home by Carrick. Jovanovic and Witsel then both found Foster at his best as they tried to respond for Standard. When Cole threatened again in the 31st minute a crude challenge by Rocha ended the attack. However, that merely gave Hargreaves a chance to strike a free-kick from twenty-five yards and his effort flew high past the keeper to make it 2-0 with his first goal of the season. A swift counterattack from Driver and Cole in the 36th minute saw Cole drill a low cross into the box as Carrick steamed in at the near post to sidefoot the ball past Herpoel and make it 3-0. At that point the players may have eased off a little and Defour pulled a goal back in the 40th minute with a fine run past Hargreaves and Shawcross before slotting the ball under Foster. A firm word to the players at half-time to tighten up on their defence resulted in a second half that yielded only one chance for the home side as Jovanovic headed just wide after 61 minutes. Up the other end Driver, Cole and Owen all fired in shots that were on target, but Herpoel did well to either parry or block their efforts. The one sour note was a hamstring injury to Ferdinand late on which saw the acting skipper limp from the field in the 86th minute, but in the end the game petered out with no further addition to the half-time score as Manchester United triumphed 3-1 in Liege.

Standard Liege 1 Defour 40

Manchester United 3 Carrick 3, 36, Hargreaves 31

Foster; Brown, Shawcross, Ferdinand (Neville), Shorey; Young, Hargreaves, Carrick, Driver; Davies (Owen), Cole.

[Spav]

A review of the hamstring injury suffered by Rio Ferdinand is conducted once the team is back in Manchester and the physios advise me that he will be absent for at least three weeks. However with the international break due after the next Premier League fixture it means that Ferdinand may only miss two league games as well as a European match.

*** *** ***

7th November 2009 – Premier League

With Ferdinand out it is Brown who starts in central defence as Neville takes the captain’s armband. West Ham starts eagerly and our defence is up against the wall for the first twenty minutes or so. A header from Kovac, a free-kick from Ashton and a volley from Jimenez all bought the best out of our keeper Foster. United hadn’t seen much of the ball, but that didn’t matter when Cole received Carrick’s pass twenty-five yards out from goal in the 31st minute. The West Ham defence stood off their former striker, tempting Cole to run at them before he sent a low shot whizzing across Green and into the far bottom corner to put us 1-0 in front. West Ham came back at us and held sway in the midfield through Parker and Zarate, but we were still the more dangerous as Young’s 42nd minute volley saw Green diving full-length to tip it away for a corner. Early in the second period Franco and Jimenez both shot straight at Foster whilst Cole’s 60th minute header from Young’s cross was rightly ruled out for offside. Davies hadn’t had the best of games and he departed with Owen being his replacement after 69 minutes. Within seven minutes Hargreaves and Cole had set up Owen who used a quick burst of pace to slip beyond Upson before driving a low shot across Green from fourteen yards to make it 2-0. West Ham’s response was a header from Noble that crashed against our post after 79 minutes, but it was obviously just not going to be their day despite a spirited display.

To rub salt into West Ham’s wounds, not only did Cole open the scoring, he also picked up the MOM award for a quality showing against his former club.

West Ham 0

Manchester United 2 Cole 31, Owen 76

Foster; Neville, Shawcross, Brown, Shorey; Osman, Hargreaves, Carrick, Young; Davies (Owen), Cole.

[Spav]

Although I didn’t risk Wayne Rooney in the Premier League at West Ham he was passed fit to play for England in their glamour friendly against Brazil in Doha. England drew 1-1 with Brazil in that match and Rooney opened the scoring after 69 minutes with Pato equalising in the 75th minute for the Brazilians. Ben Foster, Wes Brown and Ashley Young all started alongside Rooney whilst Ryan Shawcross, Michael Carrick, Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen were all unused substitutes for Fabio Capello’s English team.

*** *** ***

21st November 2009 – Premier League

Having featured for England in midweek Rooney was also back for Manchester United as Davies dropped down to the bench in the only change from the previous match two weeks earlier.

