It’s not often that a truly awe-inspiring match comes along. But the FA Cup has run a little stale since last years final, disappointingly not held at Wembley. AGAIN. But this time, the FA Cup apple tree finally produced some ripe fruit for me to pick at.

The game started with two lacklustre teams put out, with vital vacancies from both. There had been a lot of pre-game banter about this, with both managers having to second-guess each other’s decisions. Neither manager really wanted to exit the FA Cup. Rooney, Ronaldo, Scholes, Vidic, Carrick, and the badge-biting captain Neville all missing from the mighty United. Hunt, Hahnemann, Sonko, Murty, and Harper were gone from the surprisingly resilient Reading.

The goals came quick and fast. 3 flew in Reading’s end in a space of 3 minutes 52 seconds. A long cutting laser from Gabby Heinze was the first to sink in, sliding just under Federici’s body and crawling over the line, like a lizard on it’s belly. The next was a twin hash from Bikey and De La Cruz, when Saha got in between them and turned them both, then snapped away a quick shot past the keeper. He’d been hugging the near post so much that it whizzed past him into the net.

The last of the blitz was a simple piece of genius from Solskjaer. Hanging back level with the defender on the right wing, he was 30 yards from any other defender. Ferdinand swung a long ball in front of the penalty box, and he was in. His composure as an experienced player showed as he put his foot on the ball, looked the keeper in the eye, then curved the ball with the outside of his boot into the net. He smiled at the keeper as he strode away.

The Magjeski stadium was quiet, almost a remembrance day silence. A tumbleweed slowly floated by. Coppel stood, floodlights reflected in his eyes, and formed a plan.

He moved Shorey into the back 4, and allowed Seol to run up the wings. It was back to old-style 4-4-2, and something magical happened. They started playing football. But real football. Not spanish football, all ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’. Not Italian football, all ‘Here’s some money to win’. But real English football.

They took the ball in the midfield and ran at people. The full backs of United were turned inside out by Seol and Oster. O’Shea and Fletcher were running round in circles trying to spot Ingimar/Gunnarsson’s runs, and the goal came quickly.

After 23 minutes of play, Gunnarsson headed a ball across the 6-yard box to the unmarked Kitson, who obliged with a simple header into the net. As the net rippled, you saw the players be consumed by some inner light. Some inner desire. Some inner hope. This I will try to explain to you now, because I’ve found the answer.

It’s called Coppelism. It’s the football way of life, like Buddhism. No running up to referee’s, no diving, no being stupid, and no nonsense. This Coppelism has great rewards. At any time on the field, Coppelists can conjure up great hope for each other, and they can make great things happen. British football used to be Coppelist, but now we’re more Abramovists. More Drogbists. Which is annoying. We need more Coppelists out there. Get the word out. Tell your friends. They may not know what you’re talking about, but tell them anyway.

Ok, rant over. The Madjeski stadium built up and built up, consumed by Coppelism. The players started to function like a machine, and Manchester United were driven back. In the 68th minute, changes started to happen. Seol was brought off for Little, who ran havoc down the right wing. Then Doyle was brought off for Lita, the king of big occasions.

Alex Ferguson was getting worried. But talk about strength in depth. On the bench he had Rooney, Ronaldo, and Scholes. He brought on the very former, looking to spice up the front line and try and get the game away from the Coppelists. But it didn’t work.

On the 84th minute, Lita dove backwards in the penalty area, somehow connecting his head to the ball. It flew past Van Der Sar into the net, and the Madjeski stadium roared until the goalposts shook. You could see a light in every player’s eyes now, and the body language showed the desire and the passion.

But then the weapon started taking his ear-rings out, getting ready to get on the field. The Premiership’s best on-form player. It was like watching someone trying to rob a hobo with 11 shiny knives, only for him to get out a nuclear missile and point it at their face.

But the light of Coppel still shined brightly in every face. Undeterred by the nuclear missile, they carried on stabbing the hobo. In one final motion, they hit the bar from a pistol-whipping shot from the centre midfield. But that was it.

3 long minutes passed, and Howard Webb blew his whistle. The stars were out, and so were Reading. However, the fans left the stadium bashfully aware of the brilliance of the FA Cup. The press and FIFA have begun to doubt it, but when I see the light of Coppel shining in every man’s eyes, I know the old cup is still alive and well.

