The Re-Anglicisation Of Manchester United

[Spav]

30th December 2009 – Premier League

A third game in five days meant that some players were feeling the strain and needed resting as a result. Neville, Brown, Shorey, Young, Carrick and Davies all dropped out of the starting line-up with Gardner, Shawcross, Driver, Osman, Scholes and Owen being their respective replacements.

Taylor had dropped to left-back for this match and Driver was having his best game in a red shirt so far this season as he teased and tormented his Burnley opponent Elliott with a series of fine runs down the left wing. Twice in the opening twenty minutes Driver sent low crosses skidding through the Burnley six-yard box with first Rooney and then Owen just failing to get touches. When Rooney and Owen did manage to get shots in, they found the Peruvian keeper Penny in good form as he saved from both my strikers. In the 42nd minute Owen sent Rooney darting into the box and although Carlisle forced him wide Rooney was able to cut the ball back for Owen to sidefoot home from eight yards to put us 1-0 in front. Owen was involved in the second goal as well after 55 minutes, winning a penalty as he jinked past Thompson who clumsily caught his trailing leg and bought him crashing down. Just as he had done two days earlier Taylor carefully slotted the penalty-kick low to the keeper’s right and doubled our lead to 2-0. Nugent then wasted the home side’s best chance as he blazed Robertson’s cross high over the crossbar from fourteen yards out after 63 minutes. A Carlisle header that flashed a yard wide seven minutes later was as close as Burnley would come to scoring in the game. Owen, Scholes and the substitute Cole all had chances to ice the cake with a third goal, but it wasn’t to be as we took a 2-0 win and ended the calendar year in third place on the Premier League table.

Burnley 0

Manchester United 2 Owen 42, Taylor (pen) 55

Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Taylor; Osman, Hargreaves, Scholes (Carrick), Driver (Young); Rooney (Cole), Owen.

[Spav]

31st December 2009 – Premier League Table:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|Pos   | Team        | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|1st   | Tottenham   | 21    | 15    | 5     | 1     | 45    | 18    | +27   | 50    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|2nd   | Chelsea     | 21    | 15    | 4     | 2     | 43    | 14    | +29   | 49    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|3rd   | Man Utd     | 21    | 15    | 4     | 2     | 34    | 9     | +25   | 49    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|4th   | Liverpool   | 21    | 11    | 6     | 4     | 31    | 17    | +14   | 39    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|5th   | Arsenal     | 21    | 11    | 4     | 6     | 30    | 19    | +11   | 37    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|6th   | Everton     | 21    | 10    | 7     | 4     | 29    | 21    | +8    | 37    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|7th   | Man City    | 21    | 9     | 6     | 6     | 29    | 20    | +9    | 33    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|8th   | Aston Villa | 21    | 10    | 3     | 8     | 21    | 21    | 0     | 33    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|9th   | Stoke       | 21    | 9     | 3     | 9     | 27    | 28    | -1    | 30    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|10th  | West Ham    | 21    | 9     | 2     | 10    | 23    | 26    | -3    | 29    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|11th  | Fulham      | 21    | 8     | 4     | 9     | 30    | 38    | -8    | 28    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|12th  | Blackburn   | 21    | 7     | 5     | 9     | 22    | 25    | -3    | 26    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|13th  | Portsmouth  | 21    | 6     | 5     | 10    | 18    | 28    | -10   | 23    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|14th  | Wigan       | 21    | 5     | 7     | 9     | 22    | 28    | -6    | 22    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|15th  | Sunderland  | 21    | 4     | 9     | 8     | 22    | 28    | -6    | 21    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|16th  | Wolves      | 21    | 5     | 5     | 11    | 21    | 32    | -11   | 20    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|17th  | Hull        | 21    | 4     | 8     | 9     | 25    | 37    | -12   | 20    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|18th  | Bolton      | 21    | 2     | 7     | 12    | 13    | 25    | -12   | 13    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|19th  | Birmingham  | 21    | 3     | 3     | 15    | 16    | 39    | -23   | 12    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|20th  | Burnley     | 21    | 2     | 3     | 16    | 21    | 49    | -28   | 9     | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[Australian Stig]

Fulham have conceded 38??? Clearly Mark Schwarzer hasn't been keeping

Keep it up Spav - while this story didn't inspire me to write, it did inspire me to actually have a good crack at it!

[Spav]

The transfer window is about to re-open and I need to move on several foreign players to realise their value and get myself some further transfer funds. Reminders are sent out to all clubs that several players including Nemanja Vidic, Antonio Valencia, Rafael and Federico Macheda in particular are all currently on the transfer list and that I will listen to reasonable offers.

*** *** ***

I also decide to take a look at how the players that have moved on this season have been getting on at their new clubs:

Dimitar Berbatov has made 24(3) appearances for Chelsea, scoring 11 goals and providing 7 assists at an average rating of 7.18

Anderson has made 25 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 5 goals and providing 2 assists at an average rating of 7.07

Park Ji-Sung has made 18(1) appearances (on loan) for Wolfsburg, without scoring and providing 6 assists at an average rating of 7.18

John O’Shea has made 20 appearances (on loan) for Wolves, without scoring or providing an assist at an average rating of 7.07

Johnny Evans has made 20 appearances for Sporting, scoring 1 goal and providing 2 assists at an average rating of 6.93

Patrice Evra has made 18 appearances for AC Milan, without scoring and providing 3 assists at an average rating of 7.53

Darren Fletcher has made 12 appearances for Zenit St. Petersburg, without scoring and providing 4 assists at an average rating of 7.13

Nani has made 14(2) appearances for Arsenal, scoring 5 goals and providing 3 assists at an average rating of 7.25

Fabio has made 15 appearances for Sunderland, without scoring or providing an assist at an average rating of 7.04

*** *** ***

With the transfer window now open my most saleable asset Nemanja Vidic attracts the interest of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as both clubs appear set to make a bid for his services.

[Spav]

2nd January 2010 – FA Cup 3rd Round

The New Year starts with the traditional FA Cup Third Round tie and we head off to Exeter to take on the locals who are currently sitting 19th in League One. With our next Premier League match not scheduled for another nine days there is no need to give any players a rest, so I select my strongest possible side.

As expected we are much too strong for Exeter and it is just a matter of time before we break their defensive resistance. Twice Cole goes close in the opening half-hour and Rooney also flashes a shot across the goalmouth and just inches wide of the far post. We have already earned our seventh corner by the 31st minute and although Tully clears Taylor’s corner-kick to just outside the box it falls for Carrick who controls it deftly and then fires a crashing drive into the top corner to make it 1-0. Taylor and Cole then waste good chances to extend our lead late in the first half as we go in a goal up. When Young surges into the box in the 55th minute the young centre-half Furzer totally mistimes his tackle and borings our winger crashing down for a penalty. Taylor coolly despatches it to Jones’ left to put us 2-0 in front. Six minutes later a mazy run and ferocious left-footed shot from Rooney sees Jones parry the ball straight into the path of Taylor who taps in his second to give us a three-goal margin. Welbeck has only been on the pitch for a minute as Rooney’s replacement when he also tricks Furzer and is tripped for another penalty after 70 minutes. Taylor goes to the right of Jones this time as the keeper goes left and the ball is safely nestled in the net for the winger’s hat-trick goal as the scoreline is pushed out to 4-0 in our favour. Cole heads against the crossbar a few minutes from the end as United looks for number five, but the final 4-0 result is more adequate as Exeter’s capacity crowd of 8,830 cheers both sides off the field.

Exeter 0

Manchester United 4 Carrick 31, Taylor (pen) 55, 61, (pen) 70

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

[Spav]

Finally there are some funds coming in and some non-Englishmen moving out. The first to go in the January transfer window is a 21yo Scotsman:

David Gray – D R – £250K

Gray’s destination is Notts County and the young defender will be joining a side that is currently thirteen points clear at the top of the League Two table.

