BBC Sportthis morning reported of the outrage for UEFA met by both Rio Ferdinand and Vincent Kompany following their £64,561 charge for Croatia for their fans racist abuse towards Mario Balotelli, whilst Nicklas Bendtner was charged £80,000 for showing his sponsored underpants.
The decision has baffled many, and Ferdinand and Kompany were united in their disgust at UEFA’s judgement. Ferdinand used Twitter to voice his disdain; ‘Uefa are you for real?’ he tweeted, whilst Kompany also used the social networking site, urging the governing body to ‘review their priorities’.
Prior to the tournament, much was made of the threat of racism in Poland and Ukraine, but UEFA head Platini insisted it would not mar the championships.
With other occurrences of racism at the tournament also being investigated, UEFA will need to toughen up their punishments for the guilty parties, as the issue of racism in the game is far more severe than that of commercial opportunism, something voiced by Vincent Kompany.
Well known for promoting equality in the game, as well as whole heartedly objecting to racism, UEFA have proved very contradictory and demonstrated their inability to take the real problems seriously as their sanctions baffle many, including Rio Ferdinand and Vincent Kompany.
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Not all of us in life make for such good travellers. For every seasoned flyer that ooze both air miles and smugness in equal measure, there are those who struggle to keep their lunch down on a short coach trip. And for as long as the mind can remember, Tottenham Hotspur seem to have forgotten to pack the Kwells and succumbed to a pretty bad dose of travel sickness on the road.
Is away-day flakiness a habitual requirement of playing for Spurs? It certainly shouldn’t be, but life on the road for the Lilywhite’s in recent Premier League times, has been a real mirth of inconsistency.
At fear of stating the obvious, football is something of a results based business. The dust is now settling on Harry Redknapp’s reign as Tottenham manager, but for all the hope and future emphasis that chairman Daniel Levy has applied by appointing Andre Villas Boas, he will be judged upon where Spurs finish. The task has to be to at least match, if not improve, on the work Redknapp has done.
Of course, Spurs fans will be more than optimistic that Villas Boas can go one up on Redknapp – after all, despite the reasons for sacking Redknapp being seemingly unrelated to events on pitch, the premise is that the Portuguese can succeed where Redknapp had failed.
And if we look at the away results of last year, one of the most glaringly obvious issues was Spurs’ failure to pick up points at any of the teams around them in the table. Spurs took only three points against the other teams in the eventual top eight away from home. For a team that was supposedly dubbed title challengers at one point in the season, that is a pretty miserable turn out to say the least. And it is something they must rectify next season.
Still, as poor as that record is, it can be more easily forgiven if the team are picking the points up that they are expected to away from home. Yet of course, in typical Tottenham fashion, that task in particular seemed to evade them once more. A failure to pick up wins in games they dominated, such as Sunderland and Aston Villa were compounded by defeats at the hands of QPR and Stoke. Even if we take away the controversy at the Britannia, you can’t ignore the away day blues.
But this was well and truly one of Harry Redknapp’s most uncomfortable truths. It is naïve to dub the 65-year-old as tactically inept as such. He certainly managed to get Tottenham Hotspur playing a wonderfully entertaining brand of football. Yet strip away the England speculation, strip away the court case and strip away the health issues – on purely footballing terms, there is no way Spurs should have finished a point below Arsenal. And that is in a large part down to their fallibility under Redknapp away from home.
Redknapp has often talked with more than a hint of disdain for what he liked to call, ‘the numbers game.’ In one his more famous nuggets of wisdom, the now ex-Spurs boss quipped: “You can argue about formations, tactics and systems forever, but to me football is fundamentally about players.” Indeed, Rafael van der Vaart gave an interesting look into the pre match routine at White Hart Lane, stating: “There is a clipboard in our dressing room, but Harry doesn’t write anything on it. It’s not that we do nothing – but it’s close to that.”
Redknapp’s approach worked superbly at home. Go out and get great players playing great football. Unfortunately, against some of the best-organised teams in the Premier League, the same tactic didn’t work too well away.
Going with a 4-4-2 at the Emirates, against a side as good in possession as Arsenal, was a really quite poor decision and Tottenham were bulldozed as a result. The same formation worked better against, with all respect, a lesser team in Everton. But David Moyes was no mug and after nullifying Spurs centrally, Redknapp had no answer. Games against the two Manchester clubs away may have come under completely different circumstances. But tactically, Spurs were left far too open against two of the best teams in the league and paid for it as a result.
