ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Manchester United

Posted by Mark Payne on 03/20/2012

The title race has shifted in United’s favour by a significant degree but I take little pleasure in the weekend’s football this week. Wolves are a beleaguered side and their manager, Terry Connor, seems to be a decent man trying vainly to solve problems that are not of his own making. What’s more, the upsetting collapse of the Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba has brought the things that really matter into sharp focus.

My thoughts are with Fabrice Muamba and his family at this time. At the time of writing he is showing signs of recovery.

Wolves are a sorry sight at the moment. Five nil was a merciful result for them and even United, chasing the title, looked sheepish scoring against them. It seemed an unnecessary cruelty and their chairman has big questions to answer for the way he sacked Mick McCarthy. Last year Wolves beat us in this fixture under the Yorkshireman. The situation could not be any more different this time around.

But this campaign has been marked by differences, not least those in United’s European adventures. Whereas last year we somewhat overachieved in reaching the Champion‘s League final, this year we have represented ourselves very poorly.

Bilbao dismantled us and did so in admirable fashion. Their harrying play, a kind of Barcelona without the sterility, is just the kind United have struggled against in recent years. Cracking that code is Fergie last big challenge. Well done to the Basques though, I sincerely hope they go on to win the competition.

Whilst there was a fair amount of excitement from this correspondent about the Europa League, in hindsight, we are better off out of it. For years we have been hearing about the taxing nature of the Thursday-Sunday routine. After having experienced it for a few weeks now I think we all understand what people were on about. Given a few years in the competition we could have perhaps found rhythm, but it was a gruelling schedule and one we weren’t able to master with the injuries problems we have had.

Despite the various travails in the treatment room and abroad we have amassed a stupendous number of points and goals this season. For all the plaudits City have collected, we are now higher scorers. After 29 games we have 70 points, one season we won the league with 75 I recall. This team is not doing so bad.

So the shackles are off and we face a straight trot to the finishing line. De Gea, who has been superb of late, spoke out this week about the manager wanting us to win every game between now and May. Let’s hope the players can do just that. It’d be nice to win at the Etihad too…

Follow Mark on twitter.com/markjpayne

Comments

Posted by Aegean1985 on 03/20/2012

The mature must lead the young. Yes, they will stumble but most important is to learn.

I hope everyone sees what SAF is really trying to do - to develop the academy which I feel was forgotten for a few years.

Played 29, won 22, drawn 4, lost 3. That is very impressive with the number of injuries.

Feel sorry for Berbatov, but too bad he no longer fits into SAF's youth revolution. Just hope he doesn't go to City.

Posted by David Smith on 03/20/2012

That's at least the third corner United have scored from while Nani's been out. Encouraging, to say the least. It's amazing what a professional footballers can achieve when the fundamentals of the game are correctly demonstrated. Kuddos to Jonny Evans! One of the comeback players of the season AND a sweetly struck first goal for the club to boot. Stoke and Wigan came to Old Trafford earlier in the season and were atrocious. Wolves weren't quite as bad, but at least Stoke and Wigan were the away side at The Theatre of Dreams. Terry Connor's post-match comment that Wolves were United's equal for the first 20 minutes was ridiculous, but understandable, given the task he's been handed. Last season our away form was poor. This season, it's the reason we're top of the league. Fergie's giving it the old, "It's going down to the wire" routine, but privately, he will be rubbing his hands. I foresee no slip-ups between now and derby day and I dare say Sir Alex secretly feels the same way.

Posted by rose on 03/20/2012

Hello max payne!..manutd have become local champs....unable 2 torment any team in europe..yet destroys lowly & less technical & tactical teams in the epl..hmmmmm.it just sums up the epl 4 me..poor & poor & poor..why is it that the english teams are finding it very difficult 2 play teams that playS attractive football? even wayne rooney could not find space 2 operate cause he was well marked...it raises a question on how the English national team is going 2 fare when they go 2 euro 2012? with the way the 20 teams in the league is playing nowadays.WHY WOULD A LEAGUE LIKE THE EPL,TAUTED 2 BE THE BEST,DEPEND ON ONLY ONE PLAYER(ROONEY) 2 COME THRU 4 D NATIONAL TEAM WHEREAS OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE PLAYERS WHO ARE JUST BURSTING WITH HOPE 2 GET AN OPPORTUNITY 2 SHINE?(3)SHOULDN'T A LEAGUE HAVE A VERY GOOD EFFECT ON THE NATIONAL TEAM..LIKE WE SEE IN THE SPANISH LALIGA?it begs some answer. or is it just all hype or are these players made better only by the other nationalities playin with dem? REPLY

Posted by Ife Ogunduyile on 03/20/2012

Hi Mark,
Good write up!....Am quite pleased to hear good signs of recovery on d part of Muamba. Its a great relief.
About d Europa league, I commented some weeks back on your column about how better off we'd be without d distraction of d competition, I still stand by that point. However, that's not to excuse d woeful and disgraceful way we got kicked out. It merely serves as a pointer to how far we've strayed from being one Europe's finest sides.
As for Wolves, they sure got what they deserve! Sacking a manager of reputable character only to replace him by a relatively inexperienced assistant. U reap what u sow.
We've got 9 important games left, each a virtual cup final. We need to take each as they come. I was ecstatic to see Valencia back in the d team providing d much needed spark to galvanize d squad.
With no other competition left to distract us, it should be a fight to finish. One United.