Brazilian legend Ronaldo was the first to fashion a chance for the visitors Bolton after 6 minutes as he forced Foster to parry his fierce volley, leaving Shawcross to hack the rebound away. Young then bought a similar save out of Jaaskelainen after 12 minutes. It was Osman who started the move that led to the opening goal after 17 minutes, beating Robinson before finding Rooney who in turn laid it square for Carrick. The midfielder took the ball in his stride, barged through Knight’s tackle on his right side and then belted the ball wide of Jaaskelainen from the edge of the penalty area to make it 1-0. Ronaldo showed he was still a force as he beat Brown in the 33rd minute and fired goalwards from sixteen yards, only to see his shot smack against our post. Late on in the first half a thirty-five yarder from Shorey skimmed the top of the crossbar in what would have been the goal of the season had it gone in. Early in the second half Jaaskelainen tipped a Hargreaves free-kick around the post for a corner. When Hargreaves had another chance from a dead-ball situation after 65 minutes, he struck this one even better and it flew through the Bolton wall to nestle high in the visitor’s net for a 2-0 lead. Bolton clawed a goal back within four minutes though when Cahill outjumped Carrick and nodded Krivets’ corner past Foster to make it 2-1. It was as close as Bolton could come though as Hargreaves parked himself in front of our defence for the final twenty minutes and snuffed out any promising attacks in an imperious display. The final score remained at 2-1 in our favour as we maintained a two-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester United 2 Carrick 17, Hargreaves 65

Bolton 1 Cahill 69

Foster; Neville, Shawcross, Brown, Shorey; Osman, Hargreaves, Carrick, Young; Rooney, Cole (Davies).

[kingcav]

I'm enjoying this. keep it up.

[emiloprisa]

Good thing you didn't pick Arsenal, you'd never be able to start

Good to have you back. Spav!

Challenge taken.

[mark wilson27]

Keeping up the good work Spav, well done mate... might have to retire myself now as Man.Utd manager your doing a mighty fine job

[Spav]

29th November 2009 – Premier League

The first half-hour was quite lacklustre with only a Rooney shot and a Petrov free-kick being on-target for either side. It was Aston Villa who opened the scoring though after 32 minutes when Heskey headed on Warnock’s long clearance and Agbonlahor darted in behind Ferdinand to steal the ball before sliding it past Foster from a tight angle to make it 1-0. The first half ended with Foster tipping over Reo-Coker’s miscued cross and Friedel palming away a fierce effort from Carrick. The home side started brightly in the second half as Cuellar’s header was parried by Foster and Agbonlahor followed that up shortly afterwards with a shot that flew into the side-netting with our keeper well beaten. The 69th minute introduction of Owen for Cole failed to liven up the team and it took a goal-line clearance from Shawcross to deny Heskey a second goal for Villa after 77 minutes. Rooney had been well-held by Dunne for most of the day, but he finally found room for a shot in the 82nd minute, only to blast it over the crossbar from twelve yards with only Friedel to beat. In the 89th minute Young completed a poor performance against his former club by slicing his attempted shot out for a throw-in (not even a goal-kick) as the home fans continued to boo his every touch. It was probably our worst performance of the season so far and Aston Villa’s 1-0 win meant that we had lost our unbeaten record in the Premier League after previously going thirteen matches without defeat.

Aston Villa 1 Agbonlahor 32

Manchester United 0

Foster; Neville (Gardner), Shawcross, Brown, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves, Carrick, Taylor; Rooney, Cole (Owen).

[mark wilson27]

I take what I said back lol

[Spav]

5th December 2009 – Premier League

A first loss of the season wasn’t the best way to prepare for a tough match against Arsenal, but the same side that had lost 1-0 to Aston Villa took to the field with Ferdinand not quite fit enough to return to the starting line-up. United old boys Anderson and Nani were both selected by Arsene Wenger to make their reappearances at Old Trafford.

