It’s not often you seen United go a couple of goals down. It felt weird watching the match last night and seeing that happen. Of course, it was fully deserved, we were dreadful at times, but it was still an odd feeling.
Had we won, I would have been pleased. You always want your team to win and it’s always nice to see your players lift trophies. But given the choice between a victory tonight and a win against the dippers in the fortnight’s time, it would be the latter every time. Course, it would be nice to see Sir Alex Ferguson add another trophy to his name, but I’d guess even he would prefer another victory over the scousers. Plus, every point matters in the Premiership.
Whilst the rest of our team seemed rather under-awed by the occasion, there was one man playing his heart out.
A few eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Carlos Tevez would make his stay permanent with a £32 million price tag. Whilst he’d been good for us last season, did he really warrant the tag of the most all-time most expensive Premiership player?
Tevez, who hasn’t let the game and fortune go to his head, worked his bollocks off in the pre-season. This is a man who has obvious scarring on his neck, yet has turned down surgery because he wants to remember where he came from. He suffered third degree burns on his face, neck and chest after an accident involving boiling water when he was a child. Boca Juniors offered to pay for the surgery, but he turned them down, claiming the scars were part of who he was in the past, and who he is today.
When United won the Community Shield, Tevez’s celebration looked like a re-enactment of our glorious night in Moscow. He loves to play football and he loves to win. It doesn’t matter if it’s a friendly, a league game, a cup game, a final. He wants to be on the winning side and will give everything to ensure that happens.
It would be fair to say our lads looked fairly disinterested yesterday. They didn’t really show up. Whilst enjoying superior possession, as well as shots on and off target and passing completion, we were dominated for large chunks of the match. Of course, we countered that with our own periods of domination, but it wasn’t enough.
Yet throughout it all, Carlos Tevez gave everything he had. Good shots from distance, brilliant passes and important tackles filled his performance. He was immense.
MEN: Zipped around Monaco like a Formula 1 car. Easily United’s man of the match 9
The Sun: Tevez worked his socks off to try and deliver the silverware but there was little support from his team-mates 8
The Telegraph: Tevez, again terrific, buzzed around in support of the front-running Wayne Rooney. With 17 minutes remaining, Rooney lifted the ball from right to left, weighting it perfectly to reach Tevez at the far-post. Admirably composed, Tevez controlled the ball with his left foot, and then rolled it back for Vidic to score with a firm, low shot.
The Guardian: United were slow to the ball and short of ideas in attack. Carlos Tevez was the exception, playing indefatigably, yet this is a strange time for Rooney, who had another peripheral game.
Last night wasn’t our finest hour, not by a long shot, but it was respectable enough. But Tevez’s performance shone.
I seriously cannot wait to see what Tevez will produce this season. He looks absolutely brilliant, much more than the great player he was last season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was stealing the headlines in the way Cristiano Ronaldo was last season.
ARGENTINA!
Man Utd News 24/7
Indeed. Immense is the word
Totally Agree….
Carlos Tevez is a top class striker. Apart from giving everything into the game, he works hard, keep running, and always try his best to find the space up-front… Tevez also knows dams well where he should be when we attack, know how to score goals, and above all, brave enough to do everything to score goals.
Unlike his partner, Rooney seem doesn’t know how to score. Even though he run and give so much energy into the game, he’s totally has no confidence, lack of sharpness, and more importantly, don’t brave enough to take a strike when the team is needded. From last night Super Cup Final match, we all can see that Rooney’s form are no where near the form that he used to be in the first season at Old-trafford. If the chance that provided by Tevez is scored (Infact, Rooney must scored, or at least do much better than what he did), I think United will be the team that lift the trophy last night. In the second half, especially in the last quarter of the game, Rooney seem have no confidence at all to shoot, even when he is in a very good position. He fear of failure, so decide to pass those chances to others, which sadly all of them are too deep and go straight into the goal keeper’s arm.
