carlyluvsunited
13-11-2007, 10:21 AM
~~ Simply the best says Sir Alex Ferguson, but are they better than all the rest ? ~~
José Mourinho was as entertaining as Arsène Wenger is illuminating, but when Sir
Alex Ferguson talks, he demands almost immediate attention.
Nobody *****s the ears and stirs a debate like the Manchester United manager,
and so it was in the wake of his team’s 2-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers on
Sunday that the wily old Scot, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a wry
smile, proclaimed his present squad to be the strongest that he has had the
privilege of managing during his 21 years at Old Trafford.
What? Better than the Double winners of 1994 or treble heroes of 1999? As
psychological blows go, it was right up there with Ferguson’s best.
The United manager was not only trying to infuse his players with even more self
-belief than they possess, but he was also throwing down the gauntlet to his title
rivals, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, and, more pertinently, Wenger, Avram
Grant and Rafael BenÍtez. Think you are better than us, do you? Well, prove it.
Just as surely as Wenger and company must be cursing the sheer confidence of
the man, so arguments raged in pubs and on radio phone-ins across
Manchester - if not the country – about precisely which of Ferguson’s plethora of
squads has been his best; and, since he raised the issue, it seems worthy of
addressing.
Certainly in terms of pure talent, the present wearers of the United shirt are hard
to match, but for a team who have yet to win anything, it was some declaration
from Ferguson, even if they are brushing aside all who dare stand in their way.
Still, how would the treble-winning team have fared without Paul Scholes for
three months? Sure, they beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final
without their ginger pimpernel and Roy Keane, but Scholes was so integral to the
workings of that midfield, it is hard to imagine it functioning in quite the same
way without him.
Since Scholes suffered a knee injury three weeks ago, however, it has barely
been noticed that he is missing. In his absence, Anderson has excelled, just as
Michael Carrick or Nani can and have when Owen Hargreaves or Ryan Giggs are
unavailable.
Similarities between past teams and the present one abound. For Steve Bruce
and Gary Pallister in the early 1990s, read Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand now,
while the almost telepathic understanding that Carlos Tévez and Wayne Rooney
have is reminiscent of that shared between Dwight Yorke and Andrew Cole
during the 1998-99 campaign, even if the treble winners boasted more options in
attack.
Louis Saha is a potent force when fit, but such are the concerns about his injury
record, Ferguson may be forced to delve into the transfer market in January for
another striker. United did not miss Rooney against Blackburn, but it remains to
be seen how Ferguson’s team would cope if the England forward, or Tévez, was
missing for the remainder of the season.
The strongest squad yet? They will need to win something before such
superlatives can be justified, but they appear to be on the way to proving their
manager right.
Patrice Evra is expected to sign a two-year extension to his contract during the
international break that will keep him at the club until 2012. After initially
struggling to settle in at Old Trafford, in the wake of his £5.5 million move from AS
Monaco in January last year, the France defender has made the left-back position
his own and is keen to commit his long-term future to the club. www.times.co.uk
Click below to join manutdtalk.com and read all
breaking news on all things United !!!
http://manutdtalk.com/forums/register.php
José Mourinho was as entertaining as Arsène Wenger is illuminating, but when Sir
Alex Ferguson talks, he demands almost immediate attention.
Nobody *****s the ears and stirs a debate like the Manchester United manager,
and so it was in the wake of his team’s 2-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers on
Sunday that the wily old Scot, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a wry
smile, proclaimed his present squad to be the strongest that he has had the
privilege of managing during his 21 years at Old Trafford.
What? Better than the Double winners of 1994 or treble heroes of 1999? As
psychological blows go, it was right up there with Ferguson’s best.
The United manager was not only trying to infuse his players with even more self
-belief than they possess, but he was also throwing down the gauntlet to his title
rivals, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, and, more pertinently, Wenger, Avram
Grant and Rafael BenÍtez. Think you are better than us, do you? Well, prove it.
Just as surely as Wenger and company must be cursing the sheer confidence of
the man, so arguments raged in pubs and on radio phone-ins across
Manchester - if not the country – about precisely which of Ferguson’s plethora of
squads has been his best; and, since he raised the issue, it seems worthy of
addressing.
Certainly in terms of pure talent, the present wearers of the United shirt are hard
to match, but for a team who have yet to win anything, it was some declaration
from Ferguson, even if they are brushing aside all who dare stand in their way.
Still, how would the treble-winning team have fared without Paul Scholes for
three months? Sure, they beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final
without their ginger pimpernel and Roy Keane, but Scholes was so integral to the
workings of that midfield, it is hard to imagine it functioning in quite the same
way without him.
Since Scholes suffered a knee injury three weeks ago, however, it has barely
been noticed that he is missing. In his absence, Anderson has excelled, just as
Michael Carrick or Nani can and have when Owen Hargreaves or Ryan Giggs are
unavailable.
Similarities between past teams and the present one abound. For Steve Bruce
and Gary Pallister in the early 1990s, read Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand now,
while the almost telepathic understanding that Carlos Tévez and Wayne Rooney
have is reminiscent of that shared between Dwight Yorke and Andrew Cole
during the 1998-99 campaign, even if the treble winners boasted more options in
attack.
Louis Saha is a potent force when fit, but such are the concerns about his injury
record, Ferguson may be forced to delve into the transfer market in January for
another striker. United did not miss Rooney against Blackburn, but it remains to
be seen how Ferguson’s team would cope if the England forward, or Tévez, was
missing for the remainder of the season.
The strongest squad yet? They will need to win something before such
superlatives can be justified, but they appear to be on the way to proving their
manager right.
Patrice Evra is expected to sign a two-year extension to his contract during the
international break that will keep him at the club until 2012. After initially
struggling to settle in at Old Trafford, in the wake of his £5.5 million move from AS
Monaco in January last year, the France defender has made the left-back position
his own and is keen to commit his long-term future to the club. www.times.co.uk
Click below to join manutdtalk.com and read all
breaking news on all things United !!!
http://manutdtalk.com/forums/register.php