*** *** ***

Both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid bid an identical amount for my highly-rated Serbian centre-half and I let him make his choice of clubs:

Nemanja Vidic – D C – £14.0M

Intriguingly (in my opinion) Vidic chooses Germany over Spain and he quickly heads off for Bavaria with a departing blast for me, but I am not concerned as I’ve now got the money for the highest-value player that I had rotting in my reserves.

*** *** ***

The player that commands the next-highest valuation is Antonio Valencia, but the Ecuadorian is proving hard to shift. I received no offers for him in the first transfer window and no-one seems to be willing to stump up approximately £13.5M for him this time around either. There are two loan offers – from Bayer Leverkusen and AS Nancy Lorraine – but Valencia refuses to accept either one of them.

*** *** ***

Luckily, until now that is, no-one had attempted to court any of my English players, but Michael Carrick is having his head turned by flattering comments from Sevilla’s manager Manolo Jimenez. I tell Sevilla to back off, but the damage is done and Carrick issues a statement indicating that he is now interested in a new challenge. I tell Carrick straight out that he will not be going anywhere and I expect him to honour his contract. A couple of days later Carrick retracts his statement and claims that he was wrong to think about walking away from Manchester United and that he is now prepared to see out his contract.

[baz1]

Great read, nice idea spav

[Stuart1994]

Great read looking foreword to more

[mark wilson27]

Doing well Mr.Spav...keep it up mate

[Spav]

11th January 2010 – Premier League

A heel injury sees skipper Ferdinand sidelined for a week, so Brown returns to central defence in his place. The game is poor, to be truthful, and Wigan’s five-man midfield manages to stifle much of our attacking play. Rooney has an early chance that Kirkland saves well in the 5th minute and my star player then proceeds to fade from view for the next hour. Hargreaves blasts a free-kick a couple of yards wide and both Carrick and Taylor follow that up with shots that Kirkland saves without too much difficulty. It’s 0-0 at the break and I tell the players that their first half has been disappointing. We manage several off-target efforts at the beginning of the second half, but things are just not going right for us. Rooney has been very subdued and I send on Owen in his place after 65 minutes. Within two minutes of his arrival Owen is sent clear by Cole, but the substitute strikes his shot against the post from whence Melchiot hacks it clear. In the 74th minute Taylor threads a low ball into the box and Owen pokes it past Kirkland to finally breach Wigan’s defence, but the linesman flags it out for offside. Foster finally has a save to make in the 77th minute as he tips over a free-kick from the Spanish midfielder Jordi Gomez. Carrick tries two long range efforts in the final couple of minutes, but they both whizz a couple of yards wide of the Wigan net. In the end we must settle for a disappointing 0-0 draw that keeps us in third place, level with second-placed Chelsea and three points behind first-placed Tottenham.

Manchester United 0

Wigan 0

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

[Marmoset Junior]

Excellent work with this story, Spav.

[Mohan]

I started the same thing as you at roughly the same time however i extended it to the entire UK and havnt been as dramatic as you in your overhaul so far above 80% british hopefully by 3rd season it should be completed as i didnt want to unsettle the side all at once

[Spav]

16th January 2010 – Premier League

The first real action of this match is a 13th minute goal for us as Rooney and Cole cut through Blackburn’s defence before Rooney slips the ball out to Neville on the overlap down the right wing. The full-back’s low cross entices Robinson from his goal-line, but the keeper’s effort is too late and the ball beats him before arriving at the feet of Cole who calmly slots it into the now unguarded Rovers’ net to put us 1-0 up. Foster then has to be on his toes to tip away Gamst Pedersen’s fierce low drive after 22 minutes and then palm away Nelsen’s header from the resulting corner. After 31 minutes Hargreaves and the Croatian striker Kalinic tangle in the centre of the pitch and both are lucky to only receive a warning after rising from the ground and pushing each other in the chest. Diouf then wastes a fine chance as he skews his header wide from Gamst Pedersen’s cross and Foster follows up a few minutes later with a fine full-length diving save from Dunn’s scorching effort. The bad blood between Hargreaves and Kalinic resurfaces in the 45th minute when Hargreaves dives with both feet into a tackle on the Blackburn striker and brings him screaming to the ground. Referee Steve Tanner’s red card is instantly pulled from his pocket and Hargreaves is sent from the ground. I have to make a change, so Rooney – who has been limping – is replaced by Gardner and Carrick drops back into the vacant holding role in front of the defence. I ask the team drop deep in the second half with instructions to look for quick counterattacks via Young and Taylor on the wings. Blackburn uses their one man advantage to control the play, but they proceed to shoot from long range when they can’t work their way through our determined defence. The second half is full of aimless efforts from outside the box by the home side with only a Dunn header after 64 minutes and a scuffed Samba shot after 68 minutes coming close to finding our net. In the 77th minute United finally catches Blackburn on the break with Young weaving his way in from the right wing before sending a low shot skidding towards the far bottom corner, only for Robinson to pull off a superb diving save. Despite have more of the play and an extra man for the entire second half, Rovers end up with nothing as we take all three points from Ewood Park with a fighting 1-0 win.

Blackburn 0

Manchester United 1 Cole 13

Foster; Neville, Shawcross, Brown, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves (s/o 45), Carrick, Taylor; Rooney (Gardner), Cole (Davies).

[tenthreeleader]

Just a very nice concept executed with your usual aplomb, Spav. Really enjoyable to watch the progression of the club. Snazzy stuff, sir!

[Spav]

With money in the bank from the sale of Vidic I am finally able to consider a new purchase. The biggest glaring hole in my all-English defence is the presence of only three recognised central defenders – Ferdinand, Brown and Shawcross – so I make a quick trip down to London and make an offer for one of Tottenham’s spare players:

Michael Dawson – D C – £5.0M

With King, Woodgate, Corluka and Bassong getting most of the playing time Dawson has only managed three games so far and Harry Redknapp is happy to take my money whilst I’m happy to get a player that I think has been sorely underused by the Tottenham manager.

*** *** ***

After spending over £40M on players from Martin O’Neill’s club the Northern Irishman finally returns some of my cash as he decides to take an 18yo Italian off my hands:

Davide Petrucci – AM C – £1.0M

Aston Villa believes that the former Roma youngster may be able to grow into a decent player at their club and I’m just grateful that another foreigner who stood no chance of playing has been removed from my books.

*** *** ***

The Premier League’s disciplinary committee has decided that Owen Hargreaves’ red card offence in the game at Blackburn is worthy of a further suspension and the defensive midfielder is given two extra games on top of his automatic one-match ban, meaning that he will miss the FA Cup tie at West Brom, a home league match against Birmingham and – most importantly – our visit to league leaders Tottenham.

[Spav]

23rd January 2010 – FA Cup 4th Round

A visit to 6th placed Championship side West Brom for the FA Cup Fourth Round should have been a relatively easy task for my side, but it turned into a struggle almost right from the start. The Baggies were really up for the tie and after 12 minutes Neville allowed himself to drift too far inside, giving Morrison plenty of room on the left wing. The midfielder drove in at goal and then chipped a delightful cross into the near post where Teixeira stooped to head the ball past Foster to put West Brom 1-0 up. Shawcross nearly had us level a few minutes later when he headed against the crossbar from Young’s corner, but the home side came right back at us with Foster making a smart save from Fernandez. After 37 minutes we were level though as Cole ran intelligently into the right hand side of the penalty area to take Rooney’s pass before pulling the ball back low for Carrick to blast it home from the edge of the box. It had taken a while, but I thought we finally had West Brom’s measure and only a horrible miscue from Rooney stopped us from going in with the lead at the break. However after the interval we were back to the way things started as West Brom came out with renewed vigour. Having given Neville a torrid time on the left wing in the first half Morrison had now changed to the Baggies’ right wing and was now causing Shorey all sorts of problems. Neither side produced anything of note until the 67th minute when Carson saved well from Rooney. From Carson’s clearance Brunt picked up the ball and smashed in a shot that Foster had to be alert about to save. Gardner had not had the impact that I had hoped for in central midfield and Scholes took his place after 71 minutes. Meantime Morrison had run Shorey ragged and so I sent on Driver in his place whilst pulling Taylor back into the left-back’s role. The substitutes Scholes and Driver cut West Brom open after 84 minutes, but Cole made his run a moment too early and although he headed home Driver’s cross it was ruled out for offside. Just as I was thinking that we’d be looking at a replay at Old Trafford Morrison yet again beat his marker and found space for a cross in the 87th minute. The ball flicked off Shawcross and flew high to the edge of the box where Koren appeared and proceeded to fire an amazing volley high into the top corner of our net to put the home side 2-1 in front. Desperately I threw everyone forward for the final few minutes, but we couldn’t fashion a chance and West Brom were rewarded for their fierce competitiveness with a famous 2-1 win over Manchester United.

