The Devil In Me

As the season enters its sixth month and final stretch it seems as though elder statesmen dominate the tale. Events of the last few weeks bear this out and it was the old fellas who finished the weekend having the last laugh.

Last week’s article suggesting that Fergie may retire at the end of the season was met with strong resistance from you readers. However, whether I’m right or wrong, Fergie himself said recently that he wanted to go out on a high. He will no doubt be influenced by the torrid time Arsene Wenger has been experiencing lately.

The Frenchman is getting torn apart in the press and he doesn’t deserve it. There can be no denying his impact on English football has been both enormous and hugely important. Having his methods questioned by precocious journalists under the age of thirty must be galling for him. I must admit I was delighted to see Arsenal’s stupendous victory at the weekend.

The side Arsenal beat, Tottenham, are United’s opponents this weekend in a fixture Fergie has already described as being “massive” for the title race. Spurs have been terrific under the experienced guidance of Harry Redknapp. Unfortunately for them, the FA have been batting their eyelids in Redknapp’s direction for the England job and it has destabilised the club. It is far from a foregone conclusion, but I am more confident than I would have been a few weeks ago.

Despite the fact we lost our captain, Nemanja Vidic, in October for the season and our most effective midfielder, Darren Fletcher, the squad has been immense this term. This is in no small amount due to the contributions of the returning Paul Scholes and 900-man Ryan Giggs.

How Giggsie is still playing at the top of this league at his age is anybody’s guess. I can’t even think of anything I have done 900 times in my life, let alone anything as mammoth as playing for United. A few more performances like the one at the weekend and we could have another trophy to celebrate in May too. Then it really would have been a season for the old stagers.

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The Ajax of Homer’s Iliad is described as being of colossal frame and the strongest of all. The Ajax of Dutch football fit a similar description when compared to other clubs in the Low Countries. However, in terms of European football they are not what they used to be. Even so, after a couple of months that have a left a bitter taste in the mouth, this fixture was certainly one to savour.

Although the Old Trafford accountants are unlikely to agree with me, I am rather glad we are not in the Champions’ League right now; and for several reasons. Firstly, the last few seasons have proven to us that we are not as good as Barcelona and frankly, watching us lose to them in two finals has been rather morale-sapping. At the present stage, I suspect we are not the equals of Madrid either.

That isn’t to say that I wouldn’t welcome a grand Champions’ League match against either of those clubs, I would, but waiting another year isn’t such a bad thing.

Also, people of my age fell in love with a United that didn’t play in the group stages of the revamped European Cup every year. Many of us remember the sumptuous Cup Winner’s Cup tie against Diego Maradona’s Barca and how Bryan Robson bossed the Old Trafford leg. Personally, I have a special fondness for our Cup Winner’s Cup run in 1991. Mark Hughes and Clayton Blackmore remain two of my favourite ever United players.

So, if we have to play in the lesser competition then so what? We get to compete against one of the great European teams in one of the great European stadiums. I fail to see how this is selling ourselves short. And, let’s face it, it’s always great fun when you win.

Our victory on Thursday evening, and indeed in the last few games, can be ascribed to one thing. Sir Alex Ferguson’s half-time team talk. Not for the first time in recent weeks United have put in a turgid first half performance but flown out after the break and scored. The Scotsman is earning his money at the moment.

The UEFA Cup, or Europa league, also happens to be the only trophy he hasn’t won in his career. My old man remains sure that Fergie will retire at the end of the season and it could be a fitting send off. It would be nice, of course, if we could win it and have him back in the dugout next season too. I hope that is to be the case.

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Football has seldom looked less like the enjoyable pastime I fell in love with as a youngster. In the past few weeks, the overblown, hate-filled events encrusting the English game have made for very unpleasant viewing.

Almost nobody has conducted themselves with dignity or class in any of the major scandals engulfing some of our more visual protagonists. The whole scenario is a sorry and sad one.

Even so, Liverpool Football Club have earned special mention for their appalling conduct and ideology throughout the last few months. Kenny Dalglish proved himself to be a human being of great dignity and compassion in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster. In recent weeks he has undone much of that good work. It is a great shame he has chosen to damage his reputation so horrifically.

There are a growing number of Liverpool fans who feel extremely uncomfortable with the way the club and its players have conducted themselves around Suarez’s racism conviction. One wonders if Liverpool’s commercial sponsorship will suffer as a result of endorsing the Uruguayan’s racist and inflammatory behaviour.

In the midst of all this, Manchester United have also been playing football. So far 2012 has dealt us an incredibly difficult hand. Despite facing Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool twice already in this young year we start February 12th at the top of the league.

Whilst the spotlight has been shining firmly on John Terry’s humanitarianism and the latest England manager’s departure Wayne Rooney has quietly scored four goals in a week. In addition, Hernandez has found his touch again and a few of our absentees are making their ways back from injury.

From a football perspective United are looking in ruder and ruder health. It seems such a shame that we are seemingly unable to enjoy the fact that our team are playing well.

Thank goodness Liverpool are out of the way and we cannot meet them again this season. Patrice Evra’s celebration at the final whistle was ill advised and as Fergie said, “he shouldn’t have done that.” Many, I suspect, will understand the enormous provocation he has been subjected to.

From here on in I hope to be able to enjoy the matches, not recriminations. This young Manchester United team is building character the hard way, it will stand us in good stead I am sure.

Personally, I am really looking forward to the Ajax matches.

Come on you Reds.

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If aliens were to land this week and cast their intergalactic eyes over English football then no doubt they would leave immediately, safe in the knowledge that a species so stupid was not worth conquering.

A few years ago Fabio Capello was widely, and rightly, respected as one of the foremost coaches in world football. How we have reached the current nadir beggars belief.

It has been my misfortune to ply my trade in the occasional workplace with office politics but I doubt it would bear comparison with the dressing room of the England team.

It must be a wonderful time to be a journalist as seemingly every player in this fiasco is leaking their point of view to some scribe or other. So far the papers teach us the following:

Rio doesn’t like John Terry anymore.
Rio and Rio’s mates aren’t talking to John.
John still wants to be captain.
If John can’t be captain he still wants to play.
Rio and Rio’s mates don’t want John to play.
The junior players want to keep both Rio and John happy.
Fabio, the smartest man in the set up by some distance, has decided he can’t be bothered to deal with this lot anymore.

It reads like a week of plot updates in Eastenders, or some other soap opera. The most pathetic part of the whole scenario is that despite the fact a point of racial tension has caused this travesty, all of the papers say the following – ‘We must have an English manager next’.

At least Patrice Evra’s Manchester United are playing Luis Suarez’s Liverpool this weekend. We can all relax now….

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January is one of the year’s less charming months. The Christmas hilarity is long gone and the Easter break seems a million miles away. The return to work this year has been particularly painful for some of us and, despite the fact that we’ve had so much decent sport to watch, the month ends on a pretty big downer.

The vintage of January 2012 was going so well. The dust was settling on another pulsating clasico, there was a humdinger of a match between Federer and Nadal and we were still basking in the glow of our victory over Arsenal. Then we went to Anfield.

The behaviour of the Liverpool fans was predictably woeful and it is unsurprising that an arrest warrant has been issued for one of their supporters who used a racist gesture. It beggars belief that they remain unwilling to take responsibility for such appalling conduct. That is their business, I suppose.

There were also reports of Hillsborough chants coming out of the United section. I didn’t hear them but if that is the case then I apologise wholeheartedly on behalf of every true Manchester United fan. That is not something we either tolerate or condone.

It was a horrible game to lose, in a horrible way and there was very little for either club to be proud of in this fixture. United played the better football but the story of our season has been that we seem to lack ruthlessness, and it showed again.

Scholes is more than welcome back from retirement. His passing held us together for the first sixty minutes of the match, but he faded visibly after that. It was precisely at this time that Liverpool started to make inroads and Dalglish really trumped Fergie by getting his substitutions out first and more effectively.

We began to look very leggy towards the end of the match and you could sense that our good work up until that point was going to go to waste. Saying that, a replay at Old Trafford would have been unwelcome and I for one will be very happy to see the back of Liverpool after the league fixture in a couple of weeks. They can spend the rest of their season spreading their hatred and racism elsewhere.

So, a frustrating end to the month for United but there is nothing to do but dust ourselves down and face the next challenges with fortitude and lessons learnt. With Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool on the horizon there is never a dull moment. They are still our players, this is still our team and I am proud of them all.

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Manchester United’s capacity for drama is certainly not on the wane. Not every heavily hyped contest lives up to the billing, but this Manchester derby was quite possibly the game that had everything. Even in victory over our bitter rivals, even just three points off the top of the league, United are still yet to convince.

Before the game talk amongst the United faithful was focused on one topic and one topic only. Paul Scholes, no doubt responding to a embattled plea from the club, has stepped out of retirement to return to the playing staff for the rest of the season. This is a bit like Jesus rising from the dead to conduct a couple of sermons at the local church.

“If Henry can return to Arsenal, then why not?” Many of us thought. Within minutes both #paulscholes and #bobbycharlton were trending on twitter, presumably as everybody thought of the same joke. Nonetheless, seeing the name Scholes amongst the substitutes was confirmation that the coffers at Old Trafford really are bare. We won’t be buying any players this January.

At half time it looked like we wouldn’t be needing any new signings. Three goals up and a player sent off for City, it looked like we were about to extract revenge for the travesty at Old Trafford earlier in the season. That was to prove to be wishful thinking.

There were those that thought Kompany’s sending off was harsh. It was, certainly a surprise to see the red card. However, the fact is it was a two-footed challenge; the rules are very clear on this. It’s been a red card in this sport for the last 21 years and it was a red card today.

City have every right to feel that the referee perhaps did them a disservice but he evened things out when denying United a certain penalty late in the second half. By then United were holding on that is borderline embarrassing against a side playing with ten men.

There is still a great deal to cherish in this side though. Scholes played pretty reasonably I thought, Rooney was immense in places and Welbeck’s goal gets better every time I see it.

And Manchester United never die, despite the fact our backs were against the wall, despite the disgraceful articles in the Sunday papers prophesising our demise, the team have delivered a famous victory against the odds. Never, ever write us off.

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Rarely has the rest of the league been so obliging in making up for our shortfalls. Despite our disgraceful performance at Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve it would appear that we are not the only club in the division whose players may have enjoyed a few too many mulled wines over the last week.

Blackburn ran around admirably and Yakuba proved that he remains a handful but in all honesty our lack of personnel won the game for them. Without any recognised centre halves or central midfielders in the line up it cannot be a surprise that we are conceding soft goals no matter whose birthday it is.

Celebrations appear unpopular around the manager at the moment if reports of Rooney’s fine appear to be true. It seems a little “bah humbug” even by the Glaswegian’s standards to fine people a week’s wages for going out for dinner on Boxing Day. However, there is always more than meets the eye in these situations and keeping an open mind is worthwhile.

In other news, Luis Suarez is guilty as hell. What at best seemed the unfortunate actions of Liverpool FC and they fans last weekend can now only be condemned. The 117-page document released by the FA irrefutably proves that Suarez is completely and heinously out of line. It must be intolerable for any sufferers of racial abuse to observe this behaviour in a professional sportsman.

A backlash against either Suarez or Liverpool FC at this point would be in poor taste. It would be far more productive to ensure that this type of behaviour is met with zero intolerance. The FA have gone to great lengths to investigate this thoroughly and they deserve credit for manner in which they have done so.

If only United had been as thorough when entering the transfer market last summer. That lack of midfield reinforcement is looking starker than ever this week. Whilst I have faith in the ability of the squad in the long-term when you put out the eleven that we did against Blackburn you need reinforcements. Nobody needs an FA investigation to prove that.

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The spirit of generosity is alive and well this Christmas time and the presents under United’s tree have been particularly lovely this holidays. If it hasn’t been our rivals dropping points, it has been a kind fixture list or a card happy ref. Truly ‘tis the season to be jolly.

Having said all that, the best give we have received was something we had all along, Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgar is the only player in the league who takes a leisurely sip of cognac before scoring a goal, he is pure class and I love seeing him play. He himself is not to blame for the poor 2011 he has endured. Simply he has been a victim of Hernandez’s excellence.

The Mexican fared less well at Old Trafford on Boxing Day but it mattered little as we racked up an aggregate score of 12-nil for a week’s work. Not bad for a side who were being written off about five minutes ago.

The way United field teams is quite imaginative at times. All season long we have been hearing about a lack of midfielders yet in this fixture we had one playing at centre half. What’s more we finished the match with five forwards on the field including one Wayne Rooney playing passes from the centre. 

Dimitar Berbatov

The more you look at it the more our dressing room looks like a collection of footballers rather than a collection of specialists. One might suggest that improves the team ethos around the place if everybody is ready to pitch in where necessary.

Wigan were horribly unlucky with the sending off. It can only be considered a harsh decision although I doubt it robbed them of a comprehensive victory they are entitled to feel aggrieved.

There are others in this league who are likely to feel distressed as this year draws to a close. There is an argument to say that City, having played brilliantly all season, deserve to be more than goal difference in front. Whatever.

Liverpool and Chelsea have also had a tough week of it. This concerns me greatly as there is now the distinct possibility that I might die laughing. My guess is that the impartial neutral would like to see Spurs finish top of the league and I would heartily agree they are an entertaining side.

This New Year though, United are still right there in it. Hope you are all enjoying your holidays.

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There are many fond memories for me at Loftus Road. I was fortunate enough to be there for wonder goals from both Cantona and Giggs and once sat in front of George Best at the ground. This weekend, Michael Carrick of all people added his name to an illustrious list.

This would not be the first time a previously maligned player has made me eat a slice of humble pie. Carrick has got pretty short shrift from me over the years but it must be noted that he has been one of our better performers this season. In addition, Johnny Evans played very well in west London and one can only hope this proves to be a watershed moment for him.

There appears to be quite a lot of water passing under the bridge between Sir Alex and Roy Keane at the moment. I read both the manager’s programme notes last week and this Sunday’s interview in the Times. The whole situation is very disappointing.

Fergie has done unbelievable things for Manchester United, but he is not a perfect human being. Keano has done incredible things for Manchester United, but he is not a human being. It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that they are rubbing each other up the wrong way.

However, I would far rather they weren’t bringing us fans into it. As a Manchester United supporter I do not want to be drawn into a ‘who do you love more’ debate about the two of them. If this situation was playing out in my personal life between two friends I would refuse to pick sides and probably give them both a wide berth until they calmed down. That’s just me though.

It’s good to see an in form Antonio Valencia in one of United’s wide berths at the moment. He plays well with Rooney and the early goal here was, I hope, part of an on-going partnership.

Alas, further back on the field Patrice Evra is starting to look every one of his 106 years. He has been a great player for us but now more than ever we need a fit Da Silva twin to step up to the plate.

Still, ‘Crisis Club Manchester United’ are doing alright at the moment. It is, as always, a busy Christmas period coming up. During the next month though our fixtures look a lot nicer than those of our main rivals. This weekend though, I am just delighted we didn’t lose any more players and put more points on the board. Who knows, things might even be looking up…

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