Manchester United's first summer post Ferguson is fast turning into a farce: Is Ed Woodward to blame?

It wouldn't be understating it to say that Manchester United's first summer after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement has turned into a complete and utter farce where new signings are concerned.

Even with the full backing of someone like Sheik Mansour, David Moyes would be faced with a very difficult challenge; in the remote possibility that you need reminding, Ferguson is the most successful manager in the history of British football. David Moyes cannot rely on an oil rich sheik; he has to rely on the backing of the Glazer family and David Gill's replacement, United vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

While this is Moyes' first summer in charge of United, the same can be said of Woodward - but unlike his vice-chairman, Moyes' cannot go hiding in the comfortable sanctuary that is the Old Trafford boardroom when things go horribly wrong on the pitch and the way things are shaping up there's every prospect of that happening at this juncture.

Based on the evidence and actions of Woodward to date and from the outside looking in, it
appears as though there was very little sensible planning with regards to acquiring quality players who would make Manchester United stronger, post Fergie.

David Moyes has gone on record stating what the fans already know (and truth be told, have known since Roy Keane departed) that midfield is the single biggest area of concern. So what have United done about adding genuine star quality in midfield this summer? Well for starters, quite a lot of talking to the media on the subject of transfers, but as we all know, talk is cheap. All this talking has been an unwelcome change of policy - a departure from the norm - and it leaves United wide open to all manner of accusations when things go badly wrong, as you are about to discover....read on.


Where's Woodward? Another tale of transfer woes...

According to reports, Ed Woodward tried to sign Fabregas - the Barcelona reserve who still has very strong links with Arsenal, his former club; his agent is the son of the former Gunners' supremo, David Dein. Arsene Wenger is said to be Dein's best pal in football and the Arsenal manager has made it known that according to his information, Fabregas was never coming back to the Premier League this season. If Wenger knew that, why did United waste so much time chasing a player who is clearly unavailable?

Ed Woodward we were told, cut short United's gruelling / money grabbing world-wide summer tour to return to deal with urgent business. We were led to believe that business was in fact with Barcelona and Fabregas. Woodward has barely been heard of since, leading to cries of "where is Woodward"? Perhaps those reports were wrong and in fact he was signing a new sponsorship deal with Mister Potato?

Wherever Woodward is or was this summer, it's worth asking the question, did United actually know Fabregas was unlikely to leave Barca and if so were they leading journalists and United fans down the proverbial garden path? Did the club ever have any serious intentions of signing Fabregas who was never going to be available? We don't know the real truth behind the Fabregas saga, but we damn well know United have so far failed to back David Moyes -  a situation that is totally unacceptable as far as many followers of the club are concerned.

So who else is on David Moyes' transfer radar? 

The Fellaini and Baines saga...

From pretty much the minute the Scot was named as United's new manager, he's been linked with Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines; these names have been bandied around all summer, but apart from making 'insulting offers' for the Everton pair, very little progress has been made on either player.

A report in the Daily Mirror stated that Ed Woodward has written a letter of apology to Everton for the way the appointment of David Moyes was handled - can we expect a follow up letter with regards to his 'insulting offers' for Fellaini and Baines?

Fellaini and or Baines could still yet be United players come September 3rd, but don't stake your mortgage on it. It's also worth asking if Fellaini and Baines featured prominently on Moyes' wanted list, why didn't United make their move earlier? Because as far as we know, no other defensive midfield player is on the manager's wanted list. There appears to be no excuse for not trying to sign Fellaini sooner. As for Fellaini's expired buy-out clause; United did not agree with Everton's valuation, so again, there appears to be no room for excuses - other than haggling over the fee.

The Rooney saga....what really happened....or did it?

According to Ferguson, Wayne Rooney told him he wanted to leave Manchester United. Fair enough, he's a Scouser after all and we Mancunians' accept that as a professional he might want to leave, however, not to join a Premier League rival. Rooney is no Scholes of Giggs, he is not one of us is he? But let's make this clear, Rooney has been fantastic for United and let's not forget that.