People keep saying that … Without Ronaldo, United are nothing…. But I think that without Ronaldo, we are still playing good football…. However, without Ronaldo, United seems don’t know how to score goals.
United should sign top class striker like Berbatov, and pair him with our super Tevez. And if Ronaldo come back, we will be the best team…again…
i thought tevez didnt wanted to do his surgury because he wouldnt be able to play football for about 6 months
He will be great this season. When he and Rooney gets their first goal of the season, they will be unstoppable!
Van Der Sar
Brown R. Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Hargreves Carrick
Scholes
Ronaldo (Can go both sides)
Berbatov Tevez
SUB : G. Neville, Anderson, Nani, Giggs, Rooney
This could be the best team for United
It was infuriating that everyone else, except for Evra and Carlos, looked like they couldnt give a fuck about the game. I haven’t seen Rio get done like that for the second goal in a long long long time. Oh well, I just kept trying to tell myself that it didnt mean anything. But fuck me that was an awful performance.
drew vader and gazzaro…totally agree with both your points
I think it’s true that if we sign Berbatov, we should leave Rooney out from the start eleven. At least, just to let him know that we all need to see him get back to his best (like the first season with us).
We all love United, we all sad when our team lost, and we don’t want to see him keep playing and saying (when he’s not score) that “I’m not selfish” again… IT”S SAD….
Carlitos has been as good as expected – and I expected a lot from him: after all, he was not only solely responsible for keeping West Ham in the EPL once he was given the chance to play but he was also the South American player-of-the-year three times in a row, playing for Boca and then Corinthians. This guy is the real deal. He loves to play and he plays with great energy and strength.
Since Ronaldo and Rooney are no-brainer selections for any significant match when they are healthy, I still wonder how SAF will accommodate Tevez and Berbatov – 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-1-3 ? Or is this simply using numbers for no good reason when the attack will be fluid and interchangeable ?
Carlitos’ run down the right touchline and around the fullback could have led to a magnificent goal IF his pass hadn’t been ever-so-slightly behind Rooney that caused the Boy Wonder to fiddle about rather than hitting it first-time (Gazzaro is wrong to blame Rooney for that !).
By the way Scott, the rest of the team was “uninterested” – NOT “disinterested”. Check your dictionary on the difference in meaning. It’s part of a journalist’s education to use our language as precisely as possible !
wat is rong wid wazza!! he was pure shite, i fink he hasnt understood wat fergie has askd of him, its like hes stopped chasin defenders altogether, cnt see him being in our 1st 11 wen ohh ahh dimitar arrives! sad to say!
for the record (from a random site but explains well):
Disinterested or Uninterested?
Disinterested means “impartial” or “not taking sides.” (In other words, not having a personal interest at stake.)
Uninterested means “not interested.” (In other words, not showing any interest.)
Correct: A good referee should be disinterested.
(He does not take sides.)
Incorrect: He was disinterested in Jill’s hobby.
Correct: He was uninterested in Jill’s hobby.
(He shows no interest.)
Thought you’d like to know – I have to admit, I didn’t know the difference…
all haiil the man from argentina
carlito brigante
we love you
I was quite concerned about actually conceding 3 goals, when Danny failed to score on his easiest chance. When was the last time we conceded 3 in a Premier League game?
Tevez did make the whole experience easier to watch and I think I’ll have to get me one of those^ t-shirts to celebrate.
He is quickly becoming the fans favourite and the neutrals too. Everyone loves a good, honest and hard working (as well as top quality) footballer and Tevez has it all!
did anyone else think that neville was well… awful? He seemed like he was too afraid to cross the ball, he hesitated every time he got a pass…
Haydar, yes I did. It’s what you’d expect after playing next to no games in a year and a half.
The fact that Zenit played so well, with quick movement and clever passing didn’t help.
Haydar – right on. Gary Neville looked terrible. Whether it was a lack of fitness or just a decline in his play, it was noticeable that when Wesley Brown jogged onto the pitch that the balls started to stream in from the right side.
When Ronaldo plays well we win, when Rooney plays well we win.