As part of the launch of this website, I wanted to share a book, for free, on these pages. Seven years ago I wrote a season review of the European Cup win in Moscow in 2008. I wasn’t happy enough for it to be published and have decided I will rewrite it. That said, there is a 125,000 word draft that would otherwise have gone unread, so I’m going to share it here. I hope you enjoy.
Prologue
Manchester United’s young hopefuls trudged off the San Siro pitch on the evening of 2nd May, 2007, well beaten.
Eight days prior, they had defeated AC Milan in one of the thrilling European encounters at Old Trafford, when Wayne Rooney scored in the last minute to give his side a 3-2 win to take to Italy.
That was followed by a magnificent fightback at Everton as United recovered from two goals down to win 4-2 and put themselves on the verge of a first title in four years. A run of seven consecutive wins in the late winter and early spring had included last minute wins at Fulham and Liverpool, and comprehensive thrilling wins over Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers.
In the summer of 2006, Sir Alex Ferguson sold Ruud van Nistelrooy, but concerns about where the goals might come from had been addressed by the sensational form of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The pair lit up the Premier League and when they starred in a 7-1 demolition of Roma on April 10th 2007, there was a genuine belief that they might go all the way in Europe. It was progress which had stunned most. Van Nistelrooy had been the figurehead sale, but it was the sacking of Roy Keane in the autumn of 2005 which has since been proven to be, as it seemed at the time, the catalyst for transition.
In January 2006 Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra arrived to shore up a defence that badly needed quality reinforcements. But that summer, only Michael Carrick had been acquired, and as welcome as the Tottenham midfielder was, there had been a serious doubt over United’s ability to score goals. Rooney and Ronaldo were inconsistent in the quality of their performances; Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Alan Smith and Louis Saha were inconsistent in their availability due to historic injury problems.
Ronaldo and Rooney made the step up, and the win at Goodison Park meant they had to win just two of their remaining three games to win the league if current champions Chelsea won their games. However, in Milan, both Ronaldo and Rooney were disappointing, even if the expectation on them to deliver was a little unfair. Ironically, having resolved the issues on the left hand side of his defence, Ferguson was without Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand in the San Siro. It was a tough learning curve as United went down 3-0; at least they went down fighting, trying to score goals to try and get back into the game.
It meant that the joy United fans would feel at winning the league would be somewhat tempered by the European disappointment, and the defeat in the FA Cup Final later that same month. The treble had been there to repeat but injuries and inexperience made an already unrealistic proposition that much more difficult. It was even more of a bitter pill to swallow considering Liverpool had qualified for the Champions League final for the second time in three years.
Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, however, believed that they had already beaten their biggest threat in the semi-final. “I feel there is a difference between United and Liverpool and we beat the best side of the two,” the combative former Rangers star said. “United, at this moment, have far more technical players, players who are quick and able to do things on the ball. Liverpool do not have those individuals at all. What they have is a way of playing together, of playing as a team. They are more like an Italian team of 10 years ago. All they try to do is defend together, with everybody behind the ball and just one striker. But all Liverpool do is play long balls. It is very different to Manchester, who are a footballing team.”
United’s end to the season was limp, even though it came with glory.
They won at Manchester City in a difficult game where Edwin van der Sar saved a late penalty to keep United’s 1-0 scoreline intact. Chelsea lost at Arsenal the following day, meaning that the clash between the top two at Stamford Bridge changed from a title battle into a procession; a United XI featuring Kieran Lee and Dong Fangzhou (not to pick on those players, but just to illustrate how below-strength Ferguson’s side was) were given a guard of honour.
However, Ferguson was faced with much more scrutiny for his selection on the final day of the season. Manchester United entertained West Ham United, with the Hammers battling against relegation.
In the build up to the game, Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock—never the most shy and retiring of characters—had put the pressure on, suggesting the integrity of the competition was at stake. This was nothing new for the Blades, who were already aggrieved at West Ham’s continued ability to play Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, the Argentine pair who had signed for the London club in a blaze of controversial publicity at the start of the season.
Both players were apparently ‘owned’ by businessman Kia Joorabchian, instigating an inevitable backlash against third-party ownership and the implications. The FA were forced to make their own rules up to prevent an occurrence but their headaches that summer were compounded when Tevez scored the only goal at Old Trafford. There could be no dismissing of his contribution.
Sheffield United and Charlton Athletic later complained that they should be reinstated; Fulham director and lawyer Stuart Benson was involved in an even more complicated case, arguing that the Cottagers should have the points awarded to them for the game they played against West Ham when Tevez was apparently improperly registered. Benson argued that with the points, Fulham would have climbed an extra place in the table, worth an additional £500,000 in prize money. He said that the only realistic solution would be to have a 22 team Premier League in the 2007/08 season with five relegation places.
Tevez and Joorabchian would be two people Sir Alex Ferguson would have to deal with later in the summer, but the final whistle had barely gone in the anti-climatic FA Cup Final against Chelsea (lost after extra time—though, Ryan Giggs had a perfectly good goal not given as referee Steve Bennett judged that the ball did not cross the line) before the United boss was making plans for his summer recruitment. News that Southampton were willing to part with their prodigious young talent Gareth Bale alerted Ferguson, but the Saints’ price tag of £10m made him think twice.
