Left field

Has Alex Ferguson lost his edge?

If it was a last-gasp attempt by the wily and trophy-laden 70-year old Scot to outfox his Italian counterpart Roberto Mancini, it backfired spectacularly as United were second best throughout the contest and were lucky not to have lost by a bigger margin.

Still refusing to accept that his team are in the driving seat to win the title after overhauling an eight-point deficit to go top on goal difference with two games left, Mancini appears to have unnerved Ferguson with his pre-game rhetoric just as he emphatically won their tactical battle on the pitch.

For all their class and brilliance, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs looked every bit their age against a robust and relentless City midfield, marshalled by Yaya Toure who trampled United’s veterans with imposing ease.

Fielding the ineffective Park Ji-Sung as an additional ball-winner alongside Michael Carrick left Wayne Rooney a lonesome figure up front, with Nani reduced to chasing shadows after the supply routes were cut off.

Should United lose the title in the home straight, Ferguson might be left wondering whether he would have been better off starting with Danny Welbeck and either Antonio Valencia or Ashley Young, as that would have forced United to adopt their usual adventurous strategy even if it meant taking more risks.

United’s performance and formation bore a striking resemblance to the one that tamely lost to Barcelona 2-0 in the 2009 Champions League final, after which Cristiano Ronaldo openly criticised Ferguson’s big-game tactics in Europe and left for Real Madrid after six years at Old Trafford.

Although United retained their Premier League title that year and won another one last season, their 3-1 defeat by Barca in the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley again exposed chinks in the armour which Ferguson has been unable to plaster.

City v United is fitting climax to Premier League title race

Three weeks ago it seemed the Manchester derby would be little more than a dead rubber after City’s 1-0 defeat at Arsenal left champions United eight points clear at the top, in a commanding position to clinch their 20th league title and their fifth in the last six seasons.

But a rollercoaster Premier League title race produced yet another twist after United’s 1-0 loss at lowly Wigan, followed by a rip-roaring 4-4 home draw with Everton in which they threw away a two-goal lead late in the game, let City back into the title race after they had squandered a seven-point lead over United with their own dip in form.

Fans who will cram into City’s stadium on Monday and millions watching the showdown on television throughout the world could not have asked for a more thrilling finale, with local pride and bragging rights as well as the league title at stake.

United are three points clear of City with three games left. They will be almost assured of retaining their crown with a win and a draw would also leave them in the driving seat. City, on the other hand, will go top on goal difference if they win and that outcome would perhaps force their shrewd manager Roberto Mancini to concede the title race was wide open.

Since United went eight points clear, Mancini has repeatedly stated that City’s title challenge was over and refused to make a U-turn even after his team closed the gap to three points.

A master in tactics, motivation and beating his rivals to the finish line, Ferguson appears to have finally met his match in mind games as the pressure, for once, seems to have rattled his team and not the opposition.

Aguero adds name to football’s stupid injuries list

We don’t actually know what Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has done after manager Roberto Mancini refused to go into details about what his “stupid” injury was. All he did say was that the injury was not the Argentine’s fault.

Here is a list of 10 injury classics.

Santiago Canizares – the Spain goalkeeper missed the 2002 World Cup after shattering an aftershave bottle and a piece cut his foot

Dave Beasant – in similar fashion, the English goalkeeper dropped a salad cream bottle on his foot and severed a tendon

David James – a third goalkeeper. I see a theme here. The former Liverpool shot stopper hurt himself stretching for the TV remote control, like many other players. He also once blamed playing a computer console too much for a lack of concentration.

David Batty – Another Englishman, another mishap. This time his child ran over his foot with a tricycle.

Kirk Broadfoot – The Rangers player burned his face when a poached egg exploded.

English plight in Europe is no fluke

Anyone who might have assumed the deteriorating form of English clubs in Europe since Manchester United won the 2008 Champions League resulted from a convergence of misfortunate circumstances such as tough draws or mounting injuries to key players has been emphatically refuted.

