The Devil In Me

This article could start with the words; “At the moment, our treatment room must resemble the beach landing in Normandy – players’ arms flailing around and field medics frantically trying to issue the right medication to each of them. This ain’t great because on Tuesday we play in the Champion’s League.”

However, that is the opening paragraph from the report of our match against West Ham in December 2009. I make this point to illustrate that this is not the first time Manchester United have had injuries stacking up, and it won’t be the last. Indeed, we even set a clean sheets record in recent years without the first choice defence fit.

Picking the first team at the moment must be a difficult task, my personal assertion is that David De Gea should always be in goal and there are a raft of stats around at the moment showing he is the league’s best keeper so far.

However, it would be hard to argue that Rooney and Hernandez should not be starting, both are currently crocked. The week in front of us doesn’t hold the hardest games in the club’s history, but there are certainly potential pitfalls to be wary of.

Norwich will be buoyed by two wins on the trot and few of us can forget the atrocious result we recorded in East Anglia in 2005. But we should smash them with or without Rooney this time. If we don’t, then the first question marks will start appearing over this buccaneering young team.

Basel are hardly setting the league alight in Switzerland either, so it is the question of team selection that is again the most intriguing. This is where is comes in handy to have a few players with something to prove. Topping that list will be European Cup Final evictee Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgar is a seriously good player and if he can channel even one iota of his talent he should score on Tuesday night.

Michael Owen has had his chance and taken it already this season. The interview he gave to the Guardian at the weekend was not entirely as I expected. Although there was the predictable blather about his scoring stats and England career, the thing that stood out most for me was the determination of the man. His second goal against Leeds certainly looked like the strike of a man who means business.

Disappointing as the result in the Potteries was, it is hardly the end of the world. Many other teams will drop points at the Britannia stadium this season. The club is still in a tremendous position. This week, we’ll find out what the rest of the squad is capable of too.

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There were pretty absurd games all over the place in the Premier League this weekend. It was like a collective practical joke of comedy misses, own goals and Fernando Torres. Blows were traded on both sides of the North-West vs London divide and I suspect most of us fans feel a lot older this Monday morning.

When I re-read the results on paper this morning it looks like a fully satisfying couple of days work at the office. Liverpool have been humiliated, City have dropped points, the Arsenal sitcom continues and United have beaten Chelsea. It is the hard work that our team made of the latter which has me reaching for the sedatives.

Several of our players had not adjusted the sights on their boots before kick off and many a pass went long and astray early on. Hernandez is a quick lad, but he is yet to break the land speed record that some of our cross-field passes would have required.

In fact, had we not scored early on we could well have been taught an ugly lesson here. Large spells of the play were ALL Chelsea and were it not for large swathes of luck it could all have been so different. Nonetheless, the last 45 minutes were pretty agonizing to watch and prompted by match going companion to remark, “I’m not sure I can take another eight months of this.”

Saying all that, the second half did at least show the side producing the kind of grit that has not been required so far this season. In terms of learning experiences for the younger players, they should get the message and they haven’t dropped points doing it.

And if you detach for a second you can appreciate the comedy of it all. Livid as Ferguson will inevitably be about Rooney’s slip and John Terry-tribute penalty miss, you can only say we have been asking for that one. For the last three years. Repeatedly.

This is not mention the huffing and puffing of el Nino. Torres actually played quite well and looked fairly dangerous but that miss will go down in history. The poor lad has fallen a long, long way now and if he had scored you would have fancied Chelsea for the draw. He and all his teammates know it too.

Inevitable barn door reference (C) Torres photography
The better news for Manchester United is that David de Gea looks like he belongs. Ramires will want to commit hari kiri after falling over with the goal at his mercy but Dave was there to save on that and several other occasions. I also really like his distribution of the ball, it is a terrific addition to our arsenal, particularly seeing as it comes from a goalkeeper. He earned his dosh on Sunday.

Another huge positive to draw from this game is Nani’s confirmation as a big game player. His goal was sumptuous and some of his close control beggars belief. He can miss as many player of the year awards as he like if he keeps playing like this for us.

Despite the general madness of the fixtures of the last round United have managed to emerge two points clear at the top and looking good on paper. However, the watching managers of Leeds and Stoke will no doubt think they stand a chance against us in the upcoming fixtures. Fabulous as this start to the season has been, the players need to focus and not believe their own hype. Otherwise, God forbid, some of them could end up with Fernando levels of comeuppance.

Early reports that Ronnie Rosenthal has launched a class action lawsuit against Torres for breach of copyright over the missed sitter have been rejected as untrue.

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It is hard to describe the set of emotions you feel when you first realise that somebody is complete pillock. Should this person be a close friend, there is a mixture of disappointment and sadness, perhaps a feeling of responsibility for it all. On the other hand, when that person in Manchester City chairman Garry Cook, it’s really quite enjoyable.

A distinguished member of the Crinkleys pointed out this week that he wouldn’t appreciate his correspondence from the early 70s being made public. Indeed, the antics of most people in their late teens and early twenties can be deemed questionable. However, there wasn’t any secret about Garry Cook being an embarrassment and it is a shame he has gone. It may take minutes for City to produce such a mockable figure.

It was only a matter of minutes before United made the game safe on Saturday. For all the talk in the build up of “needing protection for the goalie”, it was Bolton’s shot stopper who would have felt grateful for reinforcements. Indeed, De Gea managed to add another excellent save to his repertoire and a clean sheet for his troubles too. Confirmation again that perseverance works.

It’s certainly not laborious watching this side play at the moment. Robbie Smyth of the Guardian noted on Saturday that it would be Fergie’s crowning achievement if he were to topple Barcelona with this current batch of kids. At this stage, that is certainly wishful thinking, but it is also hard to remember a season that began with such goal fests as these.

It still lingers in the mind that Bolton were a bogey team for a while under the currently unemployed Sam Allardyce. Owen Coyle is doing nice things for the Lancashire club but if they keep surrendering at home like this, they’ll struggle this season.

It is impossible not to notice how superior United and City have been in this opening set of fixtures. It makes me wonder if the Premier League is starting to resemble La Liga, or even the Scottish Premier League, with two behemoths dishing out whippings every week. In reality though, we are four games in to a long, long season and City have just arrived at the top table. Comparisons such as those are at least five years away, in that time everything will likely have changed again.

By that point it is conceivable Manchester United will be under the stewardship of another manager. A concept which it is hard to conceive of now. Whether or not he conquers the continent again before he steps down is yet to be seen. You can be damn sure this side will give it a good try though.

Allez les Rouges

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