The day after…

By: Shaun | March 7th, 2011

nani2 Remember when we were top of the table with a healthy lead over our closest competitors and threatening to run away with the title? That seems like such a distant memory now after back to back losses against our heated rivals. After going through the first half of the season entertaining thoughts of finishing the season undefeated, we now find ourselves with 3 losses out of our last 5 league games.

After a night to sleep on a rather disastrous 7 days in terms of results, I woke up with even more questions than before.

Was SAF right the whole time in playing 4-5-1 for our toughest games especially away from home?
We saw what happened at Anfield when we attempted to be more adventurous and bold. The standard of our current crop of midfielders makes the 4-5-1 a necessity. If that is indeed the conclusion, what a waste it is to have a talent like Berba sitting on the bench for those big moments.

Is our current position in the league table accurate?
If this past week is anything to go by, then our lofty position in the league has been largely due to the fact that most of our toughest fixtures were loaded into the back end of our schedule (plus the rescheduled Chelsea game due to the weather). We’ve been fortunate to have had a schedule in which a piece of brilliance from Nani or the sheer running of Chicharito has scored us wins we did not deserve. Unfortunately, doing just enough for 3 points against a team in the lower half of the table isn’t going to cut in against the big boys. It’s catching up to us now. No longer can we meander around producing subpar performances expecting to get away with it.

Are we ever going to get the reinforcements to refresh our squad or will we persist with our current personnel and hope that Gibson magically transforms into a hard tackling Scholes-like distributor of the ball?
Liverpool and Chelsea are making a strong push in the second half of the season and it’s no coincidence that its come after making some very good signings who have immediately filled areas of need. The aging Chelsea backline has been rejuvenated by the young and talented David Luiz. Liverpool look to have done a great piece of business getting back 50 million pounds on a player who no longer wanted to be there and turning that into 2 young exciting forwards with Suarez in particular looking every bit like a world class game changer. Who can we boast of? No one.

Is there hope for the rest of the season?
vidic red It depends on how we recover from the past 2 results. The ease in which Liverpool exploited our midfield was a big blow to us especially if we don’t get Rio and Vidic back together soon. With 2 more incredibly challenging games up next (Arsenal on the 12th and Marseille on the 15th), further losses could knock us down for good this season and flatten whatever resolve we may attempt to muster up. If we get through those 2 games, we still have to face Arsenal at the Emirates (which looks to be the tie that could swing the title one way or another) and Chelsea at home. Knowing our dismal away form, it is the encounter at the Emirates that has me most concerned.

It’s tough to accept the reality that we could finish this season without a single trophy after finding a way to the top of the table despite the rocky start. In truth, most of our performances have been of the “grinding out a win” variety than “steamrolling over the opposition”.

Bottom line – we just haven’t been all that great and may have to deal with a season of no silverware if it means a greater sense of urgency on the part the owners to spend big over the summer.

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Category: English Premier League, Man Utd Ramblings, Manchester United

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Shabbir

you had to start winning streak again to win this league title!
and remember your performance again arsenal in FA cup will play an important role to increase moral!!!
Shabbir12hasan

united need some strong midfilder thats correct but who????
Uvincord

SAF should wake up! Does he want to be disgraced by falling from 1st to 5th before he admits that his mid field is totally worthless and the old legs are too tired to play against younger opponents? We need a new set of talented and rugged boys now!
steven.

complain about the midfield and your formation limitations all you'd like .. truth be told, your still top of the league .. now....let's see a smile.
Pyro

Cmon on man. We know United suck but we don't have to troll.
ahmad_h

MAN UTD is playing an entire season without a midfield :) just creative flashes from some of our players and sadly.... that is it :/

i thought we nailed the Pastore deal ... i was happy to hear that, yet i woke up today only to hear that barcelona are the closest to sign the argentine .... if we continue like this, i can only see dark days ahead of us.... we need at least 5 or 4 new players.... and players with quality, not like the likes of obertan and gibson ... i've had enough of such players who can't get any luckier to have worn a united jersey.
Shaun

i don't think we really ever had a chance to sign pastore. i also imagine him to be the kind of player that would thrive in the spanish league more so than in england.
if things change and he ends up heading our way, i would love to be proven wrong.

we definitely need to spruce up our squad come the summer and my priority would be a tough as nails midfielder. we need someone to come in and play the keano role.
ahmad_h

i completely agree, we definitely need a midfielder, heck we need a whole new midfield :S
as for Pastore, i never thought he would come to old trafford in the first place, but the rumors circled alot and i thought, maybe a change in management mentality has occurred in the club, but i then went back to reality to see him slipping away... it's amazing how little we are willing to pay for high quality players.
Tony Quirke

Sadly I predicted United would win nothing some weeks ago as they no longer have any real quality midfielders. After watching the Liverpool game I suggest that Brown never plays for the first team again and neither should Giggs who could not even even get a corner kick to reach his forwards whilst his free kick over the bar was schoolboy standard.
Carrick also should go but who can replace him?
All in all Ferguson has lost the plot with his stupid comment that he had a strong squad and did not need any new players in January and his idiotic belief that his old men are good enough so perhaps a clearout of the management and at least six players is needed.
KING KENNY

NEW PLAYERS NEW MANAGER IT WILL NOT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE. KING KENNY IS GONNA TAKE LFC BY THE SCRUFF OF THE NECK AND WIN THIS LEAGUE, LOOK AT WHAT HE HAS DONE WITH THE PLAYERS HE HAS NOW, SO WHATS HE GONNA DO WITH BETTER PLAYERS NEXT YEAR?
SAF

Good lord, liverpool fans annoy me with their king kenny shit. If i remember correctly, king kenny was at the helm of a 3-1 loss to West Ham the week before. One win does not mean the club is revitalized kiddies
justin

Gee, this particular manc needs to have some class. As is that Liverpool fan above.

No one's saying the club's revitalized after one win but what Kenny has brought back is unity and humility. We're clearly on the way up, not in the class to win the league yet but hey competition's all good for the league.

Banter's fine but let's not bring in the trash.
KING KENNY

GETTING ANNOYED B-COZ U NO ITS COMING HOME AFTER 20 YRS. IM NOT GONNA PREACH ABOUT KENNY, I WILL JUST SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE TIME HE IS IN CHARGE B-COZ I NO WHAT HE IS CAPABLE OF THE MAN DOESNT NED BIGGING UP. AS FOR FANI I MEAN NANI CRYING LOKE A BITCH WHEN CARRA SMASHED HIM, WHATS ALL THAT ABOUT IT WAS A FU*KEN SCRATCH. GREAT WHEN SUAREZ PULLED THE OTHER RATS WIG, HILLARIOUS, HE DIDNT HAVE A CLUE WHO DONE IT THE LAD WAS TOO QUICK FOR YOU ALL AFTERNOON, JUST A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME YNWA
Nick

Why do you write in caps lock? it make you look like an ignorant imbred scouse peace of shit
KING KENNY

WHY CAN YOU SEE ME NICK TH PR*CK. LISTEN LAD YOUR'E NAME IS NICK, YOUR NAME SOUNDS GAY ALL NICKS ARE PUFFS. STILL FUMING THEN I TAKE IT NICK THE D*CK. 3-1
Uvincord

You write like an ignoramus. How can you claim to have arrived just because you beat M.U. It means you are unconsciously admitting that they are superior to looserpool.