Scunthorpe took a deserved lead in the first half with a beautiful strike from Josh Wright. Darron Gibson levelled shortly after with a delicious lob after getting on the end of a long ball from Chris Smalling. Smalling went from provider to finisher minutes later to put United into the lead. And further strikes from Michael Owen and Park Ji Sung gave united breathing room before Martyn Woolford’s late consolation goal.

The hosts dominated the early exchanges and had United on the ropes for much of the first half. A combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping from Tomasz Kuszczac kept Scunthorpe out, until Wright’s screamer into the top corner which the polish ‘keeper could no nothing about. The lead didn’t last long though as Gibson’s perfectly executed lob showed that he can be graceful as well as powerful.

The half time score was 2-1 to the visitors and Scunthorpe will consider themselves unlucky to be behind after a less than convincing first half performance from United, saved only by their clinical finishing.

It was Scunthorpe again who started the second half brightest, putting United on the back foot with some good pressure, but a rapid counter attack from United saw Michael Owen slot the ball past goalkeeper Murphy and sink Scunthorpe hearts.

The hosts never gave up though, pressing for a goal to get them back in the game, with United seemingly content to soak up the pressure and play on the counter. Park ji Sung was next to get on the score sheet after a scramble in the penalty area, leaving Scunthorpe with no chance of clawing themselves back into the game.

Owen rounded of the scoring for United after a penetrative run and shot from Park bounced back off the ‘keeper. The scoreline said United were strolling but in truth they’d ridden their luck and taken their chances very well.

New signing Bebe made an appearance with 15 minutes to go and the early signs were promising. Full of energy, direct running and well balanced, this Portuguese youngster could prove his critics wrong given the chance.

Elsewhere, Chelsea were knocked out by Newcastle at Stamford Bridge (4-3) and Manchester City lost 2-1 to West Brom at The Hawthornes. So all in all a good night for United whose youngsters gave Sir Alex some food for thought ahead of this weekend’s visit to the Reebok Stadium where United take on Bolton Wanderers.

The home fans were treated to a masterful performance from midfield maestro Paul Scholes as he rolled back the years to give the Magpies a footballing lesson.

Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring for United, before Darren Fletcher doubled the lead just before half time. Second half substitute Ryan Giggs rounded off the scoring with a controlled volley after a brilliant chipped pass from Scholes.

Newcastle had their best chance of the game in the early exchanges after Andy Carroll’s clever run deceived Nemanja Vidic from a corner, but the giant striker headed wide of Edwin van der Sar’s post.

United quickly started to dominate possession and it was pretty much one way traffic from 20 minutes in.

Scholes picked up where he left off from last weekends man of the match performance against Chelsea and was again pulling the strings in United’s midfield.

The opening goal came after good tracking back from Antonio Valencia won the ball back inside Newcastle’s half. Darren Fletcher picked up the ball and threaded a pass through to Dimitar Berbatov who finished well from a tightening angle.

Nani was also in good form, with much of United’s attacking play coming from the left flank. It was his clever pass that sent Patrice Evra to the touchline to fire a cross into the six yard box where Wayne Rooney was able to touch the ball into Fletcher’s path. The Scot turned and shot low past the helpless Steve Harper to double United’s lead going into half time.

From then on it wasn’t a question of if United were going to win, it was just a matter of how many goals they were going to score in the process. As it happened, one more was all they could muster, but the scoreline flattered Newcastle and didn’t truly reflect United’s complete dominance of the match.

It was a combination of United’s old guard that sealed the win. Scholes the architect, Giggs the finisher, as has so often been the case over the years showed that there’s life in the old dogs yet.

Dimitar Berbatov could have scored a hat full of goals tonight, and while his finishing was poor at times, Sir Alex Ferguson will be pleased that the Bulgarian striker is at least finding himself in goalscoring positions. It really could be a make or break season for him.

It may not have been a scoreline that matched Chelsea’s 6-0 win over West Brom at the weekend, but the performance was just as commanding and will act as a sign of intent from the deposed champions that they’ll be right up there at the top once again, looking to lift the Premiership trophy for a record 19th time.

Undoubted credit has to go to Chelsea for what is now their double winning season. They have a remarkable record at home which I would say is the greatest in Premier League history. They’ve made Stamford Bridge more than just a fortress. Other rivals have good records but they will often lose one or two games at home each season. We are now well past the 2008 date that Roman Abramovich set for his Chelsea departure but it has to be said he has done well to refrain from splashing the cash in recent seasons.

I do believe however that now is the time to overhaul his aged squad with some new investment. One issue is that some of the players that should be leaving Chelsea this summer don’t have much of a sell on value but it will relieve their large wage bill. They should however not have the demands of those Chelsea players concerned about being the highest paid and therefore edging closer to 150k a week.

Another stumbling block is the owners’ frustration with the youth system which has not produced anyone of note so far. That could however just be a sign of the times because smaller clubs it could be argued do a lot more to find and keep hold of young talent. They need to be looking at young players around seventeen and then more established experienced players of say twenty-three. As these players will have good long term value for the club. They will have the hunger and ability to realise they could make their name on the world stage with Chelsea. Then one or two top class proven professionals, with a few of their prime years to run. This can be done without breaking the new transfer records I believe.