If you switch the emphasis from tactical preparation to trying to change the game mid way through proceedings, Redknapp’s lack of reactivity seemed even more apparent. The token gesture of whacking on Jermain Defoe for Rafael van der Vaart was always taken in the dying embers of matches and in some cases (a la the now infamous Villa away fixture) it didn’t come at all.
And this is what Villas Boas is going to be expected to rectify. It’s easy to sit here and put a magnifying glass over every away fixture that Spurs failed to get three points under Harry Redknapp. Of course they’re not going to win every game on their travels and we can’t forget the resolute performances that came away against teams like Fulham and West Brom.
But it’s against the so called ‘bus-parkers’ that Spurs need to pick the points up. AVB won’t have a magic wand during his half time team talk, but he’ll be expected to do more than tell the boys to ‘f****** run about a bit’. And if Spurs are to progress, they simply have to start taking points off the bigger teams away from home. Hopefully, between Villas Boas and new chief opposition scout Daniel Sousa, they can prove more reactive in their preparations than Redknapp.
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Tottenham bestow an array of extremely talented footballers who, when they play to their core attacking strengths and fluid best, are a match for anyone. But teams will, as what happened last year, find a way to counter that and some will simply be better suited to play against it. Harry Redknapp’s inability to evolve his team when needed, played a bigger part than any in their inability to finish third.
Andre Villas Boas will have to be seen to make the big calls away from home and develop the sacred ‘Plan B’ that evaded Spurs under Redknapp. Daniel Levy said that Villas Boas has an “outstanding reputation for his technical knowledge of the game.” Supporters will expect to see that next season.
Can Villas Boas develop a Plan B at Spurs? Or do you fear that Tottenham are still going to remain so infamously flaky away from White Hart Lane? Tell me what you think and what you’d do on Twitter, follow @samuel_antrobus
After being crowned as Premier League champions at the end of last season, Manchester City were roundly criticised, namely by supporters of their rivals Manchester United, that Roberto Mancini’s side had ‘bought the title’, but does this claim stand up to closer scrutiny? Do United really have that much of a sound footing when it comes to talk of success being directly linked to money?
Since the Premier League’s inception in 1992, Manchester United have spent upwards of £15m on 12 separate occasions on the following players – Veron, Ferdinand, Rooney, Carrick, Anderson, Hargreaves, Van Nistelrooy, Berbatov, Valencia, Young, Jones and De Gea.
Now there’s nothing scientific to this cut-off point, but I think is a fair summation of what a big transfer has been for the best part of the last 10 years at least, not huge, but out of the realms of the majority of teams in the top flight, particularly in terms of consistency. Of course, given the context of the period, the deals involving Saha, Stam, Yorke, Kagawa, Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo were all pretty sizeable too.
The school of thought is that Manchester United are able to operate on such a sphere due to their prolonged spell at the top and the success that they’ve enjoyed in the process. They’ve only really been spending that amount of money since 2001-2, preferring to utilise home-grown talent and operate within their means (which they still do, to be fair to them, but for different reasons) up until that point.
Since the Premier League began, the club have spent £501m and recouped £310m from their dealings in the transfer market, which gives them a net spend of £190m, which spread over 21 seasons comes in at £9m per season which seems a very reasonable amount given their huge success. Even when you take out the hugely distortive figure of the Cristiano Ronaldo sale of £80m, the net spend is still a respectable £270m which works out at £12.7m per season.
Let’s take a look at Manchester City now then, bearing in mind that the club haven’t competed in the Premier League anywhere near as frequently, but they’ve been regular members since 2002. In that period they’ve spent £649m, recouped £175m for a net spend of £473m a huge increase on the figures mentioned above to do with United.
Using the same loose barometer for transfer activity, Manchester City have spent upwards of £15m on 16 separate occasions on the following players – De Jong, Robinho, Jo, Lescott, Toure, Adebayor, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Dzeko, Milner, Balotelli, Kolarov, Silva, Yaya Toure, Nasri and Aguero. Sizeable fees have also been forked out on Bridge, Bellamy, Wright-Phillips, Barry and Boateng in that period.
There’s clearly a more scattergun approach at work here as best typified by the fact that the club have had three managers in five years. People often forget the gradual period of investment that the club had prior to Abu Dhabi’s takeover in September 2008. They spent £45.8m the summer before under Sven Goran Eriksson and Thaksin Shinawatra before the real bug bucks were spent under Mark Hughes.
