We kicked off with a defeat in the Capital One Cup final against Mourinho's Chelsea. Ryan Shawcross made a costly mistake and allowed Nuno Santos to grab the winner in the 11th minute. We had a few clear cut chances but couldn't finish them off.

Man United fixtures


Premier League
After the cup final loss, we were back in the league against Norwich at Old Trafford. We struggled to overcome our opponents but thankfully, we managed to hang on to a 1-0 victory. We were brought back down to Earth in our next league game against Newcastle at home, with the Magpies grabbing the solitary goal in a smash and grab victory. I demanded a reaction from the players and they responded by bouncing back in the next two league games, beating both Blackburn and Liverpool comfortably at home.

Table


Results elsewhere went our way as we stayed top after a defeat against the Magpies.

FA Cup
Having struggled past Man City in the last round, we didn't have much luck with the draw as we drewLiverpool in the quarter finals at Anfield. Again, we weren't at our best and luckily, we managed to hang on to a goal-less draw. Inevitably, we add yet another game to our busy list of fixtures next month and it was beginning to take a toll on our squad.

Champions League
We struggled yet again (it has happened far too often this month) against Athletico Madrid at home and were a goal away from exiting the competition. It was painful to watch as we hung on to a narrow 4-3 aggregate win.

England


We had a friendly scheduled against Egypt at home and I decided to take a gamble by resting most of my first 11. As a result, we never got going as we went 1-0 down at half-time. Wanting a win to keep the momentum going, I threw on most of the first-team players in the second period and we came back to win the game 2-1.