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The Glenn Hamilton View - April 28 2008 (archive)
It was quite clear where Manchester United, and most notably Sir Alex Ferguson’s, priorities lay as they lost to title rivals Chelsea on Saturday at Stamford Bridge.
With the Champion’s League second semi-final leg on Tuesday, Ferguson opted for a below strength side to face one of the most on form league sides at the moment. The match, if United had won, would have decided the Premier League title but instead it only prolongs the contest for a further two weeks. Now, you can not tell me Chelsea are a better side then United on any day, but certainly they proved that if your mind is not in the game, you will lose. Of course the game may have always be destined for a dramatic finish where a penalty would decide the crucial contest (and who would have bet on Andriy Shevchenko clearing a ball off the line), but much like Chelsea’s loss to United early on in the season, thoughts upon things outside of the actual match have a telling effect. Most fortunately, Manchester United does not have to deal with a manger change, but the hearts and minds of United players and staff are on Moscow in May.
Manchester United may feel that the penalty was harsh but two things really decided their fate to Chelsea: themselves and their manager. No one can ever really understand how Ferguson’s mind works sometimes. Sir Alex can surprise us with team selections and then prove our doubts wrong when we perform well but this time he was looking only at Barcelona on Tuesday and not at the threat of Chelsea and our fears were proven.
It was a wonder to many just why Ferguson put the team out that he did. Looking at the line up one could only ask: does he realize we are playing Chelsea? He decided that Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Patrice Evra, and Owen Hargreaves would be omitted from the line-up, all players who played well against Barcelona in mid-week.
The mid-field, which Ferguson promised would perform much better, may have been slightly worse with Luis Nani continually showing that his decision making is still way off and Darren Fletcher, who has not played for a few months now, showed his lack of match fitness. The performances of Ryan Giggs have been discussed at length by many and while Ferguson decided to leave Giggs out for Barcelona because of his quality and age, he felt the 34 year old mid-fielder was just right to take on Chelsea. Carlos Tevez did not even come on and how many times has the influential Argentine turned games for United. This time Ferguson gambled with his side and failed which may yet cost him the league title.
We all know how much he wants another European title but now one wonders if he will fight for it at all costs and at the expense of domestic domination. He seems to have instilled a champion’s League victory in the minds of the players. United want to be European Champions, and may yet, but do we have to give up anything to get there? Let’s face it, they should be miles ahead of Chelsea by now but we keep dropping points where they should not be dropped. With rumors starting to come about regarding the Scot’s retirement, this all may make sense. He wants to go out with a bang and give something to Manchester that they have only ever had twice. The question remains: if United win Europe will Ferguson retire? I say yes he will and what better way to pass from icon to legend then with another European championship. The real point is he does not have to prove himself. Sure we all want European glory but he seems obsessed with it. Yes, let’s grab Europe but let’s do it with style and the league title. Let’s prove Manchester United is indeed the best team in the world.
Chelsea, who probably never should have even been this close, is now tied on points with Manchester United. This is truly a wonder after seeing Ballack and Drogba have an argument over a free kick and nearly leading to a full out bust up right on the field. An even further wonder is how Avram Grant decided to remain on his bench instead of talking to the two players. For me this scene highlighted Chelsea’s season and yet we are looking at them possibly taking the title right from under United’s noses.
Manchester United should have beaten Chelsea comfortably and celebrated a 17th league title. They may still win it and I certainly would not bet against it but this loss is a bit hard to take when we see that it could have been preventable. We continue to see Ferguson point the blame at bad calls instead of looking at himself and taking the responsibility. He will surely have many questions to answer however, if they lose to Barcelona on Tuesday.
Glenn Hamilton
[These views are purely those of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Red Devil Radio].
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