Tag Archives: manchester united

The Believers

‘The busy, festive period’ (sic) done then, and despite a couple of disappointing results, United now look a sure-fire bet for a top four finish and are still hanging onto the coat-tails of the league leaders. Although we’ve started winning games whilst not playing particularly well, we haven’t yet demonstrated an ability to snaffle late goals that tends to be the hallmark of title contenders. In truth, it’s the first month of the season that’ll cost us this season. Whilst making up 9 points on City or Chelsea is still a remote possibility, it remains very unlikely that both will slip up with such a commanding lead.

Still, stranger things have happened. In January 1996 we were 7 points behind Newcastle having played a game more and nobody beyond the toppest of top reds gave us a cat in hell’s chance of getting anywhere near them. Yet, of course, that season United ended up winning the double with a far less developed squad of players than what we possess now. I dunno, maybe I’m totally deluded or simply in denial, but I just sense that this season isn’t quite the foregone conclusion that most people assume it is. If we can get to the stage where we’re within 6 points of the top with 10 games to go, then it’ll still be very much ON.

The next 7 league games are Southampton, QPR, Leicester, West Ham, Burnley, Swansea and Sunderland. If we can get through them with near maximum points then those draws at Spurs and Stoke might start to look like decent away points rather than missed opportunities. I know this is all very unlikely, but I’m firmly of the belief that we’ve made great progress so far and will continue to do so. This season was all about rebuilding and getting back to something like normality after the debacle of Moyes’ tenure. Although it’s still a work-in-progress, it’s happening. Van Gaal is sorting it.

As I touched on last issue, the main thing United are crying out for at present is an established defensive leader. Now I’ve always had time for Jonny Evans, back in the days he first came into the side I thought he looked a terrific prospect who possessed all the tools required to become a top class centre half. It’s probably a bit harsh judging him on an afternoon in Stoke up against a force 10 gale and Peter Crouch, but it was during that game the realisation dawned that I’ve lost faith in him ever becoming a genuine top-level player.

Stoke, it must be said, were characteristically horrific all afternoon. This lot absolutely detest United for reasons known only to themselves, so Mark Hughes, once so beloved of this parish yet latterly, the bitterest man on the planet, is absolutely perfect for them. They must be the only club in the country where the locals turn up each week to cheer the wind, which of course enables their unique brand of ‘launch it into the box at every given opportunity’ football whilst half a dozen 6’5″ blokes attempt to rugby-tackle the goalkeeper. Their ‘style’ of play is absolute dog sick, but completely predictable given they’ve been doing exactly the same thing week in, week out since however long it is they gained promotion.

As a defender, it can’t be much fun facing this kind of onslaught, but that is what Stoke do – you simply have to deal with them. Instead, Jonny Evans spent the entire afternoon with the haunted look of a junior police constable dealing with the aftermath of a serious road traffic accident. Maybe I’m being too harsh singling him out, but as United’s longest-serving, senior defender I expected more from him this season – instead he looks off the pace and still prone to regular lapses in concentration. That said, having Phil Jones blundering about the place next to you like an over-enthusiastic Doberman would probably distract Franco Baresi too.

Whilst I’m writing this, the 3rd round of the FA Cup is underway and what a weekend of drama, romance and intrigue it’s proving to be. Brighton are beating Brentford 2-0, Doncaster are drawing 1-1 with Bristol City and Derby have scored a last minute penalty to take the lead against Southport. Geoff, Merse and Thomo aboard the Sky Sports banter bus can barely contain themselves! United, meanwhile, are off to Yeovil tomorrow in an attempt to avoid humiliation and, I suppose, kick off a march to Wembley in a competition which sadly represents our best chance of silverware this season.

You might be one of those people who really fancies a crack at the FA Cup, given the likelihood that we won’t be winning anything else and it’s now 10 years since we last picked it up… but if I’m being totally honest, I’m really not arsed. The FA Cup as it was once known and loved is now dead, it’s as redundant as every tired cliche that’ll be uttered this weekend. Progress in the competition presents little reward unless you’re one of the lucky few ground spotters or never miss a game completists fortunate to have grabbed a ticket for Yeovil (a place we’re unlikely to ever visit again) tomorrow.