In pouring rain the first keeper under pressure was Almunia as he dived brilliantly to his left to tip Rooney’s shot away for a corner after 7 minutes. Both Anderson and Nani then shot straight into Foster’s arms when given chances to score against their former club. In the 18th minute Fabregas lobbed a pass in behind Neville and Eduardo raced clear before delivering a low cross into the box. Shawcross hesitated to move towards it and Foster hesitated to come out for it and that left van Persie free to slide in at the far post and prod it home to put Arsenal 1-0 in front. Before the team had settled Arsenal had won a free-kick and Nani cracked it against our post from twenty-five yards with Foster totally flatfooted. Almunia then matched his earlier fine save with an equally superb effort to tip over Carrick’s thunderbolt shot after 31 minutes. The first half ended with Taylor wasting a fine opportunity by hitting his shot well over the crossbar from fourteen yards out. Whilst the defence had looked reasonable in the first half United had not offered much in attack with Cole and Taylor particularly ineffectual. Early in the second half Young wasted another chance in a similar vein to Taylor just before the break whilst Eduardo beat Foster to a loose ball after 57 minutes, only to see Shawcross clear his shot off the line. Cole’s drab day ended after 66 minutes as Owen came on in his place, but still the team looked uninspired. It was left to Shawcross to come closest to an equaliser after 80 minutes with his header from Hargreaves’ free-kick skimming off the top of the Arsenal crossbar. Neville then got himself a yellow card in the final minute as he unnecessarily hacked down Nani near the corner flag, probably in his frustration at the scoreline and the winger’s time-wasting tactics. That may have eased the acting skipper’s annoyance, but it didn’t do me any good as we lost 1-0 to slump to our second consecutive league defeat.

Manchester United 0

Arsenal 1 van Persie 18

Foster; Neville, Shawcross, Brown, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves, Carrick, Taylor; Rooney, Cole (Owen).

[Spav]

I take what I said back lol

I await further abuse now that you've seen the next result.

[mark wilson27]

At home aswell, hang your head in shame Spav

[stoehrst]

I don't think an all-English team would do so poorly in the Prem anyway...think about it. England has several top-shelf strikers this season in Rooney, Owen, Cole, Zamora, Defoe, Bent...A pretty good midfield, solid at the back, and Joe Hart is one of the best young goalkeepers in the world.

[canvey!!]

This is the all-English team performance that we were expecting \o/ .

[Spav]

9th December 2009 – Champions League Group F

For our final Champions League group phase match away to Fiorentina I had Ferdinand back, but Hargreaves was out for a couple of matches with a neck strain. It turned out to be by far our worst performance of the season, following on from the consecutive 1-0 losses to Aston Villa and Arsenal in the Premier League.

The team had already looked strangely listless for the opening 13 minutes when Fiorentina capitalised as Santana fired in a swerving shot which Foster could only parry. Montolivo pounced on the rebound to crash it home from twelve yards and give his side a 1-0 lead. Frey did well to palm away Taylor’s shot after 22 minutes as we looked to equalise, but we were soon 2-0 down as Gilardino ran onto Jorgensen’s through-ball before rounding Foster and finding the unguarded net in the 30th minute. Owen then shot straight at Frey as he wasted a good chance, but only an incorrect linesman’s flag ruled out Gilardino’s header in the 43rd minute as we could have fallen three goals down. Fiorentina continued to dominate after the break as Jovetic, Mutu and Gilardino all tested Foster to the extent of his goalkeeping skills. Our best chance of getting back into the game came and went in the 63rd minute as Taylor’s header rattled the crossbar from a rare Young cross. Our key man Rooney had been well marshalled by Gamberini and the Italian international capped his display with a towering header from Jorgensen’s corner after 86 minutes to make the final scoreline 3-0 in the home team’s favour.

The sour taste of the defeat was only partially cleansed by the fact that we had already qualified for the knockout phase prior to this match and the result had therefore not really mattered in terms of our advancement. However it was our third consecutive defeat and I was seriously starting to worry that my United team had reached the limit of its abilities.

Fiorentina 3 Montolivo 13, Gilardino 30, Gamberini 86

Manchester United 0

Foster; Neville, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Carrick, Scholes (Gardner), Taylor; Rooney, Owen (Welbeck).