West Brom 2 Teixeira 12, Koren 87

Manchester United 1 Carrick 37

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

[salkster2102]

Fantastic work Mr Spav

[Spav]

As the transfer window draws near to its closure, Harry Redknapp calls me up with an offer for another of my unwanted foreigners:

Rafael – D/WB R – £4.8M

The offer from Tottenham is more than adequate and the fee I receive almost replaces the £5.0M I spent with them in obtaining Dawson a week earlier, although unfortunately only 25% of the incoming funds go into my transfer kitty.

*** *** ***

27th January 2010 – Premier League

With Hargreaves still suspended and Gardner not taking his chance in the last match it is Osman who gets a start in the centre of midfield. Skipper Ferdinand also returns from his heel injury as Shawcross drops to the bench where he joins new signing Dawson who may get a chance to make his debut if things go well.

Our opponents Birmingham are 19th and are wedged between Bolton and Burnley in the relegation zone. We are out of the blocks quickly as a smooth passing movement in the 2nd minute ends with the ball at Rooney’s feet. The forward lays it off for Osman to fire a low shot past Hart from twenty-two yards to give us the lead with his first goal for the club. It was 2-0 after 15 minutes with a simple goal as Taylor lofted a cross to the far post where Rooney leapt above Queudrue to loop a header into the top corner of the Birmingham net. Rooney celebrated joyously as it was his first goal since Boxing Day and it put an end to the average performances that he had been putting in recently. Ten minutes later it was 3-0 as the visitor’s defence paid the price for allowing Shorey’s cross to bounce through the box with Rooney diving in at the far post to nod home his second goal. The first half ended with us in total control and the fans in a good mood thanks to our three-goal lead. The second half continued with United easily holding the upper hand and after 61 minutes I decided to rest Ferdinand so that Dawson could make his debut. However within two minutes Birmingham had pulled a goal back as Shorey fluffed his clearance from Bowyer’s corner and Queudrue fired home the loose ball from close range. Fortunately that was all that the Blues could muster as my defence diligently defended the final half-hour to ensure that the visitors could not add to that goal. My only annoyance was that we failed to seriously trouble Hart in the Birmingham net again, even with the fresh legs of Owen added in place of Cole for the final twenty minutes. Still, the 3-1 win was more than adequate as we maintained our third place on the table.

Manchester United 3 Osman 2, Rooney 15, 25

Birmingham 1 Queudrue 63

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

[MarkC1984]

My first proper post in this Forum and well done a good read. Seeing people say it would never get off the ground at Arsenal: well as a Gooner I am going to be attempting that feat in the morning once I've had some sleep.

[PKing]

Spav, nice work. I am trying something similar(although I am not being as restrictive) with Celtic.

[jod123]

Great idea for a story and a very good read

Looking forward to the next update

[Spav]

30th January 2010 – Premier League

This was the biggest game of the Premier League so far – a trip down to London to face league leaders Tottenham at White Hart Lane. With Spurs three points ahead of us (and Chelsea) it was vital that we didn’t lose this match and whilst I would be happy with a draw it was a win that we really required. Neville was out with a calf strain, so Brown moved to right-back and Shawcross came into the centre of defence as I resisted the temptation to start Dawson against his former club.

The start was even from both sides with Rooney and Osman going close for us whilst Crouch bought a good save from Foster after 10 minutes. Next up Rooney and Jenas traded shots that Gomes and Foster respectively held without too much effort. Cole and King were having a good tussle between each other, but that died down after 24 minutes when King caught Cole with a wayward boot in the thigh and our striker went down injured for several minutes. Gradually we got on top though and should have taken the lead after 34 minutes when Taylor rolled a cross through the box, only for the unmarked Young to drive his shot straight against the shins of Gomes and out for a corner. Carrick and Cole then shot wide from good positions as we piled on the pressure. As the fourth official displayed that there was to be three minutes of injury-time we were well and truly camped in Tottenham’s half. Two minutes into time added on a long Aurelio clearance found Crouch who flicked the ball out wide on the left for Defoe. The striker advanced past Brown and found Kranjcar just inside, whereupon the Croatian midfielder dinked the ball first-time to the far post. Shorey found the ball floating over his head and Bentley arrived just in time to place a downward header inside the post before Foster could save it so that Tottenham could take a 1-0 lead into the break.

Cole wasn’t fit enough to resume the second half, so I decided to go with the pace of Owen to see if that could be the key to opening Tottenham’s defence. I was forced into a second change just seven minutes into the half when Palacios crunched Osman, injuring his ankle and making it necessary for me to send on Scholes in his place. We again started to exert our control, but an equalising goal wasn’t forthcoming. Rooney was on a one-man mission to score, forcing Gomes to tip his header over after 56 minutes and then producing a fine lob in the 65th minute which the back-pedalling Tottenham keeper did well to palm over his own crossbar. Scholes whizzed a thirty-yarder just an inch or so over the crossbar after 73 minutes and Owen stabbed a half-chance a foot wide just two minutes later as the frustration grew at our inability to find the net. As the game headed towards its conclusion it appeared that Tottenham were going to get all three points despite having much less of the play. However in the 88th minute we finally got our chance to equalise when Scholes’ strong run into the left side of the penalty area was halted by Bentley’s clumsy tackle with referee Dowd having no hesitation in awarding us a spot-kick. Taylor calmly stepped up and assuredly beat Gomes with his fourth penalty of the league season to make it 1-1. It was no more than we deserved, but it left no time for us to find a winner and we were forced to share the spoils with the league leaders.

With Chelsea drawing 0-0 at Blackburn later in the day, the top three sides had all taken a point on the weekend and so the status quo remained unchanged with Tottenham three points ahead of Chelsea and ourselves in third place.

Tottenham 1 Bentley 45+2

Manchester United 1 Taylor (pen) 88

Foster; Brown, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Carrick, Osman (Scholes), Taylor; Rooney, Cole (Owen).

[Spav]

With only £2.5M in the transfer kitty, there was no chance of further purchases before the transfer deadline unless someone else came in for one of my non-English players. Hearts were reported to be keen on the Irish midfielder Darron Gibson whilst Le Mans had been linked with the Serbian winger Zoran Tosic, but with no bids forthcoming before the 1st February deadline a line was finally drawn under my transfer business for the 2009/10 season.