Visits to these football outposts no longer present the opportunity for an old-skool red army invasion, you get a couple of thousand tickets at best and in truth, plenty wouldn’t bother anyway given it’s a million miles away and on a Sunday afternoon. If we get through and ultimately reach the semis/final, more visits to Wembley are the prizes. Great. That shiny, overpriced, atmosphere-free cess pit of nu-football greed and corporate hospitality. Despite having many great memories of the place prior to its demolition, I now feel nothing but resentment each time I’m obliged to step foot in the place.

Yep, I know it’s curmudgeon-like but I really couldn’t care less if we progress in the FA Cup or not. Most teams (barring those having their once-in-a-lifetime, big day out) will be resting players, attendances will be down and most managers justifiably have one eye on the next league game as their main priority. Meanwhile, commentators and ex-players nationwide will continue to do their best to try and preserve the status of something that ceased having any genuine relevance years ago… apart from that time Wigan beat City, obviously.

Finally, a quick word on the big news that Steven Gerrard has announced he’ll be leaving Liverpool at the end of the current campaign. A note of caution though, particularly to Tufty & Co at SEF before they embark on a hilarious banner highlighting his chronic lack of league titles in comparison to our current assistant manager. Given that Gerrard has just announced his future career lies in the MLS, presumably this means he’ll be turning out for City next season…

www.rednews.co.uk

State of the Nation

Leave a reply

As well as saving me a considerable sum of money, the lack of Champions League football appears to have had the effect of making the season progress remarkably quickly. Perhaps it’s just my addled brain, but it only feels like 5 minutes since Van Gaal arrived, doesn’t it? However, a glance at the calendar and the annual onslaught of Slade and Jona Lewie over the airwaves provide confirmation that we’re already in mid-December.

Despite complaining of Champions League fatigue in previous years, when the group stages resembled a mind-numbing series of easy hurdles before inevitable progression to the knock-out stages, it’s (unsurprisingly) proven a big loss this season. For a start, trying to bed in new players and a new formation would have proven a less fraught process with our usual, congested fixture schedule. Instead we’ve endured lengthy gaps in-between games after getting turfed out of the League Cup early doors and ever present menace of international football.

Secondly, something that I hadn’t previously anticipated, I’ve missed routinely turning up at Old Trafford on cold, dark November nights. Indeed, Stoke the other week was the first home game of the season under floodlights. Despite it often feeling like a pain in the arse when I’m knackered after work and the weather is crap, there’s a familiarity to that midweek routine that’s been absent this season. I meet my mates for a couple of pints in town, we jump a cab to the ground, then pay minimal attention to the actual match and instead argue/abuse each other and generally put the world to rights for 90 minutes.

It’s doesn’t feel right watching City or Liverpool on telly when United should be playing, so I’ve studiously avoided every single minute of the Champions League this season. I was delighted to hear Ronaldo downed Liverpool and equally amused that City have struggled thus far, but I can’t bring myself to actually watch them. Having spent years telling City fans that European football was “none of their business”, it’s only fair that I impose a similar mandate on myself whilst United are marooned in the European football wilderness. I’ll start watching again when they’re both knocked out, which will hopefully be very soon.

Given the wholesale changes that were made in the summer and an appalling run of injuries since then, it’s no surprise that it’s taken a bit longer than anticipated to see a settled team that is beginning to look comfortable with Van Gaal’s oft-mentioned ‘philosophy’. I’d argue that the biggest difference over the last few weeks has been the return of Michael Carrick, that and finally experiencing a bit of good fortune in a season where we’ve been on the receiving end of some ridiculous decisions against us.

After a terrible August which extinguished any lingering pre-season optimism, since then our form hasn’t been all that bad if you can overlook Chris Smalling’s brainstorm and the resultant non-performance at Eastlands. There’s not been very much to get excited about, but players are slowly starting to look more comfortable with the new system and their roles within it. As I said, crucially, we’ve also had to contend with the worst injury record in the league and some awful refereeing. I hate resorting to moaning about refs, it’s the hallmark of a loser – but Martin Atkinson failing to spot a blatant penalty at Sunderland and then at Leicester, Mark Clattenburg choosing to disregard Varney’s foul on Rafael and then milliseconds later, giving a pen for minimal contact, were both absolute shockers.