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|Pos   | Team        | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|1st Q | Man Utd     | 6     | 4     | 1     | 1     | 14    | 8     | +6    | 13    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|2nd Q | Fiorentina  | 6     | 3     | 3     | 0     | 12    | 5     | +7    | 12    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|3rd   | Sporting CP | 6     | 2     | 1     | 3     | 12    | 14    | -2    | 7     | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|4th   | Standard    | 6     | 0     | 1     | 5     | 7     | 18    | -11   | 1     | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[mark wilson27]

Three bloody nil, what the hell you playing at, good job you qualified before...my my my Mr.Spav what are you doing to my beloved United

[Spav]

Three losses in a row and three games without scoring meant that the circling media shark pack were smelling blood – and it was my blood! Mark Wilson – the leader of one of the most influential Manchester United supporter groups – had gone as far as stating that he’d be leading a grass roots campaign to have me ousted as the club’s manager if I dared to take the team to another defeat in this weekend’s upcoming Manchester derby. The pressure was really on me now!

*** *** ***

12th December 2009 – Premier League

The performances of Shawcross had slipped in recent weeks, so he found himself on the bench as Brown returned to partner Ferdinand in the centre of defence. Osman would get a chance to show what he could do in the centre of midfield whilst Cole returned up front at Owen’s expense.

The first chances were a Ferdinand header and an Adebayor shot that both keepers dealt with comfortably, but the game really came to life when Neville scythed Tevez down after 12 minutes and both players squared off. The rest of the players raced in and there was a fierce pushing and shoving match before Neville emerged as the only one punished with a yellow card. Joao Moutinho stung Foster’s fingers with a fierce shot after 23 minutes and Osman replied with a skimming low drive that Given turned around the post on the half-hour. The first half ended with more aggro though as Neville and Adebayor scuffled with the City man being the one that came out of it with a yellow card. When Neville and Adebayor again eyeballed each other fiercely after another confrontation in the 57th minute both I and Mark Hughes had the same idea. We each hauled off our player before one of us went down to ten men. I sent on Gardner for Neville whilst Hughes replaced Adebayor with Lucas. With Robinho now operating up front instead of on the wing the Brazilian came much more into the play. Twice, in the 64th and 71st minutes, he strode clear of Brown, but both times Foster narrowed his angles and saved the shots with his legs. Taylor had our best chance for ages when his shot beat Given, but hit the outside of the post after 74 minutes. Suddenly there was a feast of goalmouth action at both ends in the final fifteen minutes as both sides chased the winning goal. Rooney, Davies and Carrick all went close for United whilst Wright-Phillips, Toure and Tevez were similarly near to scoring for City. In the end, despite all the action, the derby finished 0-0 and we finally steadied ourselves in third place on the Premier League table.

Manchester City 0

Manchester United 0

Foster; Neville (Gardner), Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Carrick, Osman, Taylor; Rooney, Cole (Davies).

[kingcav]

enjoying reading this - nice one. I hope you turn it around!

[mark wilson27]

Manchester City 0

Manchester United 0

Hmmmm, shaking head and fist at you Mr.Spav, the pressure is really mounting and as an avid United fan I hope you turn it around

[Thebraid]

Im liking this challenge, thinking of maybe doing it myself in spain or italy

Barcelona transfer listing messi and zlatan

Real Madrid getting rid of Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain etc

Inter transfer listing pretty much everyone

[Spav]

