Well, that’s more like it, as today’s 1-0 defeat of Birmingham sees United break its string of consecutive home opening draws to teams that took the plunge in Reading ’07 and Newcastle ‘08. Wonder if the Blues are a superstitious lot, as I suppose they can take some solace that they didn’t draw.
Several hours after victory, three things lingered with me after digesting the match. But first, I want to digress for a quick moment.
Nothing rounds off the day after a United victory quite like a Liverpool defeat immediately afterwards in a fast-paced, entertaining game against at Spurs. Better still, Benitez kicks off his annual fault-finding game early by blaming the referee for the outcome instead of acknowledging the Reds sub-standard form due to their walking-wounded first-team. And, closed-circuit to Rafa: How long will you insist on playing Babel ahead of Benayoun?! You get what you deserve here, m’boy.
But alas, let’s get back to United.
First, it’s a major adjustment to watch our boys play a more orthodox four-four-two with strong-but-not-magical wing play. Today chances came aplenty, but you expect that against far-inferior competition and United’s overall Premier League attacking play will become more balanced now because this formation lends itself to more significant contributions from a larger number of players. But will these players take their chances? That’s the question on everyone’s mind now, and unfortunately, the Fletcher and Owen misses today will linger a bit longer that some of us would care to admit. We must take these chances, lads.
Second, Ben Foster really demonstrated his shot-stopping chops today – that point-blank save against Cristian Benitez was utterly world-class. Maybe van der Sar being out for awhile is the God-send opportunity he needs to get his timing and confidence back after very intermittent and inconsistent play between injuries. This bodes well for United and England, along with a budding Rooney-Owen partnership, of course.
Okay, it was only 15 minutes, but I love the dimension Owen brings to the front line, as he constantly looks to get in and behind the backline, while Rooney expertly plays in the space behind and around Owen. Shades of a past Euro, we hope.
In today’s cameo, Owen created one clear and one just-off-side breakaway. Good ol’ Mickey will feast on superb service from quality teammates, especially against suspect opposition such as Birmingham. I easily see shades of the short-but-sweet Larsson-Rooney tandem from 2007. Owen provides a different dimension off the bench, one that can change games and comes without a £25 million price tag. Let’s put that money toward Sergio Agüero, but ah, that’s a debate for another day.
Well, it’s one down and thirty-seven to go. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. The new era hath begun.
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