Posted by David Smith on 03/20/2012

Rose, don't you have some ironing to do or a toilet to scrub?

Real Madrid's won the league 31 times, the European Cup 9 times and the UEFA Cup twice.

The Spanish national team won just two European Championships in that time.

Put a sock in it, tart.

Posted by Kirk on 03/20/2012

Great article again Mark. I agree that we were very poor in Europe but again I can't understand going to a match where we need goals and we are playing a 4-5-1 system. I said so before and I was taken to task for it but after showing the attacking force that we could be then going to Spain with only Rooney up front and a slower midfield is beyond me. About EPL teams not being good because we failed in Europe, what about when the EPL had three of the four in the Semis ? were the EPL teams the best then ? I remember 1997 when we won't so good but then won everything in 1999 so lets just see how the new string of Fergi Fledglins do in the next two years. I am very confident that we have the makings of another great team in two years time. I also wish Muamba a speedy recovery as no one likes to see a player in this situation and hopfully he would be able to resume playing.

On to number 20.

Glory, Glory Man United.

50 years a red devil.

Posted by oz on 03/20/2012

Hey Rose,

the English teams have had a bad year, but in recent times they have been doing well in Europe (some years 3 teams in the semis), so your argument has got little substance. If you take out Barca, who else has done better than the English team in recent years?? Madrids failures have been well documented,with the exception of 1 good year from Inter (under Jose)and Milans win in 2007 Italian teams have been mostly shite!!! (which is good, because its a league full of divers. The German teams have done reasonably well, but Munich is the only team to make a final.

If Chelsea make the final this year, would it still be bad year for English team?

I think you need to look over the results for multiple years and multiple clubs before making such statements!

Posted by Otim Thomas Rays on 03/21/2012

History tells us that Spanish clubs used to 'walk' the ball into the net but all these have changed since they borrowed a leaf from EPL that you can still score from outside the box, needlessfrom outside the box in the last to say they are very good atit as Utd conceded 2 goals in the last UCL final.
Now Utd need to borrow 2 things from the Spaniard if they are to be effective in Europe. 1)Use not only your legs but BRAINS as well.Eg when with the ball & u ar tackled & about to lose possesion, pse go down , roll while touching the contacted part of your body.For good measure, your colleagues must hastely surround the ref urging him to punish the oponent;2)Avoid blind passes. If you must pass, ensure it is to a colleagues losing possession means you're likely to concede. Yes , why not?. The refs in Europe actually love divers & those who have the ball .
Perfect the 2 points above & Utd will be unbeatable

Posted by Steve on 03/21/2012

He(Rose) can't even write and you want him to count. My God.

This argument about whose league is better is ridiculous. Every country has their own way of playing. Perhaps its time the English clubs change their approach and adapt to the playing style of other teams.

The La Liga is dominated by Barca and Real Madrid. Isn't it the same when they whack weaker teams into oblivion? Aren't you being hypocritical ?

That being said the BPL is one of the most grueling leagues. Not much of a winter break. The games come hard and fast. Bilbao played a high tempo pressing game. Do you think they can play like that every week?

We have our own talents in our national side. Adam Johnson, Ashley Young, Leighton Baines just to name a few. Apparently you only know Wayne Rooney. If you only know who Wayne Rooney is, how can you comment on all the players in the country? I don't think you realise what you are talking about Rose.

Posted by Aslam on 03/21/2012

Great article.

The fact is, we are actually overachieving right now. With this team.
Why did I say that? Simple:

We lost our captain just one-third into the league. The best CB in the world he is.

We lost our first choice midfield pairing just a few games into the league. Ando and Cleverley. When they play together, we were the best team.

We also lost our other CBs quite frequently, leaving Carrick having to play last back a few times. Jones, Smalling and Evans, all had their own injuries.

Posted by Kai on 03/21/2012

Great to hear Muamba is doing better!
Man City have not impressed lately and playing Mancini's good old slogging defensive style. Whereas United seem to getting momentum at the latter part of season. Even though I'm a Liverpool fan I'd say United will push City for everything they've got.
What Liverpool will do ? anybody's guess.

Posted by Somnath Mallick on 03/22/2012

Hi Mark,
Nice article... I would love to see Bilbao win the title. They were great. We are out of it, that is not too bad either. But the fact is... playing against those teams is proving to be a nightmare for us. The team is not build to handle opposition which play swift passing football. Not to mention Bilbao were defensively a very tight unit as well. SAF although wouldn't mind going out, but it would be a lesson that he would take home and work on. There is lots of areas for improvement. Hope to see the weak links sealed in the new season. The league is important and we should win it if we beat City on their own turf. But that is all well and good, but would love to see MU have European glory again. The count of 3 is too low! But the winning in 2008 was a feeling that i am dying to have once again.

Posted by bertiebotts on 03/22/2012

Hello Mark! Fully agree with the points you made. What do you think needs to be done at the end of the season anyway? Does the squad seem weak to you despite the unusual amount of injuries this season?

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