16th December 2009 – Premier League

A game against 17th placed Wolves seemed like the ideal way to get the team back on the track after four games without a win or even a goal to show for themselves. Wolves started cautiously and sat back allowing United to dictate the play. There had been little of note to cheer the fans before the simplest of moves finally registered us a goal. 17 minutes had gone when Young raced down the right wing before squaring the ball for Osman. His first-time pass slid between Berra and Stearman, allowing Rooney to run clear and clip the ball over Hennessey to put us 1-0 up. If our first goal was simple, then our second goal was pure inspiration. It came on 44 minutes when Carrick sent a long diagonal ball from the right-back position in the direction of Davies who was advanced slightly to the left of centre. The former Bolton man trapped the ball with his chest before striking a volley from thirty-five yards that flew like a missile into the top corner of Hennessey’s net for a simply breathtaking goal. Wolves started the second half more adventurously with Milijas and Henry both getting the first shots on target for their team. Davies nearly had his second goal when his header clipped the post from Driver’s cross after 69 minutes. From the resulting goal-kick Wolves swept down the field with Halford deceiving Shorey with a clever pass into the feet of Kightly. The right-winger cut inside, slipped past Ferdinand and curled a left-footed effort around Foster from twenty yards to pull the score back to 2-1. The team responded well though and didn’t give Wolves another sniff of a goal in the remaining twenty-odd minutes. Two minutes into injury-time the win was clinched when Driver stormed down the left wing and sent over a cross which saw Davies diving full-length to power a header past Hennessey to make the final score 3-1 in Manchester United’s favour.

Manchester United 3 Rooney 17, Davies 44, 90+2

Wolves 1 Kightly 70

Foster; Neville (Gardner), Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Carrick, Osman, Driver; Rooney, Davies.

[stoehrst]

Im liking this challenge, thinking of maybe doing it myself in spain or italy

Barcelona transfer listing messi and zlatan

Real Madrid getting rid of Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain etc

Inter transfer listing pretty much everyone

Do the EPL with Arsenal. Impossible. Can't be done.

[mark wilson27]

Do the EPL with Arsenal. Impossible. Can't be done.

Just trying it now stoehrst, and it is bloody hard

[salkster2102]

You was doing a great job before that match spav what do you think you are doing

[Spav]

You was doing a great job before that match spav what do you think you are doing

Mmm, you're not going to like this result either then, Salkster.

[Spav]

20th December 2009 – Premier League

This was not the greatest game, despite it being a match between the third and fourth placed teams on the Premier League table. Liverpool’s 4-2-3-1 formation relied heavily on the attacking abilities of Torres and Gerrard and both of these players were subdued by their opponents. Hargreaves had the measure of Gerrard whilst Brown put in a MOM performance in totally nullifying the threat of Torres. Unfortunately for me my United team also struggled in attack with Rooney in particular putting in a quiet performance.

Torres’ best chance fell to him after only 5 minutes, but one-on-one with Foster he struck his shot into the goalkeeper’s legs. Wayward shooting from Rooney and Davies failed to test Reina in the Liverpool net and the visitors followed that up with shots from Gerrard and Agger that Foster saved with ease. The first half ended with Reina tipping over Brown’s header from Hargreaves’ well-flighted free-kick. In the 49th minute Rooney tamely shot straight at Reina from twelve yards after Davies set him up with a beautiful cutback following some neat work on the left. Both teams were struggling to get out of second gear as chances continued to be wasted. After 75 minutes Benayoun released Gerrard in the inside-right channel and he hammered a shot goalwards from twenty yards, but Foster did brilliantly to get a hand to it and deflect it onto the crossbar from whence it rebounded to safety. The game appeared destined for a scoreless draw until the 84th minute when Young launched a counterattack following a Liverpool corner. A superb through-ball found Davies and he held off Carragher’s challenge before slipping the ball past Reina to put us 1-0 up. Liverpool bought on Liedson and changed to a 4-2-4 formation for the final few minutes, but there was no way the team was going to let them back into the match now that they had the lead and we went on to take a vital 1-0 win as a result.

Manchester United 1 Davies 84

Liverpool 0

Foster; Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves, Carrick, Taylor; Rooney, Davies.

[Balthazars]

An entertaining read as usual Spav, keep it up.

[mark wilson27]

You've redeemed yourself with that Mr.Spav

[salkster2102]

Absolutely disgusting effort you deserve the sack

[gavrenwick]

Good work as ever, Spavster.

[footballfan200]

great story, hope u have a good second part of the season

[Spav]

Writing those 55 words for the "55 Fiction" thread got me inspired to pick things up with my Manchester United story.

