It would take the mother of all catastrophes for United not to win their 19th league title following Sunday's 2-1 win over Chelsea. That six point gap at the top of the table looks unassailable and with luck this coming weekend United will be crowned Champions of England for the 19th time.
It will be a remarkable achievement given United's away performances in the Premier League this season, which saw them losing to struggling Wolves, and on too many occasions dropping valuable points away at Bolton, Birmingham, Fulham and Everton. At one point in the season, United were the Premier League's draw specialists, but even when the team couldn't convert winning positions into three points, importantly, they did not lose.
The defence has been the cornerstone of what has been an up and down season at times; many pundits have said that this United team isn't that special. The fact that United don't have a superstar currently in the squad and that they've been tagged as the team who know how to win games by just 'doing enough' doesn't really matter one jot, because when we look back at the record books in years to come the only fact that matters is that United finished top in 2010-2011.
Everyone has an opinion about football, it is partly what makes it such a great game, and while we the fans question our illustrious great leader at times, none of us can question his loyalty to his players and it is that in part which makes him stand out from many other managers.
Ferguson is one of the fairest manager's of all time; it is why he commands so much respect from his players. If we look back to the recent home game with Arsenal, many people were aghast at his starting line-up, given the personal and the number of changes, but Fergie knew what he was doing. The same can be said of the team that started against Schalke last week in the Champions League semi-final - there was nine changes but United ran out comfortable winners.
Ferguson trusts his players and they know that; take the example of Sunday's hero Ji-Sung Park, the South Korean comes in for some stick because he is not every one's idea of the model first-class midfield player. But against Chelsea, Park played like a man possessed - he never gave up when chasing down the opposition. Park was man of the match against Chelsea and he thoroughly deserved the plaudits which came his way following that lung busting performance.
Everyone who played against Chelsea played well and the result means that United can now hopefully concentrate on the next big task and that of course is how to beat Barcelona.
Whatever happens in the Champions League final, the vast majority of United fans will be just delighted at overtaking Liverpool, because from now on United will be referred to as England's most successful club.
the problem is the ABU media will conveniently ignore the fact that united is England's most successful club. even last week most of media tried say that united is trying to win the 12 th premier league rather than 19th title. (Telegraph, Independent, guardian) all..
ReplyDeletebut we united fans dont care what the abu media has to say.. we have 19 titles and we will keep on adding more..
Who gives a flying f*ck with those know nothing hacks write in the press?
ReplyDelete"Whatever happens in the Champions League final, the vast majority of United fans will be just delighted at overtaking Liverpool, because from now on United will be referred to as England's most successful club."
ReplyDeleteSpot on James. No matter what Barca do to us in the Champions League this season has been a success when you consider the squad we have got and the limited funds available to Fergie. At the start of the season I really thought this United team would do very poorly and might struggle to stay in the top 4 but I am delighted to be proved wrong. Even more impressive when you think that Chelsea started the season as the favorites and then spent a further £75m in the January window.
The 19th title is an amazing achievement for United and for Sir Alex.
Dave,
ReplyDeleteI predicted United wouldn't win anything this season on many occasions and so I too am delighted to be proved wrong (again).
Chelsea could have won it easily, but they fell apart around the turn of year, and United just kept on plugging away.
In many ways it has been a strange season, but there has been good reasons to be optimistic too, with the emergence of players like Smalling, Hernandez and the Da Silva twins.
IF Fergie went out this summer and signed Drogba, a top quality keeper and Sneijder I'd be a very happy red.
We've been very lucky really that Hernandez has been an amazing signing, that Smalling has been exceptional (I thought he would be a massive flop) and that the Da Silva twins are coming along at a fast rate. I guess you can look at Hernandez and Bebe as being total opposite ends of the spectrum... and to think they cost around the same amount!
ReplyDeleteNot heard of Drogba linked with us. Can see him used as a makeweight for Kaka or someone else. He would only want to be first choice striker and whilst I think he probably could adapt to Rooney playing behind him - do we really need him with Hernandez playing like he is? and would Drogba be interested in a team where he could be 3rd choice striker?
