Manchester United’s haul of silverware under Alex Ferguson over the years has overwhelmingly rested on their attacking flair and the ability to outgun even the strongest rivals in high-scoring encounters.
This season, they have overcome a shaky and injury-plagued start on the back of seven straight wins in the Premier League and the Champions League by keeping a clean sheet in each of them.
With Wayne Rooney still looking for his best form and new signings Carlos Tevez, Nani and Anderson adapting to the torrid exertions of the Premier League, United have relied on rock-solid defending to get their season on track.
Six uncharacteristic 1-0 wins and the 2-0 defeat of troubled Chelsea revealed a new layer of steel in a back four led by Rio Ferdinand and reinforced with the arrival of Serbia’s Nemanja Vidic in January 2006.
After demonstrating his no-nonsense approach and the ability to score from set pieces at Red Star Belgrade and Spartak Moscow, Vidic became a key factor in United’s success last season, just as he had predicted when I spoke to him during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
“It’s time we brought the title back to Old Trafford and I believe we will,” he said when I asked him if he thought United had it in them to dethrone Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
But is the new accent on defence really the sign of a change in strategy for Ferguson? Or is it just a case of the backline coming to the rescue while the forwards struggle for form?
Red Ranter certainly expects a return to last season’s service sooner rather than later. This was his view after the win over Roma:
“On the whole, the team has been found wanting going forward, but - forgive the cliche - the performances are getting more assured. Hopefully we’ll manage to spank Wigan this weekend and set things right.”
Is that all United need – a comprehensive victory to clear the cobwebs, and back to 4-2 victories? Or should we get used to chants of “Boring, boring United”?
Zoran Milosavljevic, Belgrade
PHOTO: Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand (L) challenges AS Roma’s Francesco Totti for the ball during their Champions League match, October 2, 2007. REUTERS/Phil Noble
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an ardent fan of manchester over the years but none comes boring as this one but one thing for a fact is the quality that this team posseses , probably thats why many have rushed to criticize the current oner nil that the red dsevils have come to accustome with but just before we agree more on the boring nature of man uinited this term afew facts need to be put straight , first united never had a pre season that ypou would write any thing about. the far east trip was more of a commercial antic than anything else, so coming from such lurkluster preaseason and expect united to hit the ground running is asking a little bit more. then united in anderson nani and hagreaves have aquired three exciting players that any coach would be tempted to throw into thick of things , note that the the flair of bayern munich sporting lisbon n or porto has never been the united tactical way in essence it will take time before even tevez who has already spent a good time in the premier league to understand the united way of play. fact also is thgat it wont take long before this young lads gel with ronaldo rooney and the tried tested and trusted backline of vidic and the ever cool rio to form an astonishing formidable team that will continue last xseason ropute of teams in the league . ya right yopu saw it coming wigan was just a reminder of what an attacking united can achieved anderson was spot on with his paaases so was ronaldo with his cool finish i havent talked about evras capability.
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