With five points out of a possible twelve and a hapless performance against major rivals Liverpool, champions Manchester United’s aim of retaining the Premier League crown for a third successive year has been said by many to be a hopeless task. However, Sir Alex Ferguson has instilled a ‘never die’ attitude into the Old Trafford changing rooms scarring the life out of players young and old.
It takes a fool to deny that United have woken up slowly to the opening of the 2008/9 season. But, I remind you that at this stage last season United only had two more points than they do now, and for all those who can remember the Treble winning season of 1998-99 United had a topsy turvey start to the campaign getting only eleven points out of sixteen which included a 3-0 lose to Arsenal—and look what happened at the end of that season.
Star man Cristiano Ronaldo has only just returned from injury, South Korean workhorse sensation Park Ji-Sung and Brazilian Anderson are back, £30 million new man Dimitar Berbatov is however unfit and slow—as was seen against Liverpool and Chelsea—but has had little match practice and should live up to the hype that brought him to Old Trafford in the first place. United also have a bright new star in youth player Jonny Evans currently acting as cover at the centre of defence.
If there is one thing that separates champion professionals from professional losers, it is that champions know how to come back when defeat is staring them in the face. Just ask Muhammad Ali and any one of the US Ryder Cup Team that when they thought it was all over, did they give up? And this is exactly what Sir Alex’s teams have been famous for in the past.
Many members of the press in England have written United off, saying that to already be seven points behind league leaders Arsenal at this stage is too much.
However, with a game in hand, and Bolton at home this weekend with Michael Carrick as the only injury weakness, followed by a trip to Blackburn, West Brom and Everton, United’s fixture list seems a lot less daunting than the injury hit Chelsea who host an invigorated and in form Aston Villa, whilst Arsenal go away to Roy Keane’s rising Sunderland. United have also got the difficult away games of rivals Liverpool and Chelsea out of the way early on in the season—albeit only taking one point out of six—but when the season drags on to its later stages Ferguson will not be writing a letter of complaint to the Premier League.
Ferguson reminded everybody of the strength in dept United have with Berbatov, Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney all as selectable front men. This brings echoes of the 98-99 season once again with Ferguson having selection problems in deciding who to pick from York, Cole, Sherringham and Solskjaer.
11 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Salaar Arshad Shamsi 9 months ago
Good read, Dave..No stopping United!
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Dev Ashish 9 months ago
Agreed only time will tell and the league never lies!
Nice read!
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Anthony Evgenidis 9 months ago
I like where your head is at, I can honestly say and I am sure you will back me on this, that United are the only team amongst the so called top 4 that has the capability to overcome a sloppy start to win the league. The other teams need a good start to the season otherwise they will fold in the long term and recent history has proven that.
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illya mclellan 9 months ago
Nice article, it remains to be seen whether your optimism will be proven correct.
I thought Kuszczak was good cover last season and wouldn't any keeper be uneasy against Chelsea?
I will be interested to see if Villa can finally end Chelsea's undefeated home record.
Good to see a well written and well reasoned article and not just some Manchester United grand-standing.
I am not sure it will be as easy for them this time to run the top teams down as they have actually played so poorly that a lot of the teams they will face away this season will really fancy their chances in getting a point or three off them.
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Shyam Parthasarathi 9 months ago
Good article. You have ignored, in a sense, the World Club Cup, which I think could prove to be Man Utd's undoing this season.. let's just wait and see then!
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Tahira Adams 9 months ago
I personally don't think United are out of it. Bad start for sure but honestly would SAF let that continue, nope. They have come back in the past and i think they will come back again.
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Tahira Adams 9 months ago
P.S Good First Article
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Anon Payn 9 months ago
"Only time will tell, and the league never lies"
What a statement mate! It sums the whole thing up for me! Im gonna be keeping my trap shut on this one, and just wait and watch for April 09!
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Trey Jones 9 months ago
This haphazard start to the season, on part of United, is troublesome but not terminal. I agree that United is one of the very few teams that can actually dig themselves out of a 7-point hole PROVIDED we see the following…
First, Manchester United’s key players must start performing as expected. The early season shakedown period is over and I have yet to see more than 20 minutes, at a time, of truly inspired play on part of the Red Devils. The R triangle (Rooney, Renaldo, Riggs) is out of sync and looking a bit lost. Early season rust or are minds elsewhere? Who knows but if they’re not careful even Brown’s overachieving Hull squad will give them a run for their money! Part of the solution to this problem might be found in point number two…
Second, Fergie needs to dig one more miracle out of his cap and start putting together another season-long line-up strategy like he did last year – one that keeps the core players fresh for the EPL/Champions matches and allows for the new acquisitions plenty of uninterrupted field time. But it’s pretty obvious that the real line-up issue is finding a combination that produces results on the field. Should Manchester sacrifice another FA/Carling cup run to keep legs healthy and new players tested/happy? I think so.
Third, I have reviewed as many games as possible this season and I have yet to see a team that looks truly solid. Yes, we have several point leaders, and it is still early in the season, but they each have had on-field spells that look suspect beyond the norm. Each team looks beatable and United must wake up to the fact that each match, from now on, must bank 3 points. Bottom line… each match is as important now as a late season meeting with the Blues or Gunners.
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Trey Jones 9 months ago
Please replace "Renaldo" with "Ronaldo"... brain hiccup - and not the first on of the day either!
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Jack Henderson 9 months ago
If Manchester United are unable to retain their title I think their lack of defensive depth will be to blame.
This is especially true with only O'Shea and Brown as the only recognised and experienced defenders out of their starting back four. I believe this could certainly become a factor in the New Year as the toils of the Premiership's busy Christmas calender, and their cup commitments (FA Cup, Champions League, World Club Championship and League Cup) really start to show.
Strengthening his squad in January is historically something Ferguson is reluctant to do, but it may be required if the successes of last season are to be repeated.
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