The Arsenal game could potentially be seen as a turning point – the first big league game won in over a year as we were finally the recipients of some good fortune. An awful 1st half featuring three teenagers in defence, Shaw (this is getting ridiculous now) injured after a quarter of an hour and United being completely outplayed. Then we are gifted a flukey own goal, Rooney scores on the counter attack and all of a sudden, we’ve somehow come away with an unexpected victory.

Factor in a handful of unspectacular home wins and United, whisper it, appear to have discovered something resembling a run of form. I’m typing these words with extreme caution because after a similarly mixed bag of results at the start of last season, we recorded 4 successive league wins last December before everything went very pear-shaped against Spurs on New Year’s Day. Still, I can’t help myself studying the league table and thinking, “hmmmm, can we?” Chelsea have at last faltered, so a win at Southampton on Monday will put us in 3rd, 8 points behind them. Winning the league won’t happen, clearly… but I haven’t quite reached the stage where I can fully admit that to myself yet.

As long as we can stay within 10 points or so, I reckon I can maintain this level of delusion/optimism until at least March. Then as we lose a couple more games and Chelsea/City win the league, we’ll only have to endure a disappointing end to the season with nothing to play for, as opposed to a 6 month period watching them disappear into the distance now. There can’t be any repeat of last season where everything unravelled to the extent the team gave up and couldn’t be arsed in the end. Even if we don’t win it, let’s at least finish 3rd (which should be a minimum aim given the absolute state of the rest of the league), continue our much improved home form and get ourselves sorted in preparation for a proper title challenge next season.

In the meantime, if you’re stuck for gift ideas this Christmas, join me in wishing for a centre half so we can solve that particular problem before it becomes a running joke on a par with our 5 year wait for a decent midfielder. It took all of 3 weeks before Evans, Jones and Smalling were missing in action, so I’ve now abandoned hope that any of them will manage to play 5 games in succession without succumbing to to a broken leg or a bad case of impetigo. We desperately need someone, anyone in fact, capable of heading a football, tackling a bit and not being injured. The potential candidate’s ability to speak Spanish would be welcome but is not essential.

I don’t watch enough football to know who the player is, but there must be somebody out there. I never rated Gary Cahill when he was at Bolton, but someone like him would be perfect. He only cost Chelsea £7M but he’s barely missed a game in the last 3 years. A proper old fashioned stopper who wins headers, makes tackles, lumps it into touch and goes up for corners to score the odd goal. How hard can it be? Don’t talk to me about Mats Hummels. Dortmund are a spent force, he’ll cost an absolute fortune and he’s always injured. Find us the next Gary Cahill, Louis.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

www.rednews.co.uk

Where Is The Love?

Leave a reply

With its constant interruptions to the domestic game, I’ve long considered international football a major irritation. Recently however, like the Ebola virus, it seems to have developed into a full-blown epidemic. UEFA, in their infinite wisdom, recently decided to increase the number of games required to book a place at Euro 2016. As soon as the season starts, it has to stop again so players can disappear for two weeks testing themselves against the might of San Marino and Estonia. Including the likes of Gibraltar presents lolz aplenty and the opportunity of a lifetime for the assorted firemen and customs officials who make up their playing staff, but it does little to enhance the quality or credibility of the competition they’re staging.

The growth of the Champions League and the financial muscle of the G14 elite has resulted in a situation where international football can no longer be considered the pinnacle of the world game. Appearing at a World Cup or Euros might be a great honour for individual players and the tournaments still present a marvellous spectacle for fans worldwide, but for actual quality of football the Champions League wins hands down. One assumes that UEFA aren’t unaware of this fact, so rather than see power slip further from their grasp into the hands of the clubs, they’ve attempted to cement their position as the game’s true power brokers by imposing an even greater hold over the fixture calendar.

Rather then scheduling an increased number of irrelevant matches, it’s a shame that UEFA didn’t consider a ‘less is more’ approach. To ensure the long term health of the Euros they’d have been better advised to cull a few under performers from the qualifying groups rather than adding more. By all means give the likes of Gibraltar or Liechtenstein a shot, let them earn a place via a preliminary knock-out or something. Do they really merit a place in the qualifiers proper when you’ve already got the likes of San Marino competing with a slightly less-than-stellar record of 1 win in 123 internationals? It’s an absolute farce.

