Dear Sir Alex,
First of all, I am a big, big fan of yours. So much so that even if you direct me to kiss your feet, I would do it without any qualms. For years I have seen you build one unconquerable United side after another. I have seen you make astute buys, change games with a few choice words, make inspired substitutions and frustrate opposing managers with some impressive mind-games. However, this letter has not been written to worship your godliness, I bet you get loads of them everyday. This is about yesterday. After watching my beloved United go down meekly to Liverpool of all teams, I was left devastated. More importantly, I was left searching for answers. And who better to give me those than the one who holds all the cards?
Now, I understand that one single loss does not make or break a season. In fact, it is not the loss that has been gnawing away at my heart. It is the limp nature of our performance that has got me upset. There are two plausible explanations for this insipidity: one, we were not motivated enough or two, we were not good enough. It is hard to imagine that our players were not up for it especially as these are players who have an unflinching winning mentality coursing through them and who would not have forgotten the twin losses to Liverpool last season. It is just that we were simply not good enough. If I may dare to suggest so, I believe that your team selection yesterday was a bit, ahem, screwed up. It was common knowledge till yesterday that Liverpool were a team in crisis. A result was a necessity for them. It was obvious that the Liverpool players would be willing to give their all. To counter their effervescence, we needed to have some energy of our own. However, by placing Carrick and an ageing Scholes in the center of midfield against a bristling trio of Lucas, Mascherano and Benayoun, don’t you think that you played right into Liverpool’s hands? Surely, playing Ando would have been better, no? Also, fielding Giggs against one of the fastest right-backs in the league in Glenn Johnson was a move that defied logic, yet you gambled on it. Berbatov is no runner either which left a half-fit Rooney and a rapidly improving Valencia (nice buy this, hats off to you!) to do a lot of running against a charged up Liverpool. With no movement around him, Berba struggled and with his fitness and game-sharpness failing him, Rooney struggled too. I for one think that a Berba-Owen partnership would have been better, but obviously you know better. With our attack nowhere near as good it was up to our defence to bail us out. Sadly, there were a number of deficiencies there too.
Let me ask you a question before it slips out of my mind. Why oh why do you keep ignoring Wesley Brown and giving chances to O’Shea when clearly Wes is by far the better right-back? There must be some concrete reason behind it because it just doesn’t make sense. For all his versatility, O’Shea can be a liability at times and his creative output in the attacking third is close to zero. He is a tremendous squad asset but not a great football player. Also, what has happened to Rio’s pace these days? Swept away by Bellamy first and Torres now. Clearly his back problem has slowed him down and if that is the case, it is time to give Evans a more solid run-out now (consistently I mean). I have no problems with Evra or VDS. Top, top players who never disappoint. Speaking of disappointment, how long do you mean to stick with Nani? I mean it seems like years since the ‘give him time and he will grow into a Ronaldo’ theme was set into motion and even now there has hardly been an improvement.
When Ronaldo was off-loaded in the summer and when no big-name player was brought in to replace him, I was one of those who never failed to support your case. ‘If Sir Alex says we don’t need anyone then we don’t need anyone’ was what I used to say. But after the medium-level fare that has been served to me this season, doubts have started creeping up. Forgive me for being a little spoilt but after having seen United sides tearing through oppositions and producing memorable displays of attacking football, this laboured United side is a little hard to take. I am not sure whether you will buy in the winter or not, but if you were to take my word a little loosening of the purse-strings would be in order.
If this outburst was on the vitriolic side or if I insulted your honour in any way, I would like to apologize. But surely you can understand the frustration and the disappointment that has fueled this letter. We can’t keep making the referee a scapegoat after every dismal performance (even though Mr. Marriner was the biggest piece of shit I have ever seen in my life). The answers will surely come from within and it is up to you to find them out.
Sincerely yours
Professorkaka
A Manchester United fan
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
For me, the result was harder to take as a Scouse-hater than as a United supporter. I still believe we will go on to win the league, but a defeat yesterday would have sent the Scousers’ hopes of silverware up in flames and would probably have cost Rafa his job.
On the brighter side, this way, the Kop will have to put up with the Fat Spanish Waiter a while longer.
When Ronaldo was off-loaded in the summer and when no big-name player was brought in to replace him, I was one of those who never failed to support your case. ‘If Sir Alex says we don’t need anyone then we don’t need anyone’ was what I used to say.
That’s a good lesson learned. Trust in Ferguson is perfectly ok because he’s earned a credit of trust with his achievements. But never let trust insult your own instincts and intelligence. I was of the opinion at the start that we were always a good, dominant central midfield short. I saw it against Burnley. And I saw it even in matches we sneaked in with a win. Our squad has enormous will power which continues to carry us through most adversity. We may still win the title, but that shouldn’t disguise the fact that our squad lacks a spark. We could carry on winning in a dull fashion, and make the time tested argument about “results vs staying true to our philosophy of playing attacking football” Making the argument for the latter will bring a lot of stick from the “keep faith in the club/manager at all costs” brigade. But if that’s what you honestly think then it’s your opinion and right to express it.
I guess I rambled on here, so I’ll get back to my point: our squad has deficiencies at the moment — we’re resting our hopes on the likes of Hargreaves and Brown for instance and that’s never a good thing. Ferguson still has enough in the tank for us to be in the race till the very end. Whether we’ll win the title or not, is upto how good we begin to gel together as a unit and expecting a whole lot of parameters to come good at the same time. Whether we succeed or not, it doesn’t mask the fact that we have holes in the side.
@RedRanter
I am all very confused right now to be honest. My mind tells me that Fergie is screwing up and my heart keeps telling me to keep faith. It is becoming harder and harder to adjust myself to the fact that United are not producing the kind of football we have come to expect from them. But as long as the results are coming….
You are very right about the will power thing. Our squad definitely wins over all others in this regard. A similar squad under the tutelage of anyone else other than Fergie would have imploded at some point or the other. But Fergie will see to it that at worst, we finish 3rd. However, the point is, why work with an inferior squad when you have the capability to manufacture a better one? If the Glazers are to blame then why not tell it to the whole world so that we can attack their regime in an uninhibited manner?
Forgive me for the bitterness but it is a defeat at the hands of Liverpool we are talking about. It will take me some time to get over it I assure you.