The other one is Sneijder. I would love him at United. I am still peed off that we didn't get him when Real signed Ronaldo. I do wonder where Sneijder would come in right now tho. Could he adapt and play deeper so we can keep the Rooney/Hernandez partnership in this 4-4-1-1 system or would we have to have a proper 4-5-1 and Hernandez on the bench?
I'm not sure about Sneijder joining. I'd love it but have my doubts. However I do think we will make a big push this summer to sign Modric. He has already adapted to playing deeper as part of a 2 man central midfield with Huddlestone/Sandro and with Van Der Vaart playing in front of him much like Rooney has done recently. With Spurs missing out on the Champions league I expect one of VDV, Modric or Bale to leave to give the funds to adjust the team somewhat (get a decent striker or 2) and reckon now that Modric has shown he can play as a regular central midfielder then he would be perfect and slot right in. I'd honestly say I see Modric or Schweinsteiger as perfect replacements for Scholes. Modric as the more attacking Scholes of 5+ years ago, Schweinsteiger as the deeper playing Scholes of the last few years.
I guess Kaka might also be a possibility should Madrid look to get rid of him for a low price with other attacking midfielders coming in like that turkish guy they just bought from Dortmund. What are your thoughts on Kaka these days James? to risky or think he will blossom again?
And who do you think will be out this summer? I guess the more obvious ones are Brown, Kuszczak, Owen, Hargreaves. I am thinking we may see Berba, Diouf, Obertan and one of Welbeck or Macheda gone.
vote victory in the champions league manchester united here: http://desportoevoradistrito.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteWe've been very lucky really that Hernandez has been an amazing signing, that Smalling has been exceptional (I thought he would be a massive flop) and that the Da Silva twins are coming along at a fast rate. I guess you can look at Hernandez and Bebe as being total opposite ends of the spectrum... and to think they cost around the same amount!
ReplyDeleteNot heard of Drogba linked with us. Can see him used as a makeweight for Kaka or someone else. He would only want to be first choice striker and whilst I think he probably could adapt to Rooney playing behind him - do we really need him with Hernandez playing like he is? and would Drogba be interested in a team where he could be 3rd choice striker?
The other one is Sneijder. I would love him at United. I am still peed off that we didn't get him when Real signed Ronaldo. I do wonder where Sneijder would come in right now tho. Could he adapt and play deeper so we can keep the Rooney/Hernandez partnership in this 4-4-1-1 system or would we have to have a proper 4-5-1 and Hernandez on the bench?
I'm not sure about Sneijder joining. I'd love it but have my doubts. However I do think we will make a big push this summer to sign Modric. He has already adapted to playing deeper as part of a 2 man central midfield with Huddlestone/Sandro and with Van Der Vaart playing in front of him much like Rooney has done recently. With Spurs missing out on the Champions league I expect one of VDV, Modric or Bale to leave to give the funds to adjust the team somewhat (get a decent striker or 2) and reckon now that Modric has shown he can play as a regular central midfielder then he would be perfect and slot right in. I'd honestly say I see Modric or Schweinsteiger as perfect replacements for Scholes. Modric as the more attacking Scholes of 5+ years ago, Schweinsteiger as the deeper playing Scholes of the last few years.
I guess Kaka might also be a possibility should Madrid look to get rid of him for a low price with other attacking midfielders coming in like that turkish guy they just bought from Dortmund. What are your thoughts on Kaka these days James? to risky or think he will blossom again?
And who do you think will be out this summer? I guess the more obvious ones are Brown, Kuszczak, Owen, Hargreaves. I am thinking we may see Berba, Diouf, Obertan and one of Welbeck or Macheda gone.
DAVE.
Dave,
ReplyDeleteI'm really not sure about Kaka, I can see him being the next Shevchenko...
Signing Drogba would give Fergie the option of playing Rooney in midfield or up front...
Drogba can play anywhere up front and he could win those headers from long punts down the pitch, which something Hernandez and Rooney are not great at.
Berbatov and or Nani will be offered to Spurs in part ex for Modric and or Inter for Sneijder but I doubt either will want him.
I agree with your list of possible exits...