The second chapter of my unpublished book on the 2007/8 season is below.
To read the first chapter, go here. To read chapter two, go here. Chapter Three picks up in September.
September
Manchester United travelled to Merseyside for their first game after the international break. Their opponents were Everton — though, considering the war of words that was taking place in the media, you’d have been forgiven for thinking United were taking on Liverpool. Once the transfer of Gabriel Heinze to Real Madrid had concluded, Sir Alex Ferguson wasted no time in criticising Liverpool’s conduct in the transfer, and didn’t hold back on Rafa Benitez.
Benitez had also felt it was necessary to complain that United had signed Tevez, bizarrely comparing it to his own team’s purchase of Javier Mascherano the previous January. Having then missed out on Heinze, Benitez complained about the Premier League’s fixture scheduling which had Liverpool at Portsmouth in the Saturday 12.45pm. It had been a controversial start to the season for the Spaniard whose complaints about the refereeing of Rob Styles in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Anfield had actually persuaded Styles to publicly apologise for awarding Chelsea a penalty!
Ferguson said Benitez had a ‘chip on his shoulder’ and said said United intended to formally challenge Liverpool’s conduct in their pursuit of Heinze. “We’re investigating Liverpool’s role in this, there’s no question about that,” he said. “We’re not letting them off the hook. We’ll see how it comes out. David Gill is working on that at the moment and he’ll get to the bottom of it. They had no chance of winning that case. He (Benitez) obviously didn’t study the Premier League rules. I’m disappointed with some of the stuff he’s come out with. He’s got a chip on his shoulder about it. And he’s going on about Saturday fixtures after international games — he wants to look at our fixture list over the last two or
three years and see if he has anything to complain about.”
Asked about Benitez’s allegation that United’s move for Tevez had been a far easier process than Liverpool’s for Mascherano, Ferguson sarcastically quipped: “Yeah, that was easy, of course it was — three months.”
Amusingly, Liverpool boss Benitez felt that the entire affair had somehow proven Ferguson was fearful of his North West rivals. He said: “They (United) have shown us they think we are stronger now, because they didn’t want us to sign a very good player. Now we have to show them they’re right… I want to be clear. I have a lot of respect for Sir Alex Ferguson because be’s a great manager. But I only need to think about my club. Really, I don’t know what he thinks. The only thing that I know is that Gabriel Heinze is not here and we need to manage with the situation we have.”
Pressed on Ferguson’s comment about having a chip on his shoulder, Benitez remained coy. “I prefer to think only about my team,” he insisted. “I think we have a better squad now and we want to be contenders. That means we will fight for everything in all the competitions. I’m not saying we’re not interested in the Champions League or other competitions because we are. Our priority, though, is the Premier League.”
Liverpool drew 0-0 at Fratton Park. Later that day, and late in the day, United won their game at Goodison Park. It was their third 1-0 win in a row and they had to wait until the 83rd minute to get the breakthrough, Nemanja Vidic with a thumping header from a Nani corner. Since winning at Goodison in the run-in of the previous season, United had scored six goals in twelve games, a grim return even with the mitigating circumstances.
In this game, Ferguson had a fine defensive display from Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic to thank, whilst Edwin van der Sar was called upon to save brilliantly from James McFadden. The visitors’ chance of success would have been lessened considerably had Alan Wiley saw fit to give Paul Scholes a red card; Scholes had only just been booked, so Wiley gave him a reprieve when he might not have expected or deserved one. It would have been another problem for the United boss who had already been forced into an emergency reshuffle just before half-time when Mikael Silvestre came off injured; he would miss most of the season with a cruciate knee ligament injury. The Frenchman had been linked with a move away and United had allowed him to talk to Newcastle; however, when the Magpies signed Joey Barton, Silvestre refused to move to St. James’ Park due to Barton’s history with Olivier Dacourt. When Heinze was sold, Ferguson decided not to sell any more senior players, as Leighton Baines had signed for Everton.
It was, however, the performance of the forwards on both sides that had the managers concerned afterwards. Carlos Tevez had been industrious again, though the question was, were he and Wayne Rooney too similar to play together? ““Wayne does the same kind of thing as Tevez,” said Baines after the game. “He comes off, is intelligent and gets himself into good positions. He is difficult to pick up. Although Wayne is a bit taller, they are both strong. They are very capable on the ball, they can pick a pass and can finish. The fact United have got players like that says a lot about them. Can they play together? I don’t know. That’s why Sir Alex Ferguson is such a good manager.”
Ferguson gave credit to his team before providing an update that suggested the Rooney and Tevez conundrum was one he would confront imminently. “It was a huge team effort and we defended right,” he said. “And that’s the type of defending we need to win the title. If we keep doing that and we can get all our top players back and get the consistency in our performance, we will be all right… We took medical advice on Wayne, and the fact he had only started training on Monday, we thought that five days’ training wasn’t quite enough. He will train right through to Wednesday now and will definitely be available for the Champions League.” Ferguson had addressed the talk about Rooney and Tevez’s style elsewhere. “I’ve read all these opinions about the two of them being identical,” he said. “I don’t think they are at all. What you can say is they both have a similar physique, they are both two-footed, they are both quick-ish, they can both beat a man. I don’t think it’s a bad thing in terms of the similarities. When they get playing with each other they will hopefully get an understanding about where they are playing.”
Towards the end of the game, Everton fan Carl Lloyd had leaned over the advertising hoarding to try and grab hold of the ball as it had gone out for a throw-in. Cristiano Ronaldo was running to get the ball too, and Lloyd claimed that Ronaldo stamped on his arm. “I’m in excruciating pain. I don’t know if I’ll work again any time soon,” Lloyd told the Star on Sunday. “I couldn’t believe what happened. All I was doing was trying to retrieve the ball and then this happened. He had a bad day on the pitch now he’s given me a bad day. It was a stamp on my arm and the pain is all the way from my knuckle to my elbow. There are stud marks as well. The whole length of the bone is in agony and it has swelled right up. I wouldn’t be surprised if it hadn’t been broken in a few places.” Lloyd insisted he would be making a statement about the ‘attack’ to the police, though Everton’s director of communications Ian Ross said they had no knowledge of the incident, while United said they would not make an official comment without first receiving confirmation that an incident had actually occurred.
United’s attentions turned to Europe; their first game was against Sporting in Lisbon, and the fact that the season marked 5o years since the Munich Air Disaster was not lost on Sir Alex Ferguson.
“The incentive for the present players is to pay tribute to the players of the past by winning the European Cup 50 years after Munich,” he said. “That would be very fitting. Hopefully, the anniversary will give us extra motivation. But to win it, you need a strong squad and we didn’t have that last season. The away game with Milan in the semi-final came at a bad time for us. Milan were better and fresher on the night. Cristiano Ronaldo was carrying an ankle injury and never got his form back. We have a better chance this season of competing in Europe. Owen Hargreaves, for instance, will prove to be a good addition for us in the Champions League through the experience he has had at Bayern Munich. He could be very important. He has had a small injury problem with his knee but he should be ready for Wednesday. And the likes of Wayne Rooney and Ronaldo will want to do better on the big occasions, because they are that kind of player. But this competition, in terms of quality, is now the best in world football – it is better than the World Cup.”
Ferguson said he believed that English football was going through a period where it was rich in quality. “It’s open every year now,” he said. “That was proven when Monaco and Porto reached the final three years ago. Everyone has got a chance. The usual suspects will be strong – the two Milans, Roma, the Spanish teams, ourselves and the other English clubs. The English sides have been getting closer to dominating in the way they did in the late 1970s and the early 80s. If you look back over the last few years, we have won it and so have Liverpool. English teams have been in the final three years running, with Liverpool winning and reaching the final last season and in between, Arsenal were in the final. Ourselves and Chelsea have also gone close to reaching the final and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was again an English team in the final this season.”
