Oh the Beautiful Irony

Maybe it’s because I’m close to several long-standing Arsenal supporters.

Maybe it’s because I pride myself for having some balanced perspective on my beloved club, however small and however brief.

Maybe it’s because I predicted a 1-1 score within the “I Know the Score” online Premiership prediction game.

But after the final whistle, I couldn’t help feeling both dirty and delighted all at the same time.

Three points is three points, oh Zen-master, yet I couldn’t escape the impending arguments that lay before me the next time I see any of the Arsenal faithful: the Fletcher non-call, the Rooney dive, and the injustice directed toward The Professor. All proof amongst a long rap-sheet, they maintain, that United are beneficiaries of too many calls inside both boxes at Old Trafford. Sure enough, right on script, the nutty Professor arrogantly alludes to the injustice that routinely befalls opponents at the Theater of Dreams and calls United's play some version of anti-football, since he alone holds the patent on the beautiful game.

While I won’t dispel that several fifty-fifty calls went United’s way on Saturday, I agree with the cliché that you largely make your breaks in this life. Nothing’s guaranteed mind you, but United’s concentration, commitment, and courage do influence refereeing along with that little detail that, oh yeah, 75,000+ are in attendance. Smaller grounds with tight surroundings and vocal support elicit a similar influence over refereeing judgment, I contend, as refs cannot escape being human. It’s no different.

Some argue that you cannot help but wonder what winning the majority of the Premiership-era titles does in the sub-reaches of the referee’s mind. Surely, they’ve seen United – from Robson to Rio – outclass many a side, the argument goes, and that influences decisions subconsciously and unduly.

Total rubbish, I say.

First, refereeing in the Premiership involves bang-bang decisions that require instant reactions. The supporter-critic watching at home has the benefit of the TV-angle along with slow-motion replays. To think that refs give United special treatment, one much different than any other home side, over-analyzes the situation. (A compelling counter-argument can be made that refs read all of the pundits’ garbage – too many decisions go United’s way at Old Trafford – thus brewing up some contrarian tendencies within the refereeing ranks. Put that in you pipe and smoke it.)

Yet, even if I accept the special treatment premise, I could subsequently contend that United have justified their “undue” influence over Premiership officials through their performances – you get what you deserve in our imperfect world. Win a few titles and you earn the benefit of the doubt, this argument goes.

Regardless of where you fall within this debate, however, I believe THE two crucial decisions on Saturday had their own merit and ultimately didn’t impact the match’s outcome.

First, the non-call: Fletcher did go to ground early, got ball first, swept out his man only to have the ball crawl up his arm, get up and maintain possession. Touching ball first and coming away with it, I argue, largely influenced Mike Dean’s decision.

But let’s forget this, for a moment, and look at the impact of this decision. Fletcher admitted that he panicked after the non-call and lobbed a terrible clearance that ultimately led to Arshavin’s goal many seconds later – thus, making the decision a non-issue for the game’s outcome. Either way it’s 1-0 to the Arsenal just before half-time.

Second, there’s the whole Rooney fiasco, which already bothers me to no end. (Closed-circuit to the Wenger-Worshipers: don’t forget Eboue’s real dive in the second half, the one appropriately yellow carded by Mike Dean. You’re two for two inside a week, m’boy. But I digress; it’s back to The Boy Wayne.)

Yes, on super-slow-motion, you can see Wazza preparing for the contact and starting to ultimately go down. Yes, I won’t deny that one single bit. But we’re talking fractions of a second here.

Anytime an attacking player goes one-on-one with the keeper, touches ball first, contact comes and the forward goes to ground, you cannot, I repeat, cannot beseech the referee for calling a penalty – no way, no how. Get over it. That’s the risk run by the keeper coming out full-speed on a fifty-fifty ball every single time.

Ah, but could Rooney have gotten out of the way?

