Carling Cup build up - Interview with spooky

In preparation for Sunday's Carling Cup Final, I've had a quick chat with spooky, a fellow blogger who is reaching moderate levels of infamy amongst his fellow Yids for his satirical (we think) letters and posts to Daniel Levy, chairman at Tottenham Hotspur. Not afraid to call a spade a c**t, how does spooky feel as the game draws closer?

First of all, you're an absolute bastard for getting tickets for Sunday. I found out today that if I'd logged on to the net last night after 11pm, I'd have been able to get two tickets but they've since gone. Gutted, I tell thee.

So how important is this match to you? Redknapp obviously thinks it matters more than the UEFA Cup...

spooky: It's a Cup Final, even if it isn't a proper Cup Final. It's important because we are at Wembley and its pretty horrid to lose (even if we have rather apologetically got there). Doesn't fill me with pride like last seasons run. And as for Harry, he sees this as an opportunity to claim silverware, so he can double it up with the 'miracle escape from relegation with a bare bones squad' and call SSN up to discuss it in more detail. We had to rest everyone on Thursday because any injuries would have made it more difficult than it already is to overcome Utd. Ironically, a strong team might have won through.

Winning the UEFA Cup = UEFA Cup football next season
Winning the Milk Cup = No European football next season

It's all a distraction anyways. Premier league games are playing out like miniature Cup finals at the minute. At least that's what my heart is telling me.

From our side, we have no clue who to expect in certain positions. Darron Gibson has been promised a starting place, sigh, and Anderson played 45 minutes of a reserve game yesterday and is expected to feature at some point. We expect Welbeck to play up front, maybe with Tevez or Rooney. The backline maybe picks itself due to injury though. Who do you expect to start for Spurs on Sunday? Can Campbell play, or is he ineligible?

spooky: Dawson and Woodgate I hope. Not sure how fit King is, so its all dependent on the injections his knee gets prior to Sunday. Corluka will probably play. And possibly BAE. Any variation won't do much in scaring the Utd frontline. If that frontline includes first teamers. Campbell can't play. He has hardly figured this season for us. Looks a livewire when he cameos but not in our plans it would seem for the all important league games.

Regardless of the team selected, I can see our lot 'turning up' and having a go because its a Cup final. Expect Bentley to have a stormer.

Hahaha, I crack myself up, I really do.

If you do win on Sunday, can you see it having a knock-on effect and having the impact to finally push you away from the relegation battle? Surely you fall into the clichéd category of “Too good to go down”?

spooky: Last time out, it had the opposite effect and the players stopped playing all the way up to Ramos exit and Redknapp's arrival. We do have the quality to see us safe, I don't expect us to re-visit the bottom 4 or 5 positions now. However, the fundamental problem at Spurs remains the culture of failure that Carrick mentioned when he left us for your lot. Spurs shouldn't need a Cup Final to inspire them. In fact, they will probably not bother that much if they win it because, you know, we'll be Milk Cup double winners, innit. Open bus parade time.

Much of our title aspirations this year and over the last couple of years has been helped massively by Michael Carrick, a player who doesn't seem to get as much animosity as our newest Spurs old boy, a player I used to refer to as a gormless Geordie but who is now much improved and one of my favourite players at Man Utd. How do you think he has done since his move?

spooky: He's done good. Model professional. Unlike Berbatov was pretty much up front and honest about things, and as much as it hurt for him to point out what we all knew but chose to ignore, he left because he had to. And he has been proved right. In a dream world all these players would still be at Spurs and we'd have a splendid side, but in reality, they know to shift on out.

Even off the back of two good seasons under Jol, he felt there wasn't something quite right at the club. Sums it up. Of course, others will just tell you he left because he wanted instant success which Utd could offer him.

Modern day footballers are never going to remain loyal if there's a better offer on the table.

Like I said, he's done good. But at Spurs, the illusion would make him even better as he'd orchestrate play from midfield. We got less of the world class and more of the ordinary down our way at the minute.

