A picture paints a thousand words, or so they say.
I've still got a million things to talk about nonetheless. Mostly to relive that special half of football where United scored six goals in 45 minutes.
It was a complete massacre. Just as I predicted earlier. It wasn't even close and 6 - 0 was probably flattering for them considering how dominant we were. It could easily have been 10 - 0 and I'm not even exaggerating, it was that one sided.
Rooney must have misplaced his regular shooting boots because he couldn't buy a goal against Given. He had a truckload of chances that he normally would have tucked away in his sleep. That said, he did rather well in other aspects of the game, his general passing and movement was all top notch. Just the matter of putting the ball in the back of the net. He didn't exactly get himself in Fergie's good side either by trying to take on Newcastle by himself in the first half, almost shooting on sight.
Which was basically how the first half went, selfishness and making bad decision in the final third. Add to that, Styles proving once again to be a Grade A cunt and that sort of made Newcastle look half competent when in fact it was United not playing up to their usual standards. Newcastle may want to point out the "goal" that Mickey Owen scored which was called offside but they got away with Smith's mugging of Giggs in the penalty area.
Besides, all that was irrelevant. Once the second half started (I presume Sir Alex let the players have a piece of his mind), United went at the Geordies all guns blazing, with Newcastle clinging on via the skin of their teeth after two desperate goal mouth clearances. There was a sense of inevitability that United were going to score, when Smith decided to touch His Highness Cristiano just outside the Newcastle 18 yard area. Displaying his continuing maturity as a footballer, Ronnie cleverly struck the ball low and hard, as the Newcastle wall jumped in anticipation of a powerful rocket, Given beaten despite getting a hand to it.
That opened the floodgates as Newcastle themselves conspired to hand United the second goal via some ridiculously comical defending, Tevez the grateful recipient, calmly slotting home. Then came the best goal of the bunch. Carrick won the ball in midfield, fed Rooney who in turned layed it off to Tevez who found the onrushing Ronaldo with a bullet pass that Ronnie somehow controlled and dispatched into the far corner of Given's goal with breathtaking ease. It was a goal of stunning quality.
The onslaught continued as Newcastle couldn't get out of their own penalty area. Rio literally strolled towards the far post virtually unnoticed and Rooney found him with a delightful ball which our centre back put away with a finish that strikers would have been proud of. Ronnie completed his first ever hat-trick, which he duly deserved after coming close on numerous occasions. The boy's reaction showed how much it meant to him, just brilliant to see. Didn't even matter that he got a jammy deflection. It didn't matter either when Tevez's right foot volley cannoned off the upright and marginally crossed or didn't cross (it did) the line. It was a mute point.
After the dust has settled, several things are clear.
Ronaldo is unbelievably good. I still haven't sorted out just how much potential he has. At the rate he is improving, he'll achieve "Football God" status pretty soon. 22 goals already in January. For a striker, that's fantastic. For a winger, that is mind-bogglingly awesome. He has uncanny goal scoring instincts on top of all his other talents. It is just about becoming unfair for other players.
Rooney is a streaky sort of scorer. Once he gets into the zone, he'll score at will. But if he's not, he'll struggle to hit a barn door. A shame then that he got interrupted just as he got going. But I don't mind one bit. Wazza brings way more to our team than just scoring goals. Even when he can't score, he still contributes plenty with his passing, vision, energy and movement.
Carrick is starting to look like Carrick again. He has been appalling at times but he found himself against Newcastle. The passing, the positioning, the interceptions, they're all back. Just a little bit more...
Tevez's goal celebration is properly gay and should be stopped immediately. And no I don't care what reason it is for. In fact, there should be a fine from now on for all really stupid celebrations.
Oh and Rio should get into the mix more often. He has got terrific technical ability on and off the ball, he really should push forward in attack more often especially against opponents who park their team bus in front of goal (which is half of the league).
Newcastle deserved all the shit they get, including this beating. Even a complete idiot would realise the need for patience and the time necessary to lay the foundations upon which to build a consistently successful team. Continuity and stability is key, two things which you can't find anywhere near St James' Park.
And it isn't as if they don't have the resources to build a successful team either. They've got a great stadium, great support and loads of money. In fact, during Sir Alex's tenure, they've spent more money on transfers that we did (and gone through more managers than just about anyone). Whereas we've won virtually everything during that period, the Barcodes have won fuck all. Says it all really.
Was it just me or did anyone else notice how the commentators were just madly in love with United. It was almost virtual cock sucking from them. They almost had an orgasm, I think, during the goal orgy (hah!).
Overall, it has been a brilliant weekend, with the terrific victory and Arsenal dropping points at home, couldn't be better. Now comes the hard part, consolidating our position at the top with continuous wins. United face Reading next at the Madejski and they will be tough. We can't lose focus now.
As a final parting gift; highlights from the game and more pics...
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