UnitedViews

Well, can you blame David Levy? He’s had enough of every Tom, Dick and Harry (usually Redknapp) going after his players and has finally reported both Manchester United and Liverpool to the Premier League for their pursuit of Berbatov and Keane respectively.

“The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player.”

Image from Mtl_Shag on Flickr

What seems to have tipped him over the edge is Ferguson’s interview with the Sun (since when did Fergie do exclusives with the Sun?) in which he says “Berbatov has been impressive for a long time and he would be a great addition to our attack” as well as intimating that although their offer had been turned down they fully expected a positive outcome.

As Levy points out, “It is unbelievably hypocritical given his comments in respect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid.” Well, I’m not sure exactly which comments hes referring to but we know Fergie’s been hacked off by the way Real have behaved and we know that United have themselves reported Real to UEFA.

So Levy’s right, isn’t he? Fergies comments about Berbatov are just the same as Real’s pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo through the papers. Well, from Fergie’s point of view there are probably a few subtle differences: for one thing, he hasnt been tub-thumping, suggesting it would be an honour for Spurs nor has he been suggesting that the problem lies between Berbatov and Spurs and that he is an innocent bystander. More significantly, United have actually made an offer for Berbatov. It’s been rejected but it’s an offer! As far as Fergie is concerned he’s played it by the book. It may be his own book filled with is own rules but he’s stuck by it rigidly.

So is there any difference? Yes. The greatest difference in the situation relates to the would-be sellers not the buyers. Both have reported the aggressors to the toothless football authorities, who have done/will do precisely nothing about it. Both clubs knew this when they filed the reports, so why bother? For very different reasons.

United wanted to fire a shot across Real’s bows. ‘We know what you’re doing and there’s a limit to how much we’ll stand for.’ If it makes the slightest difference to Real’s behaviour, makes them a scintilla less brazen in their advances then it’s worth it.

Spurs have filed the report purely and simply to make it look like their putting up a struggle, to keep the fans happy, to keep those two horrible words ‘Feeder Club’ at bay… just before they sell the players anyway. How can we know this? Two reasons…

Firstly, Spurs have previous. They told everyone who would listen that Carrick wasn’t for sale. As Jol said at the time, “We are building something here and I can’t do without him. I told the chairman I want to keep him and the board don’t want to sell him. He’s got a contract for two years and that’s it.” That would be the same chairman who sold Carrick to United 6 weeks later.

And secondly, Levy has said he’s going to sell both players, virtually sent them down Oxford Street with signs on sticks saying ‘Player Sale->’ in the very same statement in which he condemns their pursuants.

“However, when a player’s head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence.” Now you just don’t say that about players you expect to be at the club next year.

So, in short, it’s all a bit of a charade. Levy is looking to re-coup some of the £100M+ he’s lashed out on players in the last few transfer windows but rather than come clean with Spurs fans he’s decided to cast Fergie and Benitez as the pantomime villains. I’d be surprised if Berbatov didn’t end up at United. Keane may or may not go to Anfield depending on how much money Rafa can raise with a sponsored beard trim or selling Xabi Alonso, whichever earns more.

Surely?

Tags: berbatov, Ferguson, levy, real madrid, Ronaldo, spurs

OK so three fairly significant things have happened since my last post: firstly, United have won the league; secondly, United have won the Champions League; and thirdly, I had an argument with my mate MOC about who is the best manager in the Premier League. Now, I feel that the media outlets of the world have covered these first two events pretty comprehensively so I won’t add anything, except to crow a little bit about my prediction that Arsenal would fade badly while Chelsea would emerge as United’s closest challengers. Mystic me, eh?

Anyway, the story that has really been shockingly neglected is the argument between myself and MOC. Just to set the scene, MOC is a Liverpool fan. Now, of course, he can’t claim that Benitez is the best manager in the Premiership (at least not without a lot of people pointing and laughing at him) but nor can he face the truth that Sir Alex Ferguson is the best. It all happened a little time ago when Liverpool were still in the C’s League and United’s game at home against the gooners was at the forefront of our thinking.

