Something about Going for Five

Written on 3/02/2009 10:25:00 pm by sikapitan

Manchester United has just added another trophy this season with last night’s League Cup victory over Tottenham Hotspur. That’s two already, with the World Club Cup already won before the beginning of this year.

In fact, after a slow start to the season, the World Club Cup, instead of being a distraction many predicted it would be, has become the catalyst to an impressive run which saw United now poised to further progress in the Champions League and FA Cup while still maintaining a healthy lead over Liverpool and Chelsea in the BPL.

7 points ahead with one game in hand for a team that has lost only twice the whole season is a comfortable lead that seems insurmountable, as admitted by Rafa “Cracking Up” Benitez recently.

In other words, today’s generation of Man United fans may well remember this season as the “Golden Age” of domination where United is finally able to marry its attacking philosophy with the pragmatism that has become a staple of modern football.

However, in my opinion, this has not been a vintage season by United’s standard. United have been more effective than enthralling, more patient than gung-ho, and frankly, more boring than entertaining.

If we were Chelsea, I wouldn’t have minded grinding out results week in week out. But this is United, where we live and breathe fast-paced high-energy attacking football. It’s in our culture to think that we don’t mind conceding 2 goals because we definitely will score 3 or 4 in reply.
I guess it’s another sign of compromise. Even Ferraris now comes in automatic.

Truly Cracked Up

I’m surrounded by Liverpool fans. It must have hurt them to see me season after season smiling. I don’t wish to rub it in but the truth of the matter is, Liverpool has lost the plot.
As a friend pointed out early this season, don’t worry about Liverpool under Rafa – he’s bound to mess things up. And mess things up he did. Frankly, they’ve conspired to turn an interesting season into a boring one.

I wanted a title fight, and while it’s still too early, it seems like Liverpool is just about ready to get KO’d before Man U even broke sweat. My friends (of Liverpool faith), I implore you to hate Rafa Benitez immensely as he is the sole reason you’ve turned from Champions-elect to potentially scraping for Champions League placing.

Some may reminisce about the Champions League he won (fortuitously, IMHO), BUT the truth of the matter is Liverpool has not won the BPL since its inception! And in Rafa Benitez, they have a manager unsuited to the needs of the English game and most importantly, arrogant enough not to accept he is wrong.

He is the only manager I know who hates his strikers from scoring too many goals. He buys defenders like we shop at Giant – buy in bulk, and hope there’s a bargain in there. He re-shuffles his team to defend against, hold your breath, the great Stewart Downing! Finally, he will never ever admit he’s crazy when every Brit reporter has termed him as “manic”.

I am a romantic when it comes to Football. I prefer Liverpool fans to Chelsea fans any time of the day as I believe we are intrinsically linked in the great tradition of English football. That’s why I will always root for Everton and not Manchester City, West Ham and not Portsmouth.

That is why I feel that the biggest challenge to Man United should come from Liverpool. I would love it if Liverpool could give a fight till the end. I want to win, sure, but I want to win it in style, and it’s only in style if we beat a fighting Liverpool.

But as long as Rafa Benitez is in charge of the club, despite his great Cup records, we will continue seeing the likes of Lucas, El Zhar and the atrocious Ryan Babel. And with these names and the other sorry misfits he has acquired (Robbie Keane was smart to move), I don’t think we’ll get that fight.

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