United fans have been wondering why Ferguson went public telling the world that Rooney wanted to quit the champions - it wasn't the first time either. Several theories have been doing the rounds. Some say, Fergie was getting his own back on the player who caused so much fuss following his previous request to leave a couple of years ago. We don't buy that theory on this blog. More likely, we think Fergie got wind of Rooney's desire to join Chelsea and contrary to Jose Mourinho's 'ethical' claims, contact was made between the two camps (possibly as far back as 6 months ago when Jose first knew he was to takeover at Chelsea). Knowing he was about to leave his post as United manager and appoint David Moyes who himself has 'previous' with Rooney, SAF decided to go public so as not to give his replacement an even bigger problem.  

It was a massive dilemma for Fergie, in outing Rooney, he knew that he would be making life very difficult for the player; many fans have turned against the former Everton stiker as a result and Moyes has been left to pick up the pieces, but thanks to Fergie's actions, at least we know these problems had little to do with the new United manager, they'd been festering for a while.

For their part, Chelsea and 'ethical Jose' have said they will keep on trying to sign Rooney right up to the transfer deadline, but they also have a 'plan B'. To date, United have rejected two offers from Chelsea for Rooney, a third is anticipated next week.

It could be argued, Chelsea have unsettled Rooney to such an extent that it doesn't matter if he joins them or not, especially as Rooney is likely to miss Monday's clash with Chelsea - job partly done as far as Jose is concerned, especially if Chelsea secure all three points.

Then we come to the business of United's supposed interest in signing Mata as part of any deal with Chelsea to sign Wayne Rooney. To recap, United let slip that Chelsea had supposedly offered Mata and cash for Wayne Rooney, in their initial bid. In response, Jose Mourinho flatly denied those claims. However, rumours suggest Jose does not fancy Mata and that the Spaniard might well be available.

Enter Willian...
To bring this story right up to date, it looks as though Chelsea have beaten Spurs to punch to sign Willian from Anzhi Makhachkala, for £30m. Willian is a very highly rated Brazilian midfield star and it begs the question, just how many midfield players does Jose need at Chelsea? It looks as though Jose is buying players to stop his rivals from strengthening, and not for the first time either, at least that has been a suspicion aired in the not too distant past.

But as a result of United's transfer bungling, what if Chelsea know how desperate United have become without any major summer signings, and what if they can now allow Mata to join United as long as they get Rooney? Why didn't United try to sign Willian, if they had done they could have given ethical Jose another two fingered salute. Whatever else happens, United must NOT sell Rooney to Chelsea,  to do so would be an act of suicide.

The post Fergie and David Gill era....

We know that David Gill didn't realy want anything to do with the Glazers', we know that because he said it at the last AGM, yours truly was there. Despite this, he did a good job under difficult circumstances and his partnership with Fergie was very productive; United were successful both and off the pitch.

We are heading in a new direction with David Moyes at the helm and with Woodward, hiding somewhere in the rigging. You have to ask yourself what was it that first attracted Moyes to the Glazer family? A solid performer in the Premier League accepted, but was it also David Moyes miser like spending record at Everton and if so, are United about to follow the Arsenal model of spending little and just fighting for one of those lucrative Champions League spots every season? It isn't as far fetched as it might sound, because on the evidence of what we've seen so far, post Fergie there's been a lot of talking but not much else.

All in all, it isn't looking too promising for United fans and David Moyes. So much has been promised, so little delivered in the way of serious backing for the new manager. Manchester United and Ed Woodward must do better, much better.

Top Ten Fergie memories to savour at Manchester United..

After 26 trophy laden years as manager of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson caught pretty much everyone by surprise with his retirement announcement. To their credit United fans have, in the main, embraced change as we look forward to what will hopefully be another glorious chapter in the club's rich history under new manager David Moyes. We look back at Fergie's time at Old Trafford and give you our Top Ten Fergie memories.

*The task of creating this list hasn't been easy; there's so many wonderful memories to savour. Everyone will have their own favourites and so we make no apology for omissions. **All lists are subjective.

1) 1999 - the never to be forgotten historic treble season. The crowning glory of Fergie's reign has to be that drama filled night in Barcelona on, May 26th, 1999. Anyone who was lucky enough to be there (and those who weren't) will never forget those dramatic last few minutes of the Champions League final as United broke the hearts of Bayern Munich with two late goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær. In the minutes that followed the drama of added time, Fergie uttered those never to be forgotten words "I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Football. Bloody hell".

