03/11/05
The Decline of Manchester United by Craig James
How the mighty have fallen. Manchester United were the kings of the English game, they even conquered Europe once. Now they are a faded tattered shell of their former selves. The remains of the golden generation; Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scoles and of course Gary Neville are a fading force. Of the four only Neville and Keane appear to have any life left in them. Giggs can’t get a game ahead of Kieron Richardson and Paul Scholes is having a downbeat end to a sparkling career. When he gets back from injury, the alleged Mr Reliable, Gary Neville will probably be a steadying influence and of course Keane is so key for United. He holds the team together and acts as a lynchpin for most of the team’s good work.
Without Keane United’s performances have been somewhere between mediocre and awful. Against Middlesbrough they were outplayed everywhere, but Steve Mclaren has more than once had the edge on his former boss. Against Lille however they were just bad, awful, they did almost nothing right and some of Keane’s reported criticism of players appeared accurate and justified. Sir Alex Ferguson, used to be a formidable figure in English football but now he seems past his best and sulky. His refusal to speak to the BBC over some apparent slight is questionable, but refusing to speak to MUTV the club’s own station is frankly ludicrous. He defends players as he has always done, the difference now is that where once the players he was defending were of the calibre of Beckham and Schmeical (sp?) now it is players of the calibre of Darren Fletcher, who so far does not appear to be anything to write home about. Of course Man U have overcome adversity before but then they had real talent to help them out, they also had fight and heart.
The game with Chelsea on Sunday is their biggest of the season without doubt. It could be tight or it could be a goalfest considering Chelsea’s recent defensive wobbles. It will definitely be a test for the players and the manager and a barometer of just how far they’ve fallen. If the team plays well and gives Chelsea a good game, pushes them, then things aren’t so bad. If however they play badly and are well beaten, which is very possible, then it really is crisis time for the ’Biggest Club in the World’ and the new owners may just have a long hard look at the man they have in charge.
