Sunderland - Manchester United

This kid pops up again. He better keep track of his family jewels because they look like they might get crushed with such celebrations.

The game itself was quite awful. United held the ball fine for the first half an hour and Rooney really is the creative God at Old Trafford. He stuck to the left wing while Tevez and Berbatov ran around (strolled in Berba's case) not doing too much again. Rooney's cross in the 18th minute is being described as perfect but to me there was some luck involved in Scholes' header. Its come off the top of his head instead of being guided in off his forehead. After that United seem to drift off making mistakes more frequently. Vidic's backpass was daft and Evans had no idea of the centered ball bouncing off his toe and almost into his own goal. Credit to Sunderland that they kept attacking although it was to be expected being at Sunderland and the relegation battle that they're stuck in.

It further proves that since United lost to Liverpool, every team has been willing to attack rather than sit back. I'm not certain what the team will amble across the line with this season but the club needs Hargreaves back or a replacement for the next season or it may as well be written off right now. I'm jealous when I look over at the other top English clubs and see Mascherano and Essien (not convinced by Song at Arsenal). If the club does sell Ronaldo to Madrid this summer, they should demand Gago moving in the opposite direction with Higuain. All the potential that Anderson showed last year seems to be just that - potential. He has regressed tremendously. His range of passing has shrunk, he doesn't tackle as cleanly and hardly makes any forward runs. Its almost a terror to try and watch him slip a through ball because he gets the weight of the ball so wrong so often. I wonder how he's managing to impress Fergie in training that he still makes the bench more often than Darron Gibson.

This lack of midfield bite is the reason all teams starting with Blackburn when the clean sheet streak was broken have attacked so effectively. Where are the two banks of four of both midfield and defence? Who is closing down the gaps in front of the defense? There seems to be a lack of organization and commitment. Granted, Sunderland's goal didn't come through the center but they managed to bypass it all and go down the wings! Foster flapped like a bird and Kenwyne Jones scored. Hurrah, another United keeper with promise who will fade away. Its led to one paper claiming United are willing to bid 22 mn pounds for Victor Valdes (such levels of stupidity are unprecedented even from tabloid hacks).

So United did score again late on. Rooney took a long shot, it rebounded he recovered and set it up for Carrick. Carrick doesn't shoot as often as he should. He gets good power on them and they're usually on target with the bonus of getting deflected which is a much easier way of scoring goals. This pinball attack worked in this case with the golden boy Macheda apparently side footing the cannonball shot. It looks a simple ol' deflection but to Macheda's credit he did try to move his feet around a bit as the ball came to him. I think he was trying to trap it, got it awfully wrong and then realized he'd actually got it awfully right. If a significant portion of his attempts to trap the ball inadvertently result in goals, I'm all for the lack of skill. As it stands, I'm still to be convinced of his other skills on the ball though he does use his physique well and makes a nuisance of himself. His obsession with his gelled hair does not bode well nor does his clear admiration for Ronaldo, the King of Prima Donnas. He needs to pick a better role model like Wes Brown. Colour his hair orange but play the part of the consummate professional for the rest of his career.

Next up, the FA Cup and Everton. Everton have conceded three goals to Villa while scoring three themselves. They will win corners, cross incessantly and between Cahill and Fellaini the United defense is going to get molested. Fun times ahead.

P.S. A sign of what I think about United's chances of beating Porto, it never occurred to me to even think of that as a game before the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday. Fun times indeed.