*** *** ***

6th February 2010 – Premier League

Hargreaves had served his three-match suspension, so he returned to the starting line-up for the visit to Stoke in place of Osman with Carrick pushing up into his advanced playmaker role. Cole wasn’t one hundred percent after his knock against Tottenham and Davies started up front with Rooney instead. Stoke put a brave fight throughout the match, but it was clear that they were not up to our standard. We controlled the match and dominated possession, setting up regular chances without too much difficulty. If not for some wayward finishing and a couple of outstanding saves from the Stoke keeper Sorensen we could have won by much more handsome margin than we eventually did. Rooney and Davies were on the end of half a dozen quality moves in the first half, but couldn’t finish them off, whilst all Stoke had to show for their efforts was a long range shot from Huth that Brown deflected away for a corner. Sorensen’s best save came in the 60th minute when he flung himself full length to his right to tip Young’s header around the post after good lead-up work by Taylor. Finally after 67 minutes Stoke were split open by good off-the-ball runs from Davies and Young, allowing Carrick to thread a lovely pass into the box for Rooney who struck it sweetly across Sorensen from twelve yards to put us 1-0 in front. Stoke produced their first and only effort on target three minutes after the restart when Steinsson crossed from the right and Pugh headed goalwards, forcing Foster into a leap to his left from which he held the ball expertly. Rooney appeared to make it 2-0 after 84 minutes, heading in substitute Osman’s cross, but the referee ruled out his effort for a push on Sorensen as he leapt for the ball. It seemed incredibly harsh, but it made no difference in the end as we maintained the 1-0 margin to stretch our unbeaten run in the Premier League to eleven matches.

Stoke 0

Manchester United 1 Rooney 67

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

[mark wilson27]

Whats the squad looking like now Spav, any chance of a look

Anyway still enjoying the story if not all the results, looking forward to more

[Spav]

Whats the squad looking like now Spav, any chance of a look

Mark, do you mean you want to see my current all-English first team squad or you more interested in my entire firsts/reserves roster including those who I am still trying to get rid of?

[SCIAG]

This is a very nice read, Spav.

[mark wilson27]

Mark, do you mean you want to see my current all-English first team squad or you more interested in my entire firsts/reserves roster including those who I am still trying to get rid of?

Your first team English squad and which foreigners you've got left if poss mate

[Spav]

Your first team English squad and which foreigners you've got left if poss mate

First Team: Ben Foster, Ben Amos, Wes Brown, Gary Neville, Craig Gardner, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Shawcross, Nicky Shorey, Matty Taylor, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes, Leon Osman, Ashley Young, Andrew Driver, Kevin Davies, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Carlton Cole, Danny Welbeck.

Reserve Team: Tomasz Kuszczak, Edwin van der Sar, Ron-Robert Zieler, Scott Moffatt, John O'Shea, Danny Simpson, Joe Dudgeon, Oliver Gill, Craig Cathcart, James Chester, Corry Evans, Darron Gibson, Matt James, Oliver Norwood, Rodrigo Possebon, Tom Cleverley, Danny Drinkwater, Magnus Eikrem, Adem Ljajic, Gabriel Obertan, Park Ji-Sung, Cameron Stewart, Zoran Tosic, Antonio Valencia, Mame Biram Diouf, Ryan Giggs, Sam Hewson, Febian Brandy, Federico Macheda.

[xenardo]

Interesting read and thank you for inspiring me to possibly have a crack at it. Not having Torres should pose some difficulty.

Also, have you transfer listed ALL of your players who are non-English? (including those in reserves and not just first team)

[Spav]

Also, have you transfer listed ALL of your players who are non-English? (including those in reserves and not just first team)

Yes, all transfer-listed except for Giggs because I didn't want to upset the fans and I figured he'd retire in a year or two anyway.

[Spav]

10th February 2010 – Premier League

Despite being in the top six of the Premier League all season so far, our next opponents Everton were on a run of four league matches without a win. Cashing in on their lack of confidence, we quickly set up camp in their half and proceeded to take an early lead after 10 minutes. A series of headers in midfield from players of both sides ended with a powerful header by Taylor that fell kindly into the path of Davies. He took one touch to control the ball and then fired a low drive into the far corner, perhaps catching Howard unawares with the swiftness of his shot. Arteta and van der Vaart orchestrated Everton’s first attack that ended with the Dutchman’s shot being battered away by the fists of Foster after 14 minutes. That was followed by a moment of fear for Ferdinand as he sliced his clearance from Arteta’s cross into the side-netting of our goal. Howard then did well to deny Rooney and Carrick and soon followed that up with a tip-over from Young’s wickedly curling, in-swinging corner. Howard’s heroics were all in vain though as we went 2-0 up after 26 minutes as Davies produced a stunning drive from twenty-two yards that flashed into the top corner of the Everton net. Totally in control United finished the first half with two efforts from Rooney and a rasping shot from Carrick that just clipped the top of the crossbar as it went over. The second half saw us continue to hold sway, although the goalmouth action did diminish. The left-backs Shorey and Baines both tested their opposing keepers, but Everton’s hopes realistically ended in the 69th minute when Yobo unnecessarily clattered Ferdinand and was given a straight red card by referee Marriner. The Toffees’ manager David Moyes sent on Hibbert for van der Vaart and basically had his team shut up shop after that, looking to limit the damage. Hargreaves and Young did bring saves from Howard in the final twenty minutes, but neither effort was really likely to have gone in. In the end we settled for a 2-0 winning scoreline.

The previous night Chelsea had won a thriller 3-2 at Tottenham to take over top place, so our win tonight meant that all three of us – Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United – were now locked together on 63 points with eleven matches left to play in the Premier League season.

Manchester United 2 Davies 10, 26

Everton 0

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

[Spav]

13th February 2010 – Premier League Table:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|Pos   | Team        | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|1st   | Chelsea     | 27    | 19    | 6     | 2     | 57    | 20    | +37   | 63    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|2nd   | Tottenham   | 27    | 19    | 6     | 2     | 57    | 25    | +32   | 63    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|3rd   | Man Utd     | 27    | 19    | 6     | 2     | 42    | 11    | +31   | 63    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|4th   | Liverpool   | 27    | 16    | 7     | 4     | 41    | 19    | +22   | 55    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|5th   | Man City    | 27    | 13    | 6     | 8     | 43    | 26    | +17   | 45    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|6th   | Everton     | 27    | 12    | 9     | 6     | 39    | 30    | +9    | 45    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|7th   | Arsenal     | 27    | 12    | 5     | 10    | 40    | 31    | +9    | 41    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|8th   | West Ham    | 27    | 12    | 4     | 11    | 34    | 28    | +6    | 40    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|9th   | Aston Villa | 27    | 12    | 4     | 11    | 29    | 34    | -5    | 40    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|10th  | Stoke       | 27    | 10    | 3     | 14    | 32    | 39    | -7    | 33    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|11th  | Fulham      | 27    | 8     | 7     | 12    | 38    | 50    | -12   | 31    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|12th  | Hull        | 27    | 6     | 12    | 9     | 34    | 43    | -9    | 30    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|13th  | Blackburn   | 27    | 7     | 8     | 12    | 25    | 34    | -9    | 29    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|14th  | Sunderland  | 27    | 6     | 11    | 10    | 28    | 38    | -10   | 29    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|15th  | Portsmouth  | 27    | 7     | 7     | 13    | 24    | 35    | -11   | 28    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|16th  | Wigan       | 27    | 6     | 9     | 12    | 27    | 35    | -8    | 27    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|17th  | Wolves      | 27    | 6     | 8     | 13    | 24    | 38    | -14   | 26    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|18th  | Bolton      | 27    | 5     | 8     | 14    | 22    | 35    | -13   | 23    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|19th  | Birmingham  | 27    | 5     | 4     | 18    | 27    | 55    | -28   | 19    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|20th  | Burnley     | 27    | 3     | 4     | 20    | 25    | 62    | -37   | 13    | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[mark wilson27]

First Team: Ben Foster, Ben Amos, Wes Brown, Gary Neville, Craig Gardner, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Shawcross, Nicky Shorey, Matty Taylor, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes, Leon Osman, Ashley Young, Andrew Driver, Kevin Davies, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Carlton Cole, Danny Welbeck.

