If you have been a faithful reader of 11Reds you might have chanced upon an article earlier in the season that proclaimed the title-winning credentials of the current United side. That article was written by none other than yours truly. Those were the times of an air of expectation backed by the unquestioned prodigiousness of the unmatchable Sir Alex. If he says we can do it, then we can do it. As simple as that. The loss of Ronaldo (and to a lesser extent Carlos Tevez) seemed like minor obstacles to the inevitable attainment of #19. We had Rooney who would assume Ronaldo’s mantle. Nani would finally assume his rightful place on the wings. Berbatov would finally reproduce the kind of form that forced us to pay the kind of money that we did. The United defence would remain as unbreakable as ever. Owen Hargreaves would be back. The youngsters would finally start blossoming in the same way as the original Fergie’s Fledglings had done (a Fergie’s Fledglings 2.0 so to speak). Here we are at the mid-way point of what was supposed to be a memorable journey and what do we see? Each and every thing that was supposed to be has turned out to be a failed promise. With my heart drowned in pain and my mind clouded by doubts, I have been forced to turn back on the road of optimism and I can now freely admit that this season, we would not be winning anything.

Since this is officially a match review and not a rant, I am to provide bits and pieces about the game itself. After the painful defeat to Leeds, United fans were expecting a tonic that would rid us of the disillusionment that has been slowly creeping up over Old Trafford. Sadly a tonic was not forthcoming. On the contrary, all our wounds were dug open by a performance that was so devoid of quality that it made me sad. Don’t get me wrong, we were trying our level best in the first half. We were bubbling all over the pitch, we were hogging possession, we were hustling the Brum players whenever they were on the ball. The only thing lacking was quality. Quality with a capital Q. There were no outrageous pieces of skill, no breathtaking passes, nothing that could scare the opposition. It was the kind of performance that is the hallmark of mid-table teams. All perseverance but no quality. It was painful to watch.

But still, considering that this season has been a little weird, a draw away to Birmingham was a good enough result. Patrice Evra was bright as usual. Kuszczak made some good saves. Valencia was an asset in both attack and defence. The rest were all trying their level best. But the thing is: that best isn’t proving to be good enough. Wayne Rooney is supposed to be our saviour this season but with the kind of passing and finishing that he is exhibiting off late, there is no way he is going to win us a title this season. Fergie’s tactics are not helping him either. Why is it that we are afraid of fielding an attacking line-up these days? Can’t we at least field a proper 4-4-2 and have a go at teams? Isn’t going all out into attack the United way of doing things? Why is it that after scoring a European hat-trick, Michael Owen hasn’t got another game to prove his worth? Why are Paul Scholes and Gary Neville continually played when it is painfully clear to even the most faithful that they have out-lived their usefulness? Why is Park preferred to Obertan and Giggs when all he does on the pitch is scurry around and fall over when touched by the wind? These are some of the many questions plaguing my mind for a while. Maybe Sir Alex has his answers to all these but since he will not come out and explain himself, I will have to address this frustration myself.

Eternal optimists will point out to the fact that we are still within a shout of winning the league. We are alive and kicking in both the Champions League and the League Cup. We have some of our best players on the treatment table who will add steel to the side once they are back. We have been historically stronger in the second half of the season and will only get better. But optimism has its limits. How long can we go on ignoring the unattractiveness of our play this season? There used to be a time when watching United was a treat. Now it is like spending two hours in an iron maiden. Elementary skills like passing and heading seem to have gone out of our players.

The question is what next? We can stick with this current bunch of players and believe that this, as Sir Alex puts it, is the best squad that we have ever seen at United. Or we can look to buy some new players in the January market and hope that they spark us into life. I don’t know about you but I would certainly prefer the latter option. That is, if we have money of course (which may be we don’t). If we don’t buy any new players then I believe that for the first time in his career, Sir Alex would inflict a kind of regression on Manchester United. Stop blaming the referees. Stop being defensive in your approach. Stop bull-shitting us with the ‘there is no value in the transfer market’ crap. Stop defending the Glazers. Get rid of Mike Phelan. Bring back the old fiery Scot. Bring back the man who gave us the ‘hair-dryer’. Otherwise it is going to be a rough 4-5 months for us.

Tagged as: Birmingham City, Sir Alex Ferguson