RVP Reminder

It was "only" the Community Shield, granted. And, no, beating Owen Coyle's second-tier Wigan at Wembley doesn't earn you any gold stars. But it does mean you've avoided more controversy and acrimony and, perhaps, a knee-jerk reaction, of the kind that manifests itself when you stumble. And Manchester United's 2-0 win did provide two important reminders. 

One is that Ryan Giggs, less than one hundred days removed from his 40th birthday, can still generate magic and energy. Certainly not every game, probably not every week, and maybe not even every few weeks. But knowing he's around and can still make the difference is a boon for the club's younger players (which is basically everyone bar half a dozen guys). 

The other is that Robin van Persie is still around. That's right. RVP. Remember him? A year ago today there was talk of little else. His potential transfer fee, his wages, whether he could fit in at Old Trafford, whether he could stay healthy, whether he could deliver. Thirty-six goals in 48 outings for United answered that question. 

Yet this summer, in a soap opera dominated by Wayne Rooney and manager David Moyes -- with supporting roles for Rooney's agent, Paul Stretford, and team executive Ed Woodward -- RVP has been a minor recurring character. Now that the stage has moved back to the pitch, he's ready to be the whole show once again, as he was early last year, when he carried United on his back in some outings.

It's not just one less thing for Moyes to worry about -- it's also a major added value of the kind the media rarely talks about because Van Persie is not the kind of guy who generates headlines when he's not doing his thing on the pitch. 

With Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale, the other two-thirds of last season's Player of the Year triumvirate, either on their way out or (at best) embroiled in long and unsettling transfer controversies, Van Persie is the one guy who has had a long, relaxed summer during which to recharge his batteries. 

Given the upheaval and changes at the club and throughout the top of the Premier League, Van Persie's stability could end up making all the difference come May.

Isinbayeva's Retirement Fairytale

The world championships finally caught fire on Tuesday as the fans turned up to say farewell to Yelena Isinbayeva, only for the Russian pole vault queen to roll back the years and win an emotional gold medal against all the odds.

Without a global title since 2008, struggling for form and due to retire after this event, the 31-year-old fed off the energy produced by a finally near-full and raucous Luzhniki Stadium to triumph with a leap of 4.89 metres.

Ever the show-woman, Isinbayeva ended the night with an assault on her own world record, set in her pomp when she won the second of her Olympic titles in Beijing. With chants of "Yelena" ringing in her ears, she fell short, but there was no trace of disappointment from her, the crowd or the organizers who finally got the memorable night they had craved.

Most big athletics events advertise themselves with an image of a sprinter but the posters around Moscow have a pole vaulter as their centrepiece - and now the world knows why. Twice Olympic and world champion, four-times world indoor champion and multiple world record holder, Isinbayeva has been an icon of the sport. But after finishing sixth in the last world championships and third at the 2012 Olympics it seemed as if the glory days were behind her.

American Jenn Suhr and Yarisley Silva of Cuba, who had the five best vaults of the year, came to Moscow as favourites. The home fans had other ideas, however, having finally decided to attend in numbers after nights of embarrassingly low crowds. Tuesday felt different - they even mustered their first Mexican wave - and Isinbayeva, who knows better than anyone how to work a crowd, surfed the wave of goodwill.

With four athletes left, the bar went to 4.82 - beyond her best of the season. She cleared it on the second attempt, only for Olympic champion Suhr to follow her over to regain the lead on countback. The bar was hoisted to 4.89 and, writing a script the organisers could only have dreamed of, Isinbayeva soared over at the first attempt.

Suhr and Silva could not match her, taking silver and bronze respectively, and the Russian tore off to climb into the crowd and hug her coach. After the sideshow of the world record attempts there came a joyous lap of honour, complete with spectacular cartwheels and backflips, and she was still talking to TV crews 90 minutes after her victory.

Moyes To Start Title Defence

When Sir Alex Ferguson was handed the microphone in his final game at Old Trafford on May 12, there was a moment that took him back in time. ‘When we had bad times here the club stood by me, the staff stood by me, the players stood by me. Your job now is to stand by our new manager. That is important.’

It was a nice thing to do in the circumstances, a touching gesture from Ferguson. He knows more than anyone just how tough it can be at Manchester United. After his appointment in November 1986 it took Ferguson nearly four years before he was finally accepted by the majority of United supporters. 

He survived the bitterness and resentment of the old Scoreboard End in December 1989 when Mark Hughes was dropped to the substitutes’ bench for a First Division game against Crystal Palace. As Hughes began warming up in front of them, the ‘FERGIE OUT’ banners were being draped over the edge of the concourses. It didn’t help that their team lost 2-1.

Six months later they were on their way to the FA Cup final, beating Palace in a replay when Lee Martin scored the winner at Wembley.

This weekend David Moyes will start the league programme with an away match, just as Fergie did in November 1986 when United travelled south to the Manor Ground. They lost 2-0, beaten by Oxford United in front of 13,500 supporters packed into their old stadium. Those who were there remember Ferguson being surprised by the attention and visibly disturbed by the lack of quality in his United team.

The adjustment takes time, something Moyes has become acutely aware of since he was named Ferguson’s successor. Last weekend’s victory in the Community Shield at Wembley over Wigan was more important to him than it was to anyone else involved at the club. It was someone else’s title-winning team but Moyes has crossed the line and added some silverware in his first official match in charge. There were signs of tension before the game, standing in the tunnel with his team with a look of anxiety and uncertainty. It’s only natural.

In the media suite after the game he realised he would be given precious little time to dwell on the comfortable 2-0 victor. The first question was about the win. The second was about Cesc Fabregas. The third, an innocuous question about United’s midfield, was enough to irritate Moyes. Then the fourth – the Rooney question – was enough to make him snap.

