Zenit St Petersburg Shows How To Beat Manchester United

Misc, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup

The UEFA Super Cup is over, and Zenit St Petersburg had a relatively easy win over Manchester United, in the sense that they showed how you could beat Manchester United systematically. The Red Devils have lorded over the English Premier League and Europe for much of over the past decade, and that form generally shows no signs of abating. Many teams come up against them and have a form of stage fright or mental block, especially at Old Trafford where the atmosphere hardly counts as one of the most intimidating with home fans preferring prawn sandwiches than cheering their team on. Especially in the English Premier League where genuinely good sides like Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have hardly made a dent in their record over the last ten years.

But with Zenit’s win on Friday, where the scoreline flattered Manchester United, the football world should have taken note of the Red Devils’ weaknesses. Even with the reintroduction of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has announced that he will be ready by the end of September, these weaknesses will remain unless a major transfer spree is undertaken by the Old Trafford outfit. This will be unlikely given that the owners are highly conscious of spending patterns and it just is not the club’s usual way of operating in the first place. The major weakness is so simple that it borders on the ridiculous, and perhaps the reason why most clubs have never really tried it (apart from the lack of players to do so).

Zenit St Petersburg players constantly ran at the Manchester United defence in the UEFA Super Cup and showed that even with Vidic’s valiant efforts in shielding his error prone partner in defence, Rio Ferdinand, the English champions’ defence is extremely vulnerable to constant pressure via the wings. You would probably have lost count the number of times the Russian players got behind Manchester United’s defence, and sent in low crosses that split them further. While the two Zenit goals did not result from these moves, it showed the potential the same tactics could provide. But these same vulnerabilities that could prove the constant undoing of Manchester United are still unlikely to be heavily exploited, as many teams have some form of mental block when asked to have a go at the English and European champions.

Zenit St Peterburg’s win also raised some interesting questions, especially with the looming probability that Andrei Arshavin will stay with the club. If he retains his professionalism on and off the field, his presence in the Russian side, together with sensational new midfielder Danny Alves, could lead to a continuation of their European dream adventure from last season. They have landed in a tough Champions League group with the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus making up the rest of the teams that they have to overcome in order to progress to the next stage. But their win over Manchester United would have fanned the hopes again after a difficult few months since their UEFA Cup win. Their priorities are likely to remain with their domestic league for now, as they still trail league leaders Rubin Kazan by a massive 11 points. Based on their performances in Europe so far though, they have a high chance of beating both Real Madrid and Juventus both home and away.

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Portuguesa de Desportos vs Atlético MG Live Brasileirao 2008 8/31/2008

Brasileirao, Live Commentary, Live Radio, Live TV, Live Telecast, Match Highlights, Match Preview, Streaming Radio, Streaming TV

Watch Portuguesa de Desportos vs Atlético MG live in the Brasileirao 2008 as the home side are now favourites to join Ipatinga as relegated teams. There are still sixteen matches for Portuguesa de Desportos to rescue their season. However, their form has been horrible of late and this live football match on TV and online is unlikely to show much improvement. They have made losing a habit before this live commentary Brasileirao 2008 soccer match between Portuguesa de Desportos and Atlético MG at Dr. Oswaldo T. Duarte and it looks set to continue.

Their opponents in this live commentary and online radio TV telecast Brasileirao 2008 soccer match between Portuguesa de Desportos and Atlético MG at Dr. Oswaldo T. Duarte are not safe from danger themselves. A few wrong moves could see them join the rest at the bottom of the table. That is why Atlético MG must get all three points from this live soccer match on TV and online, by hook or by crook. Failing which they might soon be in a relegation battle after this live streaming online soccer TV and radio broadcast Brasileirao 2008 soccer match between Portuguesa de Desportos and Atlético MG at Dr. Oswaldo T. Duarte.

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Flamengo vs Fluminense FC Live Brasileirao 2008 8/31/2008

Brasileirao, Live Commentary, Live Radio, Live TV, Live Telecast, Match Highlights, Match Preview, Streaming Radio, Streaming TV

Watch Flamengo vs Fluminense FC live in the Brasileirao 2008 as the home side have slowly turned their fortunes around recently. Faced with a bad slump just a few weeks ago, Flamengo beat Gremio to kickstart their season again. With just nine points separating them from the leaders before this live football match on TV and online, a good long winning streak can put them right back in it. It requires dedicated application by their players in this live commentary Brasileirao 2008 soccer match between Flamengo and Fluminense FC at Jornalista Mário Filho and on recent evidence, they are definitely doing their best.

Fluminense are slowly piecing together the pieces again in this live commentary and online radio TV telecast Brasileirao 2008 soccer match between Flamengo and Fluminense FC at Jornalista Mário Filho. After a change in managers, it seems that that was what was required to breathe new life into the club. They are now back to playing their exciting attacking football in this live soccer match on TV and online which has deliver seven points from their last nine. While they are not out of the woods yet before this live streaming online soccer TV and radio broadcast Brasileirao 2008 soccer match between Flamengo and Fluminense FC at Jornalista Mário Filho the more work they put into it, the sooner they will emerge from the trouble.

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