Don’t Be Too Hard On The Youth
Redville
Latest news in and United have once again been plunged deep into crisis on the back of a devastating defeat in the omnipotent Carling Cup whilst fielding a team who, between them, had less starts than the average Skoda.
But despite most of the papers hinting that United has no future, it’s hardly time to panic. The youngsters didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory on Wednesday night but even Real Madrid don’t sack a player on the back of one performance. Two maybe but never one.
I was surprised that The Reds faired so badly at Old Trafford but whilst there is definite dead wood in the ranks, namely Dong Fangzhou and Fraizer Campbell, the quality is largely there. I’d be far more surprised if we don’t see the likes of Pique, Anderson, Nani and Gibson at the very top of the English game in the coming years.
The main reason they looked so incompetent is obvious – they’ve never played together. You can’t even begin to entertain the notion of the ‘team’ when you haven’t shared the field at once. I remember at the end of last season, United played a ‘World XI’ for a charity game. Despite comprising some elite players, the World XI were spanked by a tired home team still fighting on all fronts. It was clear to see that, regardless of quality, unless a team has time to gel, they will look disjointed, even useless.
The reason the United 1st team is so good is that they have developed an almost telepathic understanding with each other over time through continuity and experience. The reason Carlos Tevez isn’t yet as his best is that he doesn’t currently share this telepathy. Instead, it grows with each game.
Similarly, £20M Anderson can’t get a game because he needs to first understand the United way before he can begin to justify the price tag. Team success is borne out of familiarity and repetition. If Rafa Benitez understood this, Liverpool might actually be in danger of winning the Premier League (perish the thought and long may anyone but them win it).
So before we crucify the kids let’s take into account that even the legendary Sir Alex was given three years. And ‘legendary’ certainly wasn’t a word that many would have used to describe him in those early months.
