I rued the fact that labor day week here in the States coincided with international week. 3 day weekend, no competitive soccer was quite upsetting. In any case, we’re back and thank goodness.
So the run continues for United with another dismantling of a team. It wasn’t so much that Bolton was bad, it was just that we were better and Rooney is in fine form. He is certainly feeling the striking accuracy at the moment and that really has been the key more than anything else.
Chicharito finally came back and scored within 5 minutes of his first start of the season. When word of his concussion got out, I was really depressed, wondering whether the rest would affect his confidence or show in the form of rustiness. Clearly, I was mistaken because he was sharper than I’ve ever seen him. His movement is simply stunning. He is the current standard for world football as a poacher, an I have absolutely no doubt about that. He is the type of player that shows the complete strikers, the target men, the centerforwards, and any other mould of striker that all you need to score prolifically is intelligent movement and finishing accuracy. Taking Bolton today for example, he lurked around Gary Cahill who I consider a top quality defender. Cahill tracked his run very closely, but with a quick twitch of the shoulder, Hernandez shifted Cahill’s attention for but a second, after which timed his run perfectly into the incoming cross. He didn’t need to hold of a large defender, a do stepovers over the ball, which people seem to demand in all strikers these days.
I don’t put much significance to the 5 goals that we scored. When a striker such as Rooney is on form, he will score. What interested me and mad me much happy was the ability of Jones and Smalling. Jones is an outstanding young defender. I thought I’d seen the best young defender in England last season when Smalling sparkled in his first season. I had watched Phil through Blackburn, and while his defense qualities were obvious, his technical quality had not been. Today, with a masterful shift by Sir Alex, Jones played for the first time at right back and he was literally flawless. His passing and one touch passes had be gleaming, and it was topped off by a great, steamrolling solo charge into Bolton’s box, resulting in Rooney’s second goal. He has a tremendous great future ahead of him. The Brazilian twins are in real trouble.
There are moments in De Gea’s plays when one realizes why he is worth the hype and transfer fee. The lanky goalkeeper is not great at dealing with ground shots, but when it comes to any sort of airborne reflex save, he is pretty incredible. He really has lightning reflexes and great acrobatic ability. While everyone else in England will want to cut him down because of the shirt he wears, they will eventually be dejected when he becomes a world class keeper.
The funniest part of the game: because Nani clashed with Jones and cut he back of his head, United physios had to put vaseline on the wound. And a large amount of it. Basically, he played with what looked like a giant wad of jizz in his hair for the better part of half an hour. Absolutely hilarious.
Still lots of soccer to watch. Its gonna be a great saturday.
The Beautiful Game 