The Sporting game brought back bad memories of the club’s heaviest defeat in Europe. Having won the first leg 4-1 in the quarter finals of the 1964 European Cup Winners’ Cup, United were expected to qualify easily, and yet lost 5-0 in the return, a game then-manager Matt Busby blasted as ‘an insult to the people of Manchester’.
Paddy Crerand admitted his embarrassment. “I’m ashamed to talk about it and it remains a nightmare memory,” Crerand said. “It should have been a cakewalk. It was our big mistake. They came at us all guns blazing in the second leg.”
Nobody was taking this game for granted, least of all manager Ferguson, who had concerns about the way referees were treating Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo had been booked for alleged simulation at Goodison Park on his return from the red card at Fratton Park. “It is a worrying aspect for us,” said Fergie at the pre-match news conference. “It is like he is being punished for his success – and we don’t like that at all. What happened at Portsmouth was ridiculous. Hughes admitted Cristiano never touched him. Saturday’s booking was even more ludicrous. Why would he go down when he could score a goal?”
Ferguson was then told that the referee for the game was Herbert Fandel from Germany, the official who had sent off Roy Keane and Paul Scholes in previous games where he had been in charge of United. “Have we got a supply of Mogadon?!” the United boss joked. Continuing on Ronaldo, this was his first return to his former club, though he had been back to Benfica twice as a United player and had been mercilessly booed throughout. “I don’t think Cristiano will get a bad reaction from the crowd,” the boss insisted. “He was here for seven years as a kid. I think he’ll get a good reaction. Nani, too.”
Ferguson was looking forward to trying different combinations now he had all of his senior forwards back. “If we can get Saha to stay fit that will be a big bonus because he is different to the rest,” he said. “The rest are all good footballers, but he adds different ingredients. The others are all clever players, but the power and strength of Saha is important to us. He is key for us. The team I start with won’t be the one I finish with because we are still in the process of Saha getting there. It’s a case of us picking the moments to use him. Rooney will be involved. And Tevez. So, I have good options. We are showing a good team spirit and work ethic. And if we defend as well as we have done over the last three games it gives us a good chance. We have the experience in people such as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs while Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Nani can win games on their own. Our scoring hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t stopped us playing our football.”
Ronaldo was present at the press conference as the main figure of interest. “What the boss says is true, but my focus is on the game and I don’t want to speak about referees,” he said. “At Benfica everyone booed me, but I think my reception here will be good. I think people here like me. It is a different culture to Benfica.”
After all the talk about whether Saha or Tevez would partner Rooney up front, it turned out to be neither. Instead, Ronaldo was the other striker, with Ferguson fielding a team looking something like its strongest. A good start to the Champions League was imperative; United’s away form in the competition had been awful, with just two wins from their last fourteen. And, after that 5-0 defeat in 1964, United’s only previous visit to Sporting had been a friendly in 2003, an exhibition to open the redeveloped Estádio José Alvalade — a game renowned, of course, for being the occasion where Cristiano Ronaldo gave John O’Shea nightmares, and shortly after, Ronaldo moved to Manchester.
The omens, then, were not looking good, and this was far from a confident United performance to dispel any fears. They may have been fielding a defence of Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra (a defence which would turn out to be their main selection throughout the campaign) but there was nothing stable about the way the visitors started. Van der Sar was called into action on numerous occasions, having to deny Joao Moutinho, Marat Izmailov, and most impressively of all, Liedson.
United’s best opportunities — though their chances had been few and far between — fell to Nani, who had been unable to convert, before the man who had been dominating the pre-match conversations ensured he would steal the post-match headlines by connecting with a cross from Brown in the 62nd minute. Ronaldo’s diving header was a moment of true quality in a game otherwise starving of them.
Later in the game, Rooney, on his first game back, and Ronaldo were brought off for Saha and Tevez respectively. Ronaldo’s 86th minute substitution was met with a standing ovation from all within the ground, probably partly influenced by their former player’s muted celebrations for his goal.
“Winning your first game away from home sets the tone for us,” said a pleased Ferguson afterwards. “At half-time we looked to improve our game with more penetration — I think we did. They had some opportunities on the edge of the box but never really opened us up. It was hard to know how long to keep Wayne Rooney on, but the goal made it easy.”
Attentions then turned to the weekend’s game; the rather formidable task of Chelsea. United’s good week had included difficult results for the Blues, who had drawn 0-0 at home with Blackburn Rovers, a game in which they had a goal disallowed. Jose Mourinho had picked up a television monitor from the Chelsea dug-out and waved it at the referee. “It was a goal. I do not know why it was disallowed. Only the linesman can tell us why,” he said. “I have no answer. We were celebrating and they were crying. I told the linesman that I am expecting the phone call apologising. But I won’t take the call.”
That was followed by a 1-1 draw with Rosenborg at Stamford Bridge in their own Champions League opener. “We made so many chances against Rosenborg that I cannot be impressed and that makes our group more difficult,” Mourinho said. “It means we shall probably have to take four points off Valencia. I am not happy.”
Earlier in the year, the Chelsea boss had insisted that his side’s failure to win a third successive Premier League title would not force him to resign. “There are only two ways for me to leave Chelsea,” he said at the time. “One way is in June 2010 when I finish my contract and if the club doesn’t give me a new one. It is the end of my contract and I am out. The second way is for Chelsea to sack me. The way of the manager leaving the club by deciding to walk away, no chance! I will never do this to Chelsea supporters.”
The football world woke with considerable shock on the morning of Thursday, 20th September, when it was announced that Mourinho had sensationally left Chelsea. The Guardian initially reported that the manager had resigned, while other reports said he had been sacked; the BBC said Mourinho had left by ‘mutual consent’.
Chelsea themselves used that popular ambiguous quote on their website that morning. “Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today by mutual consent,” their short statement read. That was later followed by an open letter to supporters elaborating on the shock move. It read: “Chelsea and Jose Mourinho have parted by mutual agreement. Jose did not resign and he was not sacked. What is clear is that we had reached a point where the relationship between the club and Jose had broken down. This was despite genuine attempts over several months by all parties to resolve certain differences. The decision was taken because we believed the breakdown started to impact on the performance of the team and recent results supported this view. We did not want this to continue. Chelsea’s long-term football objectives and ambitions remain unchanged. We must pay tribute to the great job Jose did. He has been the most successful manager the club has known and he rightly deserves that place in our history. Jose has been instrumental in putting Chelsea where it is today, among the leading clubs in European and world football.”
Mourinho was immediately linked with a move to Inter Milan, whilst it was reported there would be a mass exodus. Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba — all out through injury — were amongst those rumoured to be seeking a move, with the latter apparently in tears as Mourinho said goodbye to the players. New signing Florent Malouda and star midfielder Michael Essien were both said to be ‘considering their futures’.
What made matters more confusing was that Chelsea had been promoting their club-made documentary Blue Revolution, chronicling the Mourinho years. In it, chief executive Peter Kenyon (former United exec, of course) had even said: “It is ridiculous, he sets the bar so high. You look at our home record. He’s not lost a home game in Porto or here for five years now. What sort of a ridiculous statement is that? That is piling pressure on you without you knowing it. You look at the pressure managers are under today and it’s enormous, enormous.” However, Mourinho wasn’t the barometer of his own success, setting and breaking his own targets. Kenyon was quoted elsewhere in the film as saying two Champions League titles had been targeted in the next six years (a remark Sir Alex described as ‘unbelievable’).
