Fading United need complete rebuilding job

THE dramatic loss of form that has seen Manchester United exit the Champions League -- and all but fall out of the title race -- highlights the need for a major injection of cash and quality at Old Trafford. United's results over the past week and a half have not just come about because of the injury-enforced absence of Wayne Rooney.

I have warned all season that United would struggle for goals and inspiration without Rooney, but their problems run deeper than an over-reliance on one player and that was drummed home by their performance while failing to beat Blackburn yesterday. Even with Rooney in their team, the alarm bells have been ringing long enough this season to suggest that United might well have hit the wall anyway. For the past 20 years, whenever you have watched United chase a victory at this stage of the season, it has always been a case of when rather than if they would score the goal to win the game. It never looked like happening at Blackburn, though. United's best player was Gary Neville and it says it all when your best player in a game when the opponents barely attack is your right-back.

Inevitable
All of a sudden, United are beginning to look short in the critical games, but when your midfielders are 36 and 35 years old, it is inevitable that it will catch up with you. If Alex Ferguson had just one problem in his team, he could spend £30m on one player to resolve it. But when the problems run right through the team, it is a different story and rebuilding United from here is going to be tremendously difficult. Defenders Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have suffered from injuries this season, while Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are unable to produce the performances of their younger days on a regular basis. Up front, where United once had four strikers, they now have two in Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, but Berbatov is not scoring goals at the moment. Ferguson does not have the options in reserve that he once had and there is no young Giggs or Scholes coming through to threaten the older players. Breaking a team up and starting again is the hardest thing for any manager to do, but the next rebuild will be the hardest of the lot because we don't know if the money is there for Ferguson to do it.

There are now parallels at United with what happened at Liverpool at the start of the 1990s.
The team that won the title in 1990 needed to be broken up but, having been unbelievably lucky in the transfer market for 25 years, they suddenly became unlucky, and you could say that Liverpool have never recovered. Twenty years on, Liverpool have still not won the Premier League and, while I am not saying that what will happen with United, this is undoubtedly a crucial time for them in terms of reshaping their squad.

I thought United faced a difficult future in 2006, but Ferguson turned them around and won three league titles on the bounce and a Champions League. However, they had a young Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo back then. Now, they don't have that quality emerging. Their chances of winning the league this season are now bleak, but the only saving grace for United is that Chelsea have always faltered when they have been in front. Yet you just can't see United taking advantage of any possible Chelsea slip by winning their remaining four games. Chelsea have still to go to Spurs and Liverpool and they could drop points in both of those games, but I'm not sure that United can go to Manchester City and win on Saturday.

Had Jose Mourinho been in charge of Chelsea, they would have had the title wrapped up six weeks ago. But until the medal is around your neck, you haven't won anything and that is the one thing that United and Arsenal will be holding on to.

Reported by: Irish Independent

Manchester United's Champions League failure: Q&A

Manchester United's Champions League elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich ensured their failure to progress to at least the semi-final stage for the first time since 2006.
With last Saturday’s Premier League defeat at home to Chelsea putting United on the back foot in the title race, the problems are mounting at Old Trafford.

So what happens next and what are the big issues facing the club and Sir Alex Ferguson following United’s European failure? What are the main issues that have hampered Manchester United this season?

Money:
Conflicting messages are coming out of Old Trafford about United’s transfer plans this summer and how much they have to spend to strength the squad. Chief executive David Gill insisted earlier this year that the £80m banked from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid is still waiting to be spent, but Sir Alex Ferguson claimed this week that he does not envisage a host of new faces this summer. Ferguson is either happy with his squad or the money available is not sufficient to add the quality he desires. The United manager has voiced his concerns over the inflated prices being quoted for top players, but if the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid are prepared to pay those prices, they become the going rate and United must either dive in or stand aside. With a debt of £716.5m, however, finding the money to compete is unlikely to become easier for United.

Ageing squad:
Ferguson’s decision to start without Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville against Bayern exposed the combined age - 106 - of his three illustrious veterans. The three of them are in the twilight of their glittering careers, while Edwin van der Sar, at 39, is another whose best days are behind him. Rio Ferdinand is now 31 and injury problems are beginning to mount up for the England captain. Michael Owen is 30, while Dimitar Berbatov is 29. The younger end of the squad is well-stocked, with Wayne Rooney at 24 leading the way, but Ferguson’s heavy use of Giggs, Scholes and Neville this season suggests that he is not quite ready to trust his youngsters ahead of the more experienced stars.