2) 1999 - FA Cup semi-final replay against Arsenal at Villa Park.  United have been involved in several rousing replays, but none have matched the drama of that night at Villa Park. Ryan Giggs was the hero of 10-man United after Roy Keane had been sent off and Peter Schmeichel had saved a late Bergkamp penalty. Thanks to the FA ruining their own cup, there will be no more semi-final replays.

3) 1999 - Champions League semi final 2nd leg against Juventus. Cometh the hour cometh the man.
The man that night was Roy Keane. United were two-nil down inside the first 10 minutes, but as so often happened, the captain led the fightback with a towering header. Cole and Yorke completed the job as United secured their place in the final.


4) Fergie's vow to knock Liverpool of their f***ing perch - and he did, in some style. Thank you Sir Alex. The quote: "My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their fucking perch. And you can print that."


5) 1995-1996 "You'll win nothing with kids". For many, it was summer of discontent for United fans as Fergie swung the axe and out went Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis - all fans favourites. The press had a pre-season field day at United's expense. Some fans thought Fergie had lost the plot - a successful team had been torn apart and were replaced by 'Fergie's fledglings'. United lost the opening game of the new season at Villa Park and the sage that is Alan Hansen wrote off Fergie's young team with his now infamous quote "You'll win nothing with kids". United went on to overturn Newcastle's 10 point lead in the Premier League at Christmas to win the title - the gap stretched to 12 points. Fergie's ability to wind up his opponents is well documented; few will forget Kevin Keegan's public meltdown at Fergie, live on Sky Sports. United ended a memorable season and secured a league and cup double thanks to Eric Cantona's winner against Liverpool at Wembley and Man City were relegated, again. 


6) Fergie's goal celebrations. No one celebrated goals quite like Fergie and we are going to miss seeing him jump to his feet and enjoy the moment in his unique way. We canvassed Twitter to ask fans' for their favourite Fergie memories and his celebration following Paul Scholes winner against Man City in 2010 was a popular choice.
The Ginger prince gives City the coup de grâce in the Manchester derby with a glancing header.

Below: A wonderful photograph and a wonderful moment to savour.

7) 1992-1993 - Fergie's first league title win. They say winning your first league title is always the hardest and that certainly was the case for Fergie at Manchester United. United fans had to wait seven long years to secure that elusive first title win (in fact in total, it was 26 years since the club's last First Division title victory). United eventually won the title by 10 points, Aston Villa finished runner-up. Steve Bruce secured a vital win, with two late goals against Sheffield Wednesday in what later became known as 'Fergie time', however, the title was only sealed after Villa lost against Oldham.

The long wait was finally over, the scenes of jubilation inside Old Trafford have rarely been matched. That first title victory was the beginning of a wonderful period in United's history thanks to Sir Alex Ferguson.

8) Beating Chelsea in Moscow in 2008 to win his second Champions League final. Though there was a huge element of good fortune with John Terry slipping at the vital moment when taking *that* penalty, it is a never to forgot memory, because we all honestly thought United had lost the cup.

9) Fergie's press bans and his handling of the media. Plus Fergie's ability to wind up his opponents. As far as we know, Fergie is the only manager who regularly banned journalists from attending his press conferences. He famously gave John Motson a serious dressing down when telling the BBCs meek and mild MOTD reporter in no uncertain terms that "you fuc*ing know the rules here". The rant followed the termination of a post-match interview in which the United manager had been asked a question about Roy Keane who'd been sent-off for the third time during his short time with the club. Quite simply legendary. We have already highlighted Fergie's most famous wind-up which led to - Keegan's "Love it" meltdown - but there have been many wind-ups down the years: Rafa Benitez, Gerrard Houlier, Roberto Mancini and Arsene Wenger have all been on the receiving end of Fergie's set-piece jibes.

10) Fergie putting United first; his dedicated work ethic, professionalism and his insatiable appetite for winning. As far as Fergie is concerned, United came first, second and third. The interests of international managers was in truth not his problem and because of this, he was in tune with the majority of United fans. Fergie is widely acknowledged to be among the best man-managers in the history of the game - that is just one of his many managerial qualities. Fergie's work ethic is well documented and he's a winner - his record speaks for itself. Fergie set the standards and lived up to them and for that we say thank you from the bottom of our collective hearts. Thank you Fergie. Please add your own Fergie memories.
 

The magnificent reign of Ferguson at Manchester United: It all hinged on one quite brilliant signing...

