How Fergie Turned United’s Season Around …
Last autumn, few could have imagined that a faltering United team would find itself just seven points behind the Premiership leaders Chelsea with five games left to play.
Then, United looked to be going nowhere. Indifferent performances against uncelebrated European opposition had led to early elimination from the lucrative Champions League. The team struggled to score goals and seemed over-reliant on the sublime gifts of Wayne Rooney.
Worse, a woeful midfield display and comic defending in a 4-1 hammering away at Middlesborough, provoked a furious tirade against falling standards and sub-standard players from United’s talisman, Roy Keane. Sir Alex Ferguson was indicted by fans, players and the media alike for appearing clueless as United decayed. The scouting system had delivered duds. Team selection seemed incomprehensible and was the preserve of an overly defensive coach. United, in short, were a shambles.
Fast forward three months and the picture above seems scarcely possible. United are now entertaining, purposeful and deadly in front of goal. The team’s slick performances against Bolton and most recently at home to Arsenal, were a vivid vindication of Sir Alex Ferguson’s rejuvenation as a master of his trade. The Scottish giant, once derided for being as out-dated as Spam, is back!
How Sir Alex turned United’s season around is worthy of high praise indeed. In part, it can be explained by strange twists of fate. Mostly, it is testimony to a formidable strength of character, endurance, courage and the application of tried and trusted footballing principles.
The premature termination of United’s European interest and the limp performance which marked the end to this year’s FA Cup campaign, did give Ferguson that most precious of footballing commodities – time. Of course, Sir Alex would have welcomed continued involvement in the major cups but the visible wilting of Arsenal yesterday, especially in midfield, amply demonstrated the benefits to the United team of better preparation.
If Sir Alex has reaped the rewards of having six days between matches, he has earned his luck by re-discovering the tactics and attacking philosophy that had driven United to glittering success. Roy Keane’s departure from Old Trafford had the effect of liberating United from a team formation designed to prolong his career as the fulcrum of the side. Ferguson was clearly beguiled by the Irish warrior who had given charisma and an identity to United for more than a decade.
Yet, injuries had made Keane less mobile and thus, less effective. The player, whilst still capable at the domestic level, could no longer maintain the highest standards required of elite central midfield performers. In selecting a 4-2-3-1 formation with the sole aim of playing to a fading Keane’s strengths, United lost the width and the attacking vim that had been their hallmarks for 14 years.
Keane’s post-Middlesborough spleen, forced Fergie into abandoning a formation which had stifled United as an attacking force. A supine FA Cup performance against Liverpool aside, the team has not looked back since.
The return to a 4-4-2 formation better suited the personnel available at Old Trafford. The cruel leg and ankle break suffered by Alan Smith at Anfield, the mysterious eye complaint that forced out Paul Scholes and the exhaustion of Darren Fletcher, further narrowed Sir Alex’s options in midfield, leaving him with little choice but to select Giggs and O’Shea regularly. Whilst no-one would pretend this midfield pairing represents the future of United, it has done all that has been required so far. The examination at home to European semi-finalists Arsenal was passed with flying colours. Giggs, free of injury, has flourished as a playmaker whilst O’Shea has proved competent as a defensive shield.
United’s attacking formation has been enhanced by a settled midfield and reinforced by the solid platform Fergie’s defenders have provided. Wes Brown, still perhaps too fragile to be reliable, showed international form before succumbing to injury. In Nemanja Vidic, his seven million pound replacement at centre half, United may have found,at last, the kind of imposing, uncompromising defender needed to bring out the best in Rio Ferdinand.
Even the hapless Mikael Silvestre has looked a different player since being redeployed at left back in place of long term casualty Gabriel Heinze. The harum scarum, school-boy defending is less frequent. Silvestre’s goal assists for Saha at Bolton and for Rooney against Arsenal, proved his worth as a fullback, though they might still not be enough to warrant another year at Old Trafford.
Resolute in defence, imaginative in midfield, United have begun recently to bear comparison with the one-touch,remorseless, attacking football machine of old. Even the gamble of rotating goal-king Ruud Van Nistelrooy with Louis Saha as partner for the immense Rooney, has paid off for Ferguson. Saha’s return to fitness has been a boon and both strikers have scored crucial goals to keep the pressure on Chelsea.
Perhaps Fergie’s most significant achievement in recent months has been to keep intact the player’s commitment to him and to the United cause. A Carling Cup victory over a Wigan side suffering from stage fright, may be small potatoes compared to the thrills of yesteryear but it was proof of the hunger and desire for success of both players and manager. United have continued in similar vein since the Cardiff triumph, joyously chalking up nine straight wins to maintain a firm grip on automatic entry to the Champion’s League next season.
Sir Alex Ferguson, newly armed with a contract for another year, has said that this United team is within two years of greatness. Few would have believed him just three months ago. The fact that the Premiership is competitive again when just six weeks ago Chelsea were 18 points ahead and cantering effortlessly to the title, is a reminder to all his doubters that Sir Alex may still have enough of the right stuff to guide the new United towards a serious challenge for the title ahead of schedule. AU
© Copyright: Absolutely United 2006