It’s only really now that you begin to realise how poor Mark Hughes spent while he was at the club keeping in mind the resources that he had available to him at the time. He spent a staggering £127m in 2008-9, but only Vincent Kompany (£6.7m), Nigel De Jong (laughably bought for £16m with just six months left on his contract) and Pablo Zabaleta (£6.5m) played any sort of part during their title success last season, while Joe Hart was bought for a pittance two years before for £600k from Shrewsbury.
Indeed, the club have spent £141m on players since 2008-9 which weren’t at the club last season, either being loaned elsewhere or having since been sold since, so they played no part at all during their title success, which is being extremely kind to Kolo Toure at the same time. The sheer level of mis-management and wasted resoruces is astonishing. It makes the often used figure of £528.6m that the club have spent in the past five years somewhat irrelevent without the context of the managerial change and the fact that half of those signed no longer play for the club anymore.
It would seem churlish to discount this period altogether, though, because the Robinho move in particular helped to create the conditions by which they could then move for the likes of Aguero, Silva and Tevez later on. However, in terms of the impact that they had out on the pitch, it’s pretty threadbare, which is essentially what we are talking about when we talk about them having ‘bought the title’, because otherwise if you’re just lending to the wholesale purchases of every player that’s walked through the door since 2008 and it loses all perspective.
Since taking over in December 2009, Roberto Mancini has spent £237m on 16 different players, which seems a fairer figure to use to judge their title success by, because it’s only since then that they have become a genuine threat to Manchester United. The significant outlay was needed to bridge the gap, they couldn’t afford to wait, so to speak, and planning methodically over the course of a number of years in the way Manchester United had done wasn’t a realistic option. Ferguson has still spent about £120m himself in that period, hardly small change as a standalone figure.
But at the same time, football has changed since those days, long ago in fact and while Manchester United may not set market trends with concerns to the fees that they pay, rather they keep up with them, they can hardly plead poverty themselves over this period. Is what Manchester City are accused of doing really that different to what Manchester United have been doing to the rest of the league, Chelsea aside, this past decade?
You can’t have success without money, every league title since the dawn of time has been built upon the club in question being able to attract top talent at a cost, but at the same time, having money doesn’t neccessarily guarantee success. Sure, Manchester City could afford to indulge in the transfer market and speedily replace expensive flops that perhaps Manchester United couldn’t, but it’s been as much of a hindrance as a help to them as they’ve had to muddle through with players constantly trying to bed into the club and gel and a high turnover of players is never conducive to success.
Going further back, in 1987, manager Sir Alex Ferguson signed Brian McClair and Steve Bruce for £1.75m, a significant outlay. A year later, he spent roughly the same on Mark Hughes. A year after that, he made spent £2.5m on Gary Pallister, who was at the time, the most expensive defender ever. They have broke the British transfer record fee on three separate occasions over the past 20 years, spending £7 million on Andy Cole in 1995, £28.1 million on Juan Sebastian Veron in 2001 and £29.1 million on Ferdinand in 2002.
It does come across as slightly hypocritical, Manchester United fans moaning about another club spending big money, but at the same time, entirely understandable. They’ve never spent the amount that City have in such a short space of time before, but does that make their market dominance over a longer period any more palatable? For the other teams in the top flight, probably not.
Blackburn, Arsenal and Chelsea before City have all spent big at different periods while Liverpool have been consistently up there in terms of net spends for quite some time. To talk wistfully about the days before football was dominated by money is absolute folly, it’s played a huge part for the best part of the last two decades, except the wealth is now more extreme, hence the Financial Fair Play rules being instigated in an attempt to counteract the billionaire play-thing owners of the last seven or so years.
In light of the fact that Manchester United bid up to £27m on Brazilian starlet Lucas Moura, a 19 year-old international with less than two years experience, does mean that the moral high ground does start to evaporate beneath their feet. You could argue that they are merely trying to keep up with Manchester City and Chelsea now, but that’s approaching it from the perspective of the rich vs the super rich, something which the likes of Everton, Newcastle and Aston Villa, three pretty big clubs themselves, can only dream of and it’s difficult to feel sympathy for any of the parties involved, to be perfectly honest.