Manchester United have won back the trophy that they lost in such dramatic circumstances last May to local rivals Manchester City. This season's battle for the title was once again contested by Manchester's finest, but the end result couldn't have been more of a contrast; by the end of April, City had all but thrown in the towel and United's consistency saw the Red Devils romp home with games to spare. Job done.

However, the euphoria of winning the Premier League title for the thirteenth time has been overshadowed by Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to retire after 26 trophy laden years at Old Trafford. The thought of Fergie not being on the United bench next season is something the fans' are having to come to terms with and it isn't easy. It will never quite be the same without the man who has given United fans so much pleasure for the best part of three decades.

It's difficult to quantify what Ferguson has done for United; in terms of winning trophies it is easy, quite simply, he is the most successful British manager ever. But Ferguson's remit went way beyond managing the first team; from the beginning, the man from Govan has ruled everything to do with the playing side of the club with an iron rod.  Ferguson's control and leadership has given United stability - an all too rare commodity in the hire 'em 'n fire 'em Premier League.

Often arriving before 7am at Carrington, the club's training ground, Fergie's work ethic is well documented. Hard work is just one of many attributes, less often mentioned, but of equal importance is Ferguson's ability to keep everyone happy. Long after being sold, former United star Lee Sharpe went on record saying that Ferguson would drop players like any other manager, but unlike many of his contemporaries, he always made sure pride was left intact.

His ability to man-manage is rightly lauded, but perhaps slightly less so is his ability to spot a player.  If one player illustrates these characteristics perfectly, it was the signing of Eric Cantona in 1992. At that time, United were still struggling to win that elusive league title. In the summer of 1992, Ferguson had tried to sign Alan Shearer from Southampton and then David Hirst from Sheffield Wednesday, both without success; he eventually ended up signing Dion Dublin, who broke his leg just a few weeks into the season after completing his transfer from Cambridge United.

United faltered after making a promising start to the new season, but then to the amazement of his own players in November, Fergie signed Eric Cantona for just £1.2m. Former Liverpool captain Emlyn 'crazy horse' Hughes, described the signing as a 'panic buy'. Mark Hughes feared it might 'end in tears', while Gary Pallister wondered if Fergie had taken leave of his senses and had Cantona 'lost something' given the low transfer fee?

Despite only playing 15 games, the Frenchman had been instrumental in helping Leeds pip Manchester United on the finishing line to the league title in 1992. Cantona was a cult hero with the Leeds fans, but his relationship with Howard Wilkinson had become strained, so much so that a cut-price deal to bring him to Manchester was struck within an hour following a chance telephone conversation about the availability of Denis Irwin.

Howard Wilkinson famously said of Eric "He likes to do what he likes when he likes - and then f***s off. We'd all want a bit of that." While the Leeds manager had struggled with Cantona, Ferguson did not. The rest of the Manchester United squad soon realised that Eric had found his spiritual home - it was a match made in football heaven. The arrival of Eric helped transform a team of ‘nearly men’ into serial winners.

The importance of Cantona's arrival cannot be understated, and without doubt it was the catalyst that brought about an end to that long 26 year wait for a league title. The long wait finally ended when captain Steve Bruce scored two late goals against Sheffield Wednesday.

In 1993, Ferguson fought off competition from Kenny Dalglish and signed Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest - it was obvious his arrival would make United even stronger and it did with glorious back-to-back league titles. 

In January, 1995, Cantona was the attention of unwanted world headlines after he'd jumped into the crowd at Selhurst Park and kung-fu kicked Matthew Simmons. United suspended Cantona for four months - the FA increased than ban to 8 months. Everton went on to beat United at Wembley in the FA Cup final. Cantona threatened to quit English football, which led to Ferguson riding pillion on the back of a scooter around the streets of Paris in pursuit of his French talisman. What other manager would have gone to those lengths? Ferguson used his powers of persuasion to convince Cantona to carry on and thankfully he eventually agreed.

But in the summer of 1995 and to the fans absolute dismay, Fergie ripped up the team that had secured back to back titles and sold Paul Ince, Andre Kanchelskis and then Mark Hughes. The media had a field day. One of the tabloids ran a big story with an image of a light bulb alongside the headline "Will the last one out turn out the light" that was accompanied by an image of the club crest which had been split in two. From the outside looking in, it looked like United were imploding. United were about to lose three massive fans favourites.