Lastly how do you think the rest of the season will pan out for both teams? Are the bookies right that we're set to dominate the world? Will shrewd 'Arry do the business yet again?

spooky: Utd will win the title. Not sure about the Champions League, although English clubs will probably share the final again. Utd v Liverpool just for larks.

Us lot will survive to once more grace the Prem next season, where I expect Harry to last till around Christmas before we appoint our next messiah.

You can read more from spooky on his own blog at www.dearmrlevy.com or by clicking his link in my blog list on right!

Inter Milan fail to impress and Benitez betting suspended

Ah Fergie, you sly old dog. You did it again. Sure enough, come match time, there was Jonny Evans lining up at centre-back with O'Shea slotting in at right back. Although Evans did begin to struggle towards the end, it was academic as once again the hugely overrated Ibrahimovic failed to turn up when it really mattered and Adriano looked the slow, ponderous waster he has long been. The much lauded Maicon, who has also never been anything more than average, was made to look ordinary once again by decent opposition. It was the old hands who kept Inter in this game early on as Woody Harrelson, er, I mean Esteban Cambiasso produced an outstanding performance constantly doing just enough to dampen our attacks.

The strangest choice of the night seemed to be Berbatov up front on his own and the Bulgarian struggled all night to cope with most of his best working coming through earning free kicks. Ronaldo was also on the end of a lot of niggling fouls, especially in the first half when he gave young full back Santon a torrid time as we dominated but couldn't find that elusive goal. Inter looked a new team in the second half and pressed hard early on with Adriano guilty of missing a sitter. The Milan bench huffed and puffed about the referee, substitute goalkeeper Toldo getting booked for his moaning, but in reality he had a good game, stamping down on the Italian's penchant for kicking ankles all game long. He did book Rooney for a fantastic tackle, showing that even a good ref isn't above letting reputations go before players, but all in all he had a good showing.

Taking a 0-0 back to Old Trafford is scary, knowing a score draw will see us out, but we showed last night that we're a class above Inter Milan and should be impose our game on them in the second leg, we should progress.

Breaking news at the moment is the decision by leading bookmakers to suspend betting on Rafael Benitez leaving Liverpool. Has this been caused by opportunist punters putting two and two together and getting five, with regards to Rafa's activities while in Madrid for his Champions league match or is there more to it? I can't see him leaving just yet, it may well be a carefully thought-out plot to once more strengthen his hand in contract negotiations. He is hell-bent on securing total control at Liverpool before he will stay, something surely no one would grant someone with his transfer record and bottling mentality.

Berbatov to play at centre back?

We go into this week's game with the weight of knowing that there is an unsettling recent trend of the reigning champions going out of the Champions League in the last sixteen.

We also go in with the knowledge that we're going to have to shut up shop with a makeshift defence as Ferguson's gamble to get Evans back into the swing of games went badly wrong as his bad ankle has once again flared up. He has travelled to Italy but didn't take part in training yesterday. John O'Shea did take some part in light training but it is by no means a certainty that he will start the game this evening. The number of different possibilities Ferguson will be debating aren't breathtaking in their stature; a game for young Richard Eckersley isn't an impossible scenario if O'Shea fails to make it. Darren Fletcher may slot into right back as he has done in the past. One caller to MUTV last night brought up the fact that Berbatov played at centre-back for Bayer Leverkusen on occasion but I think it's a safe bet that he'll be up the other end of the park. I personally hope Sir Alex puts his faith in Fabio but his attacking style may be seen as too cavalier for a fixture of this magnitude.

The game itself is unpredictable. The footballing romantic in me says we should accept our defensive frailties and try to exploit Inter's by taking them on, all guns blazing. They are missing Walter Samuel and it appears Santon, the young full back, will play. They're going for a solid midfield, if Jose's team announcement is to be believed, by playing Muntari and Cambiasso. Adriano and Ibrahimovic are expected to lead the line.

However, the old head says that we'll go 4-5-1 and see Rooney pushed out to the left once more in Europe with Giggs, Scholes and Carrick under orders to keep the midfield very tight. There's also an argument to play Park for his tracking back, but I can't see where he fits in with the necessity to keep things tight. We may go for a four man midfield, in fact I hope we do, but I can really see Ferguson wanting to afford a great amount of protection to his makeshift back line.

