SIX things we learnt from the Manchester derby

Something is missing at United –What Manchester United side under Sir Alex would have ever nearly thrown away a 3-0 nil lead? Yeah, you can argue City are world class but this is the same manager that orchestrated the famous comeback in the Champions League against Bayern Munich.

The Old Trafford reality is catching up with Jones –Phil Jones is currently in a torrid run of personal form. With the own goal against Newcastle as well as a couple of bad games before, the Englishman can now add this thriller to one of his worst games. The centre half had been receiving plaudits left right and centre since his big money to United, and quite rightly so, however the defenders form as of late has been shaky, unreliable and costly. Whether it be the adrenaline coming to an end after his move or we are just seeing the real Phil Jones, either way these performances most stop being a regular thing if he is to reach his potential.

Lack of leaders at City – 1-0 down and a man down after twelve minutes against your fiercest rivals in arguably the world of football’s most prestigious cup competition should rile up any footballer. However without the commanding presence of Yaya Toure and even the often criticised Gareth Barry; City, for all their world class skill didn’t have that leader, that captain to steady the ship…it could be a long month for City without Yaya.

Defence really is the best form of attack – At half time Roberto Mancini took off Adam Johnson and David Silva for Stefan Savic and Pablo Zabaleta to avoid ending up on the wrong side of 6-1 but in the end they probably were unlucky not to earn at least a replay, something that at half time, seemed more unlikely than a Martin O’Neill wearing a suit.

Chris Foy is a United fan – He has to be. He helped Stoke beat title rival Tottenham Hotspur and now he has sent off Vincent Kompany for a tackle that would have got a “take a bow son” off Andy Gray against the Red Devils greatest rivals. Fergie really has worked his magic in the transfer market by securing the signings of Howard Webb and Foy in the middle of the park.

Rooney will 110% be leaving United – He kissed the badge. He’s off. Fact.

Disappointments of this Premier League season

The Premier League is arguably the greatest the league in the world of football, attracting the world’s biggest footballing names, usually producing four teams in the latter stages of the Champions League and showcasing some of the best free flowing attacking football. Like all beautiful things, there is usually a flip side, and this Premier League season, in amongst unbeaten runs and unbelievable ‘tekkers’ there has been sending off’s, dodgy decisions and the odd unnoticed elbow.

Weak FA– This season more than most, has been surrounded in off the ball incidents, goals that should have been and goals that shouldn’t have been, but the main disappointment for me, a lover of the beautiful game, has been the FA’s inconsistency and lack of punishment in dealing with incidents. Wayne Rooney’s WWE style elbow on James McCarthy, whether or not Mark Clattenberg saw the incident or reported the incident, is all irrelevant; an obvious and callous attack on a fellow professional should’ve been punished. Also this season has seen the emergence of Twitter being used by footballers, it is a fantastic way for fans to feel closer to their ‘heroes’. However this season has seen a footballers, regularly being reprimanded for things they have said on Twitter. Ryan Babel, Danny Gabbidon and Carlton Cole are just some of the players who have been fined and warned by the FA this season but there have also been cases this season where the FA haven’t punished footballers for outspoken comments on the website. Jack Wilshere avoided being reprimanded for these comments “Inconsistent refereeing needs to stop, its killing the game.” How will the FA’s respect for referees campaign ever be a success if such things go unpunished?

The standard has dropped– The Premier League is always classed as the greatest league on earth and don;t get me wrong, that is still the case after this season. However many are praising the improvement of the teams outside the top four for taking more points off the ‘big boys’. Being the cynic I am, I just can’t help but think this is because the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea have just dropped in standard. After making a blistering start to the season, Chelsea struggled to eventually claim second, Arsenal failed to hold on to a 4-0 lead at Newcastle, Manchester United drew 11 games and Liverpool still didn’t reclaim their Champions League status. Not exactly attributes of football’s elite.

The Title race didn’t go to the last day– It seemed at one point that neither Arsenal, Manchester United or Chelsea wanted to the win the Premiership. All the teams dropped points in the title run in and it looked all set up for a final day rollercoaster. Sadly for us fans of the beautiful game, Arsenal collapsed, Chelsea left it too late and Manchester United did what they do best and claimed their nineteenth league title in the penultimate fixture.

Premiership fixtures on day of FA Cup– This season has well and truly killed off the FA Cup, the cup that represents the spirit of football, where everyone loves the underdog. Last Saturday the Premier League held their fixtures at 12:30pm with the FA Cup kicking off later that afternoon. The FA Cup used to be a special occasion, a sole fixture, that rolled every footballing emotion into one 90 minutes. With fans travelling back from their lunch time kick off’s, the FA Cup was lost in delayed trains and post match pints.

Let me know what has disappointed you this season at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Daniel-T-Blazer/185495024836102