Mid Season Cup Review …
Any analysis of United’s cup form so far this season would note the meek surrender of the Carling trophy and the heart in mouth progress of the club in Europe.
Yet these bare statistics conceal a wealth of information which should serve Sir Alex well as United go in search of honours next year.The manager should make a priority of re-evaluating his European tactics. United made heavy weather of the lightest of possible European engagements against FC Copenhagen and Celtic and can only have themselves to blame.
The European journey began as scripted. United rattled up nine points in quick succession and even managed a first away win in 34 months following Louis Saha’s bullet in Benfica.
With qualification in sight after just four games, Sir Alex rested key players for the match against Copenhagen and promptly returned home empty handed. He then sent a team out at Celtic, which played into the hands of limited opponents by shunting Wayne Rooney to the wing. The midfielders sat far too deep and Louis Saha was unusually distracted. With such ingredients, United succumbed to the vision of Nakamura and panic ensued.
Qualification was eventually rescued from disaster after a thumping victory over Benfica but typically, not before Sir Alex’s team had suffered an early scare. United were forced to throw caution to the wind after going a goal behind and responded in the finest United tradition.
As Teddy Sheringham once remarked, there is no greater sight in football than watching a United side chase a game. True indeed but United now have little margin for error as the cut-throat knock-out stage begins. A ‘thuggish’ Lille side will approach their last 16 match against United full of confidence, despite revelling in their underdog status. Sir Alex will have no need to be reminded of the damage this hitherto little-regarded northern French team can inflict.
By the time United take on Lille, Sir Alex will hope to have solved the riddle of why Rooney can no longer score in Europe. The striker’s goal drought now stretches over two years. Fortunately, in Cristiano Ronaldo, Sir Alex has a performer of the highest class. If Louis Saha can continue to deliver against better defences and Scholes and Carrick are allowed to give greater support to the team’s forwards, then United have a chance. This is all the more so, if the disciplined defending of Rio and Vidic is alloyed to a sustained commitment to attack, upon which all the best United teams are built. The 4-5-1 formation might emerge from a coaching seminar to appear well-suited to the cat and mouse contests of Europe. But in reality, the very best sides, the teams that win the Champions League competition, are usually the most expansive, living up to the old United mantra: “You score three. We’ll score four!”
Whilst cheers toasted United’s European success, insult and derision accompanied the club’s two-game defence of the Carling Cup. The sluggish victory over Crewe was a reminder that the club’s enthusiasm for the loan system robs Sir Alex of the quality of understudy needed when his finest are given the night off. Nevertheless, a team which can boast Kuszczak, Brown, Heinze, Silvestre, David Jones, Richardson, Smith and Solskjaer, should have been sufficiently equipped to see off a game and doughty League One side.
Sir Alex recognised as much by fielding many more of his top talents in the following contest at Southend. Alas, the manager discovered that they too struggled to find Carling to their taste. A team of ten internationals looked like it would rather be somewhere else than at Roots Hall in a confrontation with eager opponents. Even Cristiano Ronaldo, the outstanding United player of the campaign so far, could do nothing to prevent Southend claiming a deserved and famous victory in a game which was “a bonfire of the vanities for the famous names on the away team sheet.”
The defeat set in motion the cull that should have taken place last summer. Alan Smith, a sad figure now, as he battles to regain the form that endeared him to the Old Trafford faithful, was offered to Cardiff but refused Sir Alex’s invitation to improve his fitness in the Championship. He is now marking time with United’s stiffs, delaying an inevitable departure.
The heart strings were tugged when David Jones packed up his kitbag for the last time and headed up the motorway to Derby. United had lost one of their own, whom most observers predict will go on to enjoy a good career. Jones was something of a poster boy for United trainees failing to make the step up to the Premiership in the colour red. But in truth, it is for the player to prove his worth when given the chance. Class rather than age is the only barrier to progress at Old Trafford.
The Southend match also signalled the latest and probably the last burial of Kieran Richardson, a gifted player who seemingly wears the label ‘frustrating footballer’ like a badge of honour. Time and again, the Londoner has been invited to demonstrate his range of skills and each time he has failed to deliver on cue. It can not be long now before Richardson joins the ex-United club. AU
© Copyright: Absolutely United 2006