I think the team will know that a draw would be an excellent result and an away goal is extremely desirable but avoiding a loss will hand advantage right back to us. We will also be looking to avoid any more niggling injuries with a cup final to play at the weekend and a couple of juicy league games in the pipeline.

RAWK - the internet's biggest hypocrites.

Let's get straight to it... Should Ronaldo have been sent off?

Nah, don't be stupid, if he'd been stopped and booked for the kick out, he wouldn't have been involved for the build up to the move that saw him dive. Yes though, that dive was an absolute joke. Cut that crap out. No need for it, you have so much ability.

Our friends over at RAWK, who for some reason again take umbrage at our singing “Are you watching Merseyside?” despite the fact that they are glued to their televisions watching the same game and openly back their team for their songs about us because they're in the title race.

Make no doubt about it, RAWK are an embarrassment to other Liverpool fans and I think the majority know that. Their forum is essentially the joke of Liverpool and other good Liverpool forums such as On The Kop generally admit that.

One good example?

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=237648.msg5416851#msg5416851

Ferguson, the Nazi. You couldn't make it up.


Back to the game, another supposedly contentious decision in the game is Pedersen's decision to dive when clean through. Sorry, open your eyes, there is absolutely minimal contact and anyone who thinks that is a penalty is a pathetic soul who buys into Platini's hopes for a sterile game, devoid of any contact.

On our side, PIG showed why he isn't the man for the job. His decision to come for the ball that Blackburn ultimately scored from was a huge mistake. I think it is safe to say that Foster will start the Carling Cup Final if VDS is dropped.

I'm currently posting this from a Nokia 3330, as Berbatov has ended my dreams of a rich lifestyle.

United line up minus Van Der Sar and Vidic

A surprise Man Utd team takes to the field tonight, with the two main defensive stalwarts this season absent. Vidic is banned for the game at the San Siro, which obviously explains his inclusion and shows how brave Ferguson is when it comes to challenging for the Champions League.

Did the Chelsea and Arsenal results help dictate his decision?

Very important decisions.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Dimitar, can I stay with you for a while?

As I type, Villa and Chelsea are preparing to take the field in what is seen as a crunch match for both; Chelsea fail to win and it's curtains on their title ambitions, Villa lose and perhaps their top four ambitions are just too high. Hiddink will undoubtedly have his side well up for the fight and I find it hard to see past a Chelsea win here. A very telling stat about Villa is that they have only used 19 players so far this league campaign. If you can maintain a consistent side with a few quality players (which they have in Ashley Young, Laursen, Friedel, Barry) then you can hold your own in this league but going for the likes of Emile Heskey at the expense of John Carew is baffling.

We play Blackburn in the late game in what always seems like a tough fixture but we've had the best out of Blackburn in the last few games, including Tevez scoring four in a league cup game earlier this year. I can't see this game being anything like so open and one goal could very well be enough to win this for either side. I have a feeling that Berbatov's going to score today. Bet your house on it, if you didn't lose it in the credit crunch.

Gary Neville's signed a new contract. I'd guess it is a contract offered out of honouring an old hand and showing his influence around the club, rather than the contract being earned on the pitch as was the case with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. I'm glad to have him still around the team though, his passion is a vital component of a team with the kind of run in we have coming up and knowing he'll be around for another year at least will surely aid young Rafael and Fabio.

If I don't appear after tonight, it's because I've had the flat repossessed because a certain Bulgarian has lost me everything. Fingers crossed, eh?

Five points clear at a canter

A very comfortable win at Old Trafford last night in a game that saw Paul Scholes rolling back the years with an excellent performance in a crowded midfield.

His goal will remind many of his stunning strike against Bradford all those years ago when Beckham picked him out on the edge of the area from a corner and the Ginger Prince hit what is possibly the best goal of his career, though Scholes himself claims his best is his volley against Villa a couple of years back. Schwarzer should have done better but it is always wise to test a goalkeeper early doors and this clear unsettled the normally reliable Aussie.

