Red Devils – A Girl in Red

Finally after seven years, United managed to score a hat-trick.

Premier League June 25, 2020

The hat-trick drought is finally lifted by Anthony Martial, who became the first player to score three goals in 7 years. The last player to do so was Robin Van Persie in 2013 against Aston Villa.

United hosted Sheffield United at Old Trafford with the aim of stealing all three points and they did just that. Which mean the Reds continue their unbeaten run (13 games) in all competitions.

Manchester United move closer to top 4 who are just 2 points away from Chelsea who plays Man City in their next fixture.

Martial’s firsts: Anthony Martial has scored his first hat-trick and scored in three successive PL home games for the first time in his United career.

After Sheffield United’s loss yesterday they are three consecutive games without a win since the PL resumed and sitting on the 8th position on the Premier League table.
Over a week ago Sheffield was two points behind United with a game in hand.

With Martial’s three wonderful goals he has equaled the the number of goals (19) scored by his fellow team mate Marcus Rashford in all competitions.
Who do you think will be the top scorer in 2019-2020 season?

Another amazing stat: Rashford, Martial and Greenwood have now scored 50 goals between them this season.
Source: Manchester United.

With Pogba back United are much stronger and looking confident.

Anthony, well done. Your first hat-trick for United, how did it feel?
“I feel very good. It’s my first hat-trick in my career, so I hope I will score more. I’m happy because the team played very good today so I think it’s good.”

Was your favourite goal the hat-trick one? It was a great build-up.
“The last one, I think the last one. It was a very good goal. The first two were two good goals, like a real number nine and I know the manager is happy for these to go in. He was happy.”

You’ve got 19 goals, Marcus has got 19 goals – is there a little competition to see who gets to 20 first?
“He gave me one or two assists today, so the most important [thing] is to win. I tried to give him a chance to score – no competition, we just want to win.”

Obviously, you’d love to score a hat-trick in front of 75,000 people screaming your name.

“It was really nice. The fans were happy… no, it was a little bit strange! I know they will be happy for me and it’s good to play like this.”
Anthony Martial

Robin Van Persie tweeted after the game.

wtch full match highlights and Martial’s first hat-trick.

United play Norwich on 27th, 10:00 Pm IST.

Should Ole be the Permanent United manager?

Premier League March 19, 2019

It was just Christmas and United had lost all hopes. Finishing in the top four almost looked unlikely, forget about competing in CL and winning FA Cup.

Who would have thought just in few months our baby faced assassin will turn the tables completely?

It would be a miracle if Manchester United finished in the top four this season this is what Mourinho said in December. The fourth position looked almost impossible, Chelsea sitting on that spot comfortably with 11 points clear of Man Utd but in just after one and half months, Ole managed to do the impossible, miracle eh?

Jose’s Pressers had become toxic and we all detested it, what is he gonna say next about the management, the players or how is he gonna embarrass the club, it was all messed up. United needed change. At first, I was sceptical about Ole, we couldn’t afford another manager who will take his time to settle with the club but Ole knew what he needed to do.

Ole’s Paris travelling squad included 12 players who were on tour last summer but did not “belong” to Jose’s United and with the same team, Ole has written history “No team in Champions League history had overturned a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.” United are the first team to do so and without their 10 first team players. Ole passed his biggest test as United manager and he did it in United way.

With 0-2 down in the first leg against PSG and limited options Ole had to build the team with young players.

20 years on from the CL comeback against Bayern in Barcelona, United repeated the history by scoring winner goal in the extra time. United eleminated the CL “favourites”

With just eight games Ole had already made it to the history books, the first manager to win all first eight games with the club. United have won 11 games out of 13 and lost just one. United are now at the 4th position 2 points ahead of Chelsea who is on the 6th position as of now. He got positivity in the club after all those media rantings and even after almost 10 first team players injured United have managed to win the games at home and away.

Ole Gunnar understands the club and knows what the fans and the club really want and most of all he understands the United way, that belief in the team and the history was missing since the departure of SAF and I feel we have found it in Ole. United are playing the way United should.

With 10 first team players missing Ole managed to get best out of players like Lukaku who was struggling to score sitters, Pereira, Smalling, Herrera, Lindelof all have improved under him. Playing the players in their natural position, pushing the full back higher so there’s no empty gap, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Paul Pogba playing in their favoured position. All these basic changes which were needed to get the results. Fred, the player who has been constantly struggling to keep up with the rest of the team has been improving under Ole and was impressive against PSG.

These issues he had previously mentioned to Ryan Giggs:

“I was at a game next to him, and he was pointing out to me, ‘Look at the full-backs, they’re not high enough’. Things that we were used to, things that you associate with Man United teams,” Giggs said.

‘Ok you score two, we’ll score three’ and I think he’s brought, he’s instilled that back into them that we need to score goals, we need to attack and if we’re all higher up the pitch then it just poses the opposition that question. All of a sudden teams are going from, ‘Right it’s Man United, we’ve got a chance today’ to actually, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll be defending, we’ll be deeper’.

“As a supporter, it feels like we’ve got our Manchester United back,” says Phill Neville

“Ole’s done an unbelievable job. He’s embraced everything and let the players play with a smile on their face. I think it’s impossible not to give him the job.”

Hello world!

Introduction August 10, 2017

Football is a way of life for me, I may not play football anymore but my heart still skips a beat every time David De Gea makes one of his usual astounding saves. I am a fervent Manchester United fan and I have been watching this beautiful game since I was 15. My journey began as a football player, it wasn’t long before I was forced to stop playing, due to many family issues and my low self-esteem. I may have stopped playing but that did not stop me from religiously sitting in front of the tv every game night and watch my favourite team battle it out. Soon I realized I needed to channel this ardency and dedication.

Back when we had Rooney in our front line.

One of my friend invigorated me to start a football blog and that’s how A Girl In Red came into existence. I pen down my opinion about the team and how the formation could have been altered for a particular game. Yes, I know all the football rules and no Ronaldo is not my favourite player. People are quick to judge when they see a girl following and talking about football. But I’m fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who actually believe in me and my love for football. These three months have been terrible, living without football was like taking away a huge part of my life. It was as if I had nothing else to do, that’s how football has moulded my life. We take things we have for granted and we only realize it’s value when it’s taken away from us.