Avram Grant — whose previous managerial experience was limited to his homeland of Israel, though he had managed the national side from 2002 to 2006 — was named manager, two months after arriving as Director of Football. He insisted he would be the ‘normal one’ at Stamford Bridge. “I am a normal person, I have my own philosophy on football,” Grant said. “I respect everything that was here in the past and I am sure you will respect everything we do in the future. I know people like to compare, but there are no two people among seven billion in all the world who look the same, act the same. I fully respect everything he (Mourinho) did for the club, and before, but he had his own personality. I don’t have one bad word to say about him, only good words, and I have my own personality, I try to do things in my way. I want to follow that success.
“What is my personality? You will judge me not on what I say, and I am OK with this, but about what I will do. I don’t know if people expect me to be successful,” he said. “I know there is doubt because I was not a coach or manager in England. But I remember when Arsene Wenger came to Arsenal, all the headlines were, ‘Arsene Who?’ I don’t want to compare myself to him, but he did a great job. And when Fabio Capello started at Milan he was youth coach and everybody didn’t know what he was going to do. So I understand all the doubt about me. But I am not from day one in football. I am more than 50 years old, 20 years as a manager and I am experienced in football. For me I don’t think there are things that will surprise me. Yes, I have had only six games in the Champions League, will it be enough? Wait and see, maybe yes, maybe no.”
His chief executive was right behind him. “I do not see this as being a risky decision for the club,” Kenyon insisted. “Avram is the right man for the job, and the man to take this club forward. This will be seen as a popular decision if we win at Old Trafford, and if we are successful. If we are more successful in the next five years than we have been in the last three, then it is the right decision. I hope that Avram is the man who can win us two European Cups. I was party to this decision and I support it.”
That Mourinho’s departure was greeted by pleasure by all of Chelsea’s main rivals told the real story; that Chelsea’s regression had started with the interference of others was obvious even to those with only a passing interest in the political landscape at Stamford Bridge. Coming as it did when it did, right before their trip to Old Trafford, Manchester United were determined to heap the misery and boost their own form after winning four consecutive games by one goal to nil.
“You’d take another 1-0 against Chelsea,” said a pragmatic Ryan Giggs. “As long as we keep winning and keep clean sheets the goals will come. With this team and the amount of talent we have we will always create chances. We have said we are capable of going on a good run and at the moment it is four games. Hopefully, we can go on a run of 10 or 11 games unbeaten and each win and performance will breed confidence. We hope to take that confidence into Sunday. It has been close between us over the past few years. It always is and it will be again. But we want to win and go on that run we keep talking about.”
Wayne Rooney was asked if he wanted to make Chelsea suffer. “Yes, of course,” he said. “I was delighted to be back on Wednesday. Now I’ve got a few more days training under my belt, I hope to be as close to fully fit as possible for Sunday.” Rooney was asked if Chelsea had become the biggest game of the season. “For me, it is always Liverpool,” he said. “I think, for most players, going to Anfield is massive. I think it is the biggest game of the season for most teams.”
Still, the forward wasn’t underestimating the size of task. “They are clearly missing Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba and hopefully they won’t be playing on Sunday,” he said. “If they do, then we’ll just have to do our jobs well. I think the result in Lisbon will help us going into Sunday and obviously playing again helped me. It’s not going to be a title decider so early on but it’s a massive game. Neither team has had the best of starts so whoever wins will take great confidence from that. We are starting to get the results we need – four wins in a row now. Although we’re not playing particularly well, it’s results that matter.”
The Liverpool-born player responded to suggestions that he may be a casualty of United’s summer recruitment if Carlos Tevez started scoring the goals. “This is a big squad and there are a lot of world-class players at the club,” Rooney said. “Of course, I want to play every week. If I don’t, I obviously won’t be too happy. But it’s the manager’s decision. We want to play attacking football and score loads of goals. We did that last season and we knew it would be more difficult this time. But at the moment we’ll take the one-nils while trying to score more because at the end of the season goals scored can be so important.”
United assistant Carlos Queiroz agreed that it would be United’s own improvements, as minor as they may have been, that would be the difference, rather than Chelsea’s troubles. He said: “Chelsea is a huge game. The result against Sporting has helped us a lot. It is important with regard to Sunday’s game. From a motivational point of view and a mental point of view, when you win one game I always believe you win 30 per cent of the next game as well. But, once a big game starts – it is always unpredictable – whether it be against Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea. It will be something small that makes the difference. We have had four 1-0 wins in a row and it is important to win some games while not conceding goals. This season has been amazing. The first three games we played fantastic and collected two points. Since then, we have not played so well but have collected so many points.”
In his pre-match press conference at Carrington, Ferguson was inevitably grilled about Mourinho but declined to speak about the political aspect of what was happening at Chelsea. Instead, he gave a respectful tribute to his rival. “In one season under Mourinho they just turned the whole table upside down,” Ferguson recalled. “We ended up third as they won it. Until then, Arsenal had been our most consistent challengers. I enjoyed the competition with Jose. He was the new kid on the block type of thing. It was new material for me to consider, to assess him at press conferences, assess the way his team played. It became harder for us, there is no doubt about that. It became harder for us all.
“You can’t say it’s the end of Chelsea’s success because Jose has gone. The resources that remain there are untold and they have still got the same group of players. It’s easy for the Chelsea players in one respect because they are playing Manchester United. I think it would have been more difficult if they had been playing a lesser team. We have got to concentrate on what we can do. I think we are getting better.”
“It is a disappointment for the game,” he said of his former counterpart’s departure. “Jose was terrific for football and terrific for Chelsea and I enjoyed the competition with him. I think he was something fresh and new to our game. Now I just don’t know what I’m going to do about my wine! I’ve been in touch with Jose but that was a private conversation. The Chelsea job is still a great job. There will be a queue from here to London Bridge for it. But we’re concentrating on ourselves because we’ve got enough on our plate. We’ve got to focus on our game because we are still playing Chelsea, it is still the same players and that in itself is a challenge for us.”
Ferguson revealed he was familiar with the man who would be unfamiliar to most in Chelsea’s dugout on Sunday, 23rd September. “He used to come to training here,” he said. “He has come here two or three times. It’s a big step up for him, there is no doubt about that. It has all been thrust on him through the chain of events. He is quite a calm lad. He is not too excitable.”
Some of Chelsea’s stars issued rallying cries. Shaun Wright-Phillips said: “I can understand the frustration but we have the ability. We’ll be ready for United.”
Left-back Ashley Cole was sure his side could get a result. “It was a disapppointing result against Rosenborg but it’s over now,” he said. “We know it’s going to be a very different match against United, more attacking and more end-to-end – and we know we have to get a result. If we get three points or a point on Sunday it could be a key result for us.”
Cole wasn’t wrong; it was a blood and thunder affair, with the driving Manchester rain creating difficult conditions for either team to get into a footballing groove.
This did not stop the game from being a compelling and absorbing spectacle, with United simply hopeful that a win might inspire confidence for more flowing football moving forward and Chelsea just hoping for any sort of win.