MOC is a man of relatively few words and I never know when to shut up so here, in all (or at least most of) its splendour, is our exchange.

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MOC:

Man, I cant wait to play you in the final. Would be class, bigtime. We have a better team than last year, and I don’t think chelski have improved much. And also, tactics wise Grant doesnt really cut it.

Feel sorry for wenger, best manager ever in the premiership, but too stubborn in the transfer market, should have got a decent centre back In January.. Team didn’t have enough depth. I did say that arsenal would slow down near the end, and that L’pool would be up there…eh……

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UnitedViews:

Yeah. Although I still have the feeling we may succumb to Barca, I can’t wait for that tie.

You know I can’t let that ‘best manager ever in the premiership’ comment go, don’t you? For years the money men at Arsenal have been banging on about how Wenger’s got tons of cash to spend. This year, however briefly, they were able to tell us they were richer than United. In that context, not buying better players goes beyond stubbornness. It’s cowardice. He’s keeping expectations as low as possible so that he can exceed them without actually having to win anything. Every year, even when they were winning the league, we are told that the Arsenal team are still years away from reaching their potential. Well, just because they’re young doesn’t mean they’re going to get better (sometimes I think Rooney is the perfect example of this).

If Ferguson had three seasons finishing 4th, 4th and (quite likely) 3rd he would be in an enforced retirement by now. Wenger is quite possibly the best coach in the premiership but best manager? Not even close.

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MOC:

For the amount of resources he had over his time with arsenal, the way he changed “everything” with arsenal when he arrived; style of football,training,attitudes (a dying team - Bould, Adams, Dixon etc),the way he still won titles when he had absolutely no money when the new stadium was being built, the way he has made good unknown players into truly world class players… that’s is why he is definitely is the best coach and manager.

Hes only flaw is in the transfer market……

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UnitedViews:

Deep breath, mate…

If I was the owner at Everton, Wenger would be the guy I’d want. There is no better manager for creating winning teams on a limited budget. If all Abramovich really wanted was a team to play beautiful attacking football that he says he wants, then Wenger would be the guy for him too (although it’s worth mentioning that the performance that inspired Roman to buy a football club was United’s ill-fated 4-3 win over Real in the Champion’s League).

The way that Wenger took hold of Arsenal at a time when they were on the wane post-Rioch was remarkable. One thing I’d say is that having Bould, Adams, Dixon, Winterburn and Seaman at the back when he arrived made his job a great deal easier. They were already recognised as the best defensive unit in the Premier League (I don’t believe he’s ever managed to equal them) and their presence allowed Wenger to concentrate his efforts elsewhere (although he already had a bloke called ‘Bergkamp’ up front). What he did was to extend their careers by introducing better training/conditioning methodologies. However, I remember the talk at the time was all about how he would cope after they all retired. The fact that he went on to even greater success after they retired or were moved on is a testament to his talent as scout and coach.

However… to say that he is the ‘best manager in the premiership’ but ‘his only flaw is in the transfer market’ is a bit like saying someone is the best tennis player in the world… except they can’t serve. In the post-Abramovich era, you have to have a better strategy in the transfer market than buying lots and lots of promising kids and hoping that a percentage of them will turn out to be up to the job. Wenger is not at Everton. He is at a club with a recent record of domestic success. He is at a club that takes £41m every match day. He is at a club where they have seen a 54% increase in profits over last year. They can afford to spend.

In this context, I see that he has spent an incredible £18m since 2004. In the same period Chelsea have spent £178m, Liverpool £101m and United £75.3. He just hates spending money. Everyone from Ferdinand and Rooney to Torres and Mascherano he has dismissed as ‘over-priced’. What he doesn’t seem to get is that quality is expensive. These players may only be 5% better than a cheaper import but that 5% wins you silverware (Torres and Mascherano certainly will do at Liverpool). His record as a scout is outstanding but you can’t rely on unearthing a Vieira and Henry every time you build a team.