For me there are many players Chelsea can play and make little positive impact on the team, yet it does not affect the team’s results. These are the players I think Chelsea can do away with. In goal Hilario, defensively Carvahlo, Alex, Ferreira, Beletti in the midfield Ballack, Deco and up top Kalou. This leaves a few players I am unsure of.

Joe Cole is quite a unique player and brings something different to the team, if he can recover from his recent injury then he will be an asset and worth resigning. Florent Malouda went back to his drab and ineffectual old self for the first half of the season. However he has looked quite the player since the turn of the year and has genuinely impressed me. If he can maintain his current form he is definitely worth keeping. The other player of question is Daniel Sturridge, although there is life in Drogba and Anelka even though they have both enjoyed their thirty first birthdays. As you can tell I don’t believe Kalou is up to standard, to lead the team on his own. However I do not believe Sturridge has been given the chances and a six month loan deal could benefit him significantly. This leaves room for another striker to forge a partnership with either Nicholas or Didier as they seem incapable of finding common ground between themselves.

For that reason I find it difficult to admit that Chelsea are deserving of their newly bestowed tag of ‘Champions’, simply because it isn’t true.

It has to be said that they’ve played some vrey good football this year, and today they eclipsed our record for most goals in a Premier League season by scoring eight against Wigan Athletic. That’s the fourth time this season they’ve scored seven or more and is an incredible statistic.

That said, for all the media w*nking over Chelsea and how they’ve blown the rest of the league away; it remains true that if the linesman had raised his flag as he should have done, we would be celebrating our 19th title today, no doubt about it.

There’s also the issue of the terrible refreeing decisions in the game at Stamford Bridge. First Rooney runs clean through and is 1 on 1 with Petr Cech, only for the linesman to incorrectly raise his flag. Next was the penalty incident when Antonio Valencia was hauled to the ground. then last but not least was the free kickand goal incident, which is hard to take for several reasons. Firstly it was never a free kick. Secondly there was a foul on Wes Brown. And finally there was a Chelsea player standing in an offside position.

People talk about decisions like that evening themselves out over the course of the season, but that’s just a myth that the likes of Andy Gray like to peddle because it saves them having to admit that Chelsea have benefitted massively from key decisions this season. When such huge mistakes go against your team when playing against your direct title rivals, it’s impossible for those mistakes to even themselves out, particularly when they happen in both the home and away games.

So despite all the goals they scored this season, the reason they won the league can be put down to that single decision at Old Trafford. Without that we would have each gained a point and Manchester United would have finished the season on 86 points with Chelsea back on 84.

Yes I’m bitter, yes I’m disappointed, but I’m also extremely proud of the way my team have battled on through adversity this season. We lost the best player in the world and still challenged. There isn’t another team in the world that could have suffered the number of injuries we have this season – especially in defence – and still came within a whisker (or more accurately a flag) of winning the title. To come through it with the best defensive record in the league truly is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire squad and backroom staff.

With a couple of tweaks during the Summer, we’ll be there next season to take our trophy back.

If it wasn’t bad enough that the majority of Liverpool fans wanted their own team to lose, it now appears Steven ‘Starfish’ Gerrard has now sided with them.

The whiter than white Liverpool captain, who beats up nightclub DJ’s for refusing to play his favourite Phil Collins songs, provided a fantastic assist for Chelsea’s opening goal today.

He saw Drogba making an intelligent run and provided an inch perfect pass for the Ivorian striker to turn around Pepe Reina and put Chelsea in front.

I’ve never been one for conspiracy theories, but Gerrard is apparently not even trying to hide the fact that he’s a Chelsea fan for the day.

I half expected the Kop to jump up and cheer when the ball hit the back of the net. And I’m expecting more favours for Chelsea in the second half.

How pathetically small time do you have to become when your hatred for your rivals eclipses your love for your own club?

Liverpool – the underdogs – are being hailed as United’s potential saviours. If they can take just one point from today’s game  the title pendulum would swing back in United’s favour.

Speculation has been rife that Liverpool won’t put up much of a fight, because they have nothing left to play for and won’t want to help United clinch their 19th league title; one more than Liverpool.

Indeed, some internet polls have even shown that many Liverpool fans would happily watch their team lose if it meant that United didn’t win the title. I guess that’s what happens when bitterness and hatred of your rivals becomes more important than the love you have for your own club.

Liverpool faced a similar dilemma at the end of the 1994/95 season. Beat Blackburn and help United win the league, or roll over and Blackburn become Champions. Despite the speculation that Liverpool wouldn’t be up for it, they actually went out and beat Blackburn. It was United that failed to win their game so Blackburn on the league anyway.

I do believe that Liverpool’s players are more professional than their fans. They care more about winning, about honour, about pride. They’ll go out onto that Anfield pitch and give their all. They’ll do their best to beat Chelsea, regardless of how it affects the title race.

However, it won’t be good enough. No matter how hard they try, Liverpool are a shadow of their former selves. They’re suspect defensively. Their midfield is weak and without Fernando Torres they’ll be relying on the world’s best defensive striker Dirk Kuyt or even worse, David N’Gog.

Since Xabi Alonso’s departure to Real Madrid last Summer, they’ve had nobody capable of dominating the midfield and dictating the pace of the game. Alberto Aquilani may still turn out to be that player, but his injury record this season means the jury is still out on him.

