The Devil In Me

Ouch. I have barely been able to leave the house for two days. Going to work has been unavoidable and extremely unpleasant. This is not the first time United have been beaten by a large score since I have been watching, not even the first time we’ve been handsomely beaten by City, but for some reason I have been feeling this more than the others. But then again, it is entirely possible I might be oversensitive in the immediate aftermath of such a freak result.

Before another word is written I must offer my wholehearted congratulations to City, their fans and players for a terrific performance. They are a classy side and were deserved victors on the day.

However, much as this result will be embedded of the psyche of every fan for generations to come, it is not, not quite, the end of the world. It isn’t even the end of the season.

In recent years United have conceded five to Newcastle, six to Southampton and even five to Chelsea and still gone on to win the league. Only a fool would say that City are anything less than favourites for the title now, but there is still a long way to go. Good thing too, because our team is far from the finished article.

Manchester City have had the luxury of buying players who are at the top of their profession and exhibit the kind of experience needed at the highest level. In Aguero and Silva they field two of the best players in the league and both were signings that represented little risk.

United on the other hand are going with youth. There are no excuses to be made after a defeat such as this, but the fact that six of our starting eleven were under-25 was telling. To concede three goals after the ninetieth minute smacks of naivety and it was that which gave the score-line such a dreadful slant.

The thing that hurt the most, I suppose, is seeing a United team go so totally to pieces. I am proud of the players for continuing to go for it and attack, even when down to ten men with time running out, but they still capitulated meekly.

If it has taken me this long to start stringing sentences together again I can only imagine how ghastly the players must feel. In the meantime we have a peculiar fixture against Aldershot Town in the Carling Cup to play. It could be the perfect fillip to pick up all our moods. It is important that we move on, together, and quickly.

Believe.

Follow Mark on twitter.com/markjpayne

Perspective is important when assessing anything. Although it is hugely important to be fully involved in the business at hand, it pays to be aware of what happens elsewhere in the world. To be perfectly frank, fans of other sports look at football and laugh their arses off at the diving of our players. It is pathetic, tiresome and damaging to the game. It’s finest exponents play for Liverpool FC.

Despite being more positive, more attacking and more incisive than United in this match, the Merseysiders did not have the class to make their advantage count. Instead they resorted to appalling sportsmanship in order to forge their advantage. Charlie Adam’s dive to win their free-kick was almost a masterclass in cheating. If only he had got Rio Ferdinand sent off too, then it would have been perfect. Downing’s effort in the first half was almost as good. I admire the bravery of diving needlessly in front of 40,000 of your own fans. 

Fair play winner Charlie Adam 
Diving is one thing, racism is another. If we are to believe the post match reports, both were happening frequently throughout the game and headed entirely in one direction. My respect for Liverpool as an institution goes through choppy waters at times like these.

Steven Gerrard is a wonderful player, but the five-fingered salute he used to celebrate his goal does more damage than a 1,000 late tackles against Montenegro. He will, of course, remain unpunished.

United started the match with a team containing several graduate from the youth program. Fletcher, Evans, Giggs and Welbeck formed a solid outfield that secured the club’s first point on this troublesome ground for several years. David De Gea in goal was nothing short of outstanding in keeping the Liverpudlian’s late strikes at bay.

The force is strong with young Chicharito, who rode through some of Liverpool’s more colourful challenges after he came on to score a proper goal that did not involve any conning of the referee.

If you had offered me 2 points from the games against Liverpool and City I would probably have been more likely to take it than 3. We are on track, we have the dignity of knowing we play the game properly and we have improved our result at Anfield. Now, let’s see what the neighbours have got.

Follow Mark on twitter.com/markjpayne

The capacity that some people have for hypocrisy never ceases to amaze me. In a week when the shameful England rugby team have crashed out of a world cup in disgrace, half of the country is up in arms about Wayne Rooney misplacing one kick in anger. The lack of perspective required to endorse these standpoints boggles the mind.

The problem seems to be one of expectation. I am not entirely sure why Wayne Rooney, a talented footballer, should be required to behave with the restraint of Mother Theresa, the dignity of a monk and the patience of a saint when members of other national teams can get drunk and arrested and jump off ferries without much being said about it. If somebody can explain this, the comments section is below.