He said earlier this week that the only thing his squad lacked was maturity. Well, Arsene, there’s two ways to acquire maturity in your squad: either stick your hand in your pocket and buy a player with proven experience (Mascherano, Hargreaves…) and don’t baulk at the obscene price; or stop selling your players when they get over 30 (Pires, Llungberg). Giggs came on for the last few minutes yesterday and calmed things down, kept possession, played it cool. Would he still be at United if Wenger was in charge? Absolutely not. Will Gilberto still be there next season? I seriously doubt it.

Finally, like I say, what Wenger did when he arrived at Arsenal was truly remarkable but look at what Ferguson faced when he arrived at United: a club with high expectations but a long-standing record of failure (the opposite of George Graham’s legacy); a team that, with the notable exception of the captain, needed rebuilding from front to back; an unfit squad with a deeply engrained drinking culture; and a conservative board who were reluctant to spend big in the transfer market (the polar opposite of the noises emanating from the Emirates). Now look at what the two men have achieved. There can be no argument, surely. Wenger is the best coach the premiership has ever had. He is the best scout the premiership has ever had. But Ferguson is the best manager.

2-1 to United speaks volumes.

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MOC:

F**k me…

This is the longest email ever! Considering that I don’t remember getting home last nite from this german bar in Fulham that serves 1 litre jugs of beer…

Will digest the email!

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MOC:

Brief response…

Fergie isn’t exactly great in the transfter market either?

Was veron worth 24 million?
Was bartez worth 10 million?(or whatever)
Is Ferdinand worth 27 million?(bad man’s beckinbaur If you ask me, when he gets across the half way line he gets a nose bleed….)
Is rooney really worth 27 million? (he looks average compared to Ronaldo imo)

It took ferguson how many years to win the league? How long did it take Wenger?

The only flaw wenger has is in the transfer market and I think he will learn from ferguson and keep his older players as opposed to selling them when they reach 30 or so.

I can guarantee that wenger will buy big during the transfer market, he stubbornness can only be blamed on his nationality!

Agreed man u were the better team yesterday, I did say that arsenal would fall at the final hurdle…

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UnitedViews:

Don’t get me wrong. Fergie is no scout. He has had some real disasters in the transfer market. Veron: definitely! (Although don’t forget we offloaded him to Chelsea for £15m.) Also, Bellion, Djemba-Djemba, Miller, Taibi,… There’s plenty. But he takes a chance. When Veron proved to be a complete waste of cash he was slaughtered by opposing fans and media alike. Every time he spends a lot (or a little) on a single player at least half to the country is praying they’ll be a total waste of money. Does that stop him from sticking his neck on the line again? No.

We could argue about the quality or otherwise of Barthez, Ferdinand and Rooney but they play or played week in week out in a team that won the title. Barthez and Ferdinand have two of them. Rooney has a good chance of winning number two this year (I am counting no chickens). Even Veron won has a premiership medal to his name. No one likes Ferdinand, not even his own supporters. He’s the definitive big-time charlie but to deny his quality after the season he’s had smacks of burying your head in the sand. There are still people who say the earth is flat, you know. Rooney looks average compared to Ronaldo? Well, who doesn’t? Mind you, how good would Ronaldo be without a selfless striker like Rooney who’s prepared to fill the gap on the wing and set our Cristiano up with chances to stick away? See if little Michael Owen will do that for you!

If it’s bargains we’re after, Ferguson has had his successes in the transfer market. Cantona, Solskjaer and Schmeichel cost £3m… in total! Wenger has had his failures in the bargain basement - step forward Luzhny and Stepanovs (both of whom played in our 6-1 win against the Gunners). As I’ve said already, though, Wenger is the best scout in the premiership. Ferguson is a little over dependent on the word of his brother martin.