Reserve Team: Tomasz Kuszczak, Edwin van der Sar, Ron-Robert Zieler, Scott Moffatt, John O'Shea, Danny Simpson, Joe Dudgeon, Oliver Gill, Craig Cathcart, James Chester, Corry Evans, Darron Gibson, Matt James, Oliver Norwood, Rodrigo Possebon, Tom Cleverley, Danny Drinkwater, Magnus Eikrem, Adem Ljajic, Gabriel Obertan, Park Ji-Sung, Cameron Stewart, Zoran Tosic, Antonio Valencia, Mame Biram Diouf, Ryan Giggs, Sam Hewson, Febian Brandy, Federico Macheda.

Thats not a bad first team really there Spav, alot of players though in the reserve team to get rid of.

Its very tight at the top aswell mate, but as long as your in the running I'll be happy

Thanks again for doing the list Spav appreciate that

[Spav]

Author’s Note: If anyone can remember, or cares to check back to the opening post, then you will have noticed that I started this story with a tone that indicated that I was eagerly looking forward to bringing about the demise of Manchester United. I was going to achieve this aim by the immediate banning – and subsequent transfer – of all non-Englishmen from the club’s ranks and by replacing them with cash-only, English-only signings from the Premier League or English-only free transfers / Bosman transfers.

I had anticipated that Manchester United would slide down the Premier League table based on two factors. Firstly, a drop in the quality of the playing staff brought about by my transfer policy and, secondly, due to the fact that I am notoriously poor when it comes to being a FM2010 manager.

However I now find myself with eleven matches to play in the Premier League and my new-look Manchester United side sitting in a three-way tie alongside Chelsea and Tottenham at the top of the table. As such I am suddenly more concerned about the results that I achieve and am in fact fervently hoping that I can take my team to the Premier League title for my first such win in this league with any club since FM2005.

So, whilst the immediate tone may have changed, I believe the long term aim of the story will be continued. In the meantime bear with me whilst I chew my fingernails to the quick as I nervously guide Manchester United on the run-in to the end of the 2009/10 Premier League season.

Cheers, Spav.

[Spav]

I looked at the fixture list for our remaining eleven games and realised that we were still in with a real chance of winning the Premier League title, despite all the changes that had been made to the first team. We still had to play the following teams:

Chelsea (A), Portsmouth (H), Hull (A), West Ham (H), Bolton (A), Manchester City (H), Aston Villa (H), Arsenal (A), Liverpool (A), Fulham (H), Wolves (A).

Chelsea were currently first, so that would be the most difficult match, but the next four games were all ‘winnable’. After that a tricky run of four matches against Manchester City (5th), Aston Villa (9th), Arsenal (7th) and Liverpool (4th) followed, before we finished up with a couple of ‘should-win’ games.

Chelsea still had us to play and then Aston Villa mixed in amongst a run of six ‘easier’ games, before finishing up with a tricky three-match run of Arsenal (A), Manchester City (H) and finally Liverpool (A).

Tottenham had arguably the ‘easiest’ run in their final eleven matches as they played four ‘winnable’ games before facing Aston Villa (A), Liverpool (H), Arsenal (H) and Manchester City (A) and then finished up with three ‘should-win’ games.

It was going to be a great climax to the season and our chances of eventually taking the title could well be governed by our visit to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in a few days time.

*** *** ***

20th February 2010 – Premier League

I was able to name my strongest line-up whilst Chelsea’s team-sheet showed that they were also at full strength for today’s match with their 4-1-2-1-2 formation:

Cech; Bosingwa, Terry, Carvalho, Cole.A; Palombo; Essien, Ballack; Lampard; Berbatov, Drogba.

It was Ballack who unleashed the first shot on goal after 2 minutes, but it flew a foot wide of the post. Chelsea started to ramp up their possession of the ball, but it wasn’t all that simple as Terry demonstrated when he panicked his clearance of Young’s cross after 8 minutes and needlessly gave us a corner. Ferdinand headed the resulting corner from Young well over the Chelsea crossbar. Chelsea were pushing the ball around very neatly, but Drogba and Berbatov were getting little service and the Blues were restricted to a couple of long range efforts from Lampard and Essien. It was until the 25th minute that Rooney ran onto Taylor’s long pass and took our first shot with the ball ending up safely in Cech’s arms after being struck from twenty yards out. Ballack blasted another twenty-five-yarder well wide as the half wore on whilst Lampard drew a roar from certain sections of the crowd when his low shot rippled the side netting and fooled them into thinking it had been inside the post. The half ended all-square, but we had done the bulk of the defensive work in the opening forty-five minutes.

In the 51st minute we looked to have opened the scoring with the simplest of goals. Foster’s free-kick from deep in our half was nodded on with a looping header by Davies and Rooney darted in to glance the ball with his head past Cech, but the linesman’s flag indicated that our forward’s run was slightly mistimed and the goal was ruled out. Chelsea came straight back at us with Lampard finally finding his range from distance and it needed a top-class save from Foster to see the ball tipped away for a corner. In the 59th minute Rooney finally sprung Chelsea’s offside trap and sprinted clear on to Davies’ simple pass, but he hesitated in shooting and Bosingwa appeared from nowhere to prod the ball away as Rooney finally did swing his boot. We were finally starting to see a bit more of the ball and our chances increased as a result. Carrick headed Hargreaves’ free-kick inches over the crossbar after 63 minutes and then Shorey’s mishit cross thumped against the crossbar with Cech well-beaten after 69 minutes. Lampard retaliated for Chelsea in the 71st minute with a viciously swerving shot from twenty-two yards that beat Foster, but crashed against the crossbar and bounced down six inches to the right side of the goal-line as far as we were concerned. Rooney took a knock from Carvalho that left him limping, so I decided to send on Owen in his place for the final fifteen minutes. In the 81st minute Mikel and Palombo carved their way deep into our defence with the Italian sliding a lovely ball into the stride of Berbatov. The Bulgarian took a steadying touch and then unleashed a rocket-like shot from twenty yards that flew high into the top corner despite Foster’s despairing dive, giving Chelsea a 1-0 lead with just ten minutes remaining. I urged everyone forward in search of a late equaliser and we created one glorious chance after 87 minutes as Cech flapped at Shorey’s cross, seeing the ball skid off his gloves and loop towards the far post. Young climbed above Cole to send his header back towards the far post, but Carvalho was well-placed to nod the winger’s goal-bound effort off the line. A few minutes later Chelsea had officially earned a tough 1-0 win that consolidated their hold on top spot of the Premier League table.

Chelsea 1 Berbatov 81

Manchester United 0

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

[Spav]

24th February 2010 – Champions League 1st Knockout Round 1st Leg

European football returned as we headed to over to Holland to face AZ Alkmaar in the First Knockout Round of the Champions League. AZ had done well to come through the group stages as runners-up to Barcelona in Group G, losing just once in their six matches when they fell 3-1 at the Camp Nou whilst also holding the Catalan giants to a credible 1-1 draw at their home DSB Stadion.

On a rainy night most of the first half was a subdued affair with Rooney’s drive that fizzed a foot wide of the post after just 2 minutes being as much as either team could muster in the opening thirty-five minutes. AZ were prepared to sit deep and soak up our pressure with Dembele and El Hamdaoui prepared to attack us on the break. The best chance of the opening period came late on as AZ failed to clear Taylor’s corner in the 38th minute. Rooney nodded the ball back into the middle, Young flicked it on with his head and Ferdinand arrived at the far post to send his header thumping against the crossbar. Luckily for our opponents the rebound fell into the grateful arms of their keeper Romero. Early in the second half a similar scenario occurred in our penalty area following Pocognoli’s 48th minute corner. Wernerbloom nodded the ball goalwards, Elm cushioned it back to Moreno and the Mexican blasted the ball towards our net. Foster appeared to have it covered until Dembele stuck out his leg and diverted it the other way to find the net and give AZ a 1-0 lead. Ferdinand was injured in the scramble leading up to the goal and he had to be replaced by Dawson. In the 60th minute we conceded again when Dembele beat Shawcross all ends up before firing a fierce half-volley goalwards from twenty-five yards. Foster had it covered, but the wet ball slipped through his grasp and dropped into the net to make it 2-0. Shawcross was losing his battle with the Belgian forward Dembele, so I replaced him with Neville and shifted Brown into the middle of defence. It made little difference and apart from long range efforts from Carrick and Rooney we barely troubled their keeper Romero in the remainder of the match. The game finished 2-0 in AZ’s favour and they celebrated like they had won the competition by beating us.

