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Alex Ferguson expecting improvement. Can United turn it around?

Alex Ferguson expects his team’s performance to improve starting with tomorrows home tie with Bolton. Speaking at his weekly press conference he said:

“The form of the team has started to come good. We expected that. I said last week that, by October, I think we will be back to normal.

“There have been a lot of encouraging signs in the last two games. Some of the football on Tuesday was excellent, as was the performance in the first half against Chelsea.

“If anything, in the second half some of the players showed that they needed a game. Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves, Ji-sung Park and Dimitar Berbatov showed they really only had one game behind them going into such an important match. But it was a satisfactory display.”

Ferguson went on to talk about the importance of match fitness and declared of the players “we can expect better now”.

Both Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher have publicly backed the team to go on a winning run but has the damage already been done?

Out of eight matches played so far this season, United have won just 2; losing 2; and drawing 4. Since the Premier League began in the 92/93 season, United have won the trophy ten times but have never won so few games from their opening eight and gone on to win the title.

Fortunately, only four of the matches played so far have been in the Premier League from which we have taken a measly 5 points. On the ten occasions United have won the competition, only once has the points total been lower after 8 games and once it was the same.

After four Premier League matches in the 92/93 season, United had just 4 points but went on to win the league with a total of 84 points. Aston Villa were the closest team with 74 points. Back then there were 22 teams in the league so the season consisted of 42 matches. Converting these points totals to today’s 38 game season would give United 76 points with Villa trailing behind on 67 (maths: (points total /42) * 38).

Manchester United would have won zero titles with 76 point in all of the last 5 seasons. In fact, of the 16 seasons the Premier League has been in existence, the title has only been won once with less points and that was by us in the 96/97 season when we won with just 75 points. It is safe to say the bar has been raised and to have any title aspirations this season, a points total of considerably more than 76 will be required.

Last season, after four Premier League outings, United had managed this season’s total of just 5 points and as we all know went on to win the competition. We amassed 87 points with Chelsea not far behind on 85.

Last season though, Chelsea had problems. An injury crisis had a big impact and then there was the whole Mourinho thing. The departure of Mourinho slowed the Chelsea charge somewhat and with no chance of that happening again this season; will anything stop them running away with the title? Chelsea have been hit with injuries already this season with Essien, Deco and Carvalho all ruled out for a while so you never know what can happen.

Chelsea have so far played 5 games and have 11 points compared to last season’s 8. Last season Chelsea went on to drop 4 points in their next three matches as they drew 0 – 0 at home to both Blackburn and Fulham; a feat you wouldn’t expect this season given their current form and also because they play Stoke(A), Villa(H) and Middlesbrough(A) next. Chelsea fans will be expecting at least 7 points there if not more.

It is fair to expect more from Chelsea this season and I expect them to surpass last season’s points haul of 85. So in order to retain their crown, United are going to have to do something special.

It’s almost a cliché but, it is still early in the season. The start can only be described as bad but as Ferguson pointed out; there has been signs of improvement. Players like Nani and Anderson will be expecting to improve on last year and there exciting times ahead with the Brazilian trio of Possebon, Rafael and Fabio. Ronaldo is back from injury and the squad has been strengthened with the addition of Berbatov; albeit a seemingly unfit Berbatov.

Last season, the first win kicked United off to an 8 match winning run so if Fergie, Fletcher and Giggs are right, following this week’s win over Middlesbrough, the season is about to take a change for the better.

Chelsea 1 - 1 Manchester United

Chelsea	Team Statistics	Manchester United
1	Goals	1
7	Shots On Target	4
9	Shots Off Target	6
9	Shots Blocked	8
7	Corners	4
1	Offsides	1
18	Fouls	22
1	Yellow Cards	7
0	Red Cards	0
60.4	Possession	39.6
81	Passing	68
18	Tackles	10
77.8	Tackling	80

Premiership round-up 23rd & 24th August

Saturday 23rd August

Michael Owen came off the bench against Bolton in his first appearance of the season having missed the entire pre-season. The England striker still looked sharp as he scored the only goal to give Newcastle the win at St James’s Park. Newcastle 1 – 0 Bolton.

Hull City remain unbeaten in their debut season in the Premiership after a hard fought draw against Blackburn at Ewood Park. Hull went behind in the 38th minute when Jason Roberts coolly slotted home but within 2 minutes, Hull had equalised when Richard Garcia headed home when what looked like a far post cross dipped into the back of the net. There were very few chances after that and the game ended Blackburn 1 – 1 Hull.

Liverpool took on Middlesbrough at Anfield and when Mido opened the scoring in the 70th minute, it looked like it wasn’t going to be Liverpool’s day. But in the 86th minute, a thunderbolt from Jamie Carragher took a wicked deflection off Pogatetz and ended up in the back of the net. Liverpool would have been fortunate to escape with a draw but in the fourth minute of injury time, skipper Steven Gerrard does what he has done so many times and scored a screamer from just outside the box. Liverpool 2 – 1 Middlesbrough.

Stoke City lead three times at the Britannia Stadium against Aston Villa and after levelling the match twice, Aston Villa fell to an injury time winner from Sidibe giving the newly promoted side their first 3 points of the campaign. Stoke City 3 – 2 Aston Villa.

