Record signing? No Mata...

Six minutes was all it took for Juan Mata to make an impact with his new club, a cross-field pass perfectly picking out Patrice Evra and a matter of seconds later, the net was rippling. If this is a sign of things to come, then United fans better get excited.

Sealed with club record £37.1m from rivals Chelsea, Mata has arrived with arguably a massive weight on his shoulders and the hopes of Manchester United fans across the globe that he can turn their fortunes around. But no pressure was evident, as Mata would float around the pitch, popping up everywhere. Within minutes he was pinging passes across the field, much back to the days when he was a regular in the Chelsea XI. I still find it astonishing that Chelsea and Mourinho were willing to leave Mata out of the starting line-up and then go on to sell him, but it has worked fantastically in United's favour.

Not one player can turn a club's season around and for Moyes and his players, there is plenty of work to do. But United can make a good stab of it, particularly if strikers Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie stay fit; the latter getting on the score-sheet after only six minutes into his return tonight. At times against a plucky Cardiff side, led by former United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, they would concede possession easily and were chasing the game. I am yet to be really convince by Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling - are they really the future of the English side? Manchester United did play okay - comfortable more than anything - but if they lose possession against a better side in the future, they will be punished. They certainly need to improve.

But for now, Mata's arrival has injected a much-needed buzz to Old Trafford. It's a big signal of intent from David Moyes, to say to their rivals 'listen, don't forget about us.' Mata will go on to be a Manchester United great, his creativity and vision is what they need in what is a side this campaign that is lacking any real conviction. It may be too late to save their season and a Champions League spot now, but the potential is there for beyond - and all that remains to be seen is whether Chelsea have made a big mistake letting their two-time Player of the Year slip from their grasp.

Odd Football ramblings

Football. I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty sure I live and breathe it. I'd be so lost if I didn't play Football. It's odd how one sport can make someone have so much emotion towards just 22 players kicking a ball around, but we do. I do. And a lot has happened in the football world, which this blog is about - football ramblings!

First of, I want to extend my congratulations to everyone connected to Cardiff City FC - their players, staff, fans etc. I for one is pleased to see them in the top flight; they've deserved it for so long and they've got a good manager and squad. For a team that has been always challenging the top of the Championship, it's no more than they deserve than to finally end 51 years of hurt and go up to play with the big guns. 

I'm also sad to see Portsmouth relegated, a football club which has so much history. It's hard to believe that it was only in 2009 that they had top class players such as Niko Kranjcar and Kevin-Prince Boateng in their starting line-ups - now they have had big financial trouble, in administration and will be playing their football in League Two next season. I know it must be fantastic for Southampton fans that their arch rivals are down, but I'm sad for them and their fans. At least now, with Pompey's Supporters Trust in charge of the club, they can rebuild from stratch. I have no doubt that they will be back challenging in the Championship in no time, so keep the faith Pompey fans!

I come onto now the amount of violence and hooglanism football has seem to have over the last few days - quite frankly, I am appalled. For starters, I really don't see why some Millwall supporters (a minority may I add) found the need to scrap amongst themselves and the Police? It's done nothing but let their club down, who already have a bad enough reputation as it is. It was utterly stupid for them to behave like that, and I feel for their 'proper' fans - fans who were there just to watch their team. To then have the following day Newcastle fans riot in their OWN CITY was just disgraceful - again, was there really any point? Once again I say, all they have done is brought shame on their club - and once again I shall say this was a minority. I hope the authorites and the Football Association take swift action with both incidents.

And my final rambling focuses on the FA, and their lack of punishment for both Callum McManaman's horrendous challenge on Newcastle defender Massadio Haidara, as well as Sergio Aguero's two-footed stamp on Chelsea's David Luiz at the weekend. Both men should have received red cards for their appalling challenges at the time, and should have also received bans. However, thanks to the FA's rule, both escaped bans. Why? The FA say they don't 'have enough authority' to punish both, thanks to their ruling which states if a match official saw the challenge in question, yet didn't act on it, nothing can be done. Basically. Which is a load of tripe. The FA need to change their rulings or risk continuing to make themselves look like a laughing stock organisation, by letting horrific challenges such as McManaman's go unpunished.

And here, I shall conclude on my ramblings. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts - do you think the FA should change their rules? How do you think Cardiff will fare in the Championship next season? Let me know below!

P.s. I'm incredibly sorry for neglecting this blog for such a long time - I could give a long list of excuses but none would be acceptable... The obscene amount of second year uni work though may  be a factor.