Possibly, but even that’s very debatable. Almunia deserves blame for over-reacting to the threat that wide of goal. All he needed was to become big, close a tight angle, and take the percentages that were largely in his favor that Rooney wouldn’t score. His over-reaction is the story, not something seen only on the slowest of replays.

As a United supporter, too many times I’ve seen Rooney keep his feet despite a major hack and ultimately hit a weak shot saved by a grateful keeper or fly off-course largely due to the contact. I don’t fault Rooney’s actions one single bit, if he anticipated the contact and started going down. Well done, Wazza, a smart move by a maturing player.

So, is staying up “honest” and going to ground – even after contact at warp-speed – “cheating”?! Puh-leez.

It is, however, a lovely irony the Gunners should befall such a fate this past Saturday, surely one not lost on Celtic fans.

Enjoy the international break. Back at you after the Tottenham match. Cheers.

Tale of Two Uniteds

EPL Week 2 saw United lose improbably away to Burnley and bounce back to thrash the formerly-plucky Wigan 5-0 away as well, with all five goals coming in a historic, second half performance and one reminiscent of a two games against Spurs: one home, one away.

Prior to the scoring outburst, though, you could feel the players’ tightness around goal, as it seems they too wondered where the goals would come from this year, after the off-season departures and last year’s relatively sparse goal tally. You got the feeling that the angst could become self-fulfilling.

The palatable pressing turned to relief, as best expressed by Rooney’s rapture in front of the heaving away supporters, for whom many probably made the midweek trip to Turf Moor. Three scoreless halves of football gave way to a cathartic release that echoed around the DW stadium “Rooney! Rooney! Rooney!” gave way to “He Goes by the Name of Wayne Rooney.”

Once ahead, the boys finally relaxed in front of goal much to Wigan’s demise, as the goals came quick and fast. Titus Bramble, thank you very much.

Rooney nets his 100th and 101st. Berba and Owen get off the schnide. And Nani – queue the “Thriller” music – rounds out the afternoon with a beautiful, curling free kick over the wall into the near-post-side of goal. Nani’s trademark series of flips-with-a-twist must drive Sir Alex crazy, as you worry about the lad turning an ankle on needless-and-somewhat-excessive celebrations.

I could analyze the importance of the goals to Berba’s and Owen’s confidence. I could stress the importance of regaining form ahead of the massive match against Arsenal at Old Trafford this Saturday. I could also note the second clean sheet of the season – all worthy storylines indeed.

But for me, THE trend seen here is the quintessential-United trait of bouncing back from poor performances with strong showings. That’s precisely what’s made United so dominant under SAF, something we’ve come to expect almost as second nature to our beloved club and one surely noted by the rest of the league this past Saturday. Game on. Did anyone think United would pass the trophy along without a fight?! Not a chance.

We know its “early days” and there’s no bother getting carried away with one, albeit impressive performance.

But one thing appears ready to emerge, as if on cue: this United squad appears worthy of the manager’s steadfast confidence in them and his expectation they will fulfill the promise of the shirt, the marvelous tradition behind United.

Admittedly it was very Charles Darwin this past week: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Yet something tells me mostly-good times lie ahead. So, let’s relax, like our lads on Saturday, and enjoy the ride. Three down, thirty-four left to play, including the tasty-tie against Arsenal this weekend.

I’ll be back the Monday after the big match. Cheers to you.

Bring On the New Era

Well, that’s more like it, as today’s 1-0 defeat of Birmingham sees United break its string of consecutive home opening draws to teams that took the plunge in Reading ’07 and Newcastle ‘08. Wonder if the Blues are a superstitious lot, as I suppose they can take some solace that they didn’t draw.

Several hours after victory, three things lingered with me after digesting the match. But first, I want to digress for a quick moment.

Nothing rounds off the day after a United victory quite like a Liverpool defeat immediately afterwards in a fast-paced, entertaining game against at Spurs. Better still, Benitez kicks off his annual fault-finding game early by blaming the referee for the outcome instead of acknowledging the Reds sub-standard form due to their walking-wounded first-team. And, closed-circuit to Rafa: How long will you insist on playing Babel ahead of Benayoun?! You get what you deserve here, m’boy.

