Manchester United - A fan's view
Wednesday, 23 May 2007 18:11
Manchester United In Focus
Good, bad or just the same old, same old? What the fans made of the 2007/08 season. Full Story
Good, bad or just the same old, same old. What the fans made of the 2006/07 season.
A definite success. Getting our trophy back from Chelsea has to be regarded as an incredible achievement, especially with the number of people that had written off both the team and the manager as in for another season of scrapping it out for the runners-up spot.
United flew out of the blocks with a 5-1 win at home to Fulham on the opening day and rarely faltered as their consistency remained good throughout the season. Despite something bordering a wobble towards the end of the season, United won the league with games to spare. This meant a satisfying guard of honour from John Terry and his mates at Stamford Bridge after the title was already wrapped up, meaning Chelsea's ground became a carnival for the United away support.
Reaching the last four of the Champions League with two incredible home performances - a 7-1 hammering of Roma in the quarters and a last-minute Rooney winner in the first leg of the semis - was a bonus, although a depleted side were found out by an extremely classy Milan away from home. The FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea was harsh, but nothing can take the shine off the fact that the Premiership title is back where it belongs, in the Old Trafford trophy cabinet.
Grade: A
High Point
Standing in the Shed End at Stamford Bridge among 2,000 other United supporters singing "Mourinho are you listening/You better keep our trophy glistening/We'll be back in May/To take it away/Walking in a Fergie wonderland" for the first seven minutes after the guard of honour. Rooney's last minute winner against Milan and Scholes' absolute cracker away to Villa in December were also highlights.
Low Point
When Adebayor scored a late winner for Arsenal at Old Trafford - we played poorly that day and it seemed like our early season vitality may have been something of a false dawn. Also the cup final defeat to Chelsea - we were the (marginally) better side and their fans were silent for 116 minutes, so the victory for the Blues was a little hard to take.
Fan's Player of the Year
- Cristiano Ronaldo -
While there are plenty of contenders for the award this year - a resurgent Paul Scholes being perhaps the closest challenger - Ronaldo set new standards for wingers across the world this season. He finished United's top scorer, an incredible feat for someone who is technically a midfielder, and scored vital goals in the process. Who knows how the season would have ended had Ronny not picked up the ball on the far side of the pitch against Fulham, ran past a couple of players and lashed the ball beyond the keeper with just minutes to go at Craven Cottage.
Needs for Next Season
A striker seems a must, with Louis Saha living up to his balsa-boy reputation despite a great start to the season. He cannot be relied upon to stay fit for the whole season and despite a useful cameo from Henrik Larsson, we can't expect to garner loan signings as cover again.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar from Ajax could fill the gap. Owen Hargreaves is on the verge of joining, which could give us a Gattuso-like figure to improve our Champions League chances.
Chris Webber
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