Jump to content
By fans, for fans. By fans, for fans. By fans, for fans.

Ginsoak is sussed


Guest Red Flame

Recommended Posts

Guest Red Flame

This from The Times ......

 

Ferguson loses face in tactical debacle

By Matt Dickinson

 

Liverpool 1 Manchester United 0

 

THE STORY OF MANCHESTER UNITED?S decline can be told through one position ? the one that, ludicrously, Ryan Giggs was asked to fill at Anfield on Saturday. It was as if Sir Alex Ferguson was deliberately advertising that he and the plot have been separated.

We are talking, of course, about central midfield, or, as Rafael Benítez described it on Saturday, the most important area on the pitch. ?People talked about it being the key area when I was six years old,? the Liverpool manager said.

 

Replacing Roy Keane was never going to be child?s play, but nor should it have come to the day that Giggs was being asked to reinvent himself as Claude Makelele. What next? Cristiano Ronaldo in the holding role? There have been plenty of other indications of Ferguson?s waning powers, but nothing so obvious, or draining of his resources, as his many misguided attempts to fill that vital position. Money has been wasted, genius sacrificed and team spirit drained and yet, rather than be bold and decisive, the United board seem resolved on giving their manager more time and funds to try to make the problem go away.

 

Perhaps they think that he must get it right in the end (27th time lucky and all that), but in Saturday?s FA Cup fifth-round tie, Ferguson?s midfield selection made him the author of his team?s downfall.

 

Hindsight is a journalist?s best friend, but Ferguson?s folly could be detected as soon as Giggs took his place at the base of a midfield, with Kieran Richardson and Darren Fletcher as his lightweight accomplices. Ferguson compounded the mistake by banishing Wayne Rooney to the left wing for the entire second half, while Giggs continued to labour infield.

 

Self-justification is the way of all managers, but Ferguson, a great man of British football destined for an inglorious end, laid himself open to ridicule when he tried to put the defeat down to ?a lack of height? rather than his team?s impotent performance. He has clearly been hanging around too long with Alastair Campbell, the king of spin with whom he was chatting before kick-off in the Anfield reception.

 

Ferguson also threw in the absence of luck and no one could dispute that Alan Smith, United?s stricken substitute, was the victim of the cruellest misfortune. Yet however appalling his injuries ? and the reaction to them by thousands of idiotic supporters ? they should not be allowed to obscure United?s wider malaise.

 

Of the visiting team, only Wes Brown and Gary Neville emerged with credit on a day when Ruud van Nistelrooy?s disinterest, Nemanja Vidic?s uncertainty and the misuse of Rooney were highlighted by Liverpool?s resolve and organisation. Like Chelsea, Liverpool attract respect rather than affection from the neutral, but there can be no doubt that Benítez is satisfying his local audience. And, as with Chelsea, opponents should beat them before making sniffy remarks about their strategy.

 

The nature of Liverpool?s winner, Peter Crouch escaping Vidic to head in after a set-piece, reflected their basic approach, but United?s brainless barrage of long passes in the second half hardly gave Ferguson a licence to disparage anyone else?s tactics, which he did by accusing Liverpool of ?pumping the ball into the box? and keeping it tight at the back. ?That?s the kind of side they are now,? he said. ?They can only play for five minutes and win a game.?

 

They are remarks that paint Ferguson as deluded rather than defiant. Evidently, the United manager still sees himself creating another great United XI, a team not only capable of eclipsing Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal but playing the sort of brave, attacking football that characterised his Double and treble-winning teams. The finished article seems years (and a couple of top-class signings) away.

 

Saturday?s defeat in the FA Cup, on top of the early exit from the Champions League, has reduced United?s interest in this season to the Carling Cup final on Sunday and unless Ferguson finds a central role for Rooney and a midfield capable of backing him up, it was tempting to put a fiver on Wigan Athletic to win.

 

?We achieve your dreams? one banner proclaimed from the Kop, but for United there continues to be an almost weekly lowering of expectations.

Edited by Red Flame
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...