Dimitar Berbatov:
Put yourself in Berbatov’s shoes and ask how you would feel if a half-fit Wayne Rooney was selected ahead of you in a crucial Champions League quarter-final? The Bulgarian forward’s demotion to the bench for the Bayern game summed up his time at Old Trafford since his £30.75m arrival from Spurs in Sept 2008. When the big games come around, Berbatov tends to be on the bench. He has simply failed to deliver. Twenty-six goals in 81 appearances is not a good enough return and, despite winning the backing of the fans for his surprising work-rate and determination to succeed, Berbatov was bought for much more than that. In the absence of Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, Berbatov has failed to step up to the plate.

Who is under threat?
Ferguson’s ruthless streak is legendary and he will view this season’s European campaign as a failure. As such, he is likely to be tempted to make changes. A big question mark hovers over the United future of Michael Carrick, whose poor display against Barcelona in last season’s final appears to have carried over into this campaign. The England midfielder was again disappointing against Bayern. If Owen Hargreaves can return to full fitness, Carrick would appear the obvious fall-guy, particularly with Darron Gibson improving at a rate of knots. Berbatov is another who will be fearing the worst. He had the chance to rescue United against Bayern, but just didn’t look a threat. Anderson, currently sidelined with a cruciate ligament injury, is another who must do better when he returns.

Who will United sign?
Depends on the money available, but if Ferguson does have £80m+ to spend, he will look to lure Karim Benzema to Old Trafford, 12 months after failing to keep the French forward out of Real Madrid’s clutches. Defender Chris Smalling is already signed up, but Palermo’s Simon Kjaer is another target. Napoli’s attacking midfielder Marek Hamsik, at £25m, would not break the bank if Ferguson pursues his interest in the Slovakian. United clearly need another striker. Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko has been watched regularly by Ferguson’s scouts, but Benzema remains the first choice. And with Van der Sar creeping towards 40, Ferguson would dearly love to recruit Hugo Lloris from Lyon. Lyon will demand a huge fee for the France No 1, however.

What should be United's main priority?
Sort out Rooney's future. Rooney’s value to United has rocketed since he suffered his ankle injury against Bayern. By missing the defeat against Chelsea, his contribution this season was magnified immeasurably. Ferguson rushed him back against Bayern simply because Rooney is his most reliable match-winner. Contract talks are due to begin at the end of the season to replace the final two years of his current deal. No matter who United sign this summer, persuading Rooney to commit to a new five-year deal will be the biggest signing they can make.

Reported by: telegraph.co.uk

Time for Dimitar Berbatov to seize the moment for Manchester United

With Wayne Rooney missing, the expensive Bulgarian needs to step out of the shadows to keep the light shining at Old Trafford.

From the hyperactive Wayne Rooney they turn to the languid Dimitar Berbatov to see off Chelsea and Bayern Munich inside five days. The good news is that Berbatov has already scored three times against Germany's grandest club. Less encouraging is that Rooney's replacement as Manchester United's chief striker posted all three while at Bayer Leverkusen from 2001 to 2006.

A £30.75m centre-forward comes off the bench to hunt the two wins United need to disprove the accusation that they are a one-man band.

Berbatov is an international who has played in two Champions League finals and scored 32 times in European competition. Hardly the bare bones of United's squad. Yet the success of his elevation will depend on his response to the urgency of this five-day test and the team's ability to survive the psychological jolt of seeing their best player on crutches.

The expectation back in August was that Sir Alex Ferguson would deploy Rooney and Berbatov together but the United manager has favoured a five-man midfield with Rooney in a luxury Alan Shearer role. Tactical considerations aside, the implication is that Ferguson's faith in Berbatov has dimmed to the point where Bulgaria's six-times footballer of the year exists to give Rooney a rest or supply an extra weapon when United are in desperate need of a goal.

Like Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was lethal around the penalty area and so could justify his comparatively low work-rate, Berbatov is the antithesis of the super-busy United striker who seeslosing the ball as a dishonourable act which he has a moral duty to correct. Berbatov must know that most Old Trafford diehards are intolerant of his dreamy style.

In a long and compelling answer to a question about Van Nistelrooy's successor Sir Bobby Charlton, the embodiment of United's energetic forward play, said in the Observer last year: "I watched him at Tottenham [his previous Premier League club] and I thought he was in charge of his own destiny, that he made the right decisions. But playing for Man United is a bit more demanding. You're expected not just to do all the great things you're good at but also your share of the dirty work – which is chasing back to regain possession, helping your defenders if you're close enough to help.

