Manchester United - Midseason report
Thursday, 17 Jan 2008 12:47
A look back over the first half of the 2007/08 season, and a look forward to what is still to come.
The season so far
The start of Manchester United's defence of the Premier League title this season was a decidedly shaky affair.
After early draws against Reading and Portsmouth, an ominous loss to Manchester City followed and there were suggestions that the team were a long way off the form required as title holders and that it would be the young pretenders of Arsenal, or finally Liverpool once more, who would claim the biggest prize in British football.
However, once Cristiano Ronaldo returned from a three-game suspension, Wayne Rooney overcame an injury and Carlos Tevez began to find his feet at Old Trafford, it became apparent that United were in fact even more deadly in front of goal this time around - brimming with confidence and a definite force to be reckoned with.
In terms of the low points, there have been three defeats in the league, to City, as mentioned, Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.
A poor performance by a second-string XI also resulted in defeat and elimination from the Carling Cup by Coventry City, although the defeat to the neighbours and the infamous Christmas party stand out as the main lows.
Onwards and upwards though, United are still going strong in the three competitions that count.
They currently sit top of the league, are through to the fourth round of the FA Cup after dismissing Aston Villa and are drawn to play French champions Lyon in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
High points of the season so far include the sparkling form of Ronaldo, the 6-0 trouncing of hapless Newcastle United and the 2-0 defeat of Chelsea in the game immediately after the Special One departed. Nothing, though, beats defeating the old enemy in their back yard, which means the 1-0 defeat of Liverpool at Anfield stands alone as a high point.
The new signings
Sir Alex Ferguson's first two summer signings came completely out of the blue and caught everyone by surprise.
Nani and Anderson have clearly been brought in with the long term in mind, but both have already been called into action and all the early signs are very promising. Nani has contributed with some wonder strikes, including the priceless goal that defeated Spurs.
Anderson also, seen as a long-term replacement for Paul Scholes, has been a revelation. Placed in the team a long time before Sir Alex Ferguson would have liked, due to Scholes' injury, the young Brazilian has shone.
Owen Hargreaves finally made the move to Old Trafford in the summer, but unfortunately has suffered from injury for large periods of the season. When the England midfielder has played though, especially alongside Anderson, he has looked very useful.
The most high-profile signing of the summer has also proved to be the most successful. Carlos Tevez's drawn-out move from West Ham United may well explain the early lack of fire power from United, but he has since settled well in a scintillating partnership with Wayne Rooney (one that many suggested would never work).
Not since the days of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole have United had two strikers so in sync with each others' overall play and movement.
Star man
Cristiano Ronaldo has been a different class already this season.
Following on from a brilliant campaign last year, the Portuguese winger has taken his game on to even higher levels. With his first hat-trick in the Premier League against Newcastle United, he is currently the league's top goalscorer.
The introduction of Tevez appears to have allowed him more freedom to venture forward and he continues to be deadly from dead-ball situations.
If United continue to progress in Europe, he will once again be in contention for European and world player of the year, especially with Euro 2008 still to come in the summer. Truly a class act.
Manager approval rating
Sir Alex Ferguson: 9/10
Ferguson's signings through the summer have all been successes and the manager seems to have been reborn after capturing the league title last season.
Gone is the talk of retirement and instead Sir Alex can be found praising his current batch of players as the best he's ever had and how they are destined for great things.
Never one to shy away from laying down some discipline, the Scot's skills at man management were once more called upon after the fall out from the disastrous Christmas party.
Players put firmly in their place and future events banned, Ferguson once again demonstrated his talent for dealing with dilemmas behind closed doors and avoiding mass media hysteria.
The manager remains as passionate as ever, already being sentenced to a three-game touchline ban, and looks set to continue so for the foreseeable future.
January wish-list
Everyone likes a big striker, and despite the awesome partnership of Rooney and Tevez, it would be nice to have another forward in the bag as back up, especially with Louis Saha's pitiful injury record.
Nicolas Anelka would have been an ideal choice but unfortunately he was snaffled up by Chelsea. Dimitar Berbatov is constantly the subject of transfer gossip and would be a welcome addition to the already-frightening selection of firepower Ferguson has at his disposal.
A quality right-back is also needed, especially with Gary Neville sitting the whole of the season out thus far and not getting any younger. The makeshift replacements, John O'Shea and Wes Brown, have performed adequately but are no substitute for genuine class.
Richard James
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