i said in january this is not man utd's season. that was when they wernt topping the league. since then they had overtaken chelsea when the blues uncharacteristically dropped points again.
to be honest, man utd has been poor this term. they wernt massacred cos chelsea, arsenal and liverpool have all been inconsistent. no one team has looked champion-worthy.
but in this six-pointer when they had to prove their season's worth, man utd wasnt just disappointing; they looked like they're going into another transition period.
from 2004 to 2006, man utd went for the first time in the premier league without a title in 2 years. and they fell outside the top 2 for the first time in the premier league as well. that was a terrible time for the club. we had sold a david beckham at the peak of his powers, then arsenal became the Invincibles and chelsea became filthy rich. as if it couldn't get worse, captain roy keane left next, leaving man utd truly soul-less. it's ok if man utd didnt win the titles; it was that they wernt even playing like how man utd should be. 2004 and 2005 they were so bad they ended the seasons more than 14 points less than the winners.
it's another transition year, and i worry for the club. after keane, free-scoring ruud van nistelrooy departed, but the future looked bright as cristiano ronaldo and wayne rooney were blossoming. now man utd's long-awaited world player of the year is gone while the other gem carlos tevez defected. in a season spearheaded by one man, rooney, it is no surprise we look as pathetic as when we were led only by van nistelrooy.
one man can only do so much, especially if you play world-class teams with numerous superstars.
face it, we have been awful this term, and flattering when we win by 3-0, 4-0 scorelines. milan was like a one-off fluke, plus they really run like a sunday team of uncles. then bayern came along and ate us up, exposing us in 90mins all the flaws we've had for years. to add insult to injury, rooney crashed and burnt, leaving us awaiting the guillotine 4 days later for the six-pointer.
Dimitar Berbatov
i'd like to forgive the fact that he cost so much. there have been other players who have cost us a lot and flopped worse, like juan veron. plus berba seriously looks the price tag, but it has been painfully rare. he was a terrific lone striker for bulgaria and tottenham, making me think he's coming into his own recently playing alone upfront, but chelsea brought me back to reality. against a team as solid as chelsea, berba alone was too lightweight. there was no presence in attack. john terry and alex ate him up, period.
The Stalwarts - Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville
their combined years at man utd breaches half a century.
not denying they can still contribute, they were exposed more often than not. sentimental or not, these old folks are still playing cos the youngsters are simply not good enough to step in; that's the sorry state of man utd's new generation. who leads by example like giggs? who has scholes' vision? and yesterday was actually one match neville played fairly well.
but their end is near. experience aside, they are no longer inspiring physically. when you're slower and uninspiring, it's time to step aside.
They don't belong in Manchester
keane lambasted players like john o'shea and darren fletcher before quitting, that they're not worthy of pulling on the legendary red jersey. he cant be wrong. o'shea is weak technically, and he's lucky to still be at the club after many others of similar calibre have been shipped out by fergie. fletcher, for all his effort, is like o'shea.
keane had a point, but the bigger issue isnt limited to just the two of them. we just dont have enough world-class players. technically, only rooney, berbatov, nemanja vidic, patrice evra, rio ferdinand and edwin van der sar still turn it on.
and most of those defend our goal.
Man for man
this was a chelsea missing didier drogba, ashley cole, michael essien, ricardo carvalho, jose bosingwa, michael ballack and branislav ivanovic, but they outplayed us all over the field. imagine a full-strength chelsea. only terry was their first choice but we hardly troubled them. frank lampard was heads and shoulders above our midfielders, while a past-his-prime deco, florent malouda whom i think sucks, and joe cole were electric.
i hate to diss antonio valencia cos he has been outstanding this season but he is no ronaldo. he might be damn effective as an old-school winger but he doesn't score and he doesn't scare opponents.
A bench of duds
missing michael owen, anderson, wes brown and owen hargreaves, man utd's reserves currently reads nani, federico macheda, mame biram diouf, ritchie de laet, darron gibson, gabriel obertan and the brazilian twins. who do we turn to in times of crisis like yesterday? what strength of depth?
and i dont understand why fergie either benches park ji-sung or subs him out first. the man contributes much more than others, draws so many fouls, and plays football like the man utd we know.
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