February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
But it will be some time before we see this new blood stepping in. Ferguson has the luxury of his seeing this present side maturing. Roy Keane and Co. aren’t quite finished. We’re looking at another two years here. In the meantime Keano and his troops are expected to enhance their performance.
That’s means an EPL and a Champions League title. Winning the FA Cup just about kept Ferguson’s would-be critics at bay. Last season for United fans it was, by the their standards, a disappointing challenge for the league. And getting beaten by CL winners Porto left the Red Devils looking for excuses — like that the eventual champions beat them. But is that the competitive United we know?
After that it became clear that the Reds would be playing for a CL berth, as Arsenal remained flawless. United could not ever work up enough motivation to fight for a runners-up spot. They had settled for where they were in the table. United simply went through the motions in the last third of their 2003-04 year.
At this low point for United, and the captain, Ferguson had laid down his plans to bring in the next generation. It’s very likely that the head honchos at Manchester are totally behind this new and upcoming team and therefore are somewhat lenient about winning results and silverware. Time does fly though and that leniency will vanish one way or another this year.
During Ferguson’s first days at Old Trafford, he didn’t have the luxury of the first team he has now. And we all remember that things were touch and go for him, as he was not getting results back then. Then all the young players began to shine, when Eric Cantona came on board. Then once Keane took the reins, Ferguson laid off rebuilding. Everything was in place. Many a successful year was to follow. Besides winning silverware, United established a consistent performance second to none in the world. And it’s the loss of that consistency that flies the red flag.
Most top teams are loaded with big names and the average age, like United, is mid-20s and up with a few veterans to boot. Ferguson has once again led the way with building a team to come right in. And you’d be hard pressed to find a better reserve team as strong anywhere around Europe. The legacy continues to play the youth, and indeed invest in them.
United has lost the appetite of the 90s team that ruled. There was always going to be a transition period, and it has one year to come to fruition, maybe two. And that spells danger for the EPL and CL. Given what Becks, Scholes, Butt and Neville did, we can expect much the same again.
It seemed impossible for Ferguson to pull this off in such a short space of time. But we saw the youth make their mark in the WorldChampions Tour here in the U.S. It looks like Ferguson could outdo Newcastle’s manager Bobby Robson who is in his 70s. United look all set for the future but there is one major concern. It was quite apparent in their 3-1 loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield. It’s incredible that Ferguson has not bought a dominant central defender. He did it once with Japp Stam who played a huge role in United’s more successful years mentioned above.
But at present, and indeed on Sunday, United looked disastrous at the back. While waiting on Rio Ferdinand to return the United defense has gone from bad to worse. There is also no guarantee that big Rio will fix things. The mind continues to boggle as Mikael Silvestre remains in the side and it looks like it’s his place to lose. If there is one thing that will collapse on the youth program at Manchester United it’s the lack of defenders. Or rather the lack of the coaching staff getting it right at the back.
Fans at the minute are expressing their dismay at a potential takeover by U.S. entrepreneur Malcolm Glazer. That’s the last of their worries. If they are truly concerned then all they have to do is buy the shares themselves. What they should be really worried about is who is going to stop opposing players taking over, as did the Gunners’ Jose Reyes at the weekend.
While Ferguson claims injuries have taken their toll on United, there is no reason why his team cannot overcome Dinamo Bucharest in the CL. Ferguson is trying to claim it’s the worst start to a season he has had as United’s manager regarding injuries and unavailability. Fans should be more concerned hearing this rather than the financial take-over. The only injury that is truly hurting United is Wes Brown’s. All the other players who are unavailable are forwards and midfielders, such as Ole Gunnar, Van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo. United have more than enough back-up to step in and take care of business against Dinamo.
What United doesn’t have is back-up to tighten the defense up. It’s been that way since the day Ferdinand was suspended for refusing to take a drug test. For two thirds of the season this gaping problem has stared Ferguson in the face and yet he has not fixed it. Instead he’s gone out and bought a brand new attacking line up alongside some of the home grown players who are also offensively minded.
At this point it now becomes clear that the United coaching staff feels the defensive problem is just short term. That Brown and Ferdinand will be back and goals will dry up for the opposition upon their return. However, how long has the back line been the problem at Old Trafford?
Ferguson puts most of his eggs in the attacking basket. A team cannot go all the way unless it gets the back line right. They will have no choice once Keano leaves. Even in his dominant years, the back line was shaky.
This is the real challenge for Ferguson and his United before he retires. Although he is the man when it comes to giving youth a chance for those kids to be successful they need a far better defense behind them. But it’s something we may never see at United under Ferguson.