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For example, if you take a look at the two side that line-up in the title-defining clash at the Etihad Stadium last season, using the universally accepted fees for each player, there’s not an awful lot of difference between the two teams. Manchester City’s starting line-up cost roughly £178m, while Manchester United’s cost around £148m. Adjusting these figures for the players which came off the bench, and City again lead by £219m to £181m, and when you factor in the entire bench and starting line-up, it’s around £286m to City and £220m to United. This is hardly the prince vs the pauper, so all the holier than thou stuff really has to stop.
Cries of Manchester City’s title success as being ‘the death football’ are seriously wide of the mark. It’s been dying for a long time now. Nevertheless, credit must got to Mancini for sorting out the mess that Hughes left behind and winning the FA Cup and then the Premier League. He’s bought the right sort of players (a skill in itself) at the right time to mount a challenge and potentiall usurp Manchester United as the dominant force in the English game.
Of course, Manchester United have had to cut their cloth accordingly due to the suicidal amount of debt leveraged onto the club by the Glazer family, but seeing as football didn’t start in 2005, the same context has to be applied to the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 and the Premier League boost in 1992. Over a longer period, Manchester United hardly stand up to closer scrutiny when it comes to the claim of having ‘bought the title’, but at the same time you wouldn’t begrudge them of their success or say that they haven’t been deserving of it either.
They may be the biggest losers of sheer scale of the Manchester City investment in the short-term, but over the long-term, they’ve been just as guilty. For those of us with longer memories than the beginning of the Premier League, it’s worth taking a look at the wider picture, because while City have set a worrying trend of their own, Manchester United have been setting their own trend for quite some time. Without trying to come across as too self-righteous, sometimes you just have to say ‘fair enough, well played’ because mud-slinging isn’t a good look on anyone, particularly on those with already dirtied faces.
Manchester United have started their 2012-13 season with a defeat, as Everton triumphed over the title hopefuls 1-0 at Goodison Park on Monday night.
Sir Alex Ferguson gave a Premier League debut to Shinji Kagawa, and also brought Robin van Persie off the bench with 20 minutes remaining, but a Marouane Fellaini strike on 57 minutes decided the fixture in the favour of the hosts.
David Moyes hailed the impact on his Belgian midfielder after the victory, and was delighted with the result.
“Fellaini was excellent tonight but we know he’s capable of that,” the Scottish boss told Sky Sports.
“He can play in that position, he can play in the centre of the park. He’s a really talented footballer.
“It was hard for them. Manchester United, you have to remember, were without some central defenders tonight. But I did think Fellaini caused them problems.
“Manchester United are a big threat. If you lose concentration for a minute or turn off, they’re liable to punish you.
“But I thought we defended really well when we had to tonight, and I think we caused them some problems when we had the ball.
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“I thought Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin, all the defenders, did a great job in making sure we didn’t concede a goal,” he concluded.
Liverpool’s defence of the Capital One Cup will begin away at West Brom.
The Baggies pummelled Brendan Rodgers’ side 3-0 on the opening day of the season, and the tie once again pits West Brom boss Steve Clarke against his former employers.
Manchester United have been handed a difficult draw; they host Alan Pardew’s Newcastle United. Losing semi finalists last year Manchester City, meanwhile, take on Aston Villa at the Etihad.
Andre Villas-Boas’s Spurs face a potential culture shock as they travel to League One outfit Carlisle United. Chelsea host recently-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers, who wrapped up the second round draw after winning 3-1 away at Northampton Town.
Arsenal, who have historically fielded youngsters in the competition host Coventry City, who are currently without a permanent manager following Andy Thorn’s sacking.
Everton, who currently hold a 100 per cent record in all competitions this season, face a tough assignment away at Neil Warnock’s Leeds United.
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Dark, ominous clouds have become a permanent fixture at Villa Park in recent times, as evident from the club’s recent kit launch. The aftermath of Martin O’Neill’s resignation coupled with huge financial losses and the departure of key players has seen the club plummet towards the foot of the table. Even the appointment of promising manager Paul Lambert has failed to lift the spirits of fans still reeling from the soul-destroying reign of Alex McLeish.
The recent activity from the summer transfer window offered more questions than answers, as the club steered clear of experienced Premier League professionals and instead decided to supplement their already significant number of promising youngsters. However, the return of striker Gabriel Agbonlahor – without wanting to endorse an overused cliché – will feel like a new signing.
