The performance wasn't particularly good but we got the points, and that's the main thing (maybe even the only thing). It was pleasing to see us with so many home-grown players as well (Nev, Becks, Giggs, Scholes, Butt, Brown and O'Shea). Other notable moments: we actually scored from a corner (thanks to Becks's quick thinking), and it was a centreback that did it: Wes Brown's first goal in 111 games. (Big competition for Ruud there.)
RVN wasn't so hot in the first half with the reason being, yet again, that the defence and Fabien insisted on lobbing high balls up to him all the time. On the rare occasion when the ball went to his feet, his control let him down. He had a much better second half and young O'Shea was instrumental in that. He did much better than Mikky, both defensively and in attack, and linked well with Ruud. For such a big guy, he's got the twinkle-toes of a ballet dancer. Keano's lack of fire is slightly worrying. He seemed to be making steady progress until the last 2 or 3 games but has stagnated a bit recently. He's not playing badly but he's not yet the Keano of old after it had seemed he was almost there two weeks ago. Hopefully, he's being ultra-cautious in playing himself back to full fitness rather than exploding on the scene and then getting a recurrence of the injury. For all Juve's possession, they really only threatened Fabien twice but I think we might have been more adventurous after the goal. The 4th minute is a bit early in a game to start defending a one-goal lead. Juve were probably ripe for a beating if we'd pressed home our advantage but we showed them too much respect. With qualification for the quarter-finals now more or less a formality, and with the Worthy Cup just a few days after the Turin game, I expect we'll field a weakened team out there, and will lose. What are the advantages of finishing top of the group? Do we play a second-placed team, with the first leg away, or could we end up playing any team? So Bolton are next and I hope "revenge" is the key word in the dressing room. Juding by the injuries they picked up yesterday, it looks as if Scholesie, Mikky and Becks won't be playing but JSV should be back and John O should keep his place. It's another must-win game if we're not to mentally abandon the Premiership to Arsenal and put all our eggs in the Champs League basket. Terry Subscription info WWW http://red11.org/list Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] = subscribe to the list. [EMAIL PROTECTED] = unsubscribe from the list. Post message [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