What the conditions were conducive to was plenty of slipping and sliding, misplacing of passes, mistiming of tackles, and when John Obi Mikel went in with a high foot on Patrice Evra in the 32nd minute, Wirral-born referee Mike Dean produced the red card. It was controversial though nobody could deny the Nigerian’s tackle was dangerous. If Chelsea were annoyed by that decision, they were incensed by the interpretation of a ‘minimum of two added minutes’ at the end of the half. Dean allowed almost a further minute of play as United had a corner; he still didn’t blow his whistle as Chelsea successfully dealt with the first phase of play. Ryan Giggs collected the ball on the right hand side and produced an exquisite pass with the outside of his left foot which Carlos Tevez threw himself towards at the near post. He connected with a flying header and United were a goal up at the break.
In fairness, United had just as much to complain about as their opponents; by that point, they should have had a penalty, when Joe Cole clearly took out Evra in the box. And if Cole had been punished for that challenge he may well have found himself following Mikel for an early shower after a dangerous tackle from behind on Ronaldo which the winger was fortunate enough to escape uninjured from. The challenge was typical of how the game broke up in the second half. Rooney was booked for a foul on Ashley Cole though it seemed more like the referee was trying to make an example of the forward to try and calm down the general pattern of play considering United were still incensed that Joe Cole had been brought off for Pizarro rather than sent off; Rooney went straight back into Cole and escaped with a ticking off despite his second misdemeanour being far more worthy of a caution.
Chelsea could hardly claim to have deserved anything from the game considering they didn’t even register a shot on target but they could at least complain about the validity of both United’s goals. In the dying seconds of the game, Louis Saha went down under a challenge from Tal Ben Haim in the box. Dean awarded a penalty, and Saha converted, though his effort was not exactly the most convicting spot-kick ever seen. His shot went straight down the middle and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech got a foot to it but couldn’t prevent it going in.
“The first half hour we played as well as we have all season,” manager Sir Alex Ferguson said afterwards. “There was terrific penetration, good passing and at that stage we could have been two or three ahead. I’ve seen the sending off and it was a bit harsh. There was intent there and it could have hurt the boy, but some referees would have let it go… When you see Joe Cole’s tackle on Ronaldo, that should have been a straight red.”
Ferguson was quick to urge caution with regards Louis Saha’s fitness after seeing his forward score two crucial goals in consecutive home league games. “We have been cautious with Louis,” said Fergie. “He has been out for eight months, and our objective has been to ease him back in. We are playing a long game here. It’s a long season and one panicky move now could mean more trouble later.”
The boss, while clearly delighted his team had won for the fifth time in a row with five successive clean sheets, admitted they needed to play better up front. “I am more than pleased with how we have played,” he insisted. “We are just waiting for the guys up front to take off, then you will see the real Manchester United.”
Avram Grant, of course, felt the referee was wholly responsible for his team’s defeat. “The referee tried his best but he made three mistakes,” he said. “One was a red card, one was a goal after time and one was the penalty. Besides that, he was good. Alex Ferguson can be very happy with the referee today, he can be more than happy. Those three decisions were strange. If it was one, okay, but one, two, three? For me, it’s a little bit strange but now I prefer to look to the future.”
Dean would be the referee in the same fixture two and a half years later; allowing a Didier Drogba goal, which had clearly been scored from an outrageously offside position to stand, in one of the most controversial moments in Premier League history.
The pre-match niceties afforded to Chelsea’s new boss were disposed of after the weekend as it was reported that United would oppose the decision of the Premier League to allow Grant special dispensation to manage Chelsea without a UEFA Pro Licence. United had taken a similar stance when Newcastle hired Glenn Roeder and Middlesbrough hired Gareth Southgate, due to United boss Ferguson being a strong advocate of the qualifications, which required 240 hours of study.
United’s next task was to face Coventry City in the League Cup. Coventry were bringing 11,500 supporters to Old Trafford and they were optimistic that they could pull off a shock, especially after Ferguson changed his entire team from the one which had put Chelsea to the sword. One player who the game came too quickly for was Gary Neville, who was back in training that week after an injury lay-off since March. “He has been working hard on his fitness and now fully on the football side of things as well,” Sir Alex said. “It’s been a long time for the lad and we are very pleased. He’s been unlucky with small injuries.”
There was talk that Wayne Rooney was desperate to play and to be given the armband. “Wayne has been in my ear wanting to play,” laughed Ferguson. He’s been saying, ‘I want to play, I want to be captain, I want to take the penalties, the corners, the free-kicks, the goal-kicks, the lot’.”
The United boss admitted he would go down the usual route and select squad players for this competition. “This is a really important night for these players,” he said. “They all want regular first-team football and that is not easy for me to manage. I’m trying to get them games in the Premier League and in Europe, too, but the Coventry game is a great opportunity for them. You have to use your squad throughout the course of the season and I’ll be doing that when the time is right. At the moment they might not see that but it will happen and I know they will not let us down. A lot of these players have already shown great improvement. Eagles has been sensational in training and the games he has played in. Evans and Pique have also been excellent, as has Simpson. There’s real promise there and that is what we want to see against Coventry. We want them to play with the kind of commitment they see from the first-team players every week.”
Starting at right back against the Sky Blues was Phil Bardsley, while Jonny Evans, Gerard Pique, Danny Simpson, Lee Martin, Chris Eagles, and Dong Fangzhou started in an eleven that most people would have expected for that competition. However, given that Nani and Anderson were also in the line up, and considering how well some of those youngsters had equipped themselves on the pre-season tour, much more was expected than what was delivered. Indeed, Coventry’s 2-0 victory went down as one of the most embarrassing results in United’s history and the scoreline did not flatter the visitors. Michael Mifsud scored a goal in each half and should even have got a hat-trick, missing an easy chance late on.
“I’m flabbergasted by our performance,” said Sir Alex Ferguson. “It is a big shock for us all. These are young players that we have great hope for and we have trumpeted them in a loud way. You hope that the young players will look at it and want to improve themselves. Their temperament — against a team who were ready for a cup-tie — was certainly an issue in the first half, so maybe they are not used to that kind of cup-tie football. But we will keep giving youngsters their chances. We have been doing it for years now and these players have to have games.”
“Some people will think we’ve missed our chance,” said a disappointed Gerard Pique. “We know we did a lot of things wrong, but you can always learn from these situations and hopefully we will grow as players.”
Meanwhile, down South, Premier League pace-setters Arsenal scored two late goals to eliminate Newcastle United from the League Cup. Their scorers were Nicklas Bendtner of Denmark and Denilson of Brazil — and yet, surprisingly, Wenger was lauded for apparently developing young players as opposed to, as the Daily Express’ Frank Wiechula described them, the ‘mega-spending’ Manchester United. Wiechula was not alone, but this remarkable conclusion was arrived at despite this being the Arsenal side which played that game : Fabianski, Hoyte, Eboue (Diaby 64), Senderos, Traore, Diarra, Denilson, Song, Walcott, Bendtner, Eduardo (Perez 90). From that selection, only Hoyte could be said to have been a home-grown player. United may have been eliminated but they still fielded Bardsley, Evans, Simpson, Campbell, O’Shea and Eagles, with Wes Brown (then an experienced international, yet still a home-grown player) coming on as sub.
Arsenal had spent £7.5m on Eduardo, £4m on Lassana Diarra and £6m on Bacary Sagna, and yet it seemed Wenger dealt with the praise for resisting spending money in favour of developing young players with a straight face.
