Arsenal vs. Manchester United

Danny Wellbeck gave Manchester United all three points at the Emirates this weekend to help Manchester United keep pace with rivals Manchester City at the top of the Barclays Premier League table. Antonio Valencia struck first with a header from a Ryan Giggs cross that put United ahead right before the halftime whistle in half that the Red Devils dominated from start to finish. Arsenal came out strong in the second half with chance after chance against a weakened United defense and finally got the break through from Robin Van Persie via a fantastic pass from Alex Oxlade Chamberlain who was impressive on his first start at the highest level for the Gunners. Things got interesting late on when Arsene Wenger controversially decided to remove Oxlade Chamberlain for the much maligned Andrei Arshavin. Alex Ferguson sent Antonio Valencia to right back to exploit this change and it paid dividends immediately after Valencia skinned Arshavin and squared it to Danny Wellbeck to give United all three points late on.

There were positives all over the pitch for United but it was Danny Wellbeck who stole the spotlight. Wellbeck has earned his starting spot and adds another element to the Manchester United attack especially compared to Javier Hernandez who offers little outside of his poaching instinct. His creative runs and quality in wide areas give defenders trouble constantly and had it not been for some last ditch defending he could have put the game to bed much earlier. There were doubts as to whether he was United quality after his Sunderland loan last season but he has put those doubts to rest with his performances this campaign and looks to have made the starting spot his own.

Chris Smalling, Antonio Valencia, and Michael Carrick, and Rafael Da Silva all impressed as well. Smalling looked imperious in his more natural position and is looking more and more like the perfect replacement for an aging Rio Ferdinand. Valencia continues to be as one dimensional as ever, but with devastating effect. Carrick kept it simple as usual but the midfield metronome has been instrumental in recent weeks with all the uncertainty over United's midfield. The Cleverley-Carrick midfield duo on paper is a mouth watering prospect and according to Toms recent tweets he isn't that far off a return to the first team. Rafael should be starting at this point and his performance as a substitute showed that much. The fact that right back is his natural position and he can attack like only a Brazilian full back can is reason enough to give him a run in the first team over the likes of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling who never look entirely convincing at right back.

The downward trend continues for Arsenal, unfortunately, as a top four finish looks increasingly unlikely as they move further and further away from the rest of the pack at the top. Wenger appears to have lost the plot and the the future of instrumental captain Robin Van Persie remains up in the air. Their lack of depth is being exposed at the toughest point of the season and it only gets tougher as resurgent Italian giants A.C Milan wait in the round of 16, another embarrassing result is on the cards unless Arsene brings in proper reinforcements.

USMNT vs. Venezuela

The USMNT beat Venezuela last night one to nothing in what was a very boring game for fans. The result was very important though as the US dominated Venezuela from start to finish but lacked the cutting edge in the attacking end. The winner came off a corner kick and provided a form of redemption for Ricardo Clark after his horror show against Ghana in South Africa.

The stand out performer by far was Jermaine Jones who was everywhere last night. Breaking up attacks, distributing the ball well, and even making late runs into the box to provide an offensive spark that the nats clearly lacked throughout. If he plays like that on a consistent basis he has to be the first midfielder on the team sheet for Jurgen Klinsmann. A player who wouldn't normally be in this camp due to European commitments was serving an 8 match ban and took the most of the opportunity given to him by Kilnsmann. Including being given the captains armband which certainly gave Jones a boost of sorts.

Another bright spot was the defense. They were rarely troubled by a mediocre Venezuela team but AJDLG, Cameron, Parkhurst, and Pearce all did their jobs well. AJDLG and Cameron especially deserve call ups against Italy for their strong performances. Cameron could partner either one of Bocanegra or Onyewu well given his technical skill set and ability to step forward into midfield and move the ball around. Zach Lloyd also looked bright in his limited playing time, his crosses were very dangerous on the night.

The disappointment for fans has to be the offense that almost looks clueless without one of Dempsey or Donovan available to be the catalyst. Shea for all the hype was very one dimensional and didn't run at his defender nearly enough and Zusi on the other side offers nothing from open play. Feilhaber was tidy but didn't provide the spark that a number 10 should give. Worst of all was Teal Bunbury who looked clueless as the lone striker and often pulled out into wide positions where he plays for Sporting Kansas City which left a gaping hole up top for the nats.

The positives and negatives that come with these games are to be expected considering the mostly MLS make up of the squad but Klinsmann needs to find more difference makers in the national pool and fast if he wants to improve on his average record as head coach.

Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol

Having seen all of the Mission Impossible movies I was less than excited to see the most recent one. The series has steadily declined since the first one and Tom Cruise isn't getting any younger.

I was pleasantly surprised though and it was definitely one of the best action movies I have ever seen. Some of the locations they shot the film at were incredible and the scenes in Dubai, more specifically the Burj Khalifa, were staggering. The stunts filmed at the building were some of the best in an action movie ever. The plot was sound even if I didn't pay too much attention to it. It's simple enough so you can focus on the action of the movie.

Cruise was great even though he is becoming less and less convincing as a secret agent at his age, the scene where he escapes from a hospital with no shirt on didn't do him any favors. Paula Patton is stunning and provided the eye candy whilst also having a mini plot of her own to deal with in the film. Jeremy Renner was solid and is a good choice to succeed Cruise down the line. He could have been written into the film better though as it was hard to believe his angle in the film. Simon Pegg was solid and was good in a bit part role that bordered on being too much. His involvement in the Kremlin especially was a little much.

Some minor gripes would be how poor the CGI was for an action film, especially one of this caliber. The explosion at the Kremlin with Cruise running away was horrible. The lack of character development from all of the bad guys especially considering the movie was 2 hours long.

Overall though its a must see movie and easily the best in the Mission Impossible series. 8/10

Becks is Back

After much speculation David Beckham re-signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy on a two year deal and was on show on Thursday for a press conference to announce the new deal. After being linked with many European clubs he ultimately decided to return to the Galaxy.

The biggest question for the Galaxy is now solved but there are still plenty of questions left to answer for the Galaxy before they begin their defense of their MLS crown from last season. Most notable who is going to replace Omar Gonzalez who tore his ACL on loan in Germany. The outlook is bleak and he will most likely miss the entire MLS campaign before a transfer abroad. Replacing him will be no easy feat as he has been the best defender in MLS for the past two seasons. Beckham has been brought in by Arena and company to help find a replacement before the season kicks off though according to reports. Which is a good sign for Galaxy fans who might have thought that Arena would not make any moves with the Galaxy being so deep in defense. Dasan Robinson could have done a job if he could find his form of a couple seasons ago but ultimately no one in the current squad could do what Gonzalez does so a replacement is necessary if the Galaxy are to steamroll the league for a third season in a row.

The next question is can Marcelo Sarvas replace the departing Juninho alongside Beckham? One of the main reasons for Beckham's success last season was Juninho's ability to cover tons of ground and make up for Beckham's lack of discipline and constant roaming all over the field. Does Sarvas have similar engine and work rate? Little is known of him so we can only speculate till the Galaxy start their title defense in a couple months.