19th April 2009. Turf Moor. Celebrations all around. The whole arena raised by the ecstatic home fans. But its gloom and doom for the visitors. Because all hell has broken lose. Manchester United, the champions of England, have just been beaten by the minnows Burnley, who were playing their first top flight home game in 30 years. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t written in the script. United were supposed to pound Burnley into submission. A win for united was a given; in fact they were supposed to rout the opponents. Instead, they were left to rue missed opportunities and reflect on what had transpired. Burnley had reminded everyone just how competitive the league is and no-one in the league is untouchable. They scripted the perfect underdog story, prompting us to remember why we love this game in the first place.
But it was disaster for the champions. Losing any match is a crisis in the halls of Old Trafford; losing a game to a team like Burnley is a full fledged disaster. What hurt everyone was not just the loss, but the manner in which we lost. Admittedly, the goal Burnley scored was one of the goals of the season, the kind of goal that you will expect to concede once in a 100 games. But it was United’s performance (or the lack of it) which was a real concern. The players just didn’t turn up. You would expect the players to run themselves in the ground after falling behind. But that didn’t happen. The players just didn’t fight for the win. The seemed to lack conviction and motivation; they gave an impression that they were not trying hard enough. As the game wore on, they tried to get back in the game but they looked so demoralized and diffident that no matter what they tried, they just couldn’t grab a goal. In recent seