SAF: Will The Terrible Tinkerer Return …
Is the stage set next season for the return of Fergie the Terrible Tinkerman?
The manager was hammered in recent years for a tendency to meddle with the team’s line-up. Though he wasn’t quite Benitez-like in his affection for tinkering, Sir Alex was nevertheless carpeted for failing to stick to the same line-up week in, week out.
Last season’s success was a victory for those who believe in the ‘same again’ philosophy, as United romped home to the title, with only injuries or poor form held responsible for changes to the team’s personnel.
All that should change next season.
The signing of Bayern Munich’s Owen Hargreaves encouraged speculation that the manager had seen the success of Chelsea, Milan and Barcelona and decided to copy it.
A midfield of Carrick, Scholes and Hargreaves would provide the firm central grip to allow Rooney Ronaldo and a centre forward to go for the opposition’s juglar free of defensive worries.
There is an easy logic to this selection which may have been thrown off-kilter by United’s raid on Portugal for Nani and Anderson. The professional realities of an enlarged and more talented squad could encourage Sir Alex to chart an altered course towards domination at home and abroad.
United now have a young squad with defensive and midfield strength in depth and good overall cover except in attack. So extravagant appear United’s riches, on paper at least, that the great German midfielder Lothar Mattheus, is tipping the team to sweep all before it even before a ball is kicked in anger next season.
“The troops of Sir Alex Ferguson dominated the Premiership and next season surely they will win him another Champions League,” he told Bild newspaper. “They have two qualities that no-one can touch - they’re a young team and one that is improving all the time.”
Such attributes could tempt Sir Alex into developping two distinct winning strategies as the season unfolds.
Domestically, he faces significant tests from the usual suspects and scuffles worthy of attention from no more than half a dozen other teams. United would be expected to bulldoze the rest of the Premiership’s make-weights.
This luxury allows Sir Alex to play to United strengths. He will have seen enough of his team over the years to know that 4-4-2 wins prizes. If Nani demonstrates that he can provide the width, pace and penetration for which he is celebrated, United could rediscover the turbo-charged wing outlet to terrify the opposition that they have lacked with the withering of Giggs’ speed.
A United with Scholes or Anderson alongside Carrick or Hargreaves, flanked by Nani and Ronaldo, would enable Sir Alex to match Rooney with Saha or a new striker. If the players played to their capabilities, it would be a permutation to thrill but hardly revolutionary. The stirring second half offensive at Craven Cottage last season, when Fergie sent out what looked like a team set-up of 4-1-5 to win the points, showed that the manager still has faith in all out attack.
In the sterner encounters at home and in Europe, Fergie would look to Carrick, Hargreaves and Scholes playing behind Rooney Ronaldo and another forward, in a formation that would be a match even for the might of Milan.
The competition for places means Sir Alex is surely open to persuasion as to his best team for the season ahead. The sheer size and quality of United’s squad demands that there will be games aplenty for all.
The defence picks itself although Evans and Pique, if he stays, will not want to make the selection quite so serene.
But it is in midfield where United now have the numbers and the star quality not seen for the best part of a decade. Nani, Giggs, Park, Hargreaves, Scholes, Fletcher, O’Shea, Carrick, Anderson and Ronaldo, every one an international, offer Sir Alex technique, talent, showmanship and steel and potentially, the mother of all selection headaches.
Michael Carrick, who played in all but five of United’s league games last year, has seen the writing on the wall and is readying himself for the fight ahead. “They say the easy part is getting there and the hardest part’s staying there, so I’ve got a big challenge ahead,” he admitted.
Initially at least, Sir Alex will have little choice but to field a number of different permutations as he eases his new imports into British football, allows Hargreaves to find his feet and searches for the winning team blend.
Versatile tactics and squad rotation will be the order of the day. Claudio ‘The Tinkerman’ Ranieri may not have taken up the chance to manage United’s near neighbours but his spirit will certainly be present in Manchester.