The second goal was another master class by Scholes, streaming the ball wide to the right with the most beautiful of passes with the outside of his right boot, before a brief passage of play that saw the ball eventually finding its way across the box for Berbatov to tap in, albeit via another Schwarzer howler as he completely misjudged the ball in.

By this point the game was over and both teams seemed happy enough to play out the rest of the game at a leisurely pace. On another day Berbatov would be disappointed to have missed a couple of good chances but they were academic here.

Wayne Rooney's long awaited return was capped with a goal only seconds after joining the action, as Ji Sung Park's woefully miscued shot turned into the perfect cross for the returning forward tom ghost through the away defence and tap in at the back post. His return will be a worry for Carlos Tevez who has not taken his chance to claim a spot in the team with too many poor performances and little goal return.

There were a couple of shouts for handballs against Vidic in the box, one looking ominous but on replay was probably too high up to hold him at any fault, but other than that there was no real trouble for Van Der Sar as the back four extended the record of league clean sheets to 14 in a row. We have also won the last ten games in all competitions since losing at Pride Park in the first leg of the Carling Semi.

One bookie is already paying out on the domestic treble, which in my opinion is ridiculous business but shows just how strongly we are viewed at present. The next few weeks can really make or break our season.

Mind games ahoy

The mind games are already in full bloom it seems. Ferguson has said that Darron Gibson has played his way into the Carling Cup Final team. Surely a wind up? He does realise that Spurs aren't quite as bad as Derby, yes?

Speaking of mind games, Rafa has once again felt the need to talk about us, despite being annoyed when Ferguson talks about them. Apparently we spend economy busting levels of cash on transfers, eclipsing their paltry yearly spend, making their relative position utterly astounding and proving that Señor Benitez is certainly the best manager ever to have graced our league with his presence. Either that or he's publicly airing his CV in a hope that a certain team from the Bernabeu (or the Nou Camp, as hilariously reported by the Daily Mail yesterday) will see that he is reluctant to sign a new contract at Anfield and he would appreciate a counter offer to force the Liverpool owners' hands. Either way, a quick look on http://transferleague.co.uk/ puts his arguments firmly to bed, even if those sites are afforded a little leeway on their guestimates of transfer figures.

Net spend is a common phrase you'll here coming from Liverpool fans. The basic premise behind this is that you're allowed to buy crud players if you subsequently make a profit or break even on that player. With that criterion, Dong was the best purchase of all time, given the influx of money it brought us from the 1.4 billion occupants of his native China.

The poll actually exists now. Bit of a technical glitch yesterday or I forgot to put it in, whatever you want to believe.

Much love!

Crap Players Score Day

I must say, once again I was a little bemused by the starting XI against Derby yesterday, but this time we did it with minimal fuss.

To my eyes, the main difference between this game and the first leg of the Carling Cup tie was that the hunger we clearly lacked that night was back with gusto. In the previous game we seemed too reliant on Derby being overawed and expected our reputation to do the work but this time out we saw none of that lax attitude.

Ronaldo was shifted to a more central role, presumably to give him a few more sights on goal and up his surely waning confidence. Personally I think he needs games on the right, which is where he has always done the most damage for us and where Ferguson seems at pain to play him of late. As it turned out, he was virtually anonymous for the entire 90 minutes, partly down to Robbie Savage and partly down to his own lack of form. He did smack the wall his customary couple of times, one setting up a goal rather fortuitously, but that was about it except for a very well taken header when he jogged clear of his marker from an early second half corner.

Again the engine of the team was the mercurial Ryan Giggs, playing in a playmaker role on paper but deeper and more strict on position in reality. Alongside him, the normally woeful Darron Gibson was promoted to the stature of average-at-best. Park worked hard, as always, but lacked any real outlet. The biggest surprise of the day for me was Nani, who outshone his Portuguese counterpart all day, scoring another well taken goal and troubling his full back quite a bit.

