United Beaten, Suarez Scores Four

That was a depressing read. Regardless of how you wanted to sugarcoat it, getting beat by the team you left, at home was a bitter pill to swallow for any manager. Well, it better be!

It was confidence-sapping and derailed our unbeaten momentum. We just failed to roll on after the win in Germany last midweek in the Champions League. It would take some lifting up going into the congested Xmas fixture.

I woke up to catch the second half, and it was pretty even then although United was on the front foot. It took a brilliant reflex save from the bearded Tim Howard and the crossbar to stop is taking the lead. But how things could change.

We started conceding free kicks at dangerous areas again, similar to what we did against Spurs last weekend. Although the goal did not come directly from one, the successions of free kick out us on the back foot and we started defending deeper and deeper. One chance on the 86th minute and it was one nil to the Toffee. We couldn't claw back from that.

Rooney was again sucked down into midfield where he was less affective. Our midfielder just couldn't shift the ball quickly enough. Too many sideways passes. Even the brilliance of Adnan couldn't undo the stout Everton defence. I think we still have issues with the midfield. Sometimes the looked pedestrian.

There wasn't a lot to take home from the defeat especially when the other contenders were winning as if it was routine.

Onwards!

How Could I Cope?

Just had dinner and was flipping through the channels on TV. Man Citeh playing Spurs. Right before United travel to Cardiff. And all this while Formula 1 was going on. The last ace for the season. Not much riding on the race but it would be he swan song for Mark Webber.

So, just plotting out about how I would cope tonight .....

Plans for Sunday

Decided to make an early start this morning since I had to see a referral from Park City. I’d rather go there first and then back to Subang as sometimes the blood results on Sunday mornings took a while to come.

The boys and Anita was still asleep while I to made the quick exit. My maid was already up and was on the internet, Skyping with her relatives back home listening to updates on the aftermath of the storm last night. Looked like the worst was over, although only now the real damage could be assessed. There were still fire going on at places which were hit.

So, ward round, breakfast, packing, back to Subang, and then Arsenal! Might try to make it to the KLickr party at Titiwangsa late afternoon weather and time permitting.

Game of Two Halves

It truly was. United started sluggishly in the first five minutes, misplacing passes and getting out of position. This was not helped by the combination of Phil Jones and Tom Cleverley in the middle of the park. Some might think that it was a defensive ploy.

United then got a lucky break and before Fulham could get themselves organised, they were three down, there was barely twenty minutes on the clock.

United then put their feet off the gas pedal, with thoughts of the looming Champions League game midweek. The rhythm then became stagnant and the game just rolled on towards half time.

Along the way, United picked up some injuries and had to make three substitution at the restart. This further disrupted the flow of the game and frankly, United became completely flat and was left hanging towards the end. I really couldn't really complain if Fulham managed to score more than the solitary deflected goal they got as return.

I was not sure United would be able to pick up the gears if Fulham scored again. In the end, I thought we were lucky .......

An Important Win

It has been a while since I rang about football. Truth be told, the last few Saturday nights had been agony. Somehow, the mojo seemed to be lost in the closet in the last few months and winning seemed to take more than just effort. But tonight, hopefully the turnaround win would galvanize the team and would be the first step in finding our mojo back.

I had to admit that little Adnan made the impact tonight. Since coming in, we seemed to be more balanced as a team, and the pace of the attack seemed to pick up. I thought that Carrick were the one who tended to slow the lace down, but Cleverley was clearly was not clever last night. He was the weak link.

With Adnan replacing Nani - who had a promising opening few moments before fleeting off the game when Stoke scored - and Rooney dropping into midfield when Chicarito took over from Cleverley, we started to tick. As soon as the equaliser arrived, there was only one winner. And Chica did not disappoint.

It nay just appear to be a home win on paper, but the manner of the victory meant a lot for the team's morale. We need to cope better physically - Stoke was just plain nasty at times - and must be stronger at important moments of games. Hopefully this win would be the turning point to David Moyes' reign at Old Trafford.