[Spav]

26th December 2009 – Premier League

Our Boxing Day clash took us to London to face eighth-placed Fulham and the team was unchanged from the one that had defeated Liverpool six days earlier. Rooney soon snapped a half-volley against the crossbar following Davies’ headed flick after 11 minutes. The pressure continued to build as Rooney, Davies and Carrick all tested Schwarzer in Fulham’s goal, but the Australian keeper was on top of his game. It wasn’t all one-way traffic though as Nevland’s quick break after 34 minutes saw him square the ball for Dempsey to smash a shot against our post from fourteen yards with Foster well-beaten. After 43 minutes Davies sent a pass into the feet of Rooney and although Hughes was able to get a slight touch to deflect the ball it mere served to wrong-foot his fellow centre-half Baird and allowed Rooney to lash the ball home from eight yards for a 1-0 lead. Having gone one-up just before break I would have liked the team to carry that advantage into half-time, but a corner to Fulham two minutes into injury-time bought about their equaliser. Konchesky swung it over from the left and Neville inexplicably left the far post that he was supposed to be covering, challenging poorly for the ball and allowing Gera to head it into the now unguarded portion of the net to make it 1-1. Only seconds into the second half Foster had to react quickly to punch away Davies’ miscued cross as the ball nearly went in at the near post. A phase of quiet play followed and things weren’t enlivened until the 66th minute when Rooney ripped a fierce drive inches over the crossbar from the edge of the box. With the home side’s Johnson and our Carrick both only finding the side netting with low shots the game seemed to be heading for a draw until the 87th minute when Fulham’s Davies took a free-kick. The shot deflected off Shorey on the end of the wall and Foster could only block it before watching Brown and Gera lunge for the ball together. Gera got there first to send the ball trickling over the line before leaping to his feet to run away in triumph. It appeared that we had lost the match, but the referee’s attention was finally attracted by the linesman on the far side who indicated that Gera was offside on the initial shot and the goal did not stand. Just quietly I thought it was tad harsh on Fulham, so I was glad in the end to share the spoils with a 1-1 draw.

Fulham 1 Gera 45+2

Manchester United 1 Rooney 43

Foster; Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young (Osman), Hargreaves, Carrick, Taylor; Rooney, Davies (Owen).

[DEERHAUNTER]

You do know that Giggsy was born in Manchester? which as you said in the first post that all English born players can stay

[docklanders]

You do know that Giggsy was born in Manchester? which as you said in the first post that all English born players can stay

No he wasn't.

KUTGW Spav .

[Mark Snellink]

Good stuff Will be following this

[Spav]

You do know that Giggsy was born in Manchester? which as you said in the first post that all English born players can stay

Giggs was born in Cardiff. Regardless of that, as a Welsh international he was never going to get a game anyway.

[Spav]

28th December 2009 – Premier League

It was time for the first return fixture of the season as we met Sunderland who we had beaten 3-0 at the Stadium of Light on the opening day of the season. The same eleven started our second match in three days and in pouring rain it soon became clear that Sunderland were going to play tough, defensive football. Cana was marking Carrick and twice in the opening ten minutes my chief playmaker was hacked down by the Albanian hard-man with the second challenge earning him a yellow card. Davies and Rooney both whizzed shots past Gordon’s goal before Taylor struck the outside of the post with a free-kick after 19 minutes. After 23 minutes we had a corner and Taylor curled it in from the right wing. Rooney volleyed it goalwards and it struck the arm of Bent before deflecting away to safety. The referee had seen it though and he awarded the penalty with Taylor calmly stroking the ball to Gordon’s right to put us 1-0 up. A similar right wing corner from Taylor after 33 minutes saw Ferdinand thump a header against the crossbar. Finally in the 43rd minute Foster made his first save as Bent’s powerful shot went straight into his arms. In the second half Davies, Rooney and Hargreaves all went close to finding a second goal whilst the United defence kept Sunderland well at bay, limiting Foster’s work to a minimum. Despite our best efforts a second goal just couldn’t be found, but Taylor’s second penalty of the season was enough to give us a 1-0 triumph.

Manchester United 1 Taylor (pen) 23

Sunderland 0

Foster; Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young (Osman), Hargreaves, Carrick (Gardner), Taylor; Rooney, Davies.