Ho Hum: Player Ratings: Manchester United 2 - Crystal Palace 0

photo by lovecatz	via PhotoRee

Manchester United overpowered a Crystal Palace side that played more than half the game with only ten men after Kagisho Dikgachoi's late first half sending off, winning in front of the home crowd by a final margin of 2-0.  Although Robin Van Persie's spot kick and Wayne Rooney's free kick gave the contest its final score, the story line lay more in Ashley Young's first half penalty.  After being booked earlier in the game for simulation, Young received the benefit of Referee Jon Moss' late first half decision, but only after the official was forced to consult his assistant after Dikgachoi spilled the United left winger in the box.

Offsetting some of the joy from the victory will be United's failure once again to score from free play against a ten man, newly promoted side playing at Old Trafford.  The Red Devils' offense, which seemed predictable and sluggish for a third game in a row, was enlivened only after young Adnan Janujaz entered the action with approximately 20 minutes left.  New signing Marouane Fellaini also impressed in his brief time on the pitch after he replaced Anderson late in the game.

Herewith, our player ratings for a game whose outcome seemed never in doubt, but still difficult for the home side to put away:

David De Gea: A virtual spectator in the first half, the Spaniard was forced to make himself big to deny Palace's Dwight Gayle before the break. Could have used a beach chair to properly enjoy the second half. 8.0

Fabio:  Adventured forward quite a bit in the early going, but failed to link up well with Valencia. 7.0

Rio Ferdinand: Not much to do in truth, but was thoroughly turned around by Gayle's speed on Palace's near miss at the end of the half. 7.0

Nemanja Vidic: How does a wrecking ball fly so gracefully? 8.0

Patrice Evra: Made numerous slicing runs through the right side of the Palace defense, but his failure to control the ball in the box led to less than optimal results. 7.5

Ashley Young: A surprise starter based on his last outing. Booked correctly for a first half dive, but repaid the Manager's faith with his first half run that led to Dikgacoi's red card dismissal. Overlapped well with Evra on the left hand side of the pitch. A thoroughly mixed bag. 7.0

Anderson: Let's just say that ball control was not his specialty in the first half. Offered a beautiful pass to unlock the Palace defense at the beginning of the second half, but Young was unable to capitalize. Looked sluggish, possibly from a large pre-game meal. 6.0

Michael Carrick: Quietly efficient, distributed the ball well. He's so good in so many little ways it's hard to quantify. 8.0

Ten Questions for Moyes

photo by charles chan *	via PhotoRee

We're only three games in, and although not a lot of time to draw strong conclusions, there has been at least enough action to warrant a few questions regarding Manchester United's current campaign:

o When will David Moyes start winning the big games?  Sure, it's nice to get three points on the road at Swansea, but the Manager still does not have a "signature" victory over a top club that will ease up the pressure.  Surely it will come, but when?

o Where is Shinji Kagawa?  Does he fit in David Moyes' plans, or will he remain on the outside looking in?  How do you say "angry and confused" in Japanese?

o Ditto Chicharito.  This guy has got to be worried about getting playing time in a  World Cup year -- providing Mexico can actually qualify for the Big Dance.  Will the Mexican see more playing time going forward, or will he remain the team's fourth striking option -- or worse..?

o Who will Marouane Fellaini knock to the bench?  What does his arrival mean for Tom Cleverley and Anderson?  And are we now saying Darren Fletcher's career is, in fact, over?

My Favorite Uncle Sam

Ed weighs in on the U.S.'s Cup Clincher:

It was a pleasure to watch the good ol' US of A beat up on Mexico.  Apparently there are no Mexicans in Columbus, Ohio, which makes games there seem like home games as opposed to games in other parts of our country.  I've never been much of a fan of people who cheer for the team of their country of origin over their country of citizenship.  But I guess it's a changing world....

The USA put together a win with many of their B-team in the field.  Kyle Beckerman wasn't outstanding but played one of his best games as a pro.  Clarence Goodson looked, well, good.  Eddie Johnson showed that he was a different level of athlete, and Tim Howard seemed to erase all notions that he isn't the USA number one.

The first thirty minutes of the game Mexico poured it on and the US players looked terribly mediocre.  It seems sometimes that Jermaine Jones takes at least that long for his touch to become something other than wooden.  He's a tough enforcer, but I question how effective he is in light of his giveaways, penalties -- another close one in the box -- and yellow cards.  Sometimes I think all of the US players, with the exception of maybe Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, need more Coerver drills.

I can't say I started out as the biggest fan of US Coach Jurgen Klinsmann, but he has delivered and brought many new players into the mix.  I think he has more talent than coaches prior to him, but he also has the team playing with enthusiasm rather than scared.  Ultimately the test will be the World Cup and how well he does.  But this start couldn't be better and for that he deserves lots of credit.