There was no space in the squad let alone the starting eleven for United target Dimitar Berbatov as Spurs succumbed to their second league defeat in as many games. Kieran Richardson scored a belter from outside the area in the 55th minute before Jenas tapped in the equaliser 18 minutes later. Spurs pushed for the winner but Sunderland new boy Cisse found himself unmarked to head home on 82 minutes giving the Black Cats all three points. Tottenham 1 – 2 Sunderland.

West Brom had the better of a slow first half as they took on Everton at The Hawthorns but were unable to capitalise on any of their chances. In Contrast, Everton made the most of their chances scoring 2 of their 3 shots on target through Osman (65th minute) and Yakubu (76th minute). The Baggies did mange to score from the spot late on but the game ended West Brom 1 – 2 Everton.

Fulham hosted Arsenal in the late kick off of the day and after an opening day defeat to Hull City, Arsenal were by far the bookies favourite. Hangeland put Fulham ahead after 20 minutes and a disappointing (depending on your perspective) Arsenal were unable to recover and the match ended Fulham 1 – 0 Arsenal.

Sunday 24th August

Chelsea travelled to Wigan and when Deco put the visitors ahead with a sublime free kick from the edge of the area, you would be forgiven for thinking this was going to be another rout. But Wigan regrouped and made it difficult for Chelsea and even probably had the better of the chances after that. Unfortunately, they couldn’t break through and the game ended Wigan 0 – 1 Chelsea.

Manchester City coasted to a 3 – 0 victory over West Ham as the Hammers effectively gifted the match to the home team. Noble was sent off in the 38th minute for a handball followed by a stupid sliding tackle and the ten men of West Ham never looked like they were going to compete. It took until the 65th minute for Sturridge to make the breakthrough and when they did, the flood gates almost opened. Elano scored a brace in 6 minutes to compound the misery for the Hammers as they went down without a single shot on target. Manchester City 3 - 0 West Ham.

Chelsea in new bid for Robinho

It looks like Chelsea are stepping up their attempts to sign Robinho from Real Madrid. A statement on the club’s official website today simply read:

“Further to media reports, Chelsea Football Club can confirm we have made an offer to Real Madrid today (Thursday, August 7) for the transfer of Robinho.”

Robinho was already upset about being used as a potential make-weight in any Cristiano Ronaldo transfer and the club’s decision to refuse him permission to play in Brazil’s Olympic team only pushed the player further away from the club. The bid is reported to be around £20 million but I would expect that figure to rise before any transfer happens.

Madrid signed Rafael van der Vaart recently so they do have adequate cover in Ronbinho’s position although Madrid would surely have hoped to keep the highly rated forward with the club’s recent attempt to sign Ronaldo come crashing down at long last.

On one hand, it wouldn’t be so bad if Madrid were to lose one of football’s most highly rated young forwards, even if it were to Chelsea. On the other, if Real Madrid are short a winger come next summer, we all know where they’ll come looking.

An open letter from John Terry

John Terry has written an open letter to Chelsea fans after his penalty miss in the Champions League. Published on Chelsea’s Official Website he writes “I am so sorry for missing the penalty and denying you the fans, my team-mates, family and friends the chance to become European Champions”.

First off, where is Anelka’s letter?

I was wondering if we could get ManUtd.com to publish an open letter of appreciation, what do you think?

His letter stirred up mass emotion on some Chelsea boards. I can’t believe these are the same fans that were trying to smash people’s faces in the other night outside Stamford Bridge. The many faces of a Chelsea fan. There is a cracking line from “TheLiquidator”, he wrote “But whatever happens in the future - you gave us all a glimpse of what might have been”. Yeah, and might never be again, kick a man while he’s down why don’t you!

You can check the full letter out here, honestly, it’s worth a read.

Manchester United 1 - 1 Chelsea

Manchester United	Team Statistics	Chelsea
1	Goals	1
5	Shots On Target	1
5	Shots Off Target	18
3	Shots Blocked	6
5	Corners	8
1	Offsides	2
22	Fouls	25
4	Yellow Cards	4
0	Red Cards	1
55.9	Possession	44.1
80.4	Passing	71.1
27	Tackles	28
66.7	Tackling	60.7

Chelsea 2 - 1 Manchester United

Chelsea	Team Statistics	Manchester United
2	Goals	1
8	Shots On Target	5
7	Shots Off Target	3
4	Shots Blocked	1
8	Corners	3
0	Offsides	6
15	Fouls	18
3	Yellow Cards	4
0	Red Cards	0
59	Possession	41
81	Passing	69.3
9	Tackles	27
88.9	Tackling	81.5

Manchester United 2 - 0 Chelsea

Manchester United	Team Statistics	Chelsea
2	Goals	0
9	Shots On Target	0
8	Shots Off Target	3
5	Shots Blocked	1
10	Corners	1
0	Offsides	0
13	Fouls	17
2	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	1
54.1	Possession	45.9
87.4	Passing	83.5
30	Tackles	20
83.3	Tackling	80

Chelsea giving Manchester United a guard of honour for the 2006/2007 season

The Chelsea players give the Manchester United players a half hearted guard of honour at Old Trafford after securing the Premiership title for the first time in four seasons.

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