At the beginning of last year, while visiting a friend in Manchester I decided to make the most of the opportunity and head down to Old Trafford. Manchester United is a club steeped in history, and the on-site museum ensured that I was reminded of this. The Munich air crash of 1958 followed by European success ten years later, the troublesome seventies and the Fergie Era ? The stories which had been written on the football field were being treasured and told to a younger generation some 50 feet away. However the one display that dominated the ground floor of the club museum was a tribute to the then recently deceased George Best. It served as a poignant reminder of a Northern Ireland connection with arguably the most famous club in the world. Indeed a glance at the museum?s International honours list shows an impressive number of players who have represented both the Red Devils and Northern Ireland. No club can boast more Ulster representatives than the Manchester outfit.

Whilst George Best is undoubtedly the most recognisable link, no fewer than 28 players have appeared in both the Red and Green shirts, notching up over 750 caps between them. Recognisable names like Best, Sammy McIlroy and Jimmy Nicholl jump out from the engraved list. History makers too such as John Peden who scored Ireland?s first hat trick and Norman Whiteside who became the youngest ever player to appear in a World Cup in 1982. Survivors of the Munich disaster, Harry Gregg and Jackie Blanchflower are names held in high esteem on both sides of the Irish Sea. The crash ended Blanchflower?s career and Gregg became a named associated with courage, although the big Coleraine man is quick to stifle any attempts to label him a hero. It is true he should be remembered for his performances between the sticks, yet many people seek to define him through what he did that night on the runway.
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The will he or won’t he sign for United debate is hotting up as teenager Freddy Adu has just four days left of his trial at Man U to convince Mr Ferguson that he can be a star for the Old Trafford faithful. He has been on a two week trial from D.C United to judge whether he makes the grade for playing at the top level of the Premiership.

So far it seems the teenage sensation has impressed the coaching staff but winning over Sir Alex may prove to be a more arduous task. Adu has been tracked by the Manchester Club since he was 14 years old and it seems that this is the time if they are to make a move to capture his signature. Chelsea have also shown an interest in the Ghanaian born midfielder and a move to Old Trafford could be seen as a coup d’etat for United over their title rivals.

Adu is hailed as a footballing superstar in the Major Soccer League but whether he can transfer his skills to the English game is another question. With the big names such as Sheva failing at Chelsea it begs the question whether players can adapt to the style of play of the Premiership. Adu has said “MLS has been great. I’ve enjoyed my time with D.C. United and I’ve really grown as a professional - but to see a huge change in my abilities I need to go to Europe with all the best players”. It seems Freddy wishes to make a move to Europe and if Man United turn the youngster down then other clubs could be happily waiting in the wings to snatch his signature.

Should Man United take a chance and put pen to paper or will Freddy end up as another “what should have been” contender together with the likes of Veron and Rebrov?

Well the big game of the weekend, for United and Chelsea fans at least, is over, and we don?t really know much more than we did last week. A 1-1 draw was the result and the status quo has been preserved, as we are still three points clear of Chelsea at the top the league.

The game, hyped up to high heaven by?well?everyone, was not a classic. But we played some great football in the first half and looked much the better side. With Shevchenko still out-of-sorts, Ballack just going through the motions and Lampard anonymous, we looked in control and comfortable, and were in front at the break thanks to Saha?s sublime finish (a question to all those who have been doubting him since the Celtic game ? could van Nistelrooy score a goal like that?).
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It was always going to be a tough night at Parkhead, and so it proved, as we went down to a sublime free kick from Sunshuke Nakamura that allowed Celtic to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions (sic) League for the first time.

Celtic have a proud record at home in Europe in recent years ? Barcelona, Juventus and Milan have all fallen there ? and last night it was our turn. As the half-time whistle blew it looked like it was only a matter of time before we scored and sealed the win. Celtic had barely gotten on the ball and ? bar a Thomas Gravesen header ? had barely threatened the goal. United?s passing had been slick and the quartet of Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney and Saha had been buzzing menacingly around the Celtic back four.
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The year was 2002 and Wayne Rooney was a golden boy of football and the great English hope for the future. However, in December of that year Wayne’s romps with a middle aged prostitute threatened to put him out of favour with the English public.

The visits to a brothel occurred four months into his relationship with Coleen McLaughlin who was informed of Wayne’s wandering ways after a Sunday newspaper prepared to reveal details for the lewd sex antics. Coleen on hearing the devastating news reportedly discarded her diamond and platinum engagement ring which was worth around ?25,000 by hurling it into a densely wooded area close to the pair’s home.
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How has the need for instant football gratification led us to a situation whereby Manchester United’s new ?18m midfield man Michael Carrick has to sit on MUTV and deny that there is any panic or crisis at Old Trafford on the back of their seemingly catastrophic 1-1 draw away to Reading in the Premiership?

Is it ironic that it’s Michael Carrick that had to field the questions following United’s meagre haul of only one point from their previous two games (conveniently forget that they played major competitors Arsenal in the other game) seeing as Carrick himself has hardly set Old Trafford alight since his big money move from Spurs and has United fans questioning already whether he will ever fit in at the club?