Choices

photo by Auntie K	via PhotoRee

Jurgen Klinsman's got some choices to make, and not just the obvious ones -- like whether to play 4-5-1 with a lone striker or play a 4-4-2 that involves more of his midfielders in attack. No, instead we're talking about the elephant in the room: Tim Howard. At fault for Costa Rica's third goal on Friday night, Howard has been off the top of his game for several months now. He's still an excellent 'keeper, mind you, just not the best the US has to offer now. We're not advocating for Nick Rimando, but instead talking about Aston Villa's own Brad Guzan. Surviving the baptism of fire that was the Villans' relegation battle last season -- not to mention a massive barrage of shots -- Guzan grew in both skill and international stature. The time may finally be here to give him a shot at the number one kit. 

o Could we please, please, please give the January transfer rumors a rest for at least a couple of months?  No sooner does the summer transfer window slam shut than the new rumors heat up: Gundogan, Ronaldo and Herrera have all been linked --  or re-linked in all three cases -- with United in the last 48 hours.  Call us skeptical, but if United wanted all three of those guys so badly, what would have been wrong with signing them last week...?

o And meanwhile, the United front office has been in major damage control all week, claiming it's outrageous that a club of their stature wouldn't understand complex tax issues, that they never tried to sign Wesley Sneijder -- not to mention a bunch of other silliness. Facts or not, the behavior of the club bordered on the bizarre during this last window, and that can't be argued. We're willing to give the new crew a one-time pass on this one, but we hope it's been made clear: this type of effort will not suffice going forward. 

o And if true that United turned down the opportunity to sign Mesut Özil, we're still scratching our heads. Sure, we've got (a clearly unsettled, although possibly not unhappy) Shinji Kagawa and (a clearly unsettled and possibly still unhappy) Wayne Rooney. But we're of the Bill Parcells school of team management, which goes something like this: sign the best available athletes no matter their position. World class athletes pick themselves, and Özil is one of the best attacking midfielders in the world at the current time. People who say he wouldn't make United a better team are missing the forest for the trees. 

This is farlieonfootie for September 9. 

Game Day Beer Review: 2012 Vanberg and De Wulf Lambickx Unblended Lambic

 

(5.79% ABV) The bottle of Lambickx opened without the slightest hint of carbonation when the cork was pulled, and the beer poured with no head at all, essentially flat. The color was a solid orange-yellow.

The beer smelled funky, with some wine-like notes. Lemon citrus came shining through upon tasting, and the funk became more pronounced as the beer warmed up. Lambickx drinks more like a wine than a beer, with only the most minimal carbonation present.  We're not sure if this was by design or due to poor ageing, but it made for a rather unique experience which ultimately left us just a bit disappointed: B

Holy crow! Three and Oh!

Scott enjoyed Sunday's game more than we did:

Liverpool’s recent modus operandi of scoring early and then hanging on by a corn silk strand for the victory has been effective thus far but I’ve had to double my heart medication.  On the bright side, compared to last season’s start, at least I’m treating a hereditary condition rather than simply clamoring for any type of drug to dull the pain.  It’s been three up and three down so far, with the latest narrow victory over Manchester United catapulting the Reds to the top of the table.  Bruised from self-pinching and with splinters and callouses on my knuckles, 2 weeks is way too long to wait to see if this ride will continue against Swansea.

 

In the 161st meeting between Liverpool and Manchester United, since the rivalry began in1895, the players were serenaded with cacophonous renditions of You’ll Never Walk Alone before, during and after the game.  With 24 of the last 41 championships having been claimed by one of the Reds on the field, it is not hyperbole to say this derby is huge in multiple senses of that word.  And since games are opened up by goals, what a treat to see the Good Guys score in the 4^th minute due to intense offensive pressure that lead to a corner.  Daniel Agger was there to dutifully head toward his namesake, Daniel Sturridge, who glanced the ball past Patrice Evra on the line for his third goal in three games. Who would have thought that would be the only goal of the game?

 

Game Day Beer Review: Bayoue Teche Brewery Cocodrie Tripel Ale

(8.00% ABV) Cocodrie -- the French word for alligator -- was poured from a 22 ounce bottle into a tulip glass at the home office. This beautiful honey colored beer had a fluffy white head that refused to leave, like a houseguest who has overstayed their welcome -- except in this case, the lacing added nicely to the beer's overall effect as the glass slowly drained.

