The Inaugural Ball

photo by brdweb	via PhotoRee

Some very brief thoughts on Manchester United's inaugural victory of the 2011/12 season, a 4-1 thrashing of the MLS' New England Revolution:
o Dear ESPN commentators RobStone and John Harkes: the team's name is "Manchester United," not "Man You." Stop embarrasing yourselves.

PS - the new goalkeeper is pronounced "De Hey-a," not "De Ghee-ya". Do your homework. It's not as if the guy was playing in the lower rungs of the Turkish Leagues last year. He started for a pretty famous team in La Liga.

o Ashley Young saw a lot of the ball last night. He hit a few nice crosses, but looked suspiciously like another right footed player who would be more comfortable playing on the right wing than the left.  Traffic jam, anyone?


o I have a feeling that Michael Owen could have his best year as a United player this season. Certainly, his scoring last night was a tip of the hat to the wily Scot who signed him for one more campaign.

o It was nice to see Kiko get on the board with a brace, too. 2010/11 was a season to forget for the Italian, and he's the type of player whose game is greatly affected by confidence.

o I know there are a bunch of United fans expecting Anderson to have a breakout season this go around. I, for one, don't see it. And last night gave me no reason to believe we don't need more in the center of the park.

o I wonder what the Revs were thinking when they held Rooney and Berbatov scoreless for 45 minutes. The reward for their performance? Owen and Macheda, who proceeded to knock three by them, and Giggsy and Park, who combined for one more.

o Nothing to get too excited about last night, but all in all it was a decent performance for the boys -- especially considering they laced up their boots for the first time in weeks only a few short days ago. I don't think the Revs are a very good measuring stick, though, even for MLS: they currently sit in last place, and they managed to make even Gabriel Obertan look fairly good. It almost makes you wonder what Bebe could have done!
 
This is farlieonfootie for July 14.