They also sold Alvaro Arbeloa and replaced him with Glen Johnson, who is basically a right winger playing at right back. He’s fantastic going forward, but he leaves gaping holes in the defence that Jamie Carragher simply hasn’t got the legs to cover anymore. Indeed Carragher is probably Liverpool’s biggest liability. He appears to be so self conscious about his lack of pace, that he steps further and further backwards during the course of the game, looking for the security of the 18 yard box. This in turn means the rest of the back four has to move with him or else players will be able to run in behind while Carragher plays them onside. The knock on effect doesn’t stop there though. Their midfield is also affected. When top teams are attacking, the defence usually hovers around the halfway line, meaning that any clearances from the opposition are quickly mopped up, the ball is given back to the midfield and another wave of attacks can be started. With Carragher creating such a deep defensive line, Liverpool lose the ability to pen teams into their own half.

What Liverpool lack, Chelsea have in spades. They’re solid at the back. They have central midfielders galore and they have one of the best strikers in the league in Didier Drogba. They also carry a threat from the wide areas with the in form French winger Florent Malouda and recent returnee Joe Cole, as well as Salomon Kalou and Nicolas Anelka who can provide a goal threat from wide.

So for all the speculation and conspiracy theories suggesting Liverpool won’t put the effort in tomorrow. It’s irrelevant. Liverpool can try their hardest, but the fact is that Chelsea are currently a far superior side who should have no problems putting several goals past the Anfield club.

Neville – 5 Caught out of position too many times and crossing was mostly poor. Played well in the last ten minutes. Shame about the other 80.

Ferdinand – 8 Had to cover for Neville quite often and did his job in the middle very well.

Vidic – 7 Dominant aerially. Two headers in particular just ahead of Anelka and Drogba could have resulted in goals.

Evra – 6 Still not back to his best and probably won’t be unless he gets a rest. Looks knackered both mentally and physically and it’s affecting his concentration, leading to poor positioning.

Valencia – 5 Rubbish.

Fletcher – 6 Terrible in the first half. Much better in the second as United upped the tempo.

Scholes – 4 I’ve never sen him give the ball away at such alarming consistency.

Park – 5 Ermm. He was on the pitch, I guess.

Giggs – 5 Similar to Scholes, gave the ball away far too often. I’m not sure how wise it is to play them so often with their aging legs.

Berbatov – 6 Got into some good positions in the second half, but needs to be far more clinical in front of goal.

Subs

Nani – 7 Excellent. Provided a threat every time he got the ball. Should have started.

Macheda – 6 Not really involved much, but got lucky with the goal as it just ricocheted off him into the net.

Gibson – 7 Good cameo. Came on too late.

Of course the answer is because I love football and more importantly I love Manchester United, but officiating like we saw at Old Trafford today really makes me lose a little love for the game.

Chelsea‘s winning goal was scored by Didier Drogba after what should have been one of the most straight forward offside decisions of the linesman’s career. Yet his flag stayed down and the subsequent goal gifts Chelsea a vital extra two points in the title race. And not for the first time this season.

At Stamford Bridge there was equally bizarre refereeing as I wrote about back in November.  That gave Chelsea another two points that they shouldn’t have had. And those 4 extra points could possibly be the difference between winning and losing the title.

It has to be said that the officials do have difficult jobs and they do get a lot of unfair stick from us as fans and even from the players and coaching staff. That said, they need to get the easy decisions right and at the moment they’re just not doing that. It’s not just against us either. We see ridiculous decisions every week from incompetent referees who simply look out of their depth in the Premier League. Are they affected by home crowds? Sometimes, but on today’s performance by Mike Dean and his assistants you’d have to say it wasn’t the case. It’s almost expected that Mike Dean will give a dodgy decision at some point in every game he officiates, and if he didn’t do it with that smug look on his oh so punchable face I could probably just put him down as incompetent, but he actually seems to thrive on being the villain and being in the spotlight. And he’s not alone either, several other “top” referees are the same.

The number of refereeing catastrophes that we see every week make the ‘Respect’ campaign a complete farce. Too often games are won and lost by the incompetence of the men in black, and at the end of the season it’s often the difference between winning and losing the title, getting a place in Europe or even being relegated to the Championship. Tens of millions of pounds are at stake, not just points, so we need to start training referees to a higher level of proficiency and start making them accountable for their actions. The linesman who decided that Drogba was onside today should spend a few weeks in the Championship as punishment for his mistake, and maybe when he comes back he’ll remember to stay alert for the whole 90 minutes.

At the moment the standard of officiating in England simply isn’t good enough. And only with accountability for the match officials will be finally get back the game that we all know and love.

Tensions are obviously still high between Terry and Bridge as indicated by the non handshake before kick off. Terry put his hand out to shake Bridge’s hand, but the City player blanked the disgraced former England captain and walked right past him.

When the game kicked off there were boos and whistles for Bridge, who was the innocent victim in the whole scandal involving his ex Vanessa Perroncel. Most fans would recognize this and leave Bridge alone, but Chelsea fans, classless as they are, chose to show as much respect as their big man™ captain JT. Utterly despicable, but not altogether surprising.

Thankfully their team got a pasting on the pitch thanks to two goals each from Craig Bellamy and mercenary Carlos Tevez, giving us a huge boost to our title hopes.

Craig Bellamy told Sky Sports what he thought of Terry in his post match interview.

