After winning the Carling Cup against Spurs and categorically dismantling Fulham to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, our dips in form against Newcastle and Intenazionale culminated in the utterly gut-wrenching loss to Pool this past weekend.
Having attended the Inter and Liverpool matches, I’ll share some memories from my experience and make some observations about moving forward.
United 2 – Inter 0
Lovely result, but the lads offered Inter a real opportunity here. A well-timed goal could have swung the momentum and result in an entirely different direction. Yet, it says something about the squad that we can play sub-par and still create more chances than the Seria A leaders.
There were way too many cheap turnovers on the night, worsening a trend that started against Newcastle. Oh the dangers of becoming infatuated with flair football.
The atmosphere in the North Stand was fantastic, with everyone singing all game long and hanging on every touch of the ball. You felt everyone’s collective joy in attack and anxiety at how cheaply we lost possession, as the result was not a forgone conclusion, even up 2-0, with away goals constantly a threat.
Here are my Top Three Match Moments, starting in descending order.
Number 3: “He comes from Serbia.” What an absolutely brilliant and critical header from Vidic. Watching replays, from the field level camera, you can appreciate how easily he loses marks and attacks the ball in the air. Hey, Viera, is that your jockstrap lying in the penalty area?!
Number 2: Singing songs – “you’re not special anymore” – at the attention-hungry Jose Mourinho standing along the touchline for the entire match. Somehow, even from the top of the North Stand, his persistent presence irritated me more than expected. Chin up, Jose.
And drum roll please…
The Number 1 match moment is entirely obvious: Ronaldo’s header to increase the lead to 2-0 and relieve our collective flashbacks from Porto ‘04. From our vantage point, we took in the joyous “Viva Ronaldo” and the related scarf-waving across the stadium – lovely, lovely site to behold indeed. Ronnie’s courage going after headers is under-appreciated and overshadowed by his speed and footwork. Brave lad, That Boy Ronaldo.
Pre-Match Thoughts: United v Liverpool
Beforehand, I wondered what formation Fergie would employ, with the likely candidate being the obvious 4-4-2. Last year, however, we played a 4-5-1 with Rooney as the sole striker to start, as we closed down Gerrard in the hole and controlled tempo, but if memory serves me, Tevez was sick that weekend, so this may have forced Fergie’s hand. Regardless, the formation worked and in retrospect may have been the better choice last Saturday.
You also knew that Scholes and Giggs would start on the bench, given their participation mid-week in the Champions League, with Park on the wing, Fletcher or Anderson added in the middle, and Tevez to possibly replace Berbatov because of his knack for big goals in tight games such as this.
Pre-Match at The Bishop’s Blaize
The 7:00 AM alarm comes way too early but is deemed necessary for us, The Bishop’s Blaize virgins. Nobody in our group is absolutely certain when we need to be in queue for such an early kickoff, so we’re not taking any chances, as we’re 35 minutes early and find ourselves in the front-half of the line when the doors open at 9:00 AM.
Once in, we move to the elevated portion of the bar, grab our pints, and watch how quickly the pub fills with a sea of supporters. Immediately several lads try to get the group going in song, but there’s only scattered responses, as the lads focus on obtaining and drinking pints. Early days, man. Give it a few minutes.
Once the pub reaches a critical mass, with folks still pouring in, the famous Peter Boyle starts orchestrating the singing that made this pub famous amongst United supporters.
Of course, the highlight of the revelry is the traditional homage to Cantona:
“Weeeeeeeeee’ll drink a drink a drink
To Eric the King, the King, the King,
He’s the leader of our football team,
He’s the greatest center forward,
That the world has ever seen!”
A brilliant atmosphere for those inclined to a bit of drink and song before the match.
Some lads from Northern Ireland were gob-smacked that they’d been singing next to two Americans and a Dominican. Their collective response was “And we thought we’d come a long way.” Cheers, mates.
After two hours of absorbing the ambiance and shooting some video memories, we leave to meet our larger group in the Fan Zone and check out the line-ups.
Our tickets located in the first few rows of the South Stand, on the top of the 18-yard box nearest the player’s tunnel, a total contrast to our Champions League seats. Here, we smell the grass, see the true pace of the game and join the Stretford End in song.
United 1 – Liverpool 4
What an utterly and completely shocking result. And it all started so well too.
Reina looks like he’s channeling Calamity James somewhere in the recesses of his brain whenever he visits Old Trafford. Last year, there was Wes Brown’s opener and several other dodgy decisions. This year, he gives an unnecessary penalty by taking down Park, right in front of us, by the way, and Ronnie converts the penalty for a brilliant start.
But, oh, how things can change.
You know the rest, with Vidic’s gaffe to Torres, Evra’s ill-timed tackle and subsequent penalty, Vidic’s red card smack-down, Aurelio’s curling free-kick, and the salt-in-the-wound Dosena lob for the final tally – the horror, the horror.
The club never seemed to recover from Vidic letting the ball play him and gifting Torres the opportunity for their first goal. This mistake unnerved the boys, boosted Pool, and made our backline fall back even further, creating even more space for Gerrard in the hole and lateral runs by Torres. We played right into their strength.
Arrrrggggghhhhhh.
What do you do with the rest of your day after this kind of result? Seriously, what do you do?!
There’s a certain aimlessness and loss of bearings when things go this far off course. Honestly, not in a million years would I have predicted this result. A close loss – yes, maybe – but not this, oh not this.
Moving Forward
All of the talk about being invincible and taking five cups, in retrospect, may have infiltrated the dressing room.
While just today, Fergie played down expectations and said he’s written off hopes of five trophies this year, stating in the New Statesman: "The thing about cup football is you need to be the best but you also need a lot of luck and I think it's asking too much for all the games to go your way.
"The one thing I will say is, this squad is the best I have ever had. Every game we play, I feel confident.
"At the moment, every attack fears our defence and every defence fears our midfield and attack. That gives you confidence but it is too tough a call.''
Beyond the luck-factor, nothing, I repeat, nothing could wake-up the club more than loosing handily to Pool at Old Trafford. Plus, how often does Vidic make any mistakes let alone two colossal blunders? How often will Carrick, Evra, Rio, O’Shea, and Ronaldo all field collective sub-par performances? Don’t bet on it anytime soon.
You only need to see the absolutely pained and disgusted look on Anderson’s face, as he headed up the tunnel after the match, to see first-hand his determination building for the next opponent.
Beware Fulham, Villa, and Sunderland.
Each loss this year has been followed by impressive runs thereafter. I expect nothing less now, and ultimately, Vidic’s two-game suspension may become a godsend, so he can rest up ahead of the packed fixture list in April and May.
We now look forward to the Champions League draw tomorrow (March 20) and taking out the collective frustrations against The Cottagers on the banks of the River Thames.