The beer's smell was the combination of of the yin-like funkiness of yeast and the yang-like sweetness of orange, with a hint of dry apple to balance the twin scents out.  We tasted many of the same flavors upon drinking Cocodrie, with some wheat thrown in for good measure, and there was just a hint of hoppy bitterness at the end. Cocodrie had a long and smooth, dry finish, and alcohol was very well hidden. A-

The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight

 

 

o It's ironic, isn't it?  A summer-long transfer saga that began simmering over Wayne Rooney's disheveled mindframe has boiled over after a frutratingly inept transfer window closed yesterday, leaving many Manchester United fans in the very same state that their number 10 found himself: angry and confused.

 

o When was the last time you heard Manchester United referred to as a "laughing stock?"  We'll bet most fans can't recall that far back -- before yesterday's events reared their ugly head.  The reputation for shrewd business dealings and disciplined, tactical efforts in the transfer window lies in tatters now as the United front office managed to turn the present champions of England into the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight in a little over two months time.  We won't go so far as to apportion direct blame -- we'll leave that to others to decide, as things in our experience are never quite as they appear -- but we will say that Messrs. Woodward and Moyes had to expect that their first transfer window would be an event by which their behavior and results would be judged.

o In this blog we will more closely examine the pathetic situation which occurred over the past several weeks, a situation that reached its apogee in a fiasco-laden effort to secure a fax from Real Madrid as the clock ticked menacingly toward 11pm BST -- a fax that ultimately failed to arrive at its destination. [The cheap and easy thing here would be to make an analogy to Ed Woodward's failure to arrive at his destination after the United Chief Executive left the pre-season tour of Australia on "urgent transfer business" BACK IN JULY, but we wouldn't be so cruel and callous as to do that.]

 

o First off, a quick question for all of you out there, especially those of you who operate in what is commonly known as a "business" (a term the United front office may want to investigate): Does anyone still use a fax machine?  Has the front office at United heard of PDFs?  Adobe is a rather large software company, one with a global reach, and most professionals use its Portable Document Format to scan and send documents and signature pages by e-mail these days.  Here's a tip for the front office: you may want to look into this newfangled technology. It's a bit complicated, but we think you might ultimately get the hang of it.
 

Game Day Beer Review: Allagash Curieux Bourbon Barrel-Aged Tripel

(11.0% ABV) Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a snifter glass after a late night on the football pitch. Curieux poured a clear and deep gold color with a head composed of the purest white, tiniest bubbles we've ever seen in a beer -- more akin to shaving cream than anything else.

 

The beer smelled of ripe fruit up front: bananas, apples and lemon, mixed with some slight woodsy scent and a peppery smell as it lingered.

There's bourbon through and through this beer after the initial fruit taste wears off. Curieux is aggressively carbonated and tingles the tongue. The beer contains some slight heat on the finish as the alcohol makes itself apparent. It's not nearly as sweet as some other tripels, and very much to our liking. Curieux is a great beer from a great brewery: A

Some 'Splaining to Do: Player Ratings -- Liverpool 1 - Manchester United 0

photo by Alan Light	via PhotoRee

A rudderless Manchester United lost to arch-rivals Liverpool at Anfield earlier today in a game in which the visitors never appeared to be truly engaged.  Failing to score for a second consecutive game will leave the United manager and fans alike puzzled over the dry spell, but legitimate questions will be asked about David Moyes' squad selection for the contest.  Starting 39 year old Ryan Giggs for a third game this season, and picking Ashley Young over other available options on the wing may have been bad enough, but failing to find even a spot on the bench for Shinji Kagawa will insure that Moyes has, in the immortal words of Desi Arnez, "some 'splaining to do."  Herewith, our thoughts on another performance at Liverpool's home that just wasn't good enough:

De Gea: Little to do all afternoon bar Sturridge's opener 7.5

Jones: Nothing special either way, subbed off early after rolling his ankle. 6.0

Ferdinand: Spot on with his distribution, but was involved in mixup that led to Sturridge's goal.  7.0

Vidic: Like a rock at the back, dominated balls in the air 7.5

Evra: Had spring in his legs, showed decent commitment 7.0

Giggs: Not up to the task or the pace in starting against Liverpool. Decent touches but wasteful in possession. Still has gifts to offer, but Moyes needs to quickly figure out how to avoid overusing a legendary player 5.0

Carrick: A couple of uncharacteristic giveaways and a first half yellow insured that he won't remember the  game fondly 6.0

Cleverley: Looked completely overmatched in the middle of the pitch and was consistently bothered by Liverpool's pressing. 5.0

Welbeck: Looked dangerous early on, but gradually faded in influence and was bedeviled by poor decision making. Never threatened late. 6.0

Young: Was caught in possession for the corner that led to opening goal, and generally frustrated fans and teammates alike.  A truly baffling choice to start at Anfield 5.0