The Devil In Me

It is a strange thing being Manchester United in the FA Cup nowadays. If you win, you lose, if you lose it’s a disaster but if you do enough to progress – then that’s even worse. It is a clear sign that the Empire is crumbling.

United did teeter totter close to embarrassment on Saturday but one fact keeps me reasonably hopeful. Every major test this team has faced this season, it has passed. If we can beat Liverpool in the Cup and defeat City and Arsenal in the league, the team may be capable of more than appears.

Yes, Obertan was frustrating, but at least he looked like he was trying, which counts for something in my book. No, Bebe is not the new Zinedine Zidane, personally, this does not come as flabbergasting news. The important thing was not to ‘do a Chelsea’ and not to injure any of the first eleven. Even I will admit this squad can ill afford any crucial players on the treatment table as we re-enter Europe.

So, you will have to excuse me for not getting my knickers in a twist about Saturday. Losing to Leeds last year was excruciating, the football equivalent of being given a lusty hug by your new cell mate on the first night in prison. Having some ‘iffy’ reserve players scrape through whilst the first teamers rest up for Marseille is a lot more comforting.

Whilst on holiday in France in 2007 it was my great fortune to attend Stade Velodrome for Marseille’s clash with Besiktas. Les Marseilleursscraped a fairly fortunate 2-0 win but I was struck by the quality of the atmosphere and the occasion. It remains one of the best games I have attended in my career as a football fan.

The point being, no walk in the park awaits United this week. Whilst we are unlikley to encounter any of the charming hospitality fans might expect in Rome or Turkey, there will still be an atmosphere to contend with along with Didier Deschamps zippy, attacking side.

The real test this week awaits us in France, the question marks over our away form are looking larger than ever right now. But then again, I thought against City, and Arsenal, and Liverpool…

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The winner was the kind of goal everybody who has seen a football dreams about scoring. I remember commentary on an old United game from the sixties after Bobby Charlton had netted one of his belters. The man with the mic said something along the lines of, “That goal was good enough to win the league, the cup, the Open, even the Grand National”. Similarly, Rooney’s goal was worthy of winning any game, any contest in any sport. He’s back baby.

If the winner was good enough to collect the Wimbledon shield, the team that played at Plough Lane in the eighties could well have constructed our opener as well. Van Der Sar to Giggs to Nani sounds all very exotic and 21st Century, but from where I was sitting it looked awfully like Hans Sellers to John Fashanu. No matter of course, at that stage I feared we were headed for another turgid nil-nil on the strength of the formation we lined up with.

Not for the first time this season United treated a match at Old Trafford like an away game against one of the bigger European clubs. Ferguson has been proven right by his players before, but Wayne Rooney has helped him to sidestep an explanation of why we needed to start against City with effectively six midfielders.

Whether Rooney, the sole striker, was under instructions to marauder around the left wing, or did so off his own back, is open to debate. What is not is that we required javelin tactics and football from the Gods to win this fixture. I am destined for an early heart check up if the rest of the season goes this way. Good thing Fergie is managing the team I suppose.

Football fans are often described as contrary and fickle, this very correspondent wrote an acidic letter to Rooney just a couple of months ago. The fact that I now forgive him probably makes me fall into that category of supporter. However, he dedicated the goal to the fans saying “they deserved that from me after the way I’ve played this season” and has quite possibly scored the best goal I’ve ever seen.

Being stubborn is not admirable, if the facts change I reserve the right to change my mind. The facts have changed. Thanks for the overhead kick Wayne, now please score against Chelsea and Liverpool too.

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Thank God that’s out of the way then. United are now defeated this season but that’s no reason to predict we’re about experience any kind of Old Testament horrors. A look at the league table shows all is well, but it is time to face a few home truths. Our results over the last month have been a lot more flattering than our team’s beauty.

Mick McCarthy has an beguiling pair of eyes, during the final ten minutes of this match it looked like they were frisking every single person in the stadium. It might possibly have been easier to smile but that is probably not his style.

The victory Wolves fashioned though, had the stamp of the Yorkshireman all over it. They worked incredibly hard, never let our players get near their box in peace and effectively punished the mistakes we did make. My red-tinted eyes tell me a draw would have been a fairer result but it would be harsh to do anything other than praise the victors.

It also gives us a chance to rethink some of the eulogies aimed at United’s direction in the last month. For all the trumpeting about team-spirit and never-say-die attitude there is an unhealthy chorus of ‘play a little bit rubbish for 30 minutes’ turning up in every fixture at the moment.

For now, we top the league and still our dastardly title rivals just can’t make us pay for our mistakes. It is important to remember, however, that mistakes are indeed being made. Essentially, Fergie’s management is papering over a few ever more obvious cracks.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record we are yet to replace Roy Keane. As we play with a more rotational passing system now it doesn’t matter 85-90% of the time, but when a few players are having a lousy day we don’t have anybody terrifying to scare them into action.

Vidic is a solid captain but his confidence is borne of keeping our goalmouth clear, a task made 6 billion times easier by having Rio Ferdinand stood next to him. He was too busy babysitting Johnny Evans on Saturday to drive the side forward. Alas, it was a free-kick he needlessly gave away that led to their winner too.

Criticism for criticism’s sake irks me immensely and whingeing about United now would be the equivalent of lying on silk sheets and complaining about the colour. The only thing that matters is whether or not this squad is good enough to bring home the 19th title. My gut instinct tells me that it is, but only just, and only if we don’t get found out by the bigger sides.

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Although not a great film The Expendables was a terrific concept. Lump together all of the action stars from yesteryear and surround them with some new explosions. As February begins, it looks like Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal will contest the title this year. There is nothing like a good old-fashioned feud to get the juices flowing.

If I were an Arsenal fan I’d look at the table right now and think we could win it this year. Especially with United having to visit the Emirates and play a reinvigorated Chelsea twice.

Wayne Rooney’s two goals from open play make those fixtures look a far less daunting prospect than they might have done. Both strikes were put away with aplomb and the first in particular, reminded me of a goal he scored against Milan a few years ago. It would be nice if he could do something similar in the upcoming fixture against City.

Great satisfaction can be taken from the knowledge that Ryan Giggs cost us zero dollars when we pinched him as a 15-yr-old from the neighbours. When you see that he has made decisive contributions in three games this week, and Andy Carroll has cost £35million, it seems truly incredible. Even more incredible, perhaps, than spending a fortune on a Geordie striker who never wanted to join you in the first place.

Top of the league is the place to be right now but it looks awfully precarious when you consider the upcoming fixtures. As the club wades back into the Champion’s League we can only hope that the squad doesn’t find itself too stretched. An adventurous struggle with Arsenal should provide just the motivation we need to keep on keepin’ on. Just like old times, eh Arsene?

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