United's win over Spurs was one of those moments in the season when you
know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that this is a team which believes
it can win the League. It was a game which illustrated the mental edge,
and footballing quality, that this side has over Chelsea this season.
There had been a scepticism among United fans, myself more than most
perhaps, about how long this run could last. Sunday was a tough away
game, and despite Spurs' disappointments recently, to go to White Hart
Lane and win in the manner United did, put to bed any doubts over
United's ability to handle the long list of testing away ties. The
League is not won, and only a fool would suggest otherwise, but to
dispatch of Spurs so effortlessly where previously Chelsea had wilted,
to open up a gap in November which has yet to be tailed back, proved to
all that United's stint at the top is not a short-lived affair, that the
mental strength and footballing class is there in abundance to finish
the job.
The only arrival during the January window, Henrik Larsson, settled in
on his debut against Aston Villa as if he had been playing in this
United set-up for years. He scored the opener, and linked up with Wayne
Rooney and the midfield superbly throughout .. Few in this present side,
bar Rooney and Ronaldo, have had more impressive debuts for United. With
Larsson in such a creative mood, there were chances aplenty either side
of the second half opener by the Swede to kill Villa off. Yet as too
often over the previous weeks, most notably against Newcastle and West
Ham, these opportunities were spurned and Villa's hopes of a replay were
kept alive. It wasn't to be the last time United were in such wasteful
mood either in January - the trip to Arsenal was to prove a harsh
reminder of this very point. What had looked a comfortable enough win
against a out-of-form Villa side was far from the case, as Milan Baros
stole in to beat the slack offside trap being played by the United
defenders and equalise.
However, as thoughts turned to a replay, an added distraction from the
importance of the League, it was Ole Solskjaer whose shot spilt through
Gabor Kiraly's hands to further add to his list of vital injury time
winners and send United through, albeit scrappily , to a fourth-round
tie with Portsmouth.
It was to be a repeat of the Cup tie in the Premiership the following
weekend, and Villa will have been glad to have seen the back of Old
Trafford after failing to live with the home side for nineteen minutes
this time, never mind ninety. On this occasion , United were ruthless,
Ronaldo in particular terrorising the Villa defence for the second time
in three weeks after stealing the show at Villa Park before Christmas ..
The game was over as a contest by the break, Park, Carrick and Ronaldo
easing United into a 3-0 lead, and Villa's consolation goal in the
second half did little to dampen the growing optimism around Old
Trafford or the six-point lead still intact over Chelsea.
The trip to Arsenal came off the back of another twist in the title
race, with Chelsea's embarassing display at Anfield twenty-four hours
earlier giving United an opportunity to put real daylight between the
top two with a win. Some pundits claimed that a nine-point gap would be
too big for Chelsea to close. However, that theory was not to become
reality as United's concentration slipped, in particular the defending
of Evra, Heinze and Ronaldo down that left hand side ultimately costing
two vital goals in the last ten minutes to hand Arsenal the points. It
was a great shame for Evra, who had had a tremendous game up until then,
crossing superbly for Rooney to tuck away the opener, and as time wore
on, the only goal, as it appeared. But Arsenal fought against United at
Old Trafford and came out with a win, and their midfield was
instrumental once again in playing United at their own game, with
outstanding passing and their all too dangerous counter attacking. Two
goals in seven minutes meant the gap was to stay at six - but there were
other questions now arising. What would be United's response? How big a
blow was this loss physcologically ? Were Arsenal still in the title
race?
There was not going to be any answers to those questions for ten days at
least, with the return of FA Cup action bringing Portsmouth to Old
Trafford, and the game was to be a perfect reminder as to the
capabilities of Wayne Rooney, for those who had criticised his
contribution over ninety minutes this season. Indeed Rooney was to take
less than ten minutes to show exactly what he can do, with a tap-in to
break the deadlock followed by a sublime chip over David James. His
cheeky flick over Sol Campbell indicated a man on form and made a
mockery of a Portsmouth back line so hard to break down for so long.
Rooney will need to be on form again if United are to be on course for
the last eight - Steve Coppell's Reading are equally as organised.
The Arsenal defeat was soon to be forgotten though, with eight goals,
six points and two clean sheets from the next two league games. Watford
were chasing shadows as United strolled to a 4-0 victory, whilst it was
to be the same scoreline four days later in London .. Berbatov created
problems for United early on with a handful of chances, and the penalty
appeals were hard to call, with Gary Neville lucky not to give away one
after hauling down Pascal Chimbonda, and Henrik Larsson unlucky after
being caught by Steed Malbranque's flailing leg. The challenge on
Ronaldo, which was awarded , appeared less of a penalty, but United had
been threatening this moment for quite some time and the Portuguese
winger converted the spot kick to give the game a totally different
outlook. Vidic's third goal of the season, his trademark thumping
header, came just after the restart and killed off any Spurs' hopes of a
quick reply. From there, United went from strength to strength, with
Scholes getting a much deserved goal for number three, and Saha playing
through Ryan Giggs to finish with applomb and round off the scoring at
4-0. Even John O'Shea's stint in goal - and what a good display that
was, too - could afford to be treated as a playground kickabout than a
serious top division game.
The celebrations after the third goal at Spurs, with the substitutes
involved, indicated that there is a strong team spirit at the core of
this present squad, a die for each other attitude similar to that which
Mourinho instilled in his squad upon his arrival at Chelsea. Many of
these players, Scholes, Giggs to name but a few have been at this stage
before and the likes of Vidic and Rooney, yet to experience this
situation , are winners and leaders and we can be confident that this
squad will not be lacking in mental toughness for the challenges that
lie ahead.
If Ferguson pulls this title win off, it will go down as one of his
greatest achievements to date, without a doubt. The squad was written
off at the start of the season after a worrying lack of transfer
activity. This team has settled down, and despite the strange but
somewhat inevitable failure to bring in new faces during this latest
transfer window (is it down to the Glazers or is it Ferguson was unable
to get the targets he wanted? I suspect the former, somehow - the summer
will prove that though) the team is playing with the all the air of the
champions elect.
There are tough tests ahead, with trips to Liverpool, Everton, Man City
and Chelsea still to come, but, after Sunday, anything looks possible.
An extremely sad piece of news hit the branch this month with the death
of esteemed club member Wilson Steele. Wilson was at the AGM back in May
and it appeared as though he was on the road to recovery then. Sadly, it
wasn't the case and he passed away on January 6th. God bless, Wilson,
and no doubt he'll be looking down on the Reds from above .
Until next month,
Keep the red flag flying high,
John Monaghan |