"First of all I was very critical of him, to myself, thinking: 'Look at that. As soon as he loses the ball he stops running and starts walking, as if to say – somebody else will do it'. And I thought: 'He must be a good player if he can afford to do that.'"

Charlton said he had come to understand Berbatov's "really great skill, his awareness and his physical strength at holding people off. Not only that, when he passes he always makes it easy for you. He always gives it perfectly. Everything is so, so precise. Add to that, he's got his control and when he gets round the goal he wants to score.

"He's frustrating sometimes. Instinctively I think that, if I've lost the ball, I want to chase after it. I want to make up for the mistake I've made. Maybe like George Best you've got to accept him for what he is. Cantona had that arrogance. But he did his fair share of the work. I'd never complain about Cantona in that respect. He was sensational and he had an influence. Given that bit of time and space that Berbatov seems to be finding now, he'll get better and better."

Since Charlton offered that analysis, mid-way through the striker's first season in Manchester, stagnation has become the theme. Twelve goals from 27 league appearances this term is not a glittering statistic. Rooney had scored 18 times in 13 outings before a typically conscientious urge to stop an attacking run inside his own half led to his ankle injury. Berbatov has yet to score in this season's Champions League but did seize two in the weekend's 4-0 win at Bolton.

Of the alternatives Michael Owen is out with hamstring damage, Mame Biram Diouf has appeared only five times for United and Federico Macheda is an 18-year-old on the road back from injury (Danny Welbeck is out on loan).

"I'd have enjoyed playing with him but I'd have been arguing with him. A lot," Charlton said. "If you've got people running backward and forward and you're responsible, it's not right. But he's learned. You're not allowed many mistakes and you can't be casual. You can't be casual."

As a child Berbatov modelled himself first on Marco van Basten, then on Shearer. From the outset on Saturday and again on Wednesday night the United cognoscenti will look for evidence that his self-esteem has not been damaged by his slide in the hierarchy and hope he learned from Shearer the meaning of 'carpe diem'.

Pick your team to face Liverpool

Calling all armchair managers! The time has come to pit your wits against Sir Alex Ferguson and see whether he agrees with your team selection for Manchester United's Premier League match

Revenge is in the air and Ferguson will have to manage the balancing act between going all guns blazing and getting the right result. After three defeats on the spin to Liverpool, United are hell-bent on sending the visitors packing. The Scot should choose a calculated approach to get one over on Rafa Benitez.

An on-song Dimitar Berbatov can expect a return to the bench as the 4-5-1 formation favoured in big matches reappears. Wayne Rooney will lead the line on his own. The temptation to start Ryan Giggs will be great after he shook off an arm injury. In his absence, both Park Ji-Sung and Nani have shone, with the Korean expected to get the nod to flank Rooney with Antonio Valencia.

Liverpool's strength in midifeld has crushed United in recent meetings. The tight central three of Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes should correct the problem. At the back, experience is key. Gary Neville could continue his starting run, while Nemanja Vidic will be desperate to exorcise the demons of Fernando Torres and a trio of red cards.

Availability:

Goalkeepers: Edwin Van der Sar, Tomasz Kuszscak, Ben Foster.

Defenders: Gary Neville, Jonny Evans, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Rafael da Silva, Fabio da Silva, Patrice Evra, Ritchie De Laet.

Midfielders: Antonio Valencia, Nani, Ji-Sung Park, Ryan Giggs, Gabriel Obertan, Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Darron Gibson.

Attackers: Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Mame Biram Diouf.

Leave your team selection in the comments below,

GLAZERS V THE RED KNIGHTS

Speaking 24 hours after the Red Knights confirmed their intention to try and buy the club from the Glazer family, Gill insisted that Manchester United was not for sale, and offered a staunch defence of the American owners. Gill acknowledged that the family may be forced to appease growing supporter resentment by taking a higher profile, but said the Knights, led by Goldman Sachs’s chief economist and former United board member Jim O’Neil, were wasting their time.

“They [the Glazers] are long-term owners and they’re not sellers,” he said.

“That’s not to say that people like the Red Knights won’t come and think that they can put a plan to them. But unless the owners want to sell, which they’ve given no indication to me at all that that is the case, then they can’t buy the asset. It’s not for sale.”