Come Thursday, the Premier League might be left without a single club to represent it in either the Champions League or the less fancied Europa League, where Manchester rivals City and United were not just beaten but also played off the park last week by rivals many of their fans will have considered second-class opposition.

Especially unimpressive were Manchester United, who can consider themselves lucky to be taking only a 3-2 deficit to their return leg clash at Spanish side Athletic Bilbao, whose fans did all the singing at Old Trafford as the Basque outfit outplayed the English champions on their own turf like no other team in recent history.

“We were well beaten and they were the better team,” said United manager Alex Ferguson after their Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea produced a stellar performance to give his team a glimmer of hope they can overturn the tie in the cauldron of Bilbao’s San Mames stadium.

I can’t remember Ferguson heaping so much praise on any European opposition that visited Old Trafford in the last two decades, including the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Bayern Munich.

Like United, stuttering Chelsea and their caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo also face a daunting task of overturning a 3-1 first leg deficit in their Champions League last-16 clash with Napoli, who geared up for the trip to Stamford  Bridge with a 6-3 rout of Italian Serie A rivals Cagliari on Friday.

Premier League leaders Manchester City are in the best position of the three to progress as they have only a 1-0 deficit against Sporting Lisbon to overcome at their stadium. But an away goal for the visitors – who are fourth in the Portuguese first division with only a theoretical chance of winning the title - could mean more European disappointment for City, whose Champions League debut ended in a group stage exit at the hands of Bayern and Napoli.

And Porto will play…..Europa League draw provides some stardust

There was the usual hushed silence and then sudden intake of breath heard in Nyon on Friday, though not for the Champions League Round of 16 draw but the first two ties of the Europa League Round of 32.

Holders Porto will play mega-rich Manchester City, they were the first two names out of the little plastic balls when UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino was finally able to open the second after Davor Suker had tried and failed, and Ajax Amsterdam will take on Manchester United.

So what about the Champions League draw? Well, here it is in full:

Olympique Lyon v APOEL Nicosia

Napoli v Chelsea

AC Milan v Arsenal

Basel v Bayern Munich

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

Have City knocked United off their perch?

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini was quick to say that his team’s 6-1 mauling of arch-rivals United meant little more than another three points in the bag, but the Italian must surely be hoping it could signal a shift in the balance of power.

Having knocked Liverpool off their perch when they won a record 19th league title last season, United now face the prospect of playing second fiddle to City in England and Manchester, should their heaviest defeat to their neighbours in 56 years prove to be more than just a temporary setback.

Ferguson and several pundits wasted no time in pointing out United were undone after central defender Jonny Evans was sent off for a professional foul early in the second half.

But City were already on top at that point and earned their extra man on the pitch by carving United open with a defence-splitting pass -- which left Evans only with the alternative of letting Mario Balotelli run through on goal.

Fielding his unpredictable compatriot Balotelli instead of Edin Dzeko up front turned out to be a masterstroke by Mancini, much like his entire strategy which worked to devastating effect.

Any hopes of a trademark United comeback when Darren Fletcher made it 3-1 vanished after late substitute Dzeko scored a brace to throw the blue half of Manchester into raptures, prompting Ferguson to adopt an unfamiliar line in his post-match reactions.

“We just kept attacking. It’s alright playing with the history books but common sense has to come in at times. With the experience we had at the back, we should have realised that and settled for what we had when it went to 4-1,” Ferguson told the club’s official website (www.manutd.com).

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

Can’t win with kids? United just did.

“You can’t win anything with kids,” said former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen of Manchester United’s young team in 1995. Alex Ferguson’s troops went on to win the Premier League that season in 1996.

Are we about to see a similar outcome in the 2011/12 season after Ferguson hauled off the experienced trio of Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Michael Carrick with United 2-0 down to rivals Manchester City before they staged a second-half comeback to win the Community Shield 3-2 on Sunday?

Centre backs Phil Jones and Jonny Evans coped well with City’s vast array of attacking talent, while Carrick’s replacement Tom Cleverley was pivotal in the move that led to Nani’s sublime equaliser, pinging passes with Wayne Rooney around the box.

