It has been going well for Sir Alex, despite not splashing vast amounts of money in the summer and January. The fans have witnessed a team which have been very solid, thus resulting in them losing only a single game thus far in the Premier League. All this without a firing Wayne Rooney. So, it should be all fabulous around Old Trafford right? Or otherwise?
Well, the Red Devils have not been at their best this season, and consistency has been lacking. United sides in the previous seasons have been very good, and very lethal. That is not the case this season as everyone have witnessed. No doubt that they are top of the pile in the League at the moment and on course for a record-breaking 19th League title, but this season has been down to the chasing pack not being consistent enough rather than United dominating.
There have been too many draws this season, especially away from home, and against the lesser sides so to speak. The fans will say that results matter more than performances and I have to agree to an extent. After a certain amount of time, if you fail to perform, the results will eventually disappear. The best I have seen them play this season was the rout of Blackburn, but the Rovers gave them more than a hand in that game.
One of the reasons for all these below-par performances is down to lack of depth within the squad. Previously, United had very good squad players who could come in anytime and no one would have noticed the difference. Nowadays, players like Evans, Fabio, Kuszczak, Carrick, O'shea have not performed up to the standard expected of them. Until today, stalwarts like Giggs and Scholes have to be called upon to rescue United.
The Champions League game against Marseille was a real epitome of it. John O'Shea for example, was okay defensively but mostly mediocre going forward. It made matters worse for United as Nani was getting tortured on the right flank and had no one to support him. Usually, it is Rafael who'll be the one busting his gut to get down the right flank. O'Shea, on the couple of times he went up, showed poor crossing skills when players were in support in the penalty area. This led to several Marseille counter attacks. Nani was also wasteful at times as his chose to show his dribbling skills (which were atrocious last night) instead of passing to an open teammate.
Last night, they also failed to keep the ball so as to take the sting out of the game as the French side were ascending. The trio of Fletcher, Gibson and Carrick especially (Shebby Singh's favourite player for some reason), were really disappointing to say the least. They three of them failed to provide the threesome in attack with enough ammunition to trouble the French defense (Berbatov, Rooney, Nani). Only when the gingerbread man came on, United looked somewhat better. Also, the absence of Ryan Giggs really had an impact as he is the only person in the whole squad who knows what to do at the right time, bar Scholes. The Welsh wizard has vast amount of experience and is probably the best player the Premier League has witnessed. Against Man City, he was unarguably, the best player on the pitch at the age he is. It is really mystifying as to how he does it (By the way, he just signed a one-year extension).
How or if Sir Alex decides to replace him is beyond me. Nani is far from the answer as he is at times wasteful. Over the years, the Scotsman has managed to replace the great players of the past. But Ryan Giggs is a different story. If there are no signings in the summer to take some of the burden off Scholes and Giggs, then United fans better be worried. As of now, the squad players are miles from it. Whatever Sir Alex does in the next 12 months or so, it will surely determine United's future. One thing's for sure, players like Ryan Giggs are 1 in a million, needle in the haystack stuff.
Till next time,
Goodbye.
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