Stumbling, Fumbling Giants …
After being given the run around by Arsenal, Sir Alex Ferguson will be keen to show Reading on Saturday that United are not a team running on empty.
The manager conceded that Arsenal were worthy victors last Sunday but with almost a week to lick his wounds and prepare for a first Premiership visit to Berkshire, Ferguson and his players will be keen to get back to winning ways.
‘Losing against Arsenal was a big blow,’ Wayne Rooney admitted. ‘To lose in the last 10 minutes was devastating. But, I suppose if you look at the league table, we have made a decent start and we are still in front of the other title contenders.’
United’s league position and points tally are a precious consolation from an opening four games in which the team generally fizzed, only to go flat when it mattered against Arsenal.
Indeed, though it might not be so important to fans now grumbling about the quality of the club’s midfield, defensive concentration and the lack of goal scorers, United’s rivals have immediate difficulties of even greater concern.
On the eve of the season, Liverpool were rated as second favourites for the title by nearly all the commentariat. Raphael Benitez was praised for his summer recruitment of Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt. With Peter Crouch in the form of his life and the midfield bite of Sissoko harnessed to the versatility of Gerrard, Liverpool were thought to have depth and quality in every department. The Merseysiders were tipped by many as the team best placed to test Chelsea’s appetite for success throughout the season.
A month later and in the wake of two defeats in five games, Liverpool are in danger of adding a weighty handicap to their title charge. Losing to a wonder goal by Chelsea’s Drogba is no disgrace but a thumping away at Goodison Park took the shine of the Benitez’s credentials as a possible Premiership champion.
Liverpool fans claim a shift in style and a change in personnel have disrupted the iron defensive efficiency of last season. That’s football. Liverpool needed to adopt new tactics if they were to get closer to Chelsea. Losing two games so early in the season and so unexpectedly raises the pressure on Liverpool in the ‘six pointer’ games against the Big Three, where the outcome, as United fans will know, is far from certain.
How should Spurs’ season so far be described? Disastrous? Catastrophic? Irredeemable? Certainly Martin ‘The Pit bull’ Jol must be tearing from his head, what remains of his hair after watching his highly-fancied team loose to Bolton, Everton and United and only pick up points thanks to a draw against Fulham and a victory over league whipping boys Sheffield United.
This was not what the north Londoners had expected when selling off Michael Carrick and bringing in a host of talented new players during a hectic summer’s trading. Spurs, so strong in attack that they can keep England striker Jermaine Defoe on the bench, have struggled for goals. Injuries to King and Berbatov have strangled early season team coherence. Spurs, instead of looking enthusiastically towards breaking up the ‘Fabulous Four’ at the top, might be lucky to finish fifth, given the resurgence of Everton and the unexpectedly rapid Premiership acclimatisation of Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa.
The crowing of Arsenal following their stunning performance at Old Trafford may soon give way to wailing and a gnashing of teeth when bread and butter encounters with the league’s lesser lights come around. For all the deserved praise that Wenger’s men have amassed since last Sunday, it should not be forgotten that these players lost to Manchester City, the division’s 17th placed team.
The Gunners might raise their game when facing the sexy challenge of a genuine heavyweight but the Premiership’s also-rans might be less willing than United to stand back whilst Arsenal’s midfielders weave pretty patterns. It will be interesting to see the results achieved by the Gunners at Bolton, Villa, Blackburn and Portsmouth.
United lost an important match but there remains a seven point gap between north and south. It hardly needs repeating that a United victory would have delivered a devastating blow to Arsenal’s title pretensions.
Chelsea, in contrast to their counterparts, have a quiet assurance about them. The defeat at Middlesborough in the last minute of the game was a shock. Before the match and since, Jose Mourinho’s men have made routine the job of winning.
Yet, is it only wishful thinking to suggest that all may not be well in the Chelsea camp? Chelsea’s defence shorn of Gallas will take time to regroup as a unit. The form of Frank Lampard remains disquieting. Can he really play second banana to Michael Ballack all season? The Ukrainian Shevchenko has not been as explosive as many thought. Off the field, an investigation by the FA could find that Chelsea ‘tapped up’ a Middlesborough youth player. If the allegations made by the BBC Panorama programme are upheld, the west Londoners could be docked three points.
Doubts and disappointment stalk each of the Premierships giants to varying degrees. In a title race that might prove to be more even than many had predicted, United fans still have more reason than most to be cheerful. AU
© Copyright: Absolutely United 2006