“I think you guys make a lot more of it, you know, em, I know what JT’s like, and nothing surprises me about him, so I’m not going to comment on that guy, em, I think everyone in football knows what the guy’s like.”

Click here to see Bridge snub Terry.

The Champions will be hoping to bounce back in style after the disappointing result at Goodison Park, by beating a West Ham side currently just 4 points above the relegation zone.

United are expected to welcome Rio Ferdinand back into the starting lineup after serving his 4 match ban for violent conduct, alongside Nemanja Vidic who has been absent with a nerve problem. The pair will bring much needed composure to the back line after recent nervy performances by stand-ins Wes Brown and Jonny Evans.

West Ham come to Old Trafford on the back of successive victories against Hull and Birmingham, but boss Gianfranco Zola has hinted that he may make changes.

United are clear favourites for the game, as usual at Old Trafford, but also because West Ham haven’t won an away game since the opening day of the season against Wolves. United beat West Ham convincingly at Upton Park in December.

Having already lost ground on Chelsea in the race for the title, United can’t afford another slip up tonight or they risk gifting the league leaders crucial breathing space. A win tonight puts them one point behind Chelsea who don’t play again until Saturday when they host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

Squads

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Brown, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Park, Anderson, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Obertan, Gibson, Rooney, Owen, Berbatov, Diouf.

West Ham (from): Green, Stech, Spector, Faubert, Upson, Tomkins, Da Costa, Daprela, Parker, Behrami, Kovac, Collison, Noble, Diamanti, Stanislas, Cole, Mido, Ilan, Franco, McCarthy.

The defeat shouldn’t really have come as a huge surprise. Everton have found their form at just the right (or wrong depending on who you support) stage of the season. David Moyes’ men headed into the game on the back of impressive results against Portuguese side Sporting and league leaders Chelsea.

And while Manchester United have been in impressive form in the league since the turn of the year, their make shift back four has shown to be an Achilles heal on numerous occasions against teams that don’t just sit back and play for a draw. Whenever teams attack United they’ve looked vulnerable without the assured class of Rio Ferdinand and the all action style of Nemanja Vidic.

Nevertheless, 3 points were lost in the race for the title and Chelsea capitalized by beating Wolves at Molineux, but Carrick insists the title race is far from over, and rightly so. Both teams will drop points in the run in, that much is inevitable, and with Chelsea still to visit Old Trafford in April, he has every reason to be upbeat despite the setback.

Victories against Manchester City at Old Trafford and AC Milan in the San Siro, as well as the demolition of Portsmouth and the comprehensive sweeping aside of Arsenal at The Emirates stadium give Carrick the belief that United will respond to the defeat in true United fashion, by bouncing back with a succession of victories to keep the pressure of Chelsea at the top.

“We have had some massive games in the last month and played really well over that period of time,” Carrick told Sky Sports.

“That is why Saturday was such a shock. I suppose we have to look at it as a one-off. We are certainly not getting too down about things.

“We have to bounce back but the manner of our performances over the past few weeks leads us to believe we can do it again.”

Carrick will have the chance to take on his former club West Ham in United’s next game. He acknowledges the important part West Ham played in his career as a professional footballer, but will be keeping his emotions in check when they take to the field at Old Trafford tomorrow night.

“West Ham gave me my chance,” he said. “They took me away from home, taught me a lot of things and guided me through.

“They gave me a chance in the first team, so I have a lot to thank them for. I still have a lot of friends there who I like to see when I go back.

“But, obviously, when we kick off it is business as usual and I am desperate to get the win.”

The ex Manchester United forward would love Everton to win the league, but after acknowledging that that’s unlikely to happen, he selected united as the team he’d like to be crowned Champions in May.

“If you ask me who’s going to win the title, I’d love to say Everton, but obviously that’s not going to happen, and if not, then I would like to see United do it again,” Saha said.

“I think it will be tight between the top two. Chelsea are very strong, but I think United are better – and personally I would be delighted if they won it. I’d definitely prefer that.

Saha also revealed he still keeps in touch with his old team mates, but thinks he’ll be getting a few more phone calls after scoring twice in a 2-1 win against Chelsea yesterday.

“I still keep in touch with a lot of them from United, especially Patrice Evra. Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves are on the phone a lot, and they’ve got a really good bunch of guys. But this morning I will probably have more messages and calls than ever.

“I know I will be getting a lot of calls now, and it is a big boost for my old club that Chelsea has lost. But the main thing has to be Everton, and taking us as high up the table as possible.”

The Tigers were the better team for long spells and will feel their point was earned. they may even feel they could have gone on and won it, with man of the match Stephen hunt tormenting Chelsea down the left wing.

Chelsea’s failure to take the 3 points means the gap has been closed from a possible 4 points, to just 2.

Manchester United’s dominant display at Arsenal on Sunday put the pressure on Chelsea and was a real show of intent from the Champions, who will go top of the league on Saturday if they can beat Portmouth at Old Trafford.

Chelsea meanwhile, will host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. A Chelsea win could put Arsenal’s title ambitions to bed, while a win for Arsenal would swing the title pendulum back in United’s favour, with Chelsea still to visit Old Trafford.

It will come as a surprise to those naive pundits who had already crowned Chelsea as champions earlier in the season. Just how often will they write off sir Alex Ferguson‘s men before they learn?

