How does one characterise Manchester United’s season to date? After all Sir Alex Ferguson’s side lies second in the Premier League after 18 games, with only goal difference separating the Reds from cross town title rivals Manchester City. Despite an ever lengthening injury list, the American owners’ parsimonious attitude to the transfer market, and City’s sovereign wealth, United will surely head into 2012 favourites to take the Premier League title. All rosy then except, of course, for United’s disaster in Europe, where the Reds were knocked out fair and square by FC Basel and Benfica over six games. Neither are the continent’s leading lights. If United’s benchmark for success is Europe’s premier competition then group stage exit is surely a regression from last season’s run to the final. Add to that an embarrassing Carling Cup exit to Crystal Palace and the season begins to look far less successful. In the Premier League Ferguson’s side began the season in blistering form, scoring

I've always said give Jose Mourinho a season in spain and he'll get u a trophy, give him two and he'll get you the league. With El Clásico number 164 fast approaching at the Santiago Bernabéu a lot would agree a win tonight for the home side would go a long way in a achieving that. Madrid boast a three point lead at the summit having played a game less than their spanish counterparts which would make this a nine pointer instead of the usual six. Mourinho's men have won their last 10 La Liga games, 15 in all competitions and as assistant coach Aitor Karanka said at the press conference: "We are in good shape. It is just one more game and we will not change our way of doing things". Barcalona on the other hand have lost only one of their 11 meetings since Pep Guardiola took charge in 2008 (7 wins) and have never lost under his stewardship at the Bernabeu. Though their league form hasn't been that impressive this term as they have managed two wins in

So hell has frozen over & the humble pie is being served by the boat-load, but is this the worst thing in the world? Below are some silver-lining/tongue-in-cheek points suggesting that this might be worth the effort: 1. MUFC have never won the EUROPA/UEFA/Thursday Cup: So there is a trophy still out there for SAF to bring home!! Happy days!! In fact, even Ipswich Town have a UEFA Cup in their cabinet. EPL 2nd, 3rd & 4th spot is important & cool, but you can’t parade it from a bus & it doesn’t count as a trophy. Let’s bring this thing home & add another trophy to our (already) packed cabinet. ALSO, since the EUROPA Cup is only 3 years old, only 2 other teams have won it in this format….therefore making this The Most Exclusive Cup in Europe. You didn’t see that one coming did you? 2. Gametime free-for-all: This tournament does provide a perfect platform for our youth & bench to get 1st team experience. Berbatov, Owen, Macheda, Gibbo, Ravel, Pogba….an endless

"UNITED RANT MONTHLTY" is out.  I've posted this one article but you can go onto his website http://www.unitedrant.co.uk/latest/rant-monthly-issue-5-december-2011/ and read the rest of the magazine. In partnership with the EA Sports Player Performance Index, Rant Monthly uncovers the data behind Manchester United’s strong start to the 2011/12 campaign. The EA Sports PPI covers Premier League performance based on a mathematical model developed Dr Ian McHale (a Liverpool fan) and Professor Phil Scarf (a United fan). The index provides objective ratings for players’ performances in a match, and over a season, enabling comparisons across positions, and over time, by identifying how much a player genuinely contributes to a team’s success. Players are allocated points based on set criteria, including matches won by the team, specific actions during a match, time on the pitch, goals, assists and clean sheets. McHale and Scart have analysed hundreds of matches since the Premi