“I said that (I wouldn’t spend) because I think I would ruin the work I have done in the last five years developing players,” Wenger said before Arsenal’s game with West Ham. “Then, just in the last minute, you put £30m into a player who is not necessarily better than the players you have, just to keep everybody saying ‘Oh, have you seen Arsenal, they’ve bought a super player’. And, in the end you see he’s not better than the players you have. I just was really convinced that it was not needed. The guy who comes in and feeds money in and takes just the best player who is already the finished article can build a big team like that. But as well you can build a big team in a different way. That means you bring players together, you educate them and give them the culture of the game you want them to play. We went for this second approach. I don’t say it was better but it was suited to our financial potential at the time we decided the policy and to my philosophy. There might come a time when I need to put my hands on it and I say ‘Listen we need to put the money in for one special player who could give us a plus’. But I don’t see this player at the moment anywhere.”
Andy Rose of the Daily Star was keen to agree. “Manchester United had better get used to living in the shadow of Arsenal’s team of wonderkids,” Rose wrote. “United’s second string received a harsh lesson on life at Old Trafford when they were humiliated 2-0 by Coventry in front of 74,000 gobsmacked fans. Just 24 hours earlier, Arsenal’s own young guns had seen off a strong Newcastle side to reach the last 16 of the Carling Cup in style. Flabbergasted United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was spitting feathers, while Gunners rival Arsene Wenger was left to wax lyrical about the young talent at his disposal.”
Of the actual young home-grown players playing in the Arsenal squad that season, only Kieran Gibbs went on to have a first team career at Arsenal or even a top flight career anywhere. Arsenal won at West Ham to maintain their excellent start.
Ferguson’s response to the Coventry defeat was to make several of the players available for loan should offers come in. He was hopeful that the response of his senior team against another Midlands club — Birmingham City, in the Premier League — would be emphatic. On the morning of that game Harry Harris of the Daily Express wrote a column tearing into Wayne Rooney, a player he had written a biography on two years previous.
Wayne Rooney’s as the best young footballer in the world has already been tarnished by his own misfortunes and his own self-indulgence,” Harris wrote. “Lionel Messi has leapt above Rooney as the most spectacular young talent on the planet, with Giovanni Dos Santos, 18, representing the next generation. Both are developing magnificently at Barcelona. Rooney, in contrast, has lost ground, mainly because of a series of metatarsal injures – but there is a concern that he cannot kick his weakness for junk food. As he and United prepare to face Birmingham this evening, there is much to ponder. Now he is a multi-millionaire with all the trappings of early success, manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be the first line of defence in an attempt to reignite that determination to reach the game’s pinnacle. Next up will be England coach Steve McClaren, deprived of Michael Owen and Emile Heskey for the next two Euro 2008 qualifiers. Just when McClaren was talking up his ‘headache’ of trying to find room for Rooney after Owen and Heskey’s success, McClaren is suffering a migraine, with only Rooney left for the October matches against Estonia and Russia. So the question is whether the present-day Rooney is a shadow of the boy who broke on to the scene with that wonder goal for Everton against Arsenal in 2002… It would be a tragedy for English football if, like Paul Gascoigne, Rooney develops an unhealthy liking for kebabs and Big Macs. And then there is the danger of him enjoying the celebrity lifestyle revelled in by David Beckham. Sir Alex finally lost patience with Beckham’s lack of pace and living in the fast lane, but he is not about to jettison Rooney. Still, the power, acceleration and goal hunger that marked the striker’s arrival no longer seems to be there. I wrote his first biography when he was 18 because Rooney had packed so much into his career. So much so that it seems he is a “middle-aged” player when he is a long way from his prime.”
It felt somewhat premature to be so dismissive of the player considering he had played just three games; in one of those, he broke his foot before half-time, and the other two had been his first games back from injury. Still, the question marks would never quite desert Rooney, with his diet and recovery time from injuries always considered black marks against him.
After holding Liverpool to a draw the previous week, Birmingham manager Steve Bruce was confident he could also frustrate his own club. “When I first came were it was a bit of a culture shock… at Manchester there used to be cups of milky coffee, dressing gowns, nice flip-flops and heated floors,” said Bruce. “In my first training session at Birmingham we got changed in a tent. Before training we had to go and get rid of the geese. You can’t chase them because they won’t leave. They are vicious things. They were even worse than Sir Alex because they never surrender. They kept coming back. We had to kick footballs at them. Alex will have his big guns out again but it’s what we wanted to be back in the Premier League for and if we show the same resistance as we did against Liverpool last week we will be OK.”
Ferguson was asked to comment on Arsenal’s form as he took his weekly press conference. “They have started the season well,” he said. “Their form has been very good. They have produced some very good performances. They have laid down the marker – that’s good. It’s going to make it an interesting league. A club like Arsenal make their own expectations irrespective of what other people’s expectations are. Big clubs have to be like that.”
The boss asked how he was feeling about his belief Joe Cole should have been sent off in the previous week’s league game, and he was unchanged in his view. “That was the kind of tackle that can put a player out of the game,” he stressed. “Cristiano gets a lot of kicks on his calves and his Achilles. That was another example against Chelsea of him not getting protection. There is more protection for players in Europe. We have got to protect the players. We have got to try and prevent these incidents happening. Do we have to wait for a serious injury before we act?” The United boss stressed he was satisfied when how his team were doing after a bumpy start. “I think the performance against Chelsea was the right level for us,” he said. “We’re confident we are on the way now. We’ve played three teams this season who have failed to win a corner kick against us. I don’t think any other team in the world could boast that statistic. Yes, we would have liked to have scored more goals but the performance levels have been very good. When you win four games 1-0 it is almost viewed as a condemnation of the history of this club.”
United were relieved to get another 1-0 win at St. Andrews. Before a quarter of the game had passed, Birmingham could have been two up with few complaints from Ferguson. Cameron Jerome forced a smart save from Edwin van der Sar and then Rio Ferdinand was alert to clear off the line from Gary McSheffrey. Midway through the first half, the United ‘keeper went down and needed lengthy treatment for a toe injury. He was brought off at the break for Polish goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak, whose loan move from West From had been made permanent over the summer.
The visitors were lacking in inspiration despite starting with Ronaldo, Giggs, Rooney and Tevez. The breakthrough came in the 51st minute when a long pass in between the space between the Birmingham centre-half and full-back caught out Franck Queudrue, who misjudged the bounce. Cristiano Ronaldo, however, had assessed the situation magnificently, and seized possession of the ball, cut inside and finished past experienced ‘keeper Maik Taylor. The goal inspired further attacks from United, and Ronaldo and Rooney both went close, while Birmingham could have had an equaliser — McSheffrey hit a shot that deflected off the otherwise imperious Ferdinand and had to be smartly saved by United’s substitute goalkeeper.
“Clean sheets are what we are paid for,” said Ferdinand after seeing out the 1-0 win. “They were tough. They tested us all over the park and I thought they defended well. They had us under a lot of pressure and I’ve seen enough there to say that they are definitely strong enough to avoid going down. There’s no better feeling than coming off the park with a win, especially if you have kept a clean sheet in the process. We have the players to unlock any defence. So, if we can keep the opposition out, we always fancy that there’s a time when we will strike. When you have that, it makes you very dangerous and the thing is we can improve. We’re still not playing free-flowing football all the time.”
The United defender was sure that wouldn’t take long to come. “Carlos and Wayne can be a formidable pairing,” he said. “Add Louis and we really have something special. I’m certainly not leaving this club to go anywhere else and play against that lot. That’s not to mention Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Ronaldo!”
Steve Bruce was disappointed that the game had been decided on an error. “I don’t think we’ll ever have a better chance to beat United and in the first half we had to take one of our chances,” he observed. “An individual mistake, a bad mistake cost us the game. It was cruel to lose like that. We deserved something. The goal really knocked us back. We made a horrible mistake and were punished for it. We gave a terrific performance, especially in the first half, but we needed to take one of our chances. No-one gets many chances against United and we managed to carve out four or five. We had some wonderful opportunities and then they made us pay. A draw would have been a great result for us but it was the manner in which we played which was pleasing. Against one of the big, big teams it was as good a performance as we’ve put in.