Agbonlahor can no longer hide behind his tag as ‘a star in the making’, instead the onus will be on the 25-year-old to act as a talisman as Lambert begins his rejuvenation process. Incredibly, this will be his eighth season as a member of the Villans first-team but few could argue that he has reached his full potential. His lightning speed is his best and sometimes only positive attribute, with many supporters acknowledging that a vast improvement is needed if he is to torment the league’s best defenders.
In recent weeks, the former England international has voiced his desire to play a central role in the heart of Villa’s attack. In order to fashion these claims into a reality he must first match or perhaps better the strike-rate of team-mate Darren Bent, a tall order for a player who struggles to nudge his goal tally into double figures. Furthermore he will have to fend off the challenge of Andreas Weimann and new signing Jordan Bowery, who have replaced Agbonlahor as the talented youngsters trying to infiltrate the starting XI.
The fortunes of Aston Villa will rely heavily on Lambert’s ability to coax the very best out of his players, especially as the squad is littered with individuals desperately clinging onto former glories or struggling to fulfil their much-publicised promise. The former Norwich manager is also renowned for his love of big, burly target men as evident from his affection towards Grant Holt and Steve Morison. This may also highlight why he decided to spend £7m on Genk’s 6 foot 6 inch behemoth Christian Benteke on transfer deadline day.
Whereas Darren Bent harbours the capability to be deployed as a lone striker, I can’t see Agbonlahor effectively shielding the ball away from the physically more dominant defenders. Despite his reluctance to do so, he may have to give up the limelight and begin reinventing himself as winger who can also operate as an inside forward. He may currently lack the creative flair to conjure up an inch perfect cross but his pace and trickery is far more likely to be effective up against a lone full-back. It’s no secret that Villa have failed to replace the attacking wide players of Ashley Young or Stewart Downing and even with the emergence of Marc Albrighton, there is still a vacant role on the flanks waiting to be filled.
If Agbonlahor is gifted his chance to operate as Villa’s fixed point of attack, he must reproduce the sort of displays that previously raised fans to their feet. If his shooting boots desert him then he must continue to hound the opposition with tenacious displays, even if it means letting someone else hog all the goal-scoring headlines. In the absence of Stilian Petrov, the club has lost its influential leader and who better to take up the mantle than a local lad and lifelong fan of the club.
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I still believe there’s a world-class footballer desperate to break free from within Gabriel Agbonlahor; I just hope this is the season we finally get to see him.
Stoke defender Andy Wilkinson has been charged with violent conduct by the Football Association following an incident with Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli.
Wilkinson is alleged to have elbowed Balotelli during Stoke’s 1-1 draw with champions Manchester City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. The incident was missed by the match officials, but after reviewing television footage the FA has decided to charge Wilkinson, who has until 6pm on Wednesday to respond to the charge.
If he is found guilty Wilkinson is likely to be handed a three-match ban. The FA’s statement read:
“Stoke City’s Andy Wilkinson has been charged by The FA with violent conduct following an incident in his side’s game against Manchester City on Saturday 15 September 2012.
“Wilkinson was involved in an incident with City’s Mario Balotelli, which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video. Wilkinson has until 6pm on Wednesday 19 September 2012 to respond to the charge.”
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Stoke face a tough fixture at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, and Tony Pulis will need his defenders fully focused against an in form Chelsea side.
Liverpool and Stoke played out a 0-0 draw at Anfield on Sunday.
Neither side could break the deadlock, with the visitors putting in a stern defensive display to deny Brendan Rodgers’ men.
Stoke boss Tony Pulis criticised Reds forward Luis Suarez after the game for what he perceived as a dive by the Uruguayan international in an attempt to win a penalty.
“You have got Suarez falling over in the box second half which was really, really disappointing,” Pulis told Sky Sports.
“I think that should be highlighted, as I have said before.”
However, the Potters’ trainer did praise Glen Johnson for his attitude and reaction to a Jonathan Walters challenge.
“There was a challenge in the first half in front of us, Jon Walters and Glen Johnson both went up for a header, it was a proper old-fashioned challenge.
“Glen Johnson did absolutely fantastic, just bounced back up on got with the game, it was a proper, proper challenge.
“I went over to him and said ‘well done, brilliant’ – not only did he play exceptionally well but his behaviour was fabulous,” Pulis concluded.
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The result leaves Liverpool with one solitary win this season, down in 14th place.
