Manchester United- An Empire in decline
Vijay Anand
About 8 months before, Sir Alex
Ferguson was given a tearfull farewell at Old Trafford. He thanked the fans for
support in his heydays and rough days. In return, the fans promised him to
support the club and new manager in the same way.
It was the match against Swansea
City. What and irony of history? The same team returned to same venue and
showed exit door to hosts in FA cup this time. It was United’s 6th
home defeat of the season. If that was not enough, Sunderland defeated them in
the first leg of League Cup SF. Man Utd suffered third consecutive defeat for
the first time in 13 years. The fans booed the team after lacklustre show.
Currently they are 11 points behind leader Arsenal in EPL. It clearly means
that their place in Champions League next year is in serious jeopardy.
David Moyes is naturally the first person
who is facing the heat. But he is not the sole reason for the decline of the
empire. There are many other factors that desire scrutiny.
The team is a getting old in the back.
Patric Evra, Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are above 30. Defence is in tatters. The
team has already conceded 24 goals in 20 games in this season of EPL.
The team has been beset by injuries.
Van Persie, Phil Jones, Rooney, Nani, Carrick and Rafael have spend long weeks
without action. Robin Van Persie, league’s top scorer for 2 seasons is not
fully fit. He has played only 2 games since November.
The pivot of midfield, Michael
Carrick is looking like a spent force. Players like Rafael da Silva, Nani,
Javier Hernandez, Valencia are a shadow of their past.
Sir Alex was known to squeeze extra 10%
from the players. Sadly, Moyes is not in that chemistry with the squad. He
brought in his man Friday of Evertan, Marouane Fellini, but he is yet to
deliver goods. Only David de Gea is in inspiring form.
Man U’s performance against big names
of the league is below par. They lost to Liverpool, their noisy neighbours and
men in blues. Draw against dejected Tottenham and victory against Arsenal is
the only positive result against top 5.
There is some silver lining for the
manager. Wayne Rooney (whose relationship with Fergie soured in later days) is
back in his best. 18 year old Belgian Januzaj is the pick of the season. He is
young, skilful and talented. The team qualified from tough group of UEFA
champions League to next round with a game in hand. Their next round’s opponent
is Olympiakos and a QF berth is almost certain. They can turn the table against
Sunderland at home in League Cup SF 2nd leg easily.
Traditionally, January is not the
best time to pick the best horse. David Moyes has himself admitted it in his
press release. The injury list is not dwindling. If United cannot enter in the
Champions League the next year then it will be a big jolt for the ambition of
club. It will cripple them both emotionally and financially.
The club management is supporting the
new coach. He has spent only 6 months of the 6 year contract. In the season of hire and fire of coaches,
Moyes has retained the chair. Fans of Man U are intelligent. They still have
not come out in open in protest. They know that no one can replicate years of
Sir Ferguson which gave them 26 silverwares. But Moyes has to be cautious. The
agitators are small but growing. They want to retain the seat of power in
Domestic and European Competitions.
Big shoes of the successor are
proving very slippery for the coach of same country. May he learn some lessons
from Sir Alex who still makes regular presence at Old Trafford.
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