Rooney even called them “young”, the England man himself only 25.

Another youngster is new keeper David de Gea, who was far from convincing in the first half but saved smartly from David Silva in the second period and will need some time to convince any early doubters that he is the man to fill the boots of Edwin van der Sar.

The Premier League season is now just a week away, and while Ferguson has been quick to point out the limited significance of any pre-season matches he will be quietly confident after another typical United comeback.

Picture: Manchester United's Chris Smalling (L) celebrates scoring with Tom Cleverley during their FA Community Shield soccer match against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in London August 7, 2011. REUTERS/Toby Melville

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

What next for pampered players — overcoats?

I blame the late, great Keith Weller of Leicester City.

He started the trend for "cold-weather clothing" when he pulled on a pair of white tights one winter's day in the 1970s.

He did not know it at the time, but that began the wimpish drift towards gloves, hats and now the ridiculous snoods, or neck warmers, being worn by the likes of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, and most fetchingly, Marouane Chamakh of Arsenal in the last few weeks.

At this rate, with winter now drawing in, they will be turning up and playing in overcoats by Christmas.

Things have deteriorated a long way since Weller's heyday.

Players have been wearing gloves for years -- some, bizarrely with short-sleeved shirts.

But the snood takes matters down to a whole new level. Tevez began the recent trend for them with a kind of roll-neck number while his Manchester City team mate Adebayor looks as if he is going out for a cross-country skiing expedition across the frozen tundra rather running out for a football match in Manchester.

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

Will Rooney’s departure signal United’s decline?

Wayne Rooney's demand for a move away from Manchester United has stunned manager Alex Ferguson, especially given the striker's poor form and support the club have given him through personal problems.

After winning three successive Premier League titles with United and the 2008 Champions League, Rooney enjoyed his best personal season with the club in 2009-10 -- when his impressive tally of 34 goals in all competitions was only enough to bring  the League Cup to Old Trafford.

The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and Carlos Tevez to Manchester City last year had left Rooney with a punishing workload up front, which he carried with some aplomb

But if Rooney leaves, who will take the mantle of being the pack leader in a team devoid of other big names?

Rio Ferdinand's best days are behind the central defender, Portugal winger Nani has only just started repaying Ferguson's faith while striker Dimitar Berbatov blows hot and cold.   Also, the debt-ridden club no longer appears to have the financial muscle to sign some of the game's top performers, who are attracted to the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and United's arch-rivals City.   Having enjoyed unprecedented success with United in his 24 years in charge, Ferguson will be forced to rebuild a title-winning side from almost scratch if Rooney goes and he will have to do so in the latter stages of his managerial career.   But Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy were all shown the exit door after clashing with the Scot, who nevertheless always managed to instill renewed vigour in the side he has coached since 1986.   A similar task looks much more difficult this time.

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

So much for long-term projects at Manchester City

Manchester City's chief executive Garry Cook has made an impassioned defence of the reasons for Mark Hughes' sacking.

The feeling persists, however, that Hughes was harshly treated by the club.

Cook states that he and the club's owners gave Hughes all the resources that he needed to achieve the target of 70 points for the season. The one resource Hughes did not get was time. Had just two of the almost freakish seven successive draws been turned into victories, City would have been in an extremely strong position in the race for a top-four spot.

Even as it stands, they are well-placed in sixth place with 29 points from 17 games, just six points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa with a game in hand. Cook's statement that the trajectory of recent events gave no evidence to suggest City could reach 70 points is a curious basis on which to sack a manager.

Hughes was asked to put together a team that could threaten the established top four. City beat Chelsea and Arsenal, drew with Liverpool and lost to Manchester United to a goal deep in stoppage time. The only other league defeat was away to Tottenham Hotspur.

City have two very winnable looking games over Christmas. Had Hughes remained in his job and won those, it would have been very hard to justify sacking him, especially with a League Cup semi-final against Manchester United looming.

It all smacks of panic by owners who talked a good game about "long-term projects" but in reality got spooked when some of the league's more humble clubs refused to roll over and surrender.