“He’ll be waiting for me now with his glass of red wine. At the moment United are still getting the results. Sir Alex didn’t deserve one today, but there you go. In the first half, the way we played, but we needed to take one of our chances. To lose and restrict United to so few opportunities – which was excellent – is why I was so disappointed. When United have got what they’ve got, the array of talent, you know it’s only a matter of time because with their movement, their ability, they’re world-class. The one thing you need to win anything is a decent defence. It’s all right having the fantastic players up the pitch, but you still have to have a sound base. Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic play every week and they’re as hard as nails. Wes Brown, too. Doesn’t get recognition? He does from me, plays right-back, centre-back and could walk into any Premier League team. I know he is highly thought of by Sir Alex.”
United manager Ferguson agreed that Bruce’s team deserved something from the match. “I thought in the first half Birmingham were the better team,” he admitted. “It was the hardest game we have had so far this season. They made it very difficult for us but in the second half we had a better threat going forward and we defended much better. Ronaldo showed composure, he’s got the pace to go by people and he took it very well.”
Theoretically, there were few better opportunities for United to rekindle some of that sparkle than against the opponents where they glittered most of all; surely, after Roma had been defeated 7-1 as recently as April, Ferguson expected nothing less than victory?
“I’d settle now for a 1-0 win,” he warned. “Rather than not relishing coming back to Old Trafford after what happened last season, I think they will, because they will want to win this one more than ever. It will be a big, big motivation for them. We will have to keep cool and play our game. If we win, we will be on six points and in a marvellous position. But Roma won’t want a repeat of what happened last season and our 7-1 win then will make it more difficult for us this time, because their players will be revved up.”
One player who had disappointed against Birmingham but had enjoyed a fine start to the season otherwise had been Ryan Giggs and Ferguson confirmed a new contract for the Welshman was on the table; the manager suggested that the new deal should see him break Sir Bobby Charlton’s appearance record for the club. “Ryan is 34 in December and I don’t see any deterioration in him which is amazing. He won’t play in every game but as for Bobby’s record, he’ll do it either this season or next.” Giggs would be on the bench against Roma; Fergie now could boast riches in his attack but had a defensive headache before playing the Italian side. “‘Vidic and Wes Brown are doubts,’’ he said. ‘‘Both of them picked up knocks at Birmingham on Saturday and we’re going to have to wait on them. That would put us under a bit of difficulty. Gerard Pique would come in for Vidic and John O’Shea for Wes.’’
Ferguson was asked how close Owen Hargreaves was to playing; the former Bayern Munich player hadn’t started a game since September 1st. “He trained this morning and it’s a possibility,” said the manager. “European football is a different level, the speed and tactics, but we’ll see tomorrow.’’
Visiting manager Luciano Spalletti said his players needed to remember to be composed and not get caught up in trying to avenge April’s heavy loss. “We can’t respond to last year’s result with feelings of revenge,” he said. “That will affect the way we play. We need to react in the right way if we are going to get anything out of the game.”
In the pre-match press conference, Wayne Rooney spoke of his desire to win in Europe. “I would love to win the Premier League again – but I know one thing, I’m desperate to win the Champions League having got so close last season,” he said. “Obviously, I’d like to win the title again but the Champions League is a massive tournament. We didn’t play the way we can in the semi-final first leg and it cost us in the away leg against AC Milan. Hopefully we can get to the final this year – and win it. We have got that little bit more experience and the players we have brought in will add that extra freshness towards the end of the season, which I think we needed towards the end of last season. That will definitely benefit us.”
Rooney admitted that his start to the season had been difficult but insisted he could come good on his manager’s pre-season prediction that this would be his best year yet, as well as answering those critics who had suggested he and Carlos Tevez would be too similar to play together. “It’s been a disappointing start for myself but I’m happy now to be back,” he said. “I’ve played three games and, hopefully, I can start scoring again. Carlos is a good player. When I play with Carlos it’s a different role for myself. I try and play on the defender’s shoulder a lot more and let him be the link between the midfield and forwards. Of course, I’m happy to do that. Carlos has played well. He’s getting better each game and is good to play with. Towards the end of last season I played a lot on the shoulder and got a few goals from doing that so I’m happy to play that role.”
Ferguson, too, was sure the pair were compatible. “I think the partnership is good,” he said. “We’re using Wayne as a more advanced player and Carlos dropping in because they’ve got that understanding. The important thing is we know that Wayne can penetrate and that Cristiano Ronaldo can penetrate and Carlos, in a different way, can do that job. I’m happy. I don’t think it’s a problem at all. Good players with the ability they have got should gel.”
Likewise, Rooney agreed with his manager’s theory that Roma would be a much tougher opponent this time around. “If I was a Roma player I’d be delighted as soon as I saw the draw,” said the forward. “If I was one of them, I’d love to have an opportunity to try and make it right so soon after. I’d be sitting here rubbing my hands and wouldn’t be able to wait for the game. That’s why we’ll have to be very aware and make sure we concentrate on our jobs the way we know we can. I’m sure they will be fired up for this game more than any other.”
Cristiano Ronaldo revealed that in that 7-1 game, he had been begged to stop attacking. “I hear some comments from opposing players that bring a smile to my face,” Ronaldo said. “It happened during the last United-Roma match when we were already winning 6-0. ‘Don’t do any more dribbling,’ said one of them, almost begging. ‘You are already winning by six!’”
The Daily Star speculated that the identity of that player was Christian Panucci, who had said United generated a ‘totally unjust atmosphere’ after the first leg game in Italy when the Italian riot police attacked United supporters. Sir Alex laughed Panucci’s comments off. “Can we start again and maybe have another 7-1?” he joked. “I can’t believe a player of Panucci’s experience was affected by that because he has played for Real Madrid and AC Milan and Italy. Players like him and Francesco Totti, they are experienced players. But it’s a good story.”
In the end, Vidic made it but Hargreaves didn’t, while Kuszczak kept his place in goal. Ferguson’s prediction was right; this was a far tougher Roma team who did play as if they had something to prove. Their captain Francesco Totti had a lively first half, while Ronaldo and Rooney showed flashes of quality, but nothing quite like the devastating penetration they had displayed in their last meeting. It took patience for just one moment of quality — an approach which had paid dividends for United so far this season — to provide the breakthrough, and it came with around two-thirds of the game gone for not the first time this campaign.
The move, when it came, was perfectly executed, and Nani provided the assist for Rooney; his finish was exceptional. Just before the goal, Ferguson had brought on Carlos Tevez for Louis Saha and after the goal brought off Rooney and Nani, but a nervy end to the game was made that much more uncomfortable when Ferguson’s side were forced to play out with ten men. Mirko Vucinic, the Roma forward, somehow escaped unpunished for his flailing elbow which caught Ronaldo and left him with a nasty cut above the eye. United held on for their sixth 1-0 win of the season; they would win by that same scoreline only six more times for the remainder of the campaign.
“I was relieved. I think it would have been unfair but then football can be unfair,” Ferguson said, referring to Roma’s missed opportunities. “I think we deserved that bit of luck because we played with good control, good football, good tactical awareness, so I was pleased with the performance… it’s been difficult for Wayne because he’s had an injury and he’s just trying to find his true form. It’s only his fourth match back and it is always difficult. But we are beginning to play some better football and find some rhythm and I have no worries about Wayne.”