A delegation of 'die-hard' United fans had a meeting Paul Ince, in the hope that sense would prevail. Nothing doing. Ince was sold to Inter Milan. Kanchelskis to Everton, and then Mark Hughes joined Chelsea.

For many United fans, the summer of 1995 was a difficult one. In the previous season, Fergie had blooded his fledglings in the League Cup. Despite what some fans thought at the time, the decision to sell the illustrious trio wasn't an act of madness, Ferguson had a plan. That plan was simple, he would replace a trio of top internationals with rising stars from the 'class of '92'.

Ryan Giggs had become the first of the fledglings to flourish when making his debut in 1991 and by the start of the 1992-93 season, the Welshman had carved out a regular starting place and it was his success that in part paved the way for the rest of the 'class of '92'.

The beginning of the 1995-96 season was something of a journey into uncharted waters - a hitherto successful team had been torn apart as Fergie started with a clean piece of paper. United went on to lose the first game of the new season at Villa Park, when going down 3-1. Match of the Day pundit, and former Liverpool skipper Alan Hansen aired his never to be forgotten quote "You'll win nothing with kids". Like many former top Scottish internationals, Hansen's voice carried authority - at least it did until then; those ill advised remarks have subsequently been rammed down this throat on many occasions.

United went on to overturn Newcastle's 10 point advantage at Christmas to win the title. Cantona wrapped up a League and FA Cup double at Wembley thanks to a memorable goal against Liverpool. In just one season, Fergie had not only ripped up a very successful team, but he'd built a new one. At the heart of it, was Eric Cantona.

The list of great United players who played under Ferguson is long and illustrious, but of all of them, Cantona is the most important. Cantona retired somewhat prematurely, in 1997, during that period United won the league title in 4 out of 5 seasons.
 

This blog will be looking back at the good and the bad times under Sir Alex Ferguson over the coming weeks. 

Fergie gets big calls right as Rodgers and Howard Webb get it horribly wrong..

The story of United's 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday can be summarised as follows: Van Persie, Vidic and Sturridge grab goal headlines, while Ferguson's big calls pay dividends as Howard Webb and Brendan Rodgers get it horribly wrong.

The game passed without too much controversy, that is it did, apart from the part played by Howard Webb and Liverpool's Glen Johnson, more on those two later.

The win over Liverpool ensured Manchester United maintained their seven lead over neighbours Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League. With justification, this fixture has been described as the most fierce in English football - to state there is no love between the two clubs and their respective supporters would be an understatement. Ahead of Sunday's clash, the media's attention rightly focused on Robin Van Persie and Luis Suárez, both have lit up the Premier League with spectacular goals aplenty and in the case of Liverpool's Uruguayan striker, controversy by the bucket load. As things turned out, the leading players didn't exactly follow the script. Suárez was kept in check by a well organised United defence, one that had Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at the heart of it.

While Suárez was largely anonymous, at the other end, Van Persie scored his 17th league goal of the season with another exquisite finish, one that gave Pepe Reina no chance on 19 minutes. A succession of neat passes on the left led to United opening up what had hitherto been a well drilled Liverpool defence for the brilliant Dutch master to apply another trademark finish.

United's goal-mouth pressure eventually paid off on 54 minutes when unmarked Patrice Evra got on the end of a curling Van Persie free-kick, his header was glanced on by Vidic who nodded home from close range.

Sturridge brought Liverpool back into the game with a goal on 57 minutes following a Steven Gerrard interception, to make it a much more even contest. But United had completely dominated the goal mouth action for the first hour and could easily have scored four or five.

STORY OF THE GAME...

Wary of Liverpool flooding midfield, Ferguson elected to start with Danny Welbeck instead of Hernandez. It was a wise decision, as Welbeck's mobility gave United's attacking play another dimension - one that included dropping back into midfield when required.

To the surprise of many, Shinji Kagawa started on the left, while Ashley Young was selected on the right at the expense of AtonioValencia whose form has been indifferent, to the puzzlement of many. While Kagawa and Young were out of their respective comfort zones - their presence gave United balance, both went on to make reasonably satisfactory contributions. Ashley Young was replaced at half-time due to injury with Valencia coming on as a more than adequate replacement.

