SOCCER: THE FATAL goal in Sunday's debacle was scored by Manchester United themselves. There was an authority to Darren Fletcher's drive that cut the deficit to 3-1, and the minds of team, support and manager must have started to swim with thoughts of one more uncanny recovery in the club's history.
At that moment, it did not seem to matter that the line-up had been reduced to 10 men by the red card for Jonny Evans, yet the true consequence of boldness turned out to be the 6-1 rout by Manchester City. For once, events were beyond the reach of Alex Ferguson. In a peculiar aftermath it was the overlord of Old Trafford who spoke as if he had been a passive onlooker. Ferguson suggested his side should have adopted a conservative approach and aimed for a humdrum defeat. Given the three goals scored from the 90th minute onwards, there was sense to that proposal. The manager, however, had raised another issue.
Any fan was entitled to ask why the side did not do Ferguson’s bidding. Perhaps he and his players were in shock long before stoppage time. United, after all, had been in reasonably good form and the talk following matches with lesser teams was often of regeneration. Arsenal, collapsing in an 8-2 debacle, were unaware of weakness. It takes performers such as City’s David Silva, with that combination of vision and execution, to cow the champions. Even so, United had already been conscious of difficulties in their midst.
Only once has Ferguson been able to send out the same back four in consecutive games, against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. While the club have a heritage of breezy football, the spontaneity has been getting out of hand. United have let the opposition more shots on goal than any other club in the league this season.
The defensive midfielders were overrun by City. That was perhaps natural with United undermanned, but there have been countless occasions in football when a 10-man line-up regroups to become more and more resolute.
Indeed, United are precisely the sort of side who can be counted on for obstinacy. Ferguson would have been ridiculed if he had pleaded mitigating circumstances because a club of such renown are meant to be equipped for every adversity. Even so, there are insidious factors. Continuity has been elusive, with centre-halves Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic together in the league for only 52 minutes, in the win at West Bromwich on the opening weekend.
It is obvious, too, the emergence of Ferdinand from the tunnel does not end the discussion about his value now or in the near future. Fabio Capello can be relied on for brusqueness. “He has not played enough and last week he was on the bench,” said the England manager after omitting the defender for the squad for the Euro 2012 qualifier in Montenegro.
At club level, where alternatives are limited, it is not feasible to be so high-handed. There has to be an assumption Ferguson had qualms about Phil Jones. No one seems sure he is ready yet to be a top-level centre-half. The teenager was employed by England on the flank during the 2-2 draw with Montenegro in Podgorica so that he could make powerful runs. Ferguson let him on to the field against City when there were only 24 minutes remaining.
It is fair to salute Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, for the development of his side’s style, but he operates in a financial environment that barely exists elsewhere, unless Roman Abramovich is in the mood to persist with the spree at Chelsea.
United have moments of extravagance, but there is also an old-fashioned trait that sees them profit by, for instance, selling Cristiano Ronaldo for €92 million in 2009. The paucity of the showing on Sunday is not to be ignored, but Ferguson’s approach will rest, first of all, on making more out of what he already has. United are not poor, but the real riches of the club lie in the manager’s talent.
Guardian Service