Gill said that he has not heard directly from O’Neil, who is a friend as well as a former colleague, or fellow Knight Mark Robinson, a partner at City law firm Freshfields who advised the club board when it was resisting the Glazers in 2004. He did not criticise them directly, but was withering about Harris, the executive chairman of executive bank Seymour Pearce who has been involved in several high-profile Premier League takeovers including Roman Abramovich’s purchase of Chelsea.

“Keith Harris will go anywhere that there’s a bit of publicity around and we know that and we accept that,” Gill said. “That’s his modus operandi, but his track record in football isn’t anything to write home about. That’s my view of that, but these are credible people and they do what they think is in the best interests of the club but it’s not going to take them anywhere if the owners, the Glazers, have no wish to sell. From our perspective, they are running the club in the right way.”

Gill said that the club’s financial situation following the £507 million bond issue was “entirely appropriate”, with annual interest payments of around £45 million covered by the club’s growing revenues.

By contrast he questioned how the Red Knights proposed to run the club given their proposal to raise funds from up to 40 wealthy individuals.

“The Red Knights’ idea of having 20, 30 or 40 very wealthy people owning and running Manchester United, I just don’t know how it would work in practice,” Gill said.

“The best clubs, the better run clubs have clear single-decision making that iws quick and efficient. I don’t see how if you’ve got a number of very wealthy people being involved [that can happen].

“They don’t become wealthy through luck, those sort of people want to be involved in the decision making, The key clubs, Abramovich at Chelsea, Mansour at Man City, Berlusconi in Milan, even the president, the key decision maker at Madrid is not all those fans, it’s the president.

“I’m not sure what the end game is but the end game is irrelevant because the owners are long-term investors and want to keep the club for many years to come.”

The Red Knights are hoping to harness supporter unrest at the club’s debts of £709 million, and Gill acknowledged that the Glazers may have to take a more visible role to appease fans who turned Wembley green-and-yellow at Sunday’s Carling Cup final.

“What they [the Glazers] done is let me and my team run the business, they’ve let Alex run the football side, and if you look at our financial results and our on-field performance, I think that’s vindicated that approach. If, in the future, in order to appease people or to explain the long-term nature of their investment, that [a higher profile] may be necessary.”

Gill’s assault came as the Red Knights were assessing the impact of their public declaration of intent. A spokesman for the group said that they had received “an international response” from potential investors, and the Manchester United Supporters Trust reported that its membership had doubled overnight to 78,000, larger than the capacity at Old Trafford.

Reported by Telegraph.co.uk

Will Berbatov leave United this summer?

At the beginning of last season, Manchester United left it until the last day of the August transfer window to secure the signature of Dimitar Berbatov. They eventually secured the Bulgarian for the princely sum of £30.75 million, although the 29-year-old has continually struggled to live up to his expensive price tag, with Sir Alex Ferguson currently playing a formation which doesn’t accommodate the forward. There are now rumours that Berbatov will seek the exit door at Old Trafford at the end of the season.

Indeed, it’s possible that Sir Alex Ferguson has lost patience with a player that has the unfortunate knack of looking as though he’s strolling around the pitch at times. Berbatov was part of the starting XI that lost to Leeds in the FA Cup at the start of the year and has subsequently only lined up against Portsmouth and Burnley at home. With the manager favouring a 4-5-1 formation and with Wayne Rooney prospering so much as the lone forward, is there a future for a player who is an expensive commodity to be warming the bench every week?

It’s strange to think that Manchester United are going so well in the Premier League, considering that Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez have left, while Berbatov is featuring so sporadically for the Red Devils. Will Fergie need to call on the former Spurs striker as we approach the business end of the season?

United fan denies throwing coin at Bellamy

The Manchester United supporter accused of throwing a coin at Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy during last month's League Cup semi-final second leg at Old Trafford has denied the offence. Adam Teese, 26, of Nelstrop Road North, Stockport, spoke on Tuesday only to confirm his name and addess and that he was pleading not guilty to the charge of 'throwing a missile', according to Press Association Sport.

Teese has been an Old Trafford season-ticket holder for eight years. A massive police presence at the game on January 27 failed to prevent the coin being trown at Bellamy. A plastic bottle was also thrown in the Welsh striker's direction and after he tumbled to the ground a coin struck the back of his head. Teese will next appear in court on May 13 when he will be tried. The trail is expected to last two days.