It took Ferguson 5 years to win the league. It took Wenger 2. I think I said in my last email something around the quality of the squad they inherited, so it’s fair to say that Arsene had a headstart.

Wenger has been at Arsenal for 11 seasons (soon to be 12). In that 11 seasons he has won the premiership 3 times. In Ferguson’s first 11 seasons he won it 4 times… and he was just getting started. After 13 years, Ferguson had the treble to his name. Will Wenger? I’m very happy to bet against it.

So you reckon Wenger will buy big? What’s big then? If he buys a player for more than £20m, I’ll buy you a pint. If he spends more than £50m in total, I’ll buy you another.

He’s going to hang on to his older players? Who are they? Gilberto and Lehmann. If either of them are at the Emirates next year, I’ll buy you another pint.

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MOC:

Come on Wenger….Spend the Dosh!

“Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has vowed to spend in the summer, saying he is unafraid to pay big money for players he thinks are worth it. (Daily Star)”

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Anyway, that was the end of our discussion on the subject. I’ve a feeling I’ll be buying MOC at least one pint as Wenger may decide to hang on to Gilberto with Flamini having jumped ship.

What do you reckon? Can Wenger hold a candle to Fergie? Can he hold a candle at all? Is there another manager out there in the premiership who deserves to be called ‘the best’ head of either of these two? Incidentally, at the moment we’re just discussing current Premiership managers but some time soon I’ll be knocking Joe Fagan off his bloody perch.

Tags: Ferguson, Wenger

Sorry for the lack of effort on the site recently. A new job has meant that I’ve had little or no time to spend on United. They seem to have managed all right without my input…

Anyway, JW has kindly stepped into the breach and come up with a set of predictions for the remaining fixtures. He’s usually pretty accurate with these things but let us know if you disagree with him…

Have you been doing your usual end-of-season results prediction stuff?

Based simply on United’s form so far this season, they should get 16 or 17 points from their remaining seven games, so 5-1-1 or 5-2-0 in terms of W-D-L over the seven matches. That would give us 89 or 90 points, versus a maximum 89 points for Chelsea and 88 points for Arsenal, which means we should win the title even if it’s only on goal difference from Chelsea.

It largely depends on the Chelsea and Arsenal games, of course, and my personal feeling is that we won’t lose either — we’ll beat Arsenal at OT and, given our record in the matches against the other Big Four clubs this season, should get a point at Stamford Bridge. But also given our record against the more modest sides this season, I can see a slip-up in a nominally more straightforward game, e.g. losing at Blackburn or Middlesbrough, or held at home by Villa or West Ham.

Chelsea and Arsenal also, of course, need to really put a run together to challenge us, something Chelsea might do but Arsenal seem unlikely to given the way their confidence has evaporated in recent weeks. But Chelsea will need to win pretty much every game, and they have some interesting away games at Everton and Man City.

Anyway, can’t believe how good we’re looking after the despair I felt after the home defeat to Cit-Eh. And amazing how Arsenal have nosedived in the wake of the 4-0 cup mauling at OT and the Eduardo injury.

my predictions — guess who ends up league champions?

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Mar. 29-30

Man Utd 2-0 Aston Villa

Bolton 1-1 Arsenal

Chelsea 3-0 Middlesbrough

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Apr. 5-6

Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool

Man City 0-2 Chelsea

Middlesbrough 1-3 Man Utd

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Apr. 12/13/14

Man Utd 2-0 Arsenal

Chelsea 5-1 Wigan

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Apr. 19

Arsenal 3-0 Reading

Blackburn 1-0 Man Utd

Everton 2-2 Chelsea

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Apr. 26

Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd

Apr. 28

Derby 0-4 Arsenal

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May 3

Arsenal 0-0 Everton

Man Utd 4-0 West Ham

Newcastle 1-3 Chelsea

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May 11

Chelsea 2-0 Bolton

Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal

Wigan 1-2 Man Utd

So we know now it’s Roma… again. There’s part of me that worries in these circumstances that giving the same opponent enough opportunities to beat you will eventually end in tears but United should have the wherewithal to beat Roma yet again.

