Although a glimpse at my Facebook and Twitter news feeds last night would suggest otherwise, Manchester United's victory at Wembley yesterday did not win them every major trophy in the 2011/12 season, but what it did do was send out a reminder that United are always stronger than they appear on paper. Whilst my social networking timelines were not clogged up with gloating glory-hunters on neither April 16th or 28th May (for those of you too lazy to click the links: United's other two, rather more important 2011 appearances at Wembley), the manner of The Community Shield win epitomises everything about United under Alex Ferguson. Winning with a team Ferguson puts his confidence in rather than what most would consider their strongest side, coming from behind and even injury-time winners; if you wanted to sample what the Red Devils' last 25 years have been like, it was all there in those 94 minutes on Wembley's hallowed turf.
And although I wouldn't say the game taught City a lesson as Wayne Rooney less-than-humbly claims, it is unquestionable that round one in the psychological ding-dong that will play out across Manchester this season goes to United.
But whilst United answered some critics yesterday, yet more questions arose: is David De Gea's shaky debut a sign of things to come? Is the midfield really strong enough without a replacement for Paul Scholes? And will a spell under the spotlight eventually persuade Tom Cleverley to ditch his council estate hair do?
Answers on a postcard, please.
I wish I was surprised
...by the disturbing scenes in North London this week. In what is rapidly becoming commonplace, yet another demonstration that started as a peaceful protest descended into anarchy, and riots broke out that have left innocent residents homeless. I cannot express how disgusted I am that in the 21st century we have individuals in our society that get a kick out of destroying other people's lives and wreaking havoc just for the sake of it. We live in a world where the EDL can arrange hollow protests that merely act as an excuse for yobs from around the country to unite and destroy a town for a day, a world where the true message tuition fee protesters were trying to send was lost amidst a media frenzy about attacked police officers and launched fire extinguishers. It seems that honest, defiant people can no longer make public appearances to voice their concerns without the party being gatecrashed by lunatics that the police are powerless to stop.
One word of advice I would have for the Met police is to keep a close eye on social networking activity at all times, as it seems they are always second to react. It turns out that despite the popular notion that Twitter was the platform used to arrange the gathering, BlackBerry's BBM system was used. I am convinced that if the police can find a way to adequately monitor the resources these yobs are using to arrange violent gatherings (although I'm not sure how it could be done without obvious infringement on privacy), they should be able to react quicker in future, to extinguish the fire before it is lit.
Whatever the police do to improve their reaction, these are scenes I would like to see less of in future. This needs to stop.
Agree with all that, mate. Particularly the bit about Cleverley's hair!
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