The back line did well, but that annoying habit of conceding when we're coasting crept in once more. Winning 1-0 keeps our backline vigilant, but giving them a cushion seems to do them no favours and Derby's goal was all too easy as Addison put a good header out of Ben Foster's reach to threaten a brief revival.

Danny Welbeck's goal to finally seal the game will have reminded onlooking pundit and ex-United player Teddy Sheringham of many of his own goals.

So not a startling performance, but we did control the game with a make shift midfield and were never really in trouble except for a brief spell after Derby's goal which we rode out with aplomb.

The draw sees us away to either Swansea or Fulham which, while not being the hardest draw possible, will not be an easy game but one we should be able to progress from. In a busy period of the season (the game is flanked by games against Spurs in the Carling Cup Final and Newcastle just before, with Inter Milan and Liverpool just after) we have to wonder if we'll again see another one of Ferguson's baffling line-ups.

Next up is Fulham in the latest in a long line of 'must wins'.

Coming up over the next week I'm going to have a brief chat with spooky from DearMrLevy.com about being our feeder team and March 1st's Cup Final.

Take a moment to vote in my poll.

Manchester United 1 - 1 Chelsea

What an incredible game, mostly for the complete lack of ability on both sides. Never have I seen a midfield so continually bypassed when there is so much quality on both sides in that department.

Chelsea's decision to go with one up top, Anelka, probably helped them to only have about ten offsides in comparison to the twenty incurred on our side. Also, their style of everyone attack, everyone defend was a strange sight to behold, as their entire team moved en masse up and down the field of play as the home team's players stayed relatively in their set positions.

It was no surprise when Anelka headed in the first after a scrappy free-for-all in the United penalty area following a corner but after this it was the team in red who started to control matters and set up wave after wave of attack, sadly with the normal result of a certain C Ronaldo (playing on the left) being at least ten yards offside when put through.

Half time came and went and the set pattern continued. Attack up the wing, offside. Attack, long ball, offside.

When the equaliser finally did come, it was from an inexplicable challenge from Deco just inside the box on a man nowhere near the ball, and Ronaldo kept his calm to slot the penalty just past Petr Cech's stationary body as he clearly expected the Portuguese to go down the middle.

Despite a couple more chances for both teams, the game ended in a stalemate and a few muffled cries of “well played at the end lads” and “should've 'ad 'em”.

The sad thing is, I'll go back for more, even with this terrible style of play.

Oh yes, and I was controlling Michael Carrick.

I'm talking about FIFA09 BAP, by the way. Should have mentioned that.

I've been driving in my car...

International weeks. Not a fan. International friendlies? Hate with a passion.

I must say that I am glad that Michael Carrick is finally getting the recognition that he deserves for his current form but it always worries me when our players go off to play for their countries. It always seems a rare occurrence for all involved to return unscathed.

The break is allowing Chelsea to close in on assuring that Guus Hiddink will be the man to see out their season. He does have some international concerns to handle with Russia, but games against Liechtenstein and Azerbaijan should be formalities. He does have knowledge of Europe after a good spell with PSV and should be much more at home in league football than Scolari was. Hope not, obviously. His first task will be to reunify the troops and if he does that, I feel Chelsea could be right back snapping on the heels of the top two as things stand.

Another Man Utd player has fallen foul of car related matters. Tevez decided to take his pimped out Bentley for a spin only to be pulled over for having over-tinted windows. Then when asked to produce his driving licence he was forced to admit that he doesn't actually have one. Sigh. Footballers, eh?

Please take a moment to check out the blogs that I read from the menu on the right. You've got a decent selection already with a fellow Man Utd supporter (As I See It), a Liverpool fan (Three Pints) and long suffering Spurs fan spooky's excellent Dear Mr Levy.

Chelsea Dagger... in the back

In what no one can really call a surprise move, given Roman Abramovich's past history with managers, Big Phil is already seeking new employment.

He took a very strong Chelsea side, who were two games away from achieving what we did last season, and has single-handedly destroyed team spirit and ruined that knack of winning that Chelsea had built up.

