United entering December

[rondwisan]

04/12/2010 09:03 - ManUtd.com, James Tuck
Edwin reflects on eventful week



Edwin van der Sar recently turned 40 but in his long playing career, he’s unlikely to have experienced many contrasting weeks quite like the last one.

The Reds goalkeeper and his team-mates were elated after going top of the Barclays Premier League table with a breathtaking destruction of Blackburn last weekend.

But Tuesday’s disappointing Carling Cup defeat to West Ham, which ended a 29-game unbeaten run, brought everyone in the camp back down to earth.

Edwin was among several senior players rested for that game who were set to return on Saturday against Blackpool. But in the final episode of an eventful week, the game at Bloomfield Road has fallen foul of the weather.

Nevertheless, Van der Sar is confident United will push on from the Blackburn performance when league action resumes.

"We were on a high after the Blackburn result last weekend, and when Chelsea drew with Newcastle on Sunday," Van der Sar said. "It’s been quite a turnaround in the last few weeks in the league for us.

"In the Carling Cup some of the younger players were given the chance to catch the manager’s eye, but it didn’t really materialise for them, so the whole squad is disappointed.

"But we’re still top of the league. We may have dropped a lot of points already and expected to be five or six points behind, but we’re two ahead.

"So let’s hope we can build on the Blackburn game and achieve the same understanding between the players as last weekend, to bring us more points and better results."

[Redsbusby]

Premier League title race: who has been the Christmas No 1 over past 10 seasons, and where have they finished?

By Rob Kelly 8:55AM GMT 21 Dec 2010 | Telegraph

With Manchester United top of the Premier League at Christmas for the first time since 2006, Telegraph Sport looks at the festive table-toppers over the past 10 seasons and where they eventually finished.

Top of the tree: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates with the Premier League trophy in 2009 Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Manchester City's defeat at home to Everton on Monday night denied the Eastlands club their first Christmas No 1 spot since 1929, and left city rivals United of top of the tree in one of the most open title races for years.

United's total of 34 points is the lowest for the league leaders at this stage of the season in 10 years, with Arsenal and City two points behind Sir Alex Ferguson's side and Chelsea a further point adrift.

But, as the table below shows, all is not lost for the champions and the rest of the chasing pack, as five times out of the last 10 seasons the Christmas leaders have been reined in and overtaken by the climax of the campaign.

[rondwisan]

Hectic times ahead

United's fixtures for the next month are listed below. All except * are in the Barclays Premier League.

04 Dec - Blackpool (A)
07 Dec - Valencia (H)*
13 Dec - Arsenal (H)
19 Dec - Chelsea (A)
26 Dec - Sunderland (H)
28 Dec - Birmingham (A)
01 Jan - West Brom (A)
04 Jan - Stoke City (H)

*Champions League game.

seperti kata pepatah ...
malang tak dapat ditolak untung tak dapat diraih
nah lho ..., apalagi tuh maksutnya ..., hihihi ...

yah ..., sangat di sayangkan ..., match pada saat tidak (belum) terlalu padat, malah harus 'rela' dischedule karena faktor cuaca ...
match lawan Blackpool digeser ke 25 Januari, dan lawan Chelsea ke 1 Maret
tentunya pada tanggal2x tersebut jadwal akan kembali padat, what to say ...
apa pun ... ini kondisi yang harus dihadapi ..., jika memang mental juara ..., sikat habis siapapun musuhnya kapanpun waktunya ...

sejauh ini hasil yg diperoleh United cukup menggembirakan ..., meski di laga home lawan Valencia "hanya" memperoleh hasil imbang, but tetep membuat United nangkring di puncak klasemen ...

selebihnya, United berhasil meredam letupan meriam-meriam london (1-0), serta cakaran miauw-miauw hitam, sunderland (2-0), syukurlah modal yg cukup berarti untuk memompa semangat United yg harus kembali bertanding 2 hari pasca boxing day ..., yaa DUA hari, apalagi lawan yg akan dihadapi, birmingham, ternyata "diuntungkan" dengan postponed match saat boxing day

setelah itu berturut-turut menanti WBA di pembuka tahun 2011, lanjut Stoke City 3 hari kemudian (mid week), 'n kalo mo dilanjutin lagi, di weekendnya (9/1), United sudah harus bersiap menerima kedatangan sang Rival abadi, Liverpool di laga FA Cup

c'mon United ..., tetep semangat yaa ...