Liverpool youngster Jordan Ibe has welcomed the decision for the club to play their NextGen series home games at St Helens’ Langtree Park this season.
The newly built stadium hosted last season’s semi-final against Ajax, so it’s no surprise that the club have decided to base this season’s campaign at the same venue.
Liverpool’s first home game will be against Norwegian side,Rosenborg on November 13th (7pm), followed by a clash against Borussia Dortmund on November 28th (6pm).
The academy winger Ibe wants fans to constantly flock to watch the team in action, as Rodolfo Borrell’s side look to improve on their third place last season in the inaugural Champions League style under-19 event.
“This is a great stadium and we are looking forward to playing our NextGen Series home games at Langtree Park, Ibe told the Liverpool Echo.
“I was on the bench for the Ajax game last season and I remember there being a great atmosphere at Langtree Park.
“Hopefully they can come and support us again this season as we want to do well in the NextGen series.
Ibe was in the side that started their campaign off with a 3-2 defeat away against champions Inter Milan last month.
“I’m really excited as this is my first season playing in the NextGen series and I’m looking forward to it. I played in the play-off game last season when we beat Marseille and that was a good experience playing against a European team.
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“It is different playing against team like that as they play a different style of football and it’s great to test yourself.”
It should have been business as usual for Manchester United when they faced Arsenal last weekend, and in some ways it was. All United really had to do was turn up to face the team they demolished 8-2 last season, and there should really have been no fear for the visitors as Arsenal haven’t been a genuine threat at Old Trafford for around five or six years. The win was a given for the home side, but it did nothing to reinforce their position as title favourites this season.
Many Arsenal fans haven’t taken too kindly to the comments from the United camp and others in football that the home side should have scored at least five or six, going a decent way to replicating the embarrassment dished out last season. But was it the lack of threat from Arsenal that forced United to remain in second gear throughout the game, or did it tell something more of their own quality?
So far this season, Manchester United have been tested by Fulham, Tottenham, Stoke, Galatasaray, and Braga at home. Fortunately for Alex Ferguson’s side, they’ve managed to come out on top in each of those games except against Tottenham. That tired line of the ‘form of champions’ to come from behind to grab all three points is incredibly wide of the mark.
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Yes, United are the name you associate with Premier League football because of their success, but why should history have any relevance on how poor they sometimes can be? Should a Manchester United team—and this one really aren’t as bad as has been suggested—really be going behind to these teams or using the ropes to prop them up?
Maybe Robin van Persie was willing to show his merciful side against his old club on the weekend, converting only one of his handful of chances during the game. Wouldn’t a devastating score line have said a lot more about where United are and should be this season?
It could be a psychological issue. It would seem a waste to go down the road of suggesting the overriding factor of this United team is that many aren’t good enough, because as mentioned that’s not the case for most of the squad. Why is it then that they can continue to concede in the manner they do, why can they not hold a team like Galatasaray—who really have not impressed in Europe this season—to more than just a one-goal win? The story in Braga this week could have been so different were it not for their goalkeeper deciding to go for a walkabout and Javier Hernandez benefiting from a scramble on the Braga goal line.
The fact of this season is that United have been stretched in almost every game, losing against good opposition at home and relying heavily on one player when they really shouldn’t. How long will it be before Jonny Evans gets a straight red for one of his reckless challenges, the type that is sometimes missed because there was a story from the player on the other end?
The win against Chelsea gave us some evidence that there is a good team in there who can go away to one of the more impressive sides in the league and start much more brightly, although the win wasn’t entirely of their own doing. But that game wasn’t one of many, rather it acted as one of the exceptions.
How long can this team continue to rely on van Persie (yes, in exactly the same way Arsenal did last season) and how long can people continue to say ‘United always find a way to make it through’? They’ve been fortunate that the Champions League group stage has been somewhat kind to them this year and it shouldn’t be looked at as a case of them conquering the group in the way you’d expect. Every other English team is struggling at the moment and there is a very real possibility that all of them may not join United in the knockout phase.
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It doesn’t just amount to a leaky defence owed to a lack of consistent personnel. There doesn’t seem to be the same drive to go and take control of games in a manner in which they should be able to.
Again, even with a limp, lifeless and uninspired Arsenal as the opposition last weekend, United helped to create a score line that many may look back at in the future as something of a close game. It wasn’t, but that was because of the lifeless visiting team.