One can only assume the successor is already known in theory, although a firing at this stage gives Chelsea a couple of weeks to find a replacement as surely the FA Cup game at the weekend will be a formality for Chelsea.

Add these to your tick list, Roman:

1. Has managed a club team in Europe


Actually, that's about it for now, anyone with that experience could surely have guided a squad such as Chelsea's to loftier peaks at this stage of the season.

Already I've seen a Zola/Clarke combination mentioned... that's so utterly laughable, the top teams would piss themselves laughing should that happen.

At this stage my money's on Hiddink...

Top again after a one nill hammering

A busy weekend at the top of the table and not one for the faint of heart.

Saturday seemed to be going almost perfectly as Chelsea stumbled to a 0-0 draw with Hull at Stamford Bridge after another average performance. The late kick off saw Liverpool field a strange starting XI, including six defenders and leaving Alonso and Torres on the bench. Ultimately, the weakened team prevailed (after Alonso and Torres had entered proceedings) but not before Liverpool had twice gone behind to a battling Portsmouth side. Sadly the way Liverpool got back into the game was by way of the weekly capitulation by the Fratton Park side, which has now cost Adams his job. An inexplicable Crouch pass back essentially forced James into handling and Niko Kranjcar made a woeful attempt at a block of the subsequent free kick on the near post. The second Liverpool goal saw the once solid Distin fluff his lines and allow the industrious Kuyt to hammer in a near post shot that James should have done better with. The winner saw Torres ghost into the box unmarked to guide a sublime header past James, although again James should have done more.

By the time our game came into focus on Sunday evening, the North London Derby had already finished 0-0, with Arsenal now looking a forgotten figure in any title race.

Our squad was without Rooney and Evra who had both been tipped to at least make the bench but a solid looking midfield of Scholes, Giggs and Carrick looked like being the difference in a game between two of the form teams in the Premier League at present. West Ham are now playing some excellent passing football and Carlton Cole in current form has earned his place in the England squad (which also included Michael Carrick, finally) and they played some of the best football I've seen against us this season. They could have gone ahead had Cole chosen to put his laces through it instead of trying a cute dink over Van Der Sar from an unlikely angle. Neither keeper had an awful lot to do during the game, in honesty, and it was a game fought out primarily to stalemate in the middle of the park. Kudos must go to Behrami who confused and infuriated Ronaldo in equal measure. The turning point was a piece of individual excellence from an old hand, as Ryan Giggs (looking suspiciously offside but level on a replay) feigned twice to hit with his favoured left peg as he jinked into the box before sliding a right footed shot through the crowded box leaving Green with just too much to do. The goal means that the Welshman has now scored in all 17 Premier League seasons, and the travelling Manchester contingent soon piped up with a rendition of “He's won it ten times”, in homage to his unmatched number of top flight victories as a player. A late penalty shout aside from the away team and that was that, with our 85th 1-0 of the season wrapped up.

The coming fortnight starting on Sunday is vital, with an FA Cup tie, two league games and the return of the Champions League all to play in little over a week. With Rooney and Evra set to return, we should be bolstered going into these fixtures with more depth to pick from and we'll need that at this vital stage in the season.

Munich - The Anniversary - 51 years on

It was on this day, 51 years ago, that the saddest event in the history of this fine club took place. I need not go into great detail about those events as they are well known and well chronicled elsewhere. I'd advise anyone who only knows fleeting details or who just wants to remember that day in greater depth to read Munich58.co.uk and thebusbybabes.com. It is never too late and you are never too old to read about the events of the sixth of February, 1958.

The poignant, honest words of the Flowers of Manchester ring true once more today and everyone, whatever club you support, should read this at least once on this day.

The Flowers of Manchester

One cold and bitter Thursday in Munich, Germany,
Eight great football stalwarts conceded victory,
Eight men will never play again who met destruction there,
The flowers of English football, the flowers of Manchester.

Matt Busby's boys were flying, returning from Belgrade,
This great United family, all masters of their trade,
The pilot of the aircraft, the skipper Captain Thain,
Three times they tried to take off and twice turned back again.