AZ 2 Dembele 48, 60

Manchester United 0

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

[mark wilson27]

Looks like its going tits up when it matters, hopefully you'll turn it round

[Mark Snellink]

Shock loss to AZ? Ouch.

[Spav]

28th February 2010 – Premier League

After two losses in a row it is imperative that we get back to winning ways. Thankfully our next match is at home to 17th placed Portsmouth, so three points should really be ours for the taking. Ferdinand is still showing the effects of the knock he took to his knee against AZ four days ago so Dawson comes into the team for his first start since joining us from Tottenham last month. Rooney is also looking jaded and I decide to rest him on the bench today with Owen taking the starting berth up front.

Portsmouth threatens first as Utaka sends a 5th minute header goalwards from Belhadj’s corner, but Foster does well to tip it over. When Taylor slides a ball through the Pompey defence after 15 minutes the pace of Owen takes him clear of Primus and he bears down on goal. As he reaches the dee Primus desperately lunges in, but the take is far too late and he only succeeds in catching Owen’s trailing leg, bringing him sprawling down to earth. Referee Tanner decides it is a clear-cut professional foul and immediately shows Primus the red card. Portsmouth responds by pulling everyone back to defend the point they currently hold. It isn’t until the 38th minute that United can create a serious chance as Taylor rolls an enticing low cross through the penalty-area and Young sees his powerful shot blocked by Belhadj’s brave diving tackle. The half ends with a nasty tackle from Boateng on Carrick which sees the Ghanaian only receive a yellow card. Boateng obviously doesn’t learn from his warning though as he clatters through Carrick again after 49 minutes with a similar tackle to the earlier one. Referee Tanner is left with no choice other than to show another yellow card, followed by a red card, and Boateng joins Primus in the change-rooms as Portsmouth are reduced to nine men. Minutes later Owen goes down under Wilson’s tackle in the box, but the referee waves away our penalty claims. After 59 minutes the deadlock is finally broken as Owen picks up a loose ball on the edge of the box, totally outwits Wilson and then proceeds to place a shot past James from sixteen yards to put us 1-0 in front. Unfortunately Owen is caught by Wilson’s late challenge as he scores and the striker must leave the field with Rooney taking his place. The play is now confined to just Portsmouth’s end of the pitch as we probe for further openings. After 72 minutes Young swings over a curling cross that Davies powers wide of James with a well-placed header to make it 2-0. That should make the game safe, but Davies isn’t finished yet. Substitute Osman plays in a similar cross to Young’s twelve minutes earlier and again Davies rises high to send a downward header past James to push the scoreline out to 3-0. That header also represents the 100th league goal of Davies’ career. In the final minute Dawson heads against the crossbar from Young’s corner as the woodwork saves Portsmouth from conceding a fourth goal.

In other games Tottenham are held 0-0 at Hull and Chelsea likewise draws 0-0 at Everton, so our 3-0 win over Portsmouth keeps us in third place, but more importantly takes us back to just one point behind Chelsea and Tottenham.

Manchester United 3 Owen 59, Davies 72, 84

Portsmouth 0

Foster; Brown, Shawcross, Dawson, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves, Carrick (Scholes), Taylor (Osman); Owen (Rooney), Davies.

[Spav]

I actually wrote this article for a "Newspaper Reporter Contest" thread on another site, but it fits in nicely here at this point so I thought I'd add it here in FMS as well.

*** *** ***

KEVIN DAVIES – 100 NOT OUT

It may have taken 17 seasons, but Manchester United striker Kevin Davies has just reached the personal milestone of 100 goals in league football with his double strike against Portsmouth yesterday.

A pair of well-placed headers in the 72nd and 84th minutes of United’s 3-0 win at Old Trafford saw Davies reach the landmark of a century of league goals and took his overall goal tally in all competitions to 119.

After making his debut for Chesterfield in September 1993 Davies has also played for Southampton, Blackburn, Southampton (again), Millwall (on loan) and Bolton. His career has taken a late upswing after his surprising £5.75M transfer from Bolton to Manchester United in August 2009, a move made possible by his new club’s desire to assemble an all-English Red Devils team.

Now aged 33 Davies is playing some of the best football of his life for Manchester United and he appreciates the chance that he has been given relatively late in his career.

“I knew I was two goals away from the century”, said Davies after the Portsmouth match, “but to be truthful I was more concerned about ensuring that we kept up our title challenge by winning than worrying about any personal glory. Of course it’s always nice to score and that is mainly what I’m paid to do, but as long as we win and keep moving towards that league title, then I’m more than happy.”

Davies’ manager Gavin Mathieson was generous in his praise of his striker’s accomplishment as he spoke to the media after Manchester United’s 3-0 win over Portsmouth.

“Kevin deserves his moment of acclaim for reaching the 100 league goals milestone. He’s been a hard worker all his career and whilst I’ve only been his manager these past seven months I can honestly say that he’s been a consummate professional and a credit to the club since he arrived here in August.”

Whilst his manager may have been quite effusive, there are others who will point out that taking 17 seasons to score 100 goals is not a fantastic strike-rate. Those same people may also point to Davies’ rugged style of play and the fact that he holds the record for the most fouls committed by any player in the history of the Premier League, although they may overlook the fact that he is close to being the most fouled player as well.

Whichever way you care to look upon Kevin Davies though, one thing that cannot be taken away from him is his newly-acquired status as a member that esteemed club of players who have scored 100 or more league goals during their lifetime.

And if Davies earns himself a title-winners medal at the end of the campaign, then that may just top what could be a fitting finale to his long-running career.

[mark wilson27]

Used to watch Kevin Davies at Chesterfield...A beast of a man when playing

[Spav]

The first trophy of the season is decided as Arsenal takes the League Cup Final with a 1-0 win over Liverpool thanks to an 87th minute goal from Fabregas.

*** *** ***

Our absence from the FA Cup means that we get the weekend off as the quarter-final ties are decided. It gives us a welcome break from competitive matches for 14 days and I schedule a two-day break from training for all the players on the Saturday and Sunday.

When the players return to training on the Monday Foster injures his shoulder and after his initial examination the physios tell me that he will be out for 2-3 weeks.

19yo Ben Amos – who has just signed a one-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until June 2012 – will take over for the next few matches, including the upcoming must-win home tie against AZ in the Champions League.

*** *** ***

13th March 2010 – Premier League

Hull have lost only once in their past eight league matches to climb up to 13th on the Premier League table, so they can’t be taken lightly. In just the 2nd minute Young – the player with probably the worst aerial skills in the first team squad – is left unmarked at Taylor’s corner and he rises high to head us 1-0 in front with a powerful effort. Hull replies with Kilbane’s through-ball sending Fagan clear after 13 minutes, but Amos does brilliantly to spread himself and parry the shot with his body. A few minutes we earn a corner which Young takes from the right wing. The ball swerves through box without anyone getting a touch on it, but Taylor retrieves it on the left wing and returns it low through a crowd of players. A deflection off Bullard puts the ball in front of Carrick and he smashes it home from twelve yards to make it 2-0 after 16 minutes. Amos makes another smart save from Mouyokolo’s header after 24 minutes as Hull threatens again. Taylor wastes a glorious chance to make it three when he volleys Brown’s superb cross straight at keeper Myhill after 35 minutes, but it is merely a hiccup as Young and Rooney cut Hull apart four minutes later with Davies profiting from the final pass as he scores from close range to make it 3-0. Amos makes his third great save late in the first half as he denies Bullard from close range, although a late linesman’s flag would have ruled it out for offside had it gone in, although Amos wasn’t to know that. The second half is a much quieter affair with fewer chances. Ferdinand complains of a tight hamstring around the hour mark, so I take no chances and send on Shawcross in his place. A few minutes later Rooney crashes awkwardly to the ground after a Bullard challenge and injures his elbow, so Cole appears on the pitch for the first time in six matches. Davies has been in superb form recently and only a spectacular save by Myhill keeps out his fine header after 77 minutes as the striker searches for his second –and the team’s – fourth goal. A second consecutive 3-0 win is the result as we temporarily move into second place on the table.