In that hesitation, Tottenham Hotspur went in with a firm bid, and Bale was suitably impressed by Martin Jol’s determination to sign him. The left sided Welsh player’s hero was Ryan Giggs; if United had pressed with any urgency, they would have surely got the 17 year old. “Bale decided against a move to Tottenham in January primarily to keep his options open,” reported Matt Law of the Express after Bale moved to White Hart Lane. “He wanted to be sure which division Southampton would be playing in next season and harboured hopes Manchester United would enter the bidding. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson showed plenty of interest, but never made a firm offer.”
May of 2007 hadn’t even concluded and the United manager was determined that he wouldn’t be caught out again. In a move that almost caught the morning newspapers out on May 31st, chief executive David Gill went to Portugal to negotiate and finalise two transfers out of the blue. Tottenham had expressed interest in Sporting Lisbon winger Nani; United’s own interest had previously been reported, but it was still a shock when Gill and Carlos Queiroz were spotted in Lisbon talking with Sporting officials and Jorge Mendes.
Nani had a reported £13m buy-out clause in his contract; Sporting had been putting pressure on Mendes to get his client to sign a new deal which would raise that clause to £20m but Nani refused, saying he wanted to move to Old Trafford. “I would only leave Portugal for a club like United,” the player said. The Premiership is a spectacular league and the chance to be the next Ronaldo would be a dream.”
Sporting Lisbon chairman Soares Franco said his club were helpless to stop the transfer. “Manchester United contacted us and said that they wanted to activate the clause,” he said.“We had the obligation to release the player and deal with Manchester United. Nani had another two years on his contract with a £13.5m release clause. From the end of next season he would have cost half of that price. Nani has never been for sale. This is an agreement I made with supporters when I took charge. I felt he wanted to go, but nobody liked to see Nani leaving.”
Nani may have been the ‘new Ronaldo’, but Ronaldo himself spoke positively about the news. “I hope we sign Nani because he is a top player,” he said. “I’d love to see him – and more Portuguese players – at United.” He got his wish immediately, as Gill also agreed a deal with Porto to bring 19 year old Brazilian midfielder Anderson to Manchester for a deal that was worth £17m. Anderson had won the Golden Ball at the World Under-17 Championship in 2005 and was one of the most coveted young players in the world.
Gill arrived back in Manchester insisting that United’s spending was not yet over. “Obviously we have just done a major bit of business for a significant amount of money and by and large that will be the main element of our business,” he said. “Who knows what will happen over the next couple of months? If a player comes up that Sir Alex Ferguson feels will improve the squad, then I’m sure we will find the funds we need.”
The executive had also been involved in more political matters. Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president, had urged United to cancel a friendly against a Malaysian XI due to the country hosting the Asia Cup. Gill reluctantly agreed. “It’s frustrating that the club was not previously aware of the legally-binding contract between the Asian Football Confederation and the FA of Malaysia preventing such games in July,” he said. “The club believed that all the relevant permissions for the match had been secured some months ago. Manchester United has no desire to go against the wishes of FIFA and, as a result, reluctantly has to withdraw from the fixture. I have written to ministers and the Crown Prince to express our disappointment and I hope that the strong relationship between the club and the Malaysian government and people will continue in the future.”
United were able to arrange to play Guangzhou Pharmaceutical instead in the final game of their Far East tour, before a handful of games back in the United Kingdom to conclude their preparations.
Gill had been instructed to work on the acquisition of a centre forward. In early June, Ole Gunnar Solskjær underwent knee surgery. The Norwegian forward—a cult, and could it be said legendary, figure at United—was wanted by Sunderland, though there was no real suggestion Ferguson wanted to cash in. This was not the case with Louis Saha—the Frenchman was wanted by Lyon, and there was talk of a £5m move. Tottenham had expressed an interest and Ferguson had hoped to use Saha as leverage in a move for the Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov.
However, Saha too suffered a knee injury, and underwent injury which ruled him out for months. His advisor Ranko Stojic told the press: “Louis has had surgery in America and he won’t be on the field now for a few months. There is no question that he will be changing clubs. He’s been unlucky and it is very important now that he gets back to 100 percent fitness. I don’t know when he will be able to start training again, but he is looking at being back around November or December. But it is going to be a while.”
One forward who publicly put his name forward for a move to United was Sampdoria forward Fabio Quagriella. The Italian was reportedly the subject of a £10m offer and was more than happy about it. ““It seems a serious offer, they have raised it and it is an important figure,” he said. “Manchester United are a big deal and, if it ended up going that way, I would gladly join the Premier League. It is a fascinating and beautiful competition.”
Quagriella was just one example of a player using a spurious and tenuous link to elevate his own profile; Berbatov was United’s principle target, though the difficulty of the Michael Carrick transfer and the loss of Saha as a bargaining tool made that transfer a very unlikely proposition. Privately, Ferguson was observing the chain of events surrounding Carlos Tevez, with talk of West Ham preparing a bid to make their registration of him official.
The club’s tour was straightforward; a draw against Urawa Red Diamonds was followed by comprehensive wins over FC Seoul, Shenzhen Xiangxue and Guangzhou. In the first game back on domestic soil, United lost 3-2 to Inter Milan, with Anderson, Nani and Owen Hargreaves all injured and sidelined. Amongst the Inter goalscorers was Zlatan Ibrahimovic; the United website said that the hosts were let off in the early stages ‘largely to the profligacy’ of the Swedish forward.
Ahead of the Community Shield fixture against Chelsea, United sent teams to play against Doncaster Rovers and Peterborough United on the 3rd and 4th of August respectively. However, United’s transfer activity was the major talking point in the build up to the traditional curtain-raiser.