UEFA’s justification for the increase in numbers is, unsurprisingly, down to money. They care little about the concept of overselling and damaging the prestige of the product, everything is geared towards filling up TV schedules with day-after-day of football and shifting additional advertising space to their network of sponsors. “The pie is growing and so far we have generated 40 percent more revenue than before”, explained UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino. Well that’s just smashing isn’t it? Who cares about the influx of utterly meaningless fixtures clogging up an already crowded schedule since they can now cream an extra few million off the likes of Sony and Coca-Cola for the foreseeable future?

With that rant over, it’s on to another person fully aware of the riches that modern day football can bring, Wayne Rooney. It’s a bit of a strange time for old Wazza at present: 29 years old, freshly installed as captain of club and country and set to become record goalscorer for both – yet he appears to be losing support rather than gaining respect. It’s no longer just United fans tired of his errant control and contractual shenanigans who have lost patience, there’s now a growing clamour from the wider football public to see him dropped from the England team too.

With United, despite not being in agreement, I can at least see the point of view of those who insist he should have been overlooked for the captaincy and no longer considered an automatic first team choice. Rooney committed the cardinal sin of asking to leave the club (x2) and it’s true that in many games he seems to be in a terminal slump. Leaden footed, a shocking first touch, the over reliance on switching play by pinging the ball 40 yards out to the wing – his ability to lose possession whilst under little or no pressure defies belief at times. When he’s bad, he’s really bad.

But… and this is a big but… I’m still completely convinced that United remain a much stronger team with Rooney in it. Despite no longer possessing that electric burst of pace he had as a teenager, despite his penchant for giving the ball away – Rooney still makes a huge contribution to the cause. It’s what he still does now, it’s what he’s always done. You might wish him and Paul Stretford had got their move to Chelsea, you might think he’s a fat scouser who’s a disgrace to the shirt, you might simply detest everything about the bloke – but you can’t deny he’s not still a top player for Manchester United. He just is.

I read something the other week suggesting the captaincy was too much of a burden and he was now trying too hard, evidenced by him lambasting Tyler Blackett following one of goals at Leicester – apparently an effective leader shouldn’t be doing such a thing. What a load of nonsense. Rooney has been dealing out regular bollockings for the last 10 years. Last season, as results got worse and most senior players failed to show for the manager – Rooney remained on side. He was still talking, he was still cajoling, he was still contributing when others had made it pretty clear they no longer fancied it – that’s why he’s got the armband now.

Even when he isn’t playing particularly well, there’s still ample justification for Rooney keeping his place. Or, to put it another way, a Rooney bad game is worth more to the team than a Van Persie bad game. A growing consensus suggests he’s past it, but (and I’m sorry to have to resort to this) the stats don’t suggest that’s the case at all. Anyone bleating about Rooney would probably be quick to tell you that United or England would be better off served by somebody truly world class, say, for instance, Sergio Aguero. Well actually, (statto glasses on) it appears that since 2011, Aguero has played 93 games in the Premier League and scored 56 goals with 23 assists. Rooney’s record during that same period is 96 games, 59 goals and 32 assists – hardly the record of someone who’s no longer making a telling contribution.

Though gripes about Rooney’s form are nothing new at Old Trafford, quite why England supporters have decided to jump on board is something of a mystery – at least at United we have credible alternatives up front or in midfield. At international level, it appears to be more a case of Rooney bearing the brunt of fans’ frustrations with an ongoing lack of success; and the chronic dearth of players capable of challenging his nailed-on starter status. Is it really fair to blame Rooney for the current generation of England players being so incredibly average? Did Ronaldo get similar stick from the Portugese nation for earning astronomical money yet failing to carry their team beyond the World Cup group stages?

Given that England’s alternative is to call up the likes of Andy Carroll, Darren Bent or Rickie Lambert, I’m pretty sure Rooney will get plenty more chances to play and miss shedloads of chances before eventually surpassing Sir Bobby’s record of 49 international goals. The nation can then unite in belittling the achievement due to 90% of those strikes being against San Marino, before he then resumes scoring the goals that will make him the leading scorer in United’s history too – another milestone that’ll be greeted with seething resentment/complete indifference by many supporters.

Sometimes in the dead of night, when he wakes on a Luis Vuitton mattress stuffed with £50 notes, suffering with heartburn from eating too many burgers. Wayne probably takes a swig from his can of Fosters, scratches his head with nicotine stained fingers and thinks, “why do I bother?”