Chelsea also wins 3-0 at Stoke to maintain top place, but on Monday night Tottenham crashes 4-2 at West Ham meaning that we continue to hold on to second place with eight matches remaining.

Hull 0

Manchester United 3 Young 2, Carrick 16, Davies 39

Amos; Brown, Dawson, Ferdinand (Shawcross), Shorey; Young, Hargreaves, Carrick, Taylor; Rooney (Cole), Davies.

[Spav]

Rooney’s elbow injury is worse than we first thought and he will be out for 9-11 days. It had looked as though he would miss at least two matches, but international call-ups mean that our match at home to West Ham next weekend had been postponed and pushed back to mid-April.

However Rooney will still miss our do-or-die second leg match with AZ in the Champions League 1st Knockout Round as we look to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.

*** *** ***

17th March 2010 – Champions League 1st Knockout Round 2nd Leg

Cole gets the injured Rooney’s place up front in preference to Owen as AZ’s lightweight defence appears susceptible to the forcefulness of a pair of strong players like Cole and Davies. Meantime, our task is simple – to score three goals without reply and knock the Dutch team out of the Champions League as a result.

It’s a dream start for the Manchester United fans as we go 1-0 up after 12 minutes. Shorey’s low cross deflects off Taylor and Davies picks it up before finding Carrick twenty-five yards from goal. He shapes to shoot, forcing Mendes da Silva to dive into an attempted block tackle, but instead Carrick prods the ball into the path of Cole who sidefoots a shot past Romero from fourteen yards to give us the lead. El Hamdaoui races clear of Ferdinand and Dawson after 17 minutes, but can’t beat Amos as the young keeper saves well with his legs. Amos follows that up with another fine save as he plucks Tcheco’s header out of the air following Dembele’s corner whilst up the other end Ferdinand sends his head from Young’s corner skimming off the top of the AZ crossbar. The first half ends on a quiet note with ten minutes of forgettable football.

AZ certainly aren’t sitting back to hold onto their aggregate lead as they come out with a string of good attacks at the start of the second half, culminating with Amos making a double-save from shots by Wernbloom and El Hamdaoui after 56 minutes. Davies weaves his way past two challenges and unleashes a fierce shot that Romero batters away in the 68th minute and Carrick follows that up a few minutes later with a header that flies inches wide of the post from Brown’s cross. With time running down and AZ looking increasingly tired I send on Owen for Davies, hoping to use the striker’s pace to catch them on the break. The Dutch team fights on though and the clock ticks down to the final few minutes with our opponents still holding a 2-1 aggregate lead. Finally in the 89th minute Taylor breaks down the left wing onto Shorey’s long pass and whips in an inviting cross which the diving Cole meets with his head. The ball flies in off keeper Romero’s shoulder as we take a 2-0 lead on the night and extra-time now beckons. Four more minutes and extra-time is now a reality.

There is only one clear chance in the opening fifteen-minute period of extra-time and that falls to us in the 94th minute as Taylor takes advantage of a slip by Jaliens to race into the box from the left. With no support Taylor decides to shoot from an acute angle, but Romero palms the ball away whereupon it strikes the unaware Pocognoli and deflects onto the post, but then goes out for a corner. After 99 minutes Scholes and Neville come on for Hargreaves and Brown as I freshen up for a final push for victory. In the second period of extra-time we look like the only team likely to score. Owen runs clear after 108 minutes and thrashes a shot goalwards, but Romero pushes it away. Three minutes later Scholes sends a low shot skidding inches wide of the post from twenty yards with Romero well beaten. In the end the game ends in a 2-0 victory for us, but with the aggregate scoreline tied at 2-2 the end result will be decided by a penalty shootout.

Our regular penalty taker Taylor goes first and scores with ease, but AZ’s first taker Elm is not so composed and he drives his attempt straight into the body of Amos. Carrick rifles his spot-kick into the roof of the net to make it 2-0, but Ari gets AZ on the board as he sidefoots inside the right hand side-netting to make it 2-1. Owen has been a regular scorer from the spot throughout his career and he scores our third goal with Swerts following that up with a well-placed finish to make it 3-2. Shorey crashes his kick high into the left side of the net and El Hamdaoui places a shot to the left of Amos as the goals continue and the score reaches 4-3 in our favour. Finally our veteran midfielder Scholes is left with the chance to win the tie for us as he steps up for our fifth spot-kick. The shot is not well-placed and although Romero gets a hand to it he cannot keep it out. The players rush to celebrate with Scholes as we triumph 5-3 on penalties and my heart can finally leave my mouth and return to its correct place in my chest.

Manchester United 2 Cole 12, 89

AZ 0

Aggregate 2-2: Manchester United wins 5-3 on penalties

Amos; Brown (Neville), Dawson, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves (Scholes), Carrick, Taylor; Cole, Davies (Owen).

[PKing]

Woo!!!! Making it to Madrid is minimum expectation.

[Spav]

27th March 2010 – Premier League

Both Rooney and Foster are fit and ready to play in our match away to Bolton, but I decide to leave them on the bench for different reasons. Foster could use an extra day or two to reach peak fitness whilst Rooney is being rested after a series of niggling minor knocks and with the upcoming Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea in mind.

It’s a wet and windswept afternoon at the Reebok Stadium and the conditions are not at all conducive to the playing of good football. That doesn’t stop Carrick from producing an outrageous curling shot from thirty yards out in the 10th minute, not does it prevent Jaaskelainen from making a stunning fingertip save to deny our midfield playmaker. In the 16th minute Bolton’s young midfielder Basham curls a free-kick around our defensive wall from twenty-five yards and then watches as it smacks against the post and rebounds to safety with Amos stranded. O’Brien’s poor control gifts a chance to Cole in the 33rd minute, but he drives it straight into the body of Jaaskelainen. Two minutes later Davies rides two tackles before laying the ball back for Carrick and he sends a skidding shot into the bottom corner of the Bolton net from twenty-two yards to put us 1-0 ahead. Into the second half and a sweet move starting from the back-line ends with Taylor in space on the left wing. The ex-Trotter drives a low cross into the box and another former Bolton man Davies slides in to prod it past Jaaskelainen to make it 2-0. Just after the restart Cohen loses possession deep in his own half to Carrick and the ball breaks to Cole. Knight manages to get in a tackle just in time, but that merely causes the ball to fall at the feet of Davies and he shows no mercy to his former employers as he thumps it home from eight yards to make it 3-0. Elmander causes us momentary concern as he breaks into the penalty area after 61 minutes, but young Amos dives bravely at his feet to take the ball as the Swedish striker attempts to go around him. After that the rain closes in even more with a heavy downpour making conditions almost unplayable. The referee gets us to full-time though as we record our third consecutive 3-0 win in Premier League action.

Chelsea also wins by a 3-0 margin at Hull to stay top, but Tottenham’s challenge loses further momentum as they draw 2-2 at Aston Villa to continue behind us in third place.

Bolton 0

Manchester United 3 Carrick 35, Davies 51, 53

Amos; Brown, Dawson, Ferdinand, Shorey; Young (Osman), Hargreaves, Carrick, Taylor; Cole (Owen), Davies.