In terms of goal-mouth incidents, it was a case of one way traffic with Liverpool riding their luck in a first-half that saw Tom Cleverley go close with a left-footed half volley. Van Persie and Welbeck failed to convert good goal scoring opportunities to extend United's lead. TV replays confirmed that United could and perhaps should have been awarded a penalty when Kagawa was brought down inside the Liverpool penalty area -  quite how the ball didn't end up in the back of the net during that passage of play beggared belief. Howard Webb and his officials clearly missed the foul on United's Japanese star - given the pace of the frenetic play it was a mistake that was more easily forgiven compared to other mistakes in this game.

For their part Liverpool while enjoying a fair amount of first-half possession, were toothless up front (no jokes about Suárez). Rodgers decision to play with just Suárez up front turned out to be a huge error of judgement. Sterling and Downing were equally as anonymous as Liverpool's lone striker. As a result it was far too easy for Vidic and & Co. to mop up the visitors unproductive attacks.

In truth, the game should have been all over as a serious contest at half time - the fact that it wasn't was down to a combination of poor finishing and Liverpool riding their luck. Rodgers made amends for his mistakes by sending on new signing Daniel Sturridge as a replacement for Lucas - who'd just been booked before the interval and on another day could quite easily have been sent off for a succession of professional fouls.

The additional striker gave United something to think about and as the second-half went on, the league leaders started to make silly mistakes with Carrick gifting the ball back to the visitors on several occasions.
Carrick and Cleverley were near faultless in the first-half, but for the last thirty minutes, they lost their grip on midfield as Liverpool fought back strongly.

Just three minutes after Vidic had doubled United's advantage, Liverpool hit back following a passage of sloppy passing when Steven Gerrard intercepted an attempted short pass between Cleverley and Carrick. It was classic Gerrard - the Liverpool skipper won the ball just outside the United box, he pressed forward and fired hard and low to De Gea's right, the Spaniard could only parry the ball into the path of Sturridge with Rafael left rooted on his heels, the former Chelsea striker made no mistake from close range and brought Liverpool right back into the game. From that point on, it was Liverpool who looked the more dangerous.

No doubt wary of what happened last season at home to Everton when United squandered a lead at Old Trafford, Ferguson attempted to combat Liverpool's midfield domination by sending on Phil Jones for Kagawa - a ploy that only worked partially.

Worryingly for United fans, Vidic was also replaced by Chris Smalling due to what looked like a knee injury. Having played all of his subs, Ferguson couldn't bring on another striker and while most of his decisions came off, United ended the game hanging on. It was a very nervy ending, but it could have been oh so different if Ferguson's strikers had taken their chances in the first-half.

CONTROVERSY - HOWARD WEBB HAS GAME TO FORGET...

This game didn't pass without controversy, but for once Suárez wasn't the villain on the piece - that role was taken by Howard Webb who needs to have a long hard look at himself in the mirror and maybe he needs to re-read the rulebook too.

Webb had a far less than perfect game. In fact, uncharacteristically, for Webb there was a catalogue of mistakes. He missed Vidic head the ball out for what should clearly have been a corner to Liverpool. He allowed Lucas to commit several professional fouls before eventually booking him on 45 minutes. He missed the foul on Kagawa that should have led to a penalty. Worst of all, and having already booked Glen Johnson on 75 minutes, he should have sent him off for a two armed rugby style take down on Valencia.

Fans understand the referee who shows leniency, especially in such big games - no one really wants to see a player getting his marching orders early on in the game, but rules are rules and inconsistency drives fans, managers and players to the edge of despair.

In the day's other big game in North London, City easily beat Arsenal - the two-nil final score somewhat flattered the Gunners' - it was a walk in the park. But the task was made all the easier on just 10 minutes when Mike Read sent off Laurent Koscielny for yet another rugby style take down on Dzeko. We can argue about the merits of that straight red card - but there can be no doubt that Johnson deserved a second yellow card for his challenge on Valencia at Old Trafford.

Liverpool fans might well argue that Vidic's goal was offside - but offside is often so contentious, it is a rule that is open to interpretation - some decisions are far easier to give and far more obvious, such as who touched the ball last before it went out of play and of course those rugby style challenges.
Howard Webb is without doubt our leading referee, but he let himself down on Sunday when he failed to apply the rules.