One thing which had been worrying Ferguson was the treatment of his number seven; this time, however, he kept oddly quiet, when one might have thought he had plenty of ammunition to have had his point well and truly proven. “I haven’t seen the incident on TV but Cristiano thought it was deliberate,” he said. “It’s a shame because, on the whole, it was a game played in great spirit and refereed very well. Both sets of players deserve a tremendous amount of credit.”
Ronaldo was not concerned about the incident and instead looked forward, setting himself a target of beating his previous season’s goal tally of 23. “Twenty-three goals is a lot for a winger,” he admitted. “To score that number made it a special season indeed. But I believe in myself. I feel I can do better, or at least equal what I did last year and I will be trying hard to do exactly that.” Ronaldo paid tribute to his boss. “I am at this club because of Sir Alex Ferguson,” he said. “He is a fantastic coach and a good person. When you do bad things, he still wants to kill you but that is a good thing for a manager. He is the one who gives me the confidence to play. I have enjoyed playing for this club for five years and I want to keep going like that. Sometimes in the past I have thought about other clubs but I took a decision to stay because this is the right place for me. It is not just about the club. It is the people, the players and the supporters. You have everything here. I love playing for this club and I want to stay for many years. I think I’m at the right club with the right people. In the past I thought about other clubs, but my agent and I decided that this is the best place for me to be. No-one knows the future but only when the club says they don’t want me will I leave.”
The winger had emerged as the top talent at the club after years of doubts over his consistency but even his status as the best player in the country did not make him immune to the hairdryer. “If you do bad things the boss will still kill you,” he said. “This is normal because he is a fantastic coach and a warm person, from whom I have learned a lot. It has also helped me to have had experienced players like Giggs and Scholes, who have helped me a lot. When I came here, at 18, I was a bit nervous. When I played my first game, in front of 65,000 people, I was shaking. But that is good. It makes you a better player.
“My dream now is to win the Champions League and I think we have the squad capable of doing that this season. I have never won it. We have the team, the players, so why not this season? It was a big disappointment to lose in the semi-finals to AC Milan last season. That hurt.But when you lose you learn some important things. We are more mature as team now, we know how to win the Champions League this time around.”
On his eye injury, Ronaldo joked: “I don’t want to stay looking like this, but it will only be four of five days and I will be beautiful once again! I don’t care what they do. They will not stop me playing. No, never. My manager does a great job in trying to protect me, now it is up to the rest of the players — my opponents — to listen.”
During his suspension, behind the scenes, Ronaldo had spent a lot of one-on-one time with Rene Meulensteen. They spoke about Ronaldo’s target to be the best player in the world, and to score more goals. A plan was put in action to make the player more effective in front of goal, where his coach spoke about the necessity to stop concentrating on scoring the perfect goal – get yourself in the best position to score as many as you can for the team, and surely the perfect goal will arrive in that number, was the advice. It was to prove the most influential episode of the entire season.
Discounting the game against Coventry, United had kept seven consecutive clean sheets, and Tomasz Kuszczak was confident he could keep that run going, if only he would be given the chance. The Pole had done well against Birmingham and Roma and was expected to keep his place for the visit of Wigan Athletic. “I know I am a good goalkeeper, I just need the opportunity to show it,” he said. “I don’t think about how long I have got. Edwin is injured at the moment, so I have the chance to play in big games and I need to do well. I have been happy with my form and feel I did well in pre-season. I was determined to fight for my place but unfortunately, I started the year on the bench again.”
The League Cup elimination had been tough on Kuszczak, who knew his opportunities otherwise would be few and far between, but he insisted he was always ready. “I enjoy every game at Old Trafford,” he said. “The fans are great and when you have a full stadium, it is dream to play there. But I want to play more. That is why it is important for me to perform in every single game. We are in good shape. We are keeping clean sheets and defending well, which overall is pretty important.”
Centre-half Nemanja Vidic had blossomed in the heart of the defence and felt confident in his developing partnership with Rio Ferdinand. “We have got to know each other’s game very well. We know where each other is, and we know what movements the other one is going to make. There are so many great players up front for us, if we can keep a clean sheet we feel someone will score in the end and I am pretty proud that our defensive record is so good.”
His partner insisted that there had been enough promise in the side’s attacking play to suggest that the goals would follow. “You always like to keep clean sheets but Manchester United is not just about winning games,” Ferdinand said. “We have to entertain the fans. The United supporters pay good money to come here. The whole heritage of Manchester United is based on attacking football and free-flowing football that fans want to watch. We’re aiming to get to that level but at the moment I think we have to take what we’re given. We’ll work harder on the training pitch because we know we have a duty to entertain the fans. Once you have played for Manchester United that is made very plain to you… that fans expect to be on the edge of their seats. We’re trying to do that but it’s taking just a little time for this season to settle down. All of our attacking players have had spells out of the team for one reason or another, so they are not all 100 per cent fit and raring to go. You have seen the forwards playing to only a fraction of what they did last season – but we’re still winning games and that is the most important statistic of all.
“We are not managing to score too many goals. But we’ll keep taking 1-0s because we’re winning just about every week. The team as a whole is defending a lot better this season. We’re defending from further up front which makes it a lot easier for us at the back to do our jobs. There are glimpses that we’re beginning to get it right. Wayne’s goal (against Roma) was a brilliant strike and he is coming back to 100 per cent. It was a fantastic finish and a quick strike which fooled the keeper. The more of those the better, not just for us but for England. A fit and firing Wayne Rooney is a massive bonus and the fact that he is back in the England squad is great news.”
Just as Rooney was recalled, Michael Carrick was out of the England squad after suffering a fractured elbow in the game against Roma; he would be out of action for six weeks, leaving Ferguson short of men to play in the middle of the park. Paul Scholes was fit, but there was still concern over Owen Hargreaves, who had received an injection in his knee in an attempt to cure his ongoing tendinitis issue, while Anderson was recovering from a hamstring injury — and he had not been impressive in his two starts so far. “Anderson missed pre-season training and that makes a difference,” said Sir Alex. “It’s not easy to come into the Premier League and he has been playing catch-up. Nani has adapted quicker, but then he came on the Far East tour with us as part of our pre-season work. But Anderson is progressing well. I thought, along with Gerard Pique, he was our best player against Coventry. It’s true Owen hasn’t played much since breaking his leg, but this one is not a legacy of the break. It was a clean break, and that is not normally a problem. Maybe he was rushed back sooner than normal by Bayern but tendinitis is nothing to do with the broken leg. Some players get it when the hard grounds come along and it can be quite a troublesome injury. It is not career-threatening, or anything like that. But it can be troublesome. What we tried to do was bring him back without the need for an injection. Our policy has always been to avoid that type of treatment as much as we possibly can. We seldom use injections but here it was a necessity – and it was successful. We are confident it will sort it out, almost 100 per cent confident. In fact, it may be less than the four weeks we expected. He should be back in training in about 10 days’ time, which is good news because he has not had the best of luck.”
Louis Saha, another player with regular injury worries, insisted that those concerns were behind him. “I hope I will be starting more games from now on,” he said. “My fitness is getting better with every match, I am working hard and I have just been waiting for my chance.” Saha had been recalled for the France squad but Ferguson urged the national team to be cautious with him. “Although France have recalled him to their squad, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to start with him,” the United boss said. “The national team doctor is the one who operated on him in the summer, so he knows exactly the situation and we expect them to handle him the right way. I thought he was first class against Roma, considering it was his first start since February. We’ve eased him back and what we’ve got to decide now is if he’s ready for his second start.”