But alas, let’s get back to United.

First, it’s a major adjustment to watch our boys play a more orthodox four-four-two with strong-but-not-magical wing play. Today chances came aplenty, but you expect that against far-inferior competition and United’s overall Premier League attacking play will become more balanced now because this formation lends itself to more significant contributions from a larger number of players. But will these players take their chances? That’s the question on everyone’s mind now, and unfortunately, the Fletcher and Owen misses today will linger a bit longer that some of us would care to admit. We must take these chances, lads.

Second, Ben Foster really demonstrated his shot-stopping chops today – that point-blank save against Cristian Benitez was utterly world-class. Maybe van der Sar being out for awhile is the God-send opportunity he needs to get his timing and confidence back after very intermittent and inconsistent play between injuries. This bodes well for United and England, along with a budding Rooney-Owen partnership, of course.

Okay, it was only 15 minutes, but I love the dimension Owen brings to the front line, as he constantly looks to get in and behind the backline, while Rooney expertly plays in the space behind and around Owen. Shades of a past Euro, we hope.

In today’s cameo, Owen created one clear and one just-off-side breakaway. Good ol’ Mickey will feast on superb service from quality teammates, especially against suspect opposition such as Birmingham. I easily see shades of the short-but-sweet Larsson-Rooney tandem from 2007. Owen provides a different dimension off the bench, one that can change games and comes without a £25 million price tag. Let’s put that money toward Sergio Agüero, but ah, that’s a debate for another day.

Well, it’s one down and thirty-seven to go. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. The new era hath begun.

United 2009 - 2010 Season Preview

Now with the various pre-season matches and Charity Shield firmly under our belt, it’s time for a quick peak at the 2009-2010 squad and schedule.

First and foremost, let’s start simple, shall we, and acknowledge our collective joy at having no silly, mid-season jaunts to Japan for the lads. Almost makes up for that night in Rome – yeah, right. Two fewer inconsequential tournaments makes this year’s fixture list an improvement over the 60+ game haul last season, even if it did inspire The Boy Wayne’s all-night singing-binge at Japanese karaoke bar, only to be caught by Sir Alex, nonetheless. Priceless, that Special1TV.

My analysis of the changes this past summer includes the old cliché “addition by subtraction”, as I spent time mulling over and reflecting about the implications of the departures of Manucho and Frazier Campbell (What was your favorite Manucho moment, btw?!).

All sarcasm aside, losing Ronaldo and Tevez definitely counts as a serious body-blow to this campaign, but there’s a grain of truth to the old adage, one that’s not lost on the current squad surely.

Both players ultimately displayed their true colors with, oddly, Tevez looking much the worse for wear near the end. We loved you, our man from Argentina, now go try and crack the City squad on a weekly basis.

Ronaldo’s departure casts an all together different shadow, something so obviously irreplaceable. Pundits pose the same line repeatedly in the media: How does United replace a ninety goal-scorer over three years from the wing?! You can’t, but you can move on.

Fergie rightly points out the clubs’ numerous and successful transitions after huge departures, including the Number 7 specifically, made under his adept tutelage. You can feel the delight in SAF’s eyes when he sees the hunger from the youngsters and the desire to achieve on a new stage from the transfers, as he’s largely satisfied with the current lot.

Think about it: what a massive opportunity for Owen, Macheda, and Welbeck specifically up front and for Nani, Tosic, Park, Valencia, and perhaps Obertan, out wide. Nobody replaces Ronaldo. Nobody. But you just can’t help but feel one or two from this group will emerge to become incredibly special now given the chance. That’s precisely what makes this campaign so compelling and intriguing – as if pursuing a fourth straight title wasn’t enough – wondering what will emerge after the last call of Viva Ronaldo.

The hangover’s gone and the Reds go marching on, on, on!