The third time down the runaway disaster followed close,
There was slush upon that runaway and the aircraft never rose,
It ploughed into the marshy ground, it broke, it overturned.
And eight of the team were killed as the blazing wreckage burned.

Roger Byrne and Tommy Taylor who were capped for England's side.
And Ireland's Billy Whelan and England's Geoff Bent died,
Mark Jones and Eddie Colman, and David Pegg also,
They all lost their lives as it ploughed on through the snow.

Big Duncan he went too, with an injury to his brain,
And Ireland's brave Jack Blanchflower will never play again,
The great Matt Busby lay there, the father of his team
Three long months passed by before he saw his team again.

The trainer, coach and secretary, and a member of the crew,
Also eight sporting journalists who with United flew,
and one of them Big Swifty, who we will ne'er forget,
the finest English 'keeper that ever graced the net.

Oh, England's finest football team its record truly great,
its proud successes mocked by a cruel turn of fate.
Eight men will never play again, who met destruction there,
the flowers of English football, the flowers of Manchester .


I always find it a powerful piece because it does not hide from the brutality of events, nor does it try to add glamour and seek undue sympathy for those who were lost or hurt. It simply says it as it is.

It is easy to wax lyrical about the Busby Babes, to claim them as the best English club team of all time, to say that they had the world at their feet and that they would have become the best team in the world. I won't go down that route, because the truth is we will never know and I don't think a single player who died that day would have made such a claim, such was the mindset Sir Matt Busby instilled into them. Be confident, but not pompous. It is for people of that time to hold such discussions and they all seem to agree that this was a team destined for great things, especially young Duncan Edwards, and that is enough for me to know.

So on a day where we should stop to think, I will end my post with what is probably the most famous picture remaining of those who perished in the snow.

The best form of attack is defence

Ten goals. That is the sum total that we have conceded in the league so far this season, 23 games in. That is a truly outstanding record considering the defensive issues we have had to face, starting with the loss of break up man Hargreaves and spiralling downwards from there. We have seen the blossoming of Rafael Da Silva and Jonny Evans into players who can hold their own at the very top. The fact that they are aged 18 and 21 respectively goes to show just how astonishing that is. We can also factor in the appearance of Rafael's brother, Fabio, who has looked the better player in the younger teams since their arrival at Old Trafford from Fluminense, where they never made a first team appearance.

Nemanja Vidic has been the rock that everything has been built around, which is huge credit to a man who looked off his game at the start of the season, indeed to the point where I was asking for the inclusion of Evans ahead of the Serb. As Rio's back problems flared up, Vidic took on the role of main man with aplomb and has turned in gargantuan performances time after time.

Between the sticks we have the much maligned (from our rivals, mostly) Edwin Van Der Sar, who is apparently past it and a weak link. I don't think that really needs much input from me as the statistics speak for themselves at this point. Twelve league games. 1,122 minutes. The benefits of having a presence like Van Der Sar are so much more than basic goalkeeping ability. He is a natural, albeit calmer, successor to Peter Schmeichel and Ferguson knows he is the keeper he should have moved earth for in 1999 when the Great Dane decided to find new challenges. The Dutchman commands his area, organises his back four fantastically and always seems to pick the best time to reassure or to berate. The fact that he is also a great shot stopper is overlooked by far too many. I, for one, certainly wouldn't replace him with anyone else in the league at the moment.

In the coming weeks we can look forward to the return of Rafael, Fabio, Evra, Evans and also to relative old hands like Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown coming back to full fitness. This kind of competition for places should only serve to sharpen the focus at Old Trafford, and while we will surely concede soon in the league, we can be fairly certain it won't be too often between now and the end of the season.

In a team where most of the focus lies on Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney, we will have the defensive contingent to thank should we go on to lift the title this year. While the forwards have often struggled to finish teams off, grinding out so many 1-0 victories, the back line have been steadfast and resolute. Don't think this hasn't been noticed, there is a real camaraderie at Old Trafford that I don't see in other teams at present, with Aston Villa the only exception, at the top of the league. This could prove so vital to proceedings.

I'll say it one more time. Ten goals.