Ferguson had decided that Rooney would start against Wigan but left the decision on his partner to a later time. He was quizzed if he had a concern about the string of narrow victories so far. “Yeah, it’s great, we’re getting criticised for winning 1-0,” he said. But, if we win 5-1, you’d be saying that the defence was going to pieces! What’s happening to us at the moment is unusual. Every team that comes up against us now will be waiting for a deluge. They know it’s going to happen. We will score goals. Unfortunately, it hasn’t come as quickly as I would like, but I think we’re playing well enough and making enough chances. I’ve no worries about the goals coming. It is going to happen. You just hope sooner rather than later.”
United lined up with John O’Shea in midfield and Gerard Pique at right back while Tevez was given the nod up front; Saha, as his luck would have it, tweaked his knee in the warm up. The injury woes continued even after kick-off — not even half an hour had been played before O’Shea and Nemanja Vidic both had to be substituted. Vidic was first, suffering concussion in a clash of heads, and came off for Anderson in the 22nd minute, and O’Shea then suffered a thigh injury just before the 30th minute. Young Danny Simpson came on for him. The injuries disrupted United’s flow and it wasn’t until nine minutes after the break that they were able to make the breakthrough. Ferdinand had the ball in the centre of defence and the Old Trafford crowd could be heard to voice their frustration as he looked for the right pass. The defender played it to Rooney, whose first time pass was fired into the path of Anderson in the middle of the park. The Brazilian midfielder had time to measure his own first time pass, and he played it beautifully into the path of Carlos Tevez.
At first it seemed like Tevez had given himself too much to do and allowed two Wigan defenders to get around him, but the forward showed tremendous ability to not only pull the ball back, outfoxing both of the Latics defenders, but also to move around goalkeeper Chris Kirkland. Three more Wigan players had made their way back to try and get between Tevez and the goal, but the Argentinian displayed fine composure to put the ball into the goal. It was not just a goal which provided relief for the breakthrough it made in this game, but it was a goal of such quality that it vindicated those opinions that something special was coming.
Four minutes later and it was two — Giggs played a short corner to Rooney and received the ball back. His cross-shot caught Kirkland by surprise, and the ‘keeper was only able to palm it into the path of Ronaldo, who headed in at the far post. He celebrated by racing off and pointing to the bruised eye which had been cut against Roma. With quarter of an hour to go, Ronaldo was on the scoresheet again. Anderson won the ball on the half way line and quickly fed it to the advancing Pique. The Spaniard had played brilliantly and added some gloss to his performance was a fantastic pass to Rooney down the left. Rooney timed his cross along the floor perfectly, and Ronaldo was there to convert from ten yards. It was the type of goal which was thrilling in its simplicity.
United were goal-hungry and were pulling out all the tricks, but there was nothing fancy about the fourth goal; Paul Scholes played a great pass to Danny Simpson, who had bombed down the right. The youngster timed his cross brilliantly and Wayne Rooney’s header was its equal in quality.
The comprehensive nature of the 4-0 win was enough to compensate for the injury problems United had picked up.
Ferguson said afterwards: “We have ended up with 12 players out. The injuries to Saha, Vidic and O’Shea upset our rhythm and didn’t make it easy for us. It’s coming together – some of our inter-play was excellent. It’s great to be among the goals again – that was our best scoring form of the season. But being top pleases me most and you have to play well to get there. But what was significant was the performances of the players who came in. Simpson, Anderson and Pique were outstanding. If we are to win something it will be by using the whole squad. And I am confident with the squad I have got here – the ones who stepped in showed why. I’m proud of them.”
Wigan boss Chris Hutchings had lost 6-0 here on his sole previous visit as a manager, with Bradford City, and admitted his present team were fortunate to have not lost by the same score. “United raised the tempo and to be honest they could have scored more,” he said. “We lost our shape and they have quality players to expose that. Some teams could easily end up losing 7-0 here when United are in that mood.”
Ryan Giggs — who had hit the angle of post and bar before Tevez opened the scoring — was pleased to see three different names on the scoresheet. “We know there’s goals within this team, goals from everywhere,” he said.
Carlos Tevez was awarded the man of the match and Ferguson received the bottle of champagne on his behalf. “I’ll give it to him with great pleasure,” the manager said. “When he had his chance for our first goal he kept his head and more importantly he kept his nerve. I was very pleased with the football in the second half. We speeded the game up in the second half, the flow of the game was much better. Considering all the things that happened I think we’ve done fantastically well.”
Ferguson hoped that he would be able to count on Gary Neville’s return to help the defensive crisis which had presented itself. “We are hoping to use Gary against Liverpool reserves this week,” he said. “That’s the plan. He’s getting better and he is improving all the time. He’s over his last injury and he has been training now for over two weeks and he is at a good level. Because he has been out for so long, he needs games now and hopefully he can start on Thursday. It will be a good introduction for him game-wise.” Unfortunately Neville didn’t make it; it would be almost another month before he was able to make an appearance for the reserves, turning out against Stockport County in the Manchester Senior Cup, and it was obvious he was still struggling. Meanwhile, the casualties from the Wigan game, Vidic, O’Shea and Saha, were all permitted to join up with their respective national teams.
It was a little frustrating that, now United had rediscovered their goalscoring touch, the international break was upon them. One team even more confident than Ferguson’s was Arsenal, who led the Red Devils by two points and had a game in hand.
Their last game before the break had been a home match against Sunderland, where they had surrendered a two goal lead, and still scored late on through Robin van Persie to maintain their unbeaten start. It gave the Gunners their tenth win in a row, a feat that even their 2003/04 side hadn’t managed, and their defender Kolo Toure believed his team could win every game they played. “When we go out on the pitch we believe we will win,” he said. “When you’re winning games you sometimes have that kind of feeling. You think you’re going to win. You think the win will come along and that’s what happened to us and we are really happy with that. We always go on and get the winner at the moment. Things have been right for us because every time we need to come back and win we do it and we ought to keep going. We have the mental strength this season to go and get a win and not a draw. And that’s the big difference because last season, when we were 1-0 down or the other team was playing better, it was difficult for us to come back. But at the moment we’re working well on it and playing well and are patient and when we have the chance to score we do it. For the moment we can’t talk about the title. We just have to focus on doing well and playing well, enjoying it and making our fans happy. At the end we will see how far we will go. I think it’s really important for the team to keep on winning because, when it’s like that, the confidence goes higher and higher.”
The international break was a disaster for England, and it promised so much. Wayne Rooney scored a spectacular goal against Russia to answer critics of himself but Steven Gerrard missed a golden opportunity; their opponents turned the game around to win 2-1 in the Luzhniki Stadium, giving the advantage to the Russians in the race to qualify for the European Championships. The under-fire Steve McClaren now knew that even victory in their final qualifier against Croatia would not guarantee qualification.
Sir Alex Ferguson had sympathy for his former assistant. “It is the nature of the business of being the manager of England that you are going to get crucified, whatever happens,” he said. “I sat watching that game thinking there was no way that team was going to lose. But football has a nasty habit of biting you.”
As understanding as he was, the United boss was keen to stress that his players needed to get it out of their system. “I haven’t spoken to them about it because we have enough on our plate getting ready for Villa,” said Ferguson. “The great thing about being a footballer is you always have the next game to put it right. That’s the beauty of it, you quickly get the chance to rectify what happened. England, Scotland and the Republic all had bad results and the players have to deal with it.“They are grown men. Big men. Hopefully, they will kick on with our business at Villa.”
