This is on a strict need-to-rant basis. Apologies in advance.
Did you see the match? I mean, did you really? Its been 3 weeks into the new season and Manchester United have produced some of the best football I have ever seen being played in the Premier League. Rewind. May 23rd. 2011. Barcelona dominates United in what could have been a close contested European Cup final. Iniesta and co. dominate play superbly. United ego shattered, a week after notching up their 19th League title and minutes into their 3rd Champions League final in 5 years. Sir Alex deems the currently Barcelona squad the best team he has come up against in his time at Old Trafford. 2 months and 50 million quid later United are already a week into pre-season. A few weeks later they have notched a perfect start to the season winning every game on tour, the community shield and 9 points while playing some scintillating footie. What changed might you ask? Everybody should pip in and say, its the Ashley Youngs, the Tom Cleverlys and the Danny Welbecks. I, however, have a slightly different view.
It was very clear to everybody that United didn't have the best squad last season. Come the retirement of Scholes, van der Sar and captain Neville, we were scheduled to have a major hole in the squad which would be hard to fill. Big names were dropped left right and centre. The re-emergence of Cleverly in pre-season seemed to bolster the midfield, but was he what we were looking for? I mean, its Paul fucking Scholes,isn't it?
If you ask me, Scholes stopped playing years ago. Sure, he had his moments in a couple of seasons. Anybody who has seen Scholes play towards the early 2000s, will know that he modified his game. Brilliant passer of the ball. 4 eyes and everything. But he lacked that consistency for the last couple of seasons. A couple of great games there didn't fool the ardent united supporter. Carrick was a fantastic option. One of the best on his day. But those days were hard to come by at times and United lacked the legs in midfield. Fletcher had a fantastic season but then seemed to stall a little. That spark was missing. Enter Anderson. This boy who was written off a season into his United career as another Kleberson of sorts, doomed for eventual failure has upped his game at the most crucial point of his career and at almost the perfect time for United. His performances since end of last season should prove it beyond doubt. A fine playmaker, had the legs for the job, loved running at defenses while fantastic at recovering the ball and added a few goals (and hence that extra bit of confidence) to his kitty. Roy Keane had always said that he modeled his game on a simple pass-and-move style of football. Enter Cleverly, who has a similar approach to midfield play and has that spark about him. The re-emergence of these two players have been essential to United and I think we can expect some great things from these two chaps and their complementary styles of play. Welbeck has provided the strength and pace upfront and Young has fit ever so nicely into the squad. Theres always Owen if you need an impactful sub and Hernandes, probably the most intelligent runner off-the-ball in the EPL. Its one giant pool of creativity with Rooney spearheading the attack and with a defense led by Vidic and Ferdinand supported by the likes of Rafael, Fabio, Evra, Smalling, Evans and our potential Mr. Utility - Phil Jones, United have an array of options to chose form, having their most complete squad in ages. Ironically, the only person who seems surplus to requirements is our very own Mr. Dimitar Berbatov, golden boot winner from last season. Funny game this football. But its not just this comprehensive squad that is the reason for United success. You see, I have never seen Ferguson admitting being outplayed. No, that has never happened before. Infact, if you have followed the press conferences from end of last season, the words "Barcelona" kept coming to the tongues of our hotshots from Manchester. I think every player in that dressing room is fueled by a sense of vengeance which has driven them to such success so early this season. There is real intent in those lads ever since being rolled over in that match at Wembley. Never have I seen United start a season with such gusto and such drive. They want that European Cup and they want to deserve it. Whatever happens, this should be a great season for football. Glory glory and all that.