The Benfica game in the Champion’s League is obviously weighing heavily on United minds as the great European victories over Eusebio’s Benfica in the 1960s have been all but forgotten following last year’s shock defeat and early Champion’s League exit in the group stages with the ignominy of propping up their group.

With so many of the top clubs in so-called “crisis” already this season, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and even Chelsea after their Middlesbrough defeat, is it the press or the fans who are creating this feeling of mass hysteria if a club so much as drops a point or two (like United at Reading) or doesn’t finish the season undefeated? Newspaper hacks need to fill column inches and fans are always eager to jump on a knee jerk reaction bandwagon and seemingly quicker than ever in the modern game.

The financial bandwagon of the Champion’s League has led the top clubs and their fans to expect success at every turn and with Manchester United’s own TV station bringing up issues like crisis talk with new signings who have barely played half a dozen matches for the club, the pressure must be unbearable.

Manchester United sit third in the table with 16% of the season gone and are only two points behind league leaders Chelsea. If that’s a crisis then there are 17 clubs below them in the Premiership who would just love to be involved in the same crisis as United are.

It seems that everybody was excited about the games on Sunday. Grand Slam Sunday, Super Sunday, whatever you want to call it, everybody was talking about it. Even some of my friends who usually couldn?t care less about football were discussing it. The excitement was understandable. It was a rare day in which the ?top four? sides went head-to-head, and it was due to be the first real test for a Manchester United side with a 100% record, as an out-of-sorts Arsenal came to visit Old Trafford.

Many people were predicting a win for United against an Arsenal side missing their talisman Thierry Henry, but I was not one of those people. Despite our 100% record, we had ridden our luck against Spurs and Watford, as well as Celtic in the Champions League. Our run was bound to come to and end sooner rather than later. Arsenal, meanwhile, had started the season with a few poor results, but had been unlucky in many of their games and were due a win, I felt.

Unfortunately, I was right. But although any defeat is unpleasant, the manner of this one made it worse. The game was not really the tight affair I had envisioned or the scoreline suggested. Those who didn?t see the game could be forgiven for thinking Emmanuel Adebayor?s late winner was a sucker punch, snatching the points for Arsenal, but this was not the case. Arsenal could ? and should ? have scored earlier, but a combination of profligate finishing and some top class saves by debutant Tomasz Kuszczack in the United goal almost saw us grab an undeserved point.
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Only 4 games into the new season and the first major crunch point is just around the corner. Reigning champions Chelsea face off against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, while Manchester United entertain Arsenal at Old Trafford.

Chelsea v Liverpool ? 1330 British Standard Time
Jose and Rafa will have to put their hand-shaking feud behind them when they kick off Sunday, at 1330. Rafael Benitez will be looking to get a good result against a star studded Chelsea team, after losing to them twice in the league last season.

Jose Mourinho is also out for revenge having suffered defeat in the Community Shield and FA Cup finals, losing 2-1 on both occasions. Joe Cole is still out for the blues after he renewed his knee injury in the Champions League game versus Werder Bremen. On the other hand Arjen Robben returns to the squad following his calf injury.

Liverpool?s John Arne Riise being out injured is the only definite thing about the line-up. Benitez has different options all over the pitch especially his front men with such strikers as Kuyt, Crouch, Bellamy or Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler.

Expect a feisty game, Chelsea?s exceptional home form under Mourinho should give them the edge, but with Liverpool you never know.
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A narrow 1-0 for Man United in a tricky looking fixture against Spurs saw us keep our 100% record so far this season, and meant a good end to week for Alex Ferguson after a protest against his management on Friday.

Usually a protest against a manager by five fans would not be deserving of much attention but an outburst against Ferguson ? albeit a small one ? is almost unprecedented since his early days as United boss.

It must be said that the protesters picked a strange time to vent their frustration, what with the side in good form, sitting top of the league and Ferguson being the reigning Manager of the Month. What was needed at Old Trafford on Saturday though was another three points and a performance to silence the doubters. While the team achieved the former, they did not achieve the latter.

Martin Jol set his stall out by stringing four central midfielders across the midfield, presumably hoping that Edgar Davids and Hossam Ghali would stifle the attacking outlets of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kieran Richardson. Unfortunately for Spurs, Ronaldo was too quick and clever for the ageing Davids to cope with and while Ghali was willing and worked hard, he was clearly uncomfortable as a makeshift right winger. In addition, David?s natural instinct to drift infield saw Mido often filling in on the left ? hardly the place you want your big target man to be ? which in turn left Robbie Keane isolated and ineffectual up front.
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