He has departed from the manner of Ferguson’s traditional briefings, when the former United manager would begin every session with his own opinions before a question could be asked. Ferguson could be in full flow for two or three minutes before anyone had the chance to ask a question. It was an established pattern, but Moyes is still working it all out as he prepares for the first game of the Barclays Premier League season. In the weeks leading up to the game at Wembley he accepted that managing the expectations at United is several levels up from his previous job at Everton. He is being pulled in different directions, from transfer targets to the ongoing issue of his £240,000-a-week striker Rooney to the transition of his team.

This is the bedding-in period for Moyes. Unlike Fergie, he does not have four years to change the culture of the club; he doesn’t need to. He has inherited the Premier League champions and they have to play like them.

At the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, Moyes’s new team will be given a thorough workout by Michael Laudrup’s side. Swansea have conceded only one goal in their pre-season build-up and beat Malmo 4-0 in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier. 

United have a huge squad, stronger than many give them credit for as the predictions of two-way tussle for the title between Manchester City and Chelsea pour in. They still have the resources to compete for the Premier League and Moyes has backing at boardroom level. On Saturday he will need the full support of United’s fans.

In David Moyes WE trust!!! 

Pastore's Enigma

I'm not a fan of Ligue 1 but last weekend I stayed up to watch (I'm lying cuz I can't sleep actually) Montpellier vs Paris Saint-Germain. Wanted to see what's the big fuss about Cavani vs Falcao this season. Personally, the game was about another player excelling in a role he's not used to, Javier Pastore, as a deep lying midfielder. But the draw at the Stade de la Mosson did throw up a particularly intriguing lesson, and one that could greatly benefit PSG as the season progresses. 

Since arriving at the Parc des Princes from Palermo in the summer of 2011, Javier Pastore has flattered to deceive. The Argentine international was immediately brilliant, enjoying the sort of immediate impact that you would expect of a player worth €42 million. Six league goals and two assists in his opening 10 games for PSG appeared to herald the birth of a new superstar in the French capital. He finished his debut season with 13 goals and five assists. 

However, the 18 months that followed have not been as happy as the opening six. The 24-year-old has still contributed regularly, including important goals against Toulouse, Evian, Valencia and Barcelona last season, and finished the title-winning year with four goals and eight assists. But the playmaker's sulky, disinterested demeanour has become just as common, and frustrating, as his occasional flashes of brilliance.

Pastore is an enigma. 

Carlo Ancelotti struggled to solve him and decided the best way to utilise the expensive attacking midfielder was by playing him out wide, having fleetingly tried a deep-lying role in his early days in charge, but almost giving up on 'el Flaco.'The Italian declared his willingness to persevere with the mercurial talent, but also made his disappointment clear last December. 

The Argentine's impassioned plea to his coach to stay at PSG towards the end of last season, before Ancelotti eventually left for Real Madrid, speaks volumes over how hard the two-time Champions League winner worked to rediscover his player's true form. But new coach Blanc might have stumbled upon the solution to Pastore's struggles during the draw with Montpellier, and it is not something new or revolutionary. 

With the ever erratic Marco Verratti being substituted in the 76th minute on the verge of a second booking, Pastore was asked to drop into the deep-lying midfield role alongside Blaise Matuidi in order to push substitute Hervin Ongenda as far forward as possible. In that role for the final 14 minutes, the previously invisible star came to life and produced a simple but effective performance that eclipsed his entire showing up until that point. 

Moved into the centre, albeit further back than he'd prefer, Pastore looked far more comfortable than he has done at any point played out wide on the left. His distribution was immaculate, something that was not true of his performance against Bordeaux or the opening 76 minutes in Montpellier, and he looked more calm and composed than he has done for a long time in a PSG shirt. 

Crucially he also looks calmer and more composed than Verratti who, true to form, only took 32 minutes to pick up a first booking of the season. The diminutive Italian was lucky to stay on the pitch for various incidents after his initial caution. When fit, Thiago Motta provides that reassuring influence. But Pastore looked just as capable when filling in for Verratti, not to mention infinitely more reliable than the youngster and less injury-prone than Motta. 

'El Flaco' now appears to be maturing. 

When Ancelotti initially tried him in a deep-lying role, he was not ready for it. But given how difficult it is for PSG to now accommodate a number 10 role when playing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani up top, a more withdrawn central role looks the best fit for Pastore with the current 4-2-2-2 formation. After the Montpellier cameo, it appears that he is more willing to accept deployment in that position and it should be clear to Blanc that he now has another option there in the Argentine. 

One of the French champions' major problems from their opening two matches this season has been a lack of creativity from midfield. Often the moves have broken down when the ball comes to Pastore on the left. Pairing a player with the technical talent of the Argentine, but without the petulance of Verratti, would enable the team to accommodate the industry of Ezequiel Lavezzi out wide. Doing so would also preserve a vital pace-based attacking outlet in the midfield that Pastore cannot offer. 

With former Napoli man Lavezzi flanking Ibrahimovic and Cavani, and a reinvigorated Lucas Moura on the right, PSG could arguably become more fluent in attack. Placing Pastore further back, Blanc's side would also benefit from his understanding with Cavani from their Palermo days, something we saw flashes of against Montpellier. That will be particularly useful as the side from the capital embrace their ability to take a more direct approach with two physical strikers now leading the line, something that will come to the fore domestically as the season progresses. 

It was only a short spell lasting less than 20 minutes, so perhaps it was too little time to judge whether Pastore is truly ready to change position once again. But with Ajaccio at home coming up this weekend, by no means a straightforward game but one that PSG can arguably use to experiment and still expect to win, Blanc has the opportunity to try a new look with Cavani likely to make his full debut.