Every week Red Devil Radio brings you the insight of our loyal listener Glenn Hamilton. Glenn will post his thoughts on all the goings on at United. Why not give us your opinion on the messageboard on Glenn's articles?
The Glenn Hamilton View - April 21 2008 (archive)
Manchester United ran out of Ewood Park on Saturday with a draw and while this may look like a horrible result for a team trying to retain the title, they will be well happy with the point.
It seemed for long periods of the game, that Manchester United had their minds on only one thing: the Champion’s League on Wednesday. While the encounter with Barcelona would have anyone chomping at the bit, United just seemed to lose a bit of crucial concentration especially as Roque Santa Cruz scored a nice goal but off of a throw-in.
Earlier this season, Sir Alex Ferguson criticized his team for allowing Arsenal to score off of a throw-in at the Emirates Stadium. Saturday saw United concede on a very similar play which I would be willing to bet had Ferguson seething.
All credit to Blackburn Rovers as they did what very few teams this season could do and that was to pin United back and score a first goal. United looked off from the beginning. A nice run from Rooney and an equally nice cross almost saw Carlos Tevez score early on in the game but that was the closest United came. Blackburn did an excellent job of unsettling them and also doing the unthinkable which was to score first and let panic set in on the United bench.
The defense on one rare occasion actually looked human and vulnerable as Nemanja Vidic especially struggled to insert his authority over the game. The Serbian defender did say after the game that he felt his knee a bit but let’s hope that that is all it was and that he is ready for the next two crucial games in United’s season. Ryan Giggs, it is sad to say, continued to show that his time may be up as he struggled to put in just one decent- looking cross.
It was not until the inclusion of Luis Nani in the second half that United found the spark they needed to charge ahead and take something from the game. It was not the first time this season that the young Portuguese winger displayed a positive attitude and pure desire to achieve. He made excellent runs through the Blackburn defense and won corner after corner for United.
The Tevez goal was beautiful and not so much because Tevez was in the right place at the right time (a remarkable quality that the striker has I might add) but because Paul Scholes, who was quiet for much of the game, rose up and blasted a header towards the far right corner of Brad Friedel’s goal. It is impossible to say whether Scholes would have scored or not but it was a fine effort from the tough mid-fielder.
Even though United tied in the league I would not take much heart from it if I was Barcelona. United surely will work out the problem spots and be more then ready for the trip to Spain.
Glenn Hamilton
[These views are purely those of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Red Devil Radio].
Comments - Post your comments/views below!
|
