5 Best
Ryan Giggs — It hasn’t been the easiest of years for Ryan Giggs with his squeaky clean reputation left in tatters when details of his extra curricular activities were made public. Always considered to be one of football’s good guys, it came as quite a shock to many that he was a bit of a dick. On a purely footballing side however, you can’t deny he is one of the best players in Premier League history. This Sunday would mark yet another milestone in his long, looooooong United career.
On his 900th appearance for Man United, Giggs ran to the back post to divert Ashley Young’s cross into the Norwich goal, in the 92ndminute to keep United’s title race alive. It was always bound to happen. Who cares if the last 100 appearances have been through sentiment rather than merit? As long as he keeps popping up with vital goals United will still have use for the geriatric letch. Then maybe sometime around his 80th birthday he can bow out with dignity. But, until then Giggsy, try to keep it in your pants and concentrate on football!
Theo Walcott — Now I’m not going to jump on the band wagon and say that Theo Walcott is a bad footballer. I mean he sure as shit isn’t a good player but he’s not bad, just consistently sub standard. It must have been a tough afternoon for him yesterday. The first half wasn’t even over and thousands of Arsenal fans were jeering the poor sod, calling for him to be subbed. The Arsenal fans are clearly getting to the ends of their respective tethers of Walcott’s flattering to deceive, season after season.
The problem with Walcott is he still hasn’t fully come to terms with what is expected of him as a premier league footballer. Teams don’t want 10 minutes of energy and then a passenger for the remaining 80 minutes of the game. They want you to run yourself into the ground, for you to be helped from the field because you don’t have the energy to get off by yourself. This being something that Walcott is too reluctant to provide. Now imagine everybody’s surprise when in the SECOND half it is young Theo who is putting the finishing touches on Arsenal’s battering of rivals Spurs. It’s hard not to give the guy credit, for your own fans to turn on you in the first half of a game, to produce the goods the way he did deserves a little bit of respect. Well done Brau! (Bet he’s shit during the next game)
Dirk Kuyt — It says something about his impact on the game that Dirk Kuyt makes the list of players seeing as though he only entered the field during extra time. In the previous 100 or so minutes, Andy Carroll, the man he replaced, had provided very little goal threat and had done nothing more than provide the defenders with a challenge when it came to winning the ball in the air. Kuyt comes on and within minutes his scuffed shot is returned to him where he instantly and clinically dispatches the ball into the goal to make it 2-1 to Liverpool. Then, deep into stoppage time more drama as Kuyt is there to clear off the line from a Cardiff corner. Surely he couldn’t have more of an impact on the game! However, after Gerrard and Adam’s failure from the spot, up steps Kuyt, knowing he simply cannot afford to miss, and with balls of steel, effortlessly stroked the ball into the net. My only criticism of Kuyt would be that he looks like he could be Patrick Swayze’s malnourished brother. And that’s bad.
David De Gea — With risk of repeating what has been fed to us by every avenue of the media, De Gea’s Man United career hasn’t gotten off to the greatest of starts. However, since the injury to Anders Lindegaard meant an extended run in the team for the young Spaniard, he has cut a more assured figure in his six yard box. Commanding performances have followed and we are now getting an idea of why he was rated so highly.
Had it not been for Giggs’s injury time winner on his landmark game the headlines would surely have been about De Gea’s performance, again coming to United’s rescue with some truly brilliant saves. This young lad is improving and I am that excited about what is yet to come from him that I’m going to forgive his horrendous facial hair. The only person I’ve seen that can pull them off also has bone-claws that protrude from his fists.
Stewart Downing — As a man united fan, when Liverpool went for the crapper half of Aston Villa’s starting wingers and paid more than United did for the better half of Aston Villa’s wingers, well I was tickled pink. And for good reason. Stewart Downing has not justified the £20m that Kenny Dalglish decided he was worth. I think he decided by throwing one dart at a dartboard and the number it landed on, he would pay that amount.
Against Cardiff however he was a changed man. He was terrorising the Cardiff full backs. He was running past them with ease, delivering dangerous crosses and scored a penalty in the shoot-out. Who’d have known that to get the best out of him all you’d have to do was put him against Championship opposition. That being said he played very well and deserves credit. He’s not worth £20m.