[Spav]

30th March 2010 – Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg

It’s another blockbuster between Manchester United and Chelsea, this time in the first leg of the quarter-final of the Champions League at Stamford Bridge. There are three changes for us as Foster returns in goal after injury in place of Amos, Rooney returns to the forward line after his injury/rest in place of Cole and Neville takes over from the suspended Brown in defence.

I know that Chelsea will come at us hard, so I instruct the players to sit back a little, but to look for any chance of a swift counterattack if the Blues overstretch themselves. Drogba starts out on Chelsea’s left and quickly barges his way past Neville after 2 minutes before crossing for Berbatov, but Foster saves the downward header well. A minute later Lampard strikes a firm twenty-five yarder that Foster holds comfortably. From there we construct our first serious attack with Carrick finding Davies out wide on the left wing. Davies cuts inside and dribbles across the field parallel to the edge of the penalty before suddenly unleashing a superb curling shot from twenty-five yards that beats Cech and nestles just inside the far post for a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later Young puts Rooney clean through on goal, but Cech saves brilliantly low down at his near post. Chelsea comes back at us with Palombo’s free-kick requiring a touch from Foster to flick it away for a corner. Carrick is causing Palombo real problems when he surges forward and after 12 minutes he again gets beyond his marker before chipping a pass over to Taylor on the left side of the box. Taylor takes a touch to cushion the pass and then sweetly volleys a shot just inside Cech’s near post to double our lead to 2-0. After a quiet spell Chelsea gets themselves back into the game in the 32nd minute when Foster’s poor goal-kick is headed by Joe Cole into the path of Drogba and the big striker strides forward to strike a low shot past our keeper to make it 2-1. Three minutes later Palombo is booked for a foul on Carrick and Hargreaves sends the resulting free-kick swinging into the box. Dawson and Ballack challenge for the ball with Dawson taking a push in the back from both of Ballack’s hands just as he is about to head the ball. The German referee immediately signals for a penalty and Taylor does what he does best by beating Cech with ease from the spot to push our lead out to 3-1. It’s a scoreline that I’d love the team to take into the break, but it is nearly improved upon in the 43rd minute when Hargreaves launches a cracking shot from thirty yards that smacks against the inside of the Chelsea post and rebounds to the safety of Bosingwa’s feet. The Chelsea right-back quickly transfers the ball down the right touchline to Berbatov and he outpaces Shorey before drilling a low cross through the penalty area. Drogba muscles his way in from of Dawson and then pokes the ball past Foster to pull the score back to 3-2. What a turnabout!!

Chelsea’s start to the second half is strong as Palombo and Ballack both fire inches wide from distance before Drogba – in a much closer position – hammers a shot into the body of Foster in the 52nd minute. After 59 minutes Palombo loses out to Carrick in a challenge and petulantly kicks out at our playmaker as he strides clear. The referee doesn’t like it at all and he shows the Italian midfielder a second yellow card, followed by a red card, as Palombo is sent from the field. A man up and 3-2 up we have an excellent chance to take a vital away win from this match, but Chelsea are fighters. After Foster saves from Lampard’s header, Cech must do the same as Taylor’s headed effort brings a good save from the Blues’ number one. In the 70th minute Joe Cole finds some space just on the edge of our box and has time to control Ballack’s pass before turning and hitting a swerving shot past Foster to make it 3-3. We have one final decent chance in the 82nd minute as Carrick finds Davies and his first-time shot from just inside the box clips the post on its way out for a goal-kick. The match finally ends in a 3-3 draw as both sets of fans applaud what has been a stunning game of football.

Before the match I would gladly have taken an away draw, especially a score draw with an away goal or two for us, but what with us having a 3-2 lead and a one-man advantage for the last half-an-hour I can’t help but feel that we have let a great opportunity slip through our hands tonight.

Chelsea 3 Drogba 32, 43, J.Cole 70

Manchester United 3 Davies 4, Taylor 12, (pen) 35

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

[mark wilson27]

Go on Mr Spav you can do it, beat those Southern Chelsea monkeys to the title and Champions League

[dburns647]

Good luck for the rest of the season how has Cole performed for you?

[Spav]

Good luck for the rest of the season how has Cole performed for you?

Cole has performed quite well with 8 goals and 11 assists in 25(5) appearances in all competitions so far. He was Rooney's regular partner up front for the first half of the campaign, but has since lost that spot to Davies.

[Spav]

The form of Kevin Davies deservedly wins him the Premier League Player of the Month award for March 2010. Davies scored 4 goals in 3 league matches during the month and that followed on from 4 goals in 4 league matches back in February.

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3rd April 2010 – Premier League

The big games keep coming as we host Manchester City in the local derby. City have steadily climbed their way up to 5th on the table, but with 4th placed Liverpool holding a ten-point break over them with six games remaining it appears that a Champions League spot is out of our neighbour’s grasp. I make one change from our midweek match as Brown returns from suspension to replace Neville.

It’s not a great start for us or Dawson as our centre-half does well to cut out Wright-Phillips’ cross, but then dwells on the ball for too long and allows Adebayor to steal it from him. The big striker quickly feeds a pass into the feet of Tevez and he slots the ball past Foster to put City 1-0 up after just 4 minutes. Tevez curls a shot inches wide a couple of minutes later as a buoyant City look to build on their lead. Gradually we take control of the match though, led by the promptings of Carrick in the centre of the park. Davies batters a shot straight at Given from close range and Young skims the crossbar with a volley after Hargreaves’ free-kick had rebounded off the City defensive wall. In the 24th minute Rooney thumps a shot against the post as we come as close as we have to finding an equaliser. Our opponents have now drawn back considerably, allowing us to dictate the pace of the match, but at the same time making it harder to penetrate their packed defence. They are still dangerous though as Robinho demonstrates when he curls a twenty-five yarder into the side-netting during first half injury-time.

Rooney goes on a one-man mission to draw us level when the second half begins. Twice Given has to dive well to his right to tip away shots from our number ten in the 48th and 53rd minutes. When a lovely piece of Rooney trickery sees him bamboozle Toure and break free into the box after 62 minutes, I am expecting him to hit the target, but he shoots horrendously wide from just twelve yards out. Up the other end Manchester City take their first shot off the half in the 66th minute as Robinho fires high into the crowd situated behind Foster’s goal. The pressure is building up to a goal and it finally arrives in the 72nd minute after sustained pressure from our team. Carrick finds Rooney with yet another insightful pace and this time he turns Toure before hammering an unstoppable shot from twenty yards high into the City net to make it 1-1. Given bravely smothers Taylor’s close range shot a couple of minutes later and then does even better to parry Young’s effort when the winger breaks into the box, but from the rebound Carrick pokes the ball wide with Given grounded and the goal at his mercy. There are cries for a penalty as de Jong brings down Davies in the box after 80 minutes, but referee Howard Webb waves play on with United eventually winning a corner. From Young’s corner Ferdinand goes down under the challenge of Richards and Mr Webb does give us a penalty this time. Taylor endures a couple of minutes of waiting as Ferdinand is treated for a knock to his ankle, but the winger then calmly slots his spot-kick to the right as Given goes left and we finally have a 2-1 lead in the derby. Taylor nearly seals the match with a thunderous, angled drive from sixteen yards after 92 minutes, but Given saves yet again. The City keeper’s heroics are all in vain though as a minute later the final whistle signals our 2-1 win in the Manchester derby.

Later in the day Chelsea can only draw 0-0 at home to Aston Villa whilst Tottenham is beaten 1-0 by Liverpool at White Hart Lane. Our win now takes us level with Chelsea on 75 points as they lead on a superior goal-difference, but most importantly we have a game in hand. Tottenham stay third on 71 points, but they have now been joined by Liverpool.

Manchester United 2 Rooney 72, Taylor (pen) 82

Manchester City 1 Tevez 4

Foster; Brown, Dawson (Shawcross), Ferdinand, Shorey; Young, Hargreaves, Carrick, Taylor; Rooney, Davies.