I expect Wayne Rooney to be Wayne Rooney, a talented footballer who gets frustrated when he doesn’t get things right. This seems to me a sign of somebody who is striving to have high standards for themselves. The fact that he loses his temper from time to time makes him, well, human.

The reality is, that as a player and as a man, Rooney has made exceptional progress under scrutiny most of us cannot even imagine. He has my support and respect for this. Those who castigate him for the sending off against Montenegro are invited to prove exactly why they are without sin.

There are others in football this week whose expectations don’t bear a huge resemblance to real-world goings-on. Unsurprisingly, these preposterous chirps are emerging from Liverpool football club where their new financial big-wig would like to instigate the death of the highly successful Premier League. Ian Ayre’s brilliant idea is for clubs to negotiate their own television subscriptions as opposed to the current, fair, collective agreement.

There is no doubt that football needs financial reformation, but that reformation should be borne out of the ideal of equality. Ian Ayre’s proposal is merely in the interests of improving Liverpool’s flagging finances. His position is understandable, but breathtakingly shortsighted and more than a little selfish. United and Chelsea are already on the record as saying they would not back such a proposal. We need five more clubs to reject it out of hand.

The Liver Birds are our opponents this weekend and this is where my expectations get a little foggy. We have had a torrid time of late at Anfield and I feel as though it is our turn to get a result. By the same token, it is also City’s turn against us and they are next week’s adversaries. This could be an interesting week for us United fans.

Follow Mark on twitter.com/markjpayne

Let’s face it. A lot of the joy in following a sports team is found in barracking the opposition’s fans. Don’t ask me why, but there is a lot of fun to be had in poking fun at members of the other tribe. I like to think that United fans tend to do this with a bit of class and intelligence. This week, we concocted one of our finest coups des graces.

Fans from up and down the land, including our wrongheaded City supporting cousins, came together in one voice to praise the deadpan excellence of the ‘Welcome to Carlos, Manchester’ billboard. City asked for it, we delivered. How the Argentinian, a supremely gifted footballer with a Trojan work ethic, has managed to become so despised is something of a sad tale. Nonetheless, I sympathise with him little.

It takes a bit of humility to be able to take stick on the chin but Norwich’s travelling contingent deserve credit for their ‘We’ve come for our scarves chant’. I am a wearer of the green and gold scarf and consider myself a fan that wants to see the back of the Glazers. It would be churlish however, to take yourself too seriously in the face of decent banter such as that.

Not for the first time this week, an unheralded visiting side made a very decent account of themselves. Norwich’s defending, particularly in the first half, was absolutely terrific and quite frankly much better than ours. Vidic is a supreme presence in our back line and our ability to deal with high balls is severely compromised without him. This told on Saturday as the Canaries launched long punt after long punt at our 18-yard box.

The East Anglian’s willingness to attack nearly brought them dividends and I have a horrible feeling that teams still to visit Old Trafford will be getting ideas. In the end, the presence of Giggs after his introduction made all of the difference for us. Our opener came from his corner and the composure he brought to middle of the pitch was crucial. Anderson and Fletcher played in a toilet-esque manner and our lack of a Wesley Sneijder flavoured signing this summer seemed more glaring in the October sun.

Agent Tevez: Fergie’s man in the City dressing room. (C) MUST

Under Tuesday’s headlights United also looked imperfect. Basel are not the kind of club who should have last year’s finalist’s chasing the game in the dying seconds. Alas, some comedy defending and their gusto had Ferguson two minutes away from an historic defeat. It was brown-trousers time for a lot of us watching the end of that game. Any banter we would have received this week had United lost would have been unbearable.

It was a wake-up call that I think the players will learn from. Let’s not forget that we still have a lengthy injury list. More importantly, we still have not lost a game. We are also still right at the top of the Premier League. Our current position in Europe is wobbly but I have faith it can be put right.

However, we have also been riding our luck a bit in the last week. That is sure to run out sometime…
Follow Mark on twitter.com/markjpayne

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