United Corner- Champions League Match Day 1, Manchester Derby, Capital One Cup and month ahead (September 27th)
Coming out of an international break is always tough for the bigger teams in the European Leagues as they are obviously filled with more talent than some of the other teams and that can lead to slow starts in the first League matches after those breaks. That is the only reason I can offer up for Manchester United's uninspired performance against Crystal Palace on September 14 as United lacked the tempo that has been a feature of their game over the years.
I honestly sat at Old Trafford that day and was not convinced of where United were going to find an opening until the Crystal Palace player was sent off at the end of the first half. Anderson was a major disappointment and there also seemed to be a fear from the two central midfielders to try and fizz the ball to the wide players who certainly had created room at times.
The final pass was also poor for the majority of the game, but three days later all seemed to be back to the level that was required. In the Champions League opener, United put in their best performance not just of this season, but going back a few months into the end of the reign of Sir Alex and the only negative was conceding two goals out of nothing.
There was tempo and pace that was missing days earlier and even Antonio Valencia was showing signs of some of his old form and I can't have been the only one that went into the Manchester derby in much better heart than I had thought I would after the performance on Saturday.
Unfortunately for United, they didn't get going at all in the Manchester derby on Sunday as the pace and power of Manchester City overran United and made them look a little old at times. It wasn't a freak result like the one City had at Old Trafford a couple of years ago and they were well worthy of the margin of victory with my personal opinion being that they did ease off after scoring the fourth as it was a case of job done.
Too many of the starting eleven under-performed and that isn't something you can afford in a game of this magnitude. I would be surprised if Ashley Young is given another League start in the next couple of weeks before the next set of international fixtures, especially with the return of Nani to the fold, while Robin Van Persie was another miss.
David Moyes was right in saying this was not the time to worry too much, even though it was a poor performance and he is right as City would have given any team in Europe trouble with the manner in which they played. However, I would be a little concerned with the ease in which some of their goals came as the midfield failed to track runners while Maruoane Fellaini has to learn that you can't switch off for a moment, but the big game against Liverpool at least allowed United to erase Sunday as soon as possible.
Obviously the big concern was that United would not get the desired result from the game against Liverpool on Wednesday night and the pressure on David Moyes would have increased, not necessarily from the fans that attend Old Trafford, but those who seem to ignorantly write stupid statements on the social networks and the media who need to fill the back pages.
When the team news was announced, I won't lie and say I wasn't concerned as Liverpool certainly played their strongest team while United made a number of changes, but the result was the most important factor of the night and that is what we achieved from the game. Liverpool may have felt hard done by as they did seem to create more opportunities, but the final ball let them down and there wasn't that much to separate the sides which is a testimony to the squad players United can call on.
It was announced after the game that David Moyes had made the best start to a Manchester United manager's career since Sir Matt Busby in 1946 as Moyes had overseen 5 wins from the first 8 games, a far cry from all the negative noise that came out after Sunday's result.
I do find it strange that so many so called Manchester United fans have been on David Moyes back to the extent that they have at times, especially considering I have sympathy for the start that he was handed in the Premier League.
Some will tell you that United picked up 7 points from the same fixtures against Swansea, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City last season, but it would be harsh to criticise Moyes considering the manner in which those points came last year. At Anfield, Liverpool had a man sent off in the first half, at City we had blown a 0-2 lead and were definitely looking the less likely to win that game so I think Moyes is probably only a point under a par performance.
The next six weeks are much more critical for Moyes though as United have games against West Brom, at Sunderland, Southampton, Stoke and at Fulham before the home game against Arsenal and I think anything less than 13 points from those five games would be a disappointment and would put United in a tough spot compared with the likely leaders by that point.
The Champions League fixtures make it tough for an inexperienced manager as to keeping the squad as fresh as possible, but the words of Ryan Giggs will help Moyes through that and I do think United are going to be in a much stronger position by November 2nd.
My last thought for this post: Please, please, please don't be that person that goes up to people to show how smart and savvy you are with the statistic that David Moyes has had a better start in his first 8 games than Sir Alex Ferguson.
Unless you're an idiot, that would hardly surprise you considering the state of the club in November 1986 compared with July 2013 so let's just leave that statistic in with the large pile of useless ones that people quote to prove a point.
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