Image from Maximus1978 on Flickr

I’m pleased we can’t face an English team until the final but more than a little concerned at the prospect of Barcelona in the semis. That’s getting ahead of myself, though. The plum tie is, without doubt, the Arsenal - Liverpool match up. It’s always nice to see your rivals knocking lumps out of each other, isn’t it?

Picture of United’s Champions League medals from Edwin.11 on Flickr

OK. We’ve got 7 teams to choose from. There’s no protection from facing teams from your own country. So we could draw any of the following:

Arsenal
Barcelona
Chelsea
Fenerbahçe
Liverpool
Roma
Schalke 04

Who do we fancy for our quarter-final opponents, then? Let me know in the comments box…

Well, the weekend didn’t go as badly as it might have, after all. The three weekday protagonists from the Champion’s League all played at the weekend. United lost, Chelsea lost and Arsenal drew. If the Chelsea result had me smiling, the news from the JJB had me positively chuckling.

I’d argue that United lost the least from these results. It was deeply irritating (see my previous post for irritable musings on this) losing to Portsmouth, especially at Old Trafford, but the cup was our third priority. We’re better placed in the league than Chelsea, although I certainly don’t think they’re out of it, and Avram Grant is hardly covering himself in glory at the moment. One more route to trophies cordoned off for Chelsea; one step closer to the door marked ‘Exit’ for Avram.

With a draw Arsenal theoretically fared the best of the Champion’s Leaguesters. In truth, they forfeited the most. The ‘bird in the hand’ view is that they are two points clear of United at the top of the league. The more telling fact is that they have taken only 3 points from the last 9 available. The pitch was in a shocking state but both teams had to play on it and Arsenal’s league form is starting to look very shaky indeed. They have dropped points against Birmingham, Villa and Wigan. They would reasonably have expected at least 7 points from that lot.

Image of JJB Stadium from Free-ers on Flickr

Sadly for the Gooners, the fixture list doesn’t provide much comfort. Next up are Middlesbrough at the Emirates, who were just awful against Cardiff at the weekend but remain the only team to have beaten Arsenal in the league so far. Then they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where I just can’t see them getting a result. After that they travel to Bolton (not somewhere Arsenal fans would choose to go at a time of crisis). Then they welcome Liverpool to the Emirates and we can be fairly sure that Benitez will play both Gerrard and Torres for this game! This fun run ends with a nice trip to the Theatre of Dreams to face the reigning champions.

Over the same period Manchester United face many of the same opponents in Derby, Bolton, Liverpool, Villa, Middlesbrough and, of course, Arsenal. There is, however, no trip to Stamford Bridge until later in the season, we’ve already faced the trip to the Reebok and have no reason to fear a visit to the Riverside.

Time for a bold, unwarranted and really really rash prediction:

Arsenal will emerge from Old Trafford with 73 points, United with 80. Chelsea play Wigan the following day by which stage I expect them to hold 77 points. In other words, the title could be decided not at Old Trafford but at Stamford Bridge.

Anyway, all in all maybe losing to Portsmouth wasn’t such bad news after all!

You know what? We can live without winning the FA Cup this year. We’ve got enough of a problem with fixture congestion without a replay and two games at Wembley. Just at the moment, though, it’s hard to see it like that.

I try not to make a big deal of refereeing mistakes. All it does is distract you from what really went wrong and makes you old and bitter. Just at the moment, though, I am feeling old and bitter.

Two simple complaints: firstly, everybody, absolutely everybody (OK, not Harry Redknapp) recognised Distin’s foul on Ronaldo should have brought a penalty; secondly, what was Kuszczak actually sent off for? He tried (with the elegance of a sea cow) to get to the ball but succeeded only in bringing Baros down with his face but it was not a professional foul. He tried to reach the ball. Was he the last man? No. Rooney, having screwed up by letting Baros have a free run, was behind the goalkeeper, so he wasn’t the last man. Now clearly, even had Tomas stayed on we may well have lost the game but the referee certainly made victory a harder task for Manchester United than it was for Pompey.