Here we go through the England captain’s catalogue of shame and argue that he should be stripped of the arm band by Fabio Capello.
2001
Terry went on a five hour bender with Chelsea colleagues culminating in Heathrow airport where they stripped naked, shouted abuse and vomited in front of American guests as they watched television coverage of the 9/11 attacks in New York. Their hotel manager described their actions as as ‘utterly vile’, while then Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri admitted ‘they had no decency or respect.’

2002
Terry was charged with assault after an altercation with a nightclub bouncer. He admitted to throwing a punch at the victim, but a jury cleared him after he claimed self defence.

2002
Terry was caught on CCTV being ejected from a club after urinating into a glass.

2005
After one of his flings with women that were not his wife, Terry had the following to say:

‘I really regret what I’ve done to Toni. I’ve misbehaved and slept with girls behind her back and that’s not right. She knows about it all now and we’re moving on. I’m not going to cheat on her ever again’.

2005
Two months after insisting he’d never cheat on his wife again, he was caught having sex in his car with a 17 year old girl who had asked for his autograph in the street.

2007
Terry was once again so drunk that he urinated on the floor of a club, in between European Championship qualifying games. England famously failed to qualify for the 2008 tournament.

2009
An email is circulated by John Terry’s people, inviting offers of sponsorship using the England captaincy as a promotional tool, or a cash cow if you like.

‘Are you looking for a leader to represent your brand?’ it stated: ‘The FIFA 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa is fast approaching! With this in mind Riviera Entertainment is identifying suitable commercial endorsement opportunities for its client John Terry for the period building up to the finals and beyond. John Terry is available to create effective brand awareness and endorse products and services globally.’

2009
Terry engages in a cloak and dagger routine involving £10,000 in cash and an unauthorized tour of Chelsea’s training ground. Terry later claimed the money went to charity, but that seems to contradict the video footage in which Terry insisted that the club couldn’t find out about the arrangement.

2010
Details emerge of a “super-injunction” that was lifted by a judge. The injunction related to an affair Terry had with the ex girlfriend of Wayne Bridge, Vanessa Perroncel – the mother of his 3 year old son. It’s understood that when the couple split up last Summer, Terry fancied his chances and moved in for the kill while Bridge moved north to Manchester City. the judge lifted the injunction as he believed Terry was more worried about the financial implications than anything else. It is also alleged that Terry impregnated Miss. Perroncel and later arranged an abortion.

It’s now believed that there is growing unrest amongst his England team mates as they believe Terry has finally crossed the line. Apart from Wayne Bridge obviously being against the England captain, there are believed to be a number of other senior players who have had enough of Terry.

So just how long can he keep hold of the captain’s armband?

And should he give up the arm band before it’s taken from him?

Arsenal were all but out of the title race after being demolished 3-0 at home to Chelsea in November, but a combination of poor form from United and Chelsea, together with Arsenal recent resurgence has seen them climb the table and get back into contention for the title.

“Arsenal will give us the best challenge this season,” he told the London Evening Standard.

“They play well, they are playing better and always have confidence in all the games. They are at their best this season.”

The centre half has had limited opportunities at Chelsea this season, but believes Carlo Ancelotti will give him the opportunity to fight for his place.

“The coach has the confidence of all the players,” he said. “We have a group capable of winning the Champions League and Premier League.

“It’s been difficult for me because we have a good defence, but I am very happy to battle for my place, get chances to play and stay in the group.

“I am very happy to stay here, to play for Chelsea and to play more and more games. We have been playing our best football this season since I came to the club.”

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The Manchester united boss has closed the gap on the London club to two points while Arsenal have also crept up on United, but Ferguson still believes it’ll be united or Chelsea running out as champions at the end of the season.

“The league is so tight now,” said Ferguson. “Teams are taking points off each other that you don’t expect. A consistent run from someone will give them a great chance.

“Our experience of run-ins is good and we can handle that part. Hopefully we can go on that kind of run.

“The team that does that will certainly have a big chance. We have got the experience to do it and we have got the players to do it. I think we are better placed than most teams in that respect. They all know that.

“At the start of the season I saw Chelsea as our biggest danger and I have not changed my mind on that.

“The important thing is to win the Wigan game which would put us a couple of points off the leaders coming into the New Year.

“I would have taken that considering all the defenders we have had injured.”

Chelsea drew with Birmingham on Saturday, meaning the gap between them and the champions has been narrowed to just two points.

“I think we are in a great position. There are still a lot of games to go and it will be difficult, but in the end I think we’ll end on top,” the Bulgarian told MUTV.

“We’ve had a difficult time with injuries, but we still have a great squad and players are starting to come back and we will go on a winning run now.

“The boss knows what to do in terms of changing things when he needs to and I’m sure we’ll finish on top at the end of the season.”

The Manchester United captain has seen his side play without eight defenders and the first choice goalkeeper for the last few games, so he thinks when Chelsea lose the Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba in January the effect will be minimal.

“Chelsea will lose some big players like Drogba and Essien but I don’t expect them to struggle. They will only lose their players for three or four league games; we’ve lost seven defenders to injuries this month.

“Chelsea were aware when they signed those players they might be called up every few years for the African Nations Cup, so they cannot complain about it.”

The competition doesn’t affect United, who don’t have any African players in the senior team, but Neville believes it would be a good idea to change in future the date of the tournament to fit in with the European leagues.

“Up to 31 Premier League players will soon be off to the competition – but the fact we’ve got no African players at the moment means it doesn’t bother us.

“I’ve heard talk about aligning the competition with the rest of the football calendar and it’d be sensible to do so.”

While many so called ‘experts’ were saying Liverpool would kick on from last season’s second placed finish and seriously challenge for the title, Sir Alex had his finger firmly on the pulse, saying they’d struggle to replicate their achievements of last season.

“It will be hard for them to match last season, let alone improve on it. Other teams will know more about them,” Ferguson told The Sun.

“Liverpool had probably their best season for 20 years and still finished four points adrift.”

He was also spot on about who our biggest challengers would be this season.

“It has to be Chelsea as the main threat. Ancelotti will change how they play.”

The Arsenal manager is upset that Michael Essien played in their 3-0 loss at the Emirates last week, and believes the Ghana midfielder should not have been on the pitch.

Essien refused to play for his country just three days before the Arsenal game and FIFA regulations dictate that he should have been ineligible.

Wenger said: “Essien didn’t play for Ghana but he still played against us, he was not entitled to do so. We will investigate to see if there has been a breach of the regulations.”

Chelsea have written it off as a non issue, but Sulley Muntari was refused permission to play for Inter Milan on the same day after he also refused to play for Ghana, so Arsenal will feel that have a strong case.

Whether they will proceed with it is another matter, as docking points from Chelsea would directly benefit Manchester United.

Following Chelsea’s fortunate 1-0 win over the Champions last month, many thought their five point lead would be impossible to catch, but after losing to Manchester City at Eastlands they’re now just two points clear of United.

“It is a tough league,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“When Chelsea beat us last month we were unfortunate but it put them five clear and, quite rightly, they received all the plaudits. People said they had an unassailable lead.

“Then last week they were outfought and outplayed by Manchester City, who deserved to win that match.

“It just shows the kind of league we are in. Points get dropped.

“But what I have always said and maintain now is that if we are within touching distance of top spot on 1st January, we will have a great chance.”

The Chelsea boss says that while his team is top of the table he has no reason to worry.

“I know well the strengths of Manchester United. I know the quality of their players, the quality of the coach. But I don’t know why I have to be worried now,” he told The Mirror.

“Maybe in January, but now, no. Now I am happy to stay at the top of the table.”

He went on to claim that his team have performed better than us and that’s why they’re top of the table.

“I think that, until now, we have done better than Manchester United.

“We have two more points, we won against them and that is why we are at the top of the table.

“Of course we know very well that Manchester United are a fantastic team and that we have to race with them until the end of the season.

“I don’t know what will happen in the future but up to this point, we have to consider what we’ve done – and I say that until now, we’ve done better than them.”

It seems he has forgotten about the farcical refereeing decisions that helped his side beat us at Stamford Bridge, without which we would be top of the table, not them.

The main reason nearly every journalist gave for making Chelsea their favourites was that the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo would cause United to suffer. As one of the best players in the world at the moment Ronaldo’s departure would affect every team in the world majorly, and it’s true he’s contributed to our team massively over the last few seasons, where he’s been outstanding. We were always going to miss his goals, and there’s no getting around the fact that we lost our best player this summer.

However, some of the journalists went so far to say that the Chelsea squad was now much stronger than United’s on paper. With the loss of Ronaldo, I’d agree that, on paper at least, Chelsea might look stronger, but some of these writers took it too far. They’re not much stronger. If we go player by player we can see where each team excels with regards to their starting 11, but then there’s also the depth of the two team’s entire squads to consider.

In defence, we just edge them; VDS is a brilliant goalkeeper but his age means Cech would win, Evra and Cole are perhaps the two best left backs in the world right now, difficult to choose between them, but I love the extra attacking option Evra provides us with on the left. In Bosingwa Chelsea have a fixed and reliable right back who I think is better than United’s choice of Brown (good but injury prone), Neville (a bit of a liability these days) and Rafael (still unproven). At centre-back United have probably the strongest defensive partnership in the world in Ferdinand and Vidic, and although Chelsea have a formidable back two in Terry and Carvalho, I think United better it.

In midfield, ok, Chelsea win, although ours hasn’t been doing too badly of late. But Chelsea have Essien, a player I rate very highly, and who is better than any of our midfielders. They also have Lampard, a player who, up until this season anyway, could get them up to 20 goals a season, and Ballack, another very strong midfielder. That beats Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson and Scholes. Scholes was better than all of them once, but he’s getting on now, Fletcher is important to us but he’s no Essien and neither are Carrick and Anderson. When you look at our wingers, we have strength. Chelsea don’t really play with them and it gives us pace and width and another attacking dimension. We’ve got Valencia, who’s started to come good and provides us with a lot of pace, and the evergreen assist-machine that is Giggs.

In attack Chelsea have the fantastic Drogba, the ultimate centre-forward in my opinion, but I think a forward-line of Rooney-Berbatov-Owen is just a bit better than Drogba-Anelka-Kalou. We can also play with any of our wingers as a second striker.

So looking closely at the starting 11s, you can see that although Chelsea might just shade it, there isn’t a huge amount of difference. But you’ve got to take into consideration the strength of the depth of the squads of the two teams. United have a very deep squad, with a lot of youth being developed into the team.

We have many versatile defenders, with full-backs like the Da Silva twins and O’Shea that can play on either side and some like Brown that can play as centre-backs. We also have Evans, the best young centre-back in the country, to call upon if Rio or Vidic get injured. In central midfield alone we have a huge amount of options in who to play, with the young midfielder Gibson another attacking option to add to Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes and Anderson. In attack we have the young prospects in Macheda and Welbeck, both able finishers, to call upon.

There are other factors to consider when deciding what makes a team the favourites to win the title; the way the team works together, management, desire and experience. Both teams play together intelligently; Chelsea are organised cleverly and United have an interlocking attacking awareness but if it remains that Chelsea’s starting 11 is just that bit stronger than United’s on paper, the fact that United have won the last three leagues in a row could suggest that United have developed a method of playing together as a team that is just that bit more effective.

As far as management goes, there simply isn’t a better manager in the world for dealing with title races than Sir Alex Ferguson. Experience counts for a lot, but it’s too easy to say that just because Chelsea have a manager new to the Premier League they will struggle. Ancelotti is still very experienced, and an excellent manager, and he has a brilliant team at his disposal. However, Ferguson knows his own team better and does know the league better, so there must be something of an advantage there.

It could be suggested that after three successive league wins United players might not want it as much as Chelsea players do but I think that any players under Ferguson wouldn’t allow such thoughts of complacency to enter their heads. He wouldn’t allow for it. As far as experienced players go, both teams are full of Premier League winners but there are some players in United’s team who have been involved in title races for six, seven, eight years, possibly longer. Experience is not something we lack, although admitedly Chelsea have a few older players in their midst in contrast to our development on youth.

The media have all but crowned Chelsea as Champions over the past week after they beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Emirates, but they’ve come crashing back to Earth today after losing 2-1 at Eastlands.

We’ve now moved to within two points of Chelsea at the top of the table and we have our bitter blue neighbours to thank for it.

We sent him an email and will now print both our email and his reply.

Our email to Jeff

Hi Jeff. I’d like to ask your opinion on the performance of Martin Atkinson (and his assistants) in the Chelsea v United game today.

There are a few key incidents that seemed to go in Chelsea’s favour and I’d love to hear your analysis of each one.

1. Rooney goes through on goal, only for the linesman to flag him offside.

Replays show that Ashley Cole was playing him onside.

2. John Terry hauls down Antonio Valencia inside the box. He gets none of the ball, but a lot of Valencia’s shirt. No penalty given.

3. John Terry and Ashley Cole collide in their own half. Atkinson allows Chelsea’s attack to continue. The attack breaks down, United launch a counter attack and Atkinson decides it’s time to stop play, despite the common consensus being that play should only be stopped for head injuries.

4. Darren Fletcher wins the ball cleanly from Ashley Cole. Cole goes down as if struck by a sniper in the crowd. Atkinson awards Chelsea a free kick.

5. Lampard delivers said free kick. Didier Drogba drags Wes Brown to the floor, and then interferes with play by trying to kick the ball, thus putting doubt in the ‘keepers mind. Goal given.

Do you feel that referees and linesmen should be punished for making wrong decisions that ultimately change the outcome of games?

Do you think the ‘Respect’ campaign can really work, when the standard of refereeing in England is so clearly below standard? Should the referees not have to earn the respect?

Jeff’s reply

You may be interested to read my articles that will appear on my site this week in the League of Injustice and Villain of the week sections.

Firstly though in the interests of balance, you fail to mention the fact that Evans should have been sent off for his chest high lunge of Droghba, who amazingly got booked, I presume on his reputation as much as anything he may have said or done.

[Ed - We 'failed to mention' it because we believe the referee was correct in his decision to book Drogba (There's no 'h' in Drogba). Evans eyes were firmly fixed on the ball. Drogba's eyes were on Evans. his intention was clearly to run straight into Evans while he was in mid-air and if Evans didn't stick his leg out could have been seriously injured. Drogba could have actually landed on his feet, but he lifts them up to make the incident look worse than it is, then disgracefully feigns a seizure on the floor, before running back onto the pitch just moments later.]

For the majority of the game the Ref had little to do and United were the better side. They should have had a penalty and Rooney was not offside.

These decisions which many neutral observers have conceded were marginal and either obscured from the officials vision or virtually impossible with the naked eye to detect. That is not a defence of the Referees or an anti-United bias just fact.

The Fletcher challenge was a foul as it was reckless; he went in with his foot raised. Droghba was not offside when Terry knocked it forward as he was level with the prone Brown, who fell to the ground with minimal contact. Now I don’t for one minute think that you will agree with me on these views even though they are ones that have been echoed by many neutral observers over the last 24 hours.

As Fergie was sensible to admit United lost the game in the main due to their own play as they bossed the game and failed to capitalise on their chances. They had the best player on the pitch in Rooney and with a little more luck should have won the game. The fact that they didn’t can not be placed at the official’s door. It is getting virtually impossible for Refs nowadays, the naked eye cannot pick up what the TV cameras eventually do when they have looked for the best viewing angles.

Respect is dead in the water, we live in a must win age and that at all costs. United have benefitted in the past indeed very recently and must realize that sometimes decisions will not go their way. Losing graciously is not something many people are prepared to do.

I close by saying that as a manager I have the utmost respect for Fergie and only wish United had sacked him as they were close to doing before the Forest cup-tie many years ago. He then might have managed my team and brought us some success. United are hated because in the main opposing fans are jealous of them but Fergie’s recent outburst have perhaps been uncharacteristically badly thought out, he seems to be alienating everybody.

Those who have such little regard for referees may also be starting presume conspiracy theories against United. I am not involved so I don’t know what the current Refs thinking is, but as they weekly seem to be castigated by him over fitness and positioning etc etc, it is hardly going to endear them to the club is it?

Best Wishes

Jeff

Stretty Ender would like to thank Jeff for taking the time to answer our questions.

You can find Jeff’s website by clicking the link here.

It was the hosts that created the first chance of the game. Branislav Ivanovic got in behind Patrice Evra and struck a left footed effort straight at Edwin van der Sar.

United were dominating the ball and not letting Chelsea build attacks, but were struggling to create chances of their own.

Michael Ballack sent in a cross from deep and found Didier Drogba, but the Ivorian headed wide.

Wayne Rooney was sent clear through on goal, leaving the Chelsea defence stranded. He had a clear goalscoring opportunity, but the incompetent linesman ruled that he was offside in one of many poor decisions from the officials today.

The next frustrating decision was when Ashley Cole and John Terry collided with each other. The referee – Martin Atkinson – was happy to let Chelsea continue their attack while the England captain – whose father was caught on video selling cocaine last night – lay on the floor. But as soon as United got possession and sprung a counter attack, he decided it was worthy of halting play while he received treatment. Sir Alex Ferguson had every right to complain as it wasn’t even a head injury.

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Player Ratings – Chelsea 1 – 0 Manchester United
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Wayne Rooney almost opened the scoring in the 66th minute. The England striker sent Valencia down the right wing with a well weighted pass, and the winger returned the pass to him on the edge of the area, but his shot ran a foot wide of the far post.

He came close again minutes later, when he cut inside and sent an effort curling towards the top corner, but goalkeeper Petr Cech was equal to it.

The next thing Martin Atkinson got wrong was to give a free kick to Chelsea for a non existent foul on Ashley Cole by Darren Fletcher. The midfielder won the ball cleanly and Cole went down theatrically to win the free kick. Inevitably, Chelsea scored from the resulting kick through John Terry, as Drogba dragged Wes Brown to the floor inside the area(and he was offside), which Martin Atkinson and his officials failed to spot.

It was a case of collective myopia today as Chelsea ran out undeserved 1 – 0 winners at Stamford Bridge.

O’Shea – 7 – Solid enough defensively, but didn’t contribute much to the attack.

Evans – 8 – Excellent performance today. United didn’t miss Ferdinand or Vidic with this lad at the back.

Brown – 8 – Played very well alongside Evans. Dominated aerially and kept Drogba quiet.

Evra – 7 – Caught out defensively a few times, passing was poor in the first half, but improved considerably in the second half.

Valencia – 6 – Kept Ashley Cole quiet all game, but didn’t offer enough in attack. Wasted a golden opportunity late on.

Fletcher – 8 – Didn’t give Chelsea a second to breathe. Doesn’t get the credit he deserves, particularly from poor referees.

Carrick – 8 – Kept possession well, put in some good tackles and had a few decent efforts on goal.

Anderson – 9 – Played very well, dominated the middle of the park and played some brilliant passes. Could have scored if Rooney had made the right decision in the second half.

Giggs – 5 – Poor show by his own standards. Nothing went right for the Welshman today.

Rooney – 6 – It’s never easy playing up front on your own, especially against Chelsea, but he didn’t make it any easier for himself with his bad touches, poor passing, awful decision making and general all round disappointing performance. Two good shots in the second half were all he could muster.

Venue: Stamford Bridge
Date: Sunday, 8 November 2009
Kick-off: 1600 GMT

Manchester United will take on league leaders Chelsea this Sunday in a mouth watering encounter at Stamford bridge.

The Champions have problems in defence and will be hopeful Nemanja Vidic recovers in time to partner Jonny Evans in the middle.

The injury list includes Rio Ferdinand and Danny Welbeck, as well as long term absentees Owen Hargreaves and Park Ji Sung.

Those doubtful for the match are Dimitar Berbatov, Ryan Giggs and Nemanja Vidic.

Gary Neville misses the match through suspension.

Chelsea – by contrast – are in very good shape ahead of the weekend clash. Their only injured player is right back Jose Bosingwa.

Just two points separate the sides at the top of the table and Chelsea will be looking to continue their 100% home record under Carlo Ancelotti to stretch the gap to 5 points.

United’s recent defensive worries will be a cause for concern. Two goals conceded at Anfield and three conceded at home to CSKA moscow isn’t the kind of form you want to be taking to Stamford Bridge to face Didier Drogba – who with nine goals in 11 games looks to be back to his best.

Chelsea should be form favourites for the match. They haven’t conceded a goal at Stamford Bridge for over 13 hours, they’ve won their last ten consecutive home games , and haven’t been beaten there since November last year when they fell victim to Arsenal.

Sir Alex celebrates his 23rd year at the club today(Friday) and will be looking for something special on Sunday to commemorate his achievement. However, if you look at the form of Didier Drogba, combined with the lack of form of United’s defence, the signs are not good for the United manager.