Still, we failed to take our chances, which at least we carved out with gratifying regularity, and Portsmouth defended deep and desperately. We also left only Rooney and Anderson to defend any breakaway from Nani’s free kick. That’s the true story of why we lost. I’m a little worried about Rooney’s form (as an striker rather than a centre half!). He’s still probably the best out-of-form striker in the world but… I used to love seeing him run at defenders before putting his foot through the ball. He doesn’t seem to either very much any more, which may be the legacy of too many games being asked to play either up front on is own or wide left.

We have learned a couple of things from the game (or at least had them confirmed). We need another striker. Someone tall and powerful who can help to change the way we play when we need to. Vidic did this for us towards the end of the awful derby game. Sadly, Vidic didn’t know what to do once he went up there!

Also, Kuzszcak isn’t Old Trafford material. He reminded me very much of our brief Spanish import, Ricardo, in his rush to bring down the opposing striker.

Anyway, there’s lots more to say but I’m too irritated to say it. We’re now out of our third and fourth priority competitions. No more cock-ups pleas, Lads (and refs).

One silver lining to the day was the Chelsea result, even if it was to a bunch from the wrong side of the Pennines…

Well that was an odd experience. Managed to catch United’s game against Lyon last night at the One Tun pub in Goodge Street, which seems to be a fairly safe bet if you want to see a Manchester United game in the centre of London (even when the Gooners are also live on TV). Great company (JW), good seats with a good view of the giant Plasma screen, nice pub. Just the small problem that there was a pub quiz happening at the same time, meaning no sound on the TV and a lot of deeply irritating questions about comic book heroes and 19th Century art. The net effect was that any big match atmosphere that might have been present at Old Trafford on the night, failed to be communicated to us.

Still, we are through to the last 8, which is bloody marvellous. It was no vintage performance but we defended with customary maturity (forgetting about the derby). Fletcher did a good job in his burgeoning Phil Neville impersonation, harrying the opposition midfield and robbing them of time to make decisions. (He seems to like playing against French teams - Lyon, Arsenal…). Carrick played well with some typically incisive passes. Of the central midfield 3, only Anderson looked a bit off his game, but for a 19 year-old who has already moved mountains this season and looks like he could be a long-term fixture in the engine room I think we can cut him some slack.

It was in the final third that United let themselves down. Sir Alex Ferguson has singled Wayne Rooney out as his man of the match, which is a sure sign that he feels Rooney needs a boost to his morale. In truth, it was a typically dogged and hard working perfromance from Rooney in the lone striker role, but it was far from his most effective. His passing and positioning in receiving the ball were not up to his high standards. JW reckons that, while goalscorer Ronaldo is pretty much the fully developed article, Rooney has some way to go yet (Any chance you could set this argument down in print for us some time, Mate?).

Nice goal from Ronaldo squeezed in from a tight angle, when I was sure the shot would only trouble the side netting. As I say we’re wonderfully through to the last 8. What’s more we did it with with a record equalling 10th consecutive European victory at home. Old Trafford is taking on the look of a citadel once more.

Quiz night apart, there was only one sour note… Arsenal’s progress. I cannot pretend to be anything other than childish and churlish in my desire to see all other English clubs fail in the Champion’s League. Ironically I don’t think I was this churlish when I was a child. Still, fair play to Arsenal. Wenger’s team have recently acquired what Ferguson’s has had for more than a decade - the ability to score late important goals, as evidenced not only by last night’s events at the San Siro but also by last minute equalisers against United and Villa at the Emirates . The only thing that would trouble me if I was a Arsenal fan would be the readiness of the team to celebrate two draws at home like they’d won the league. Last night, however, they had every reason to celebrate.

I’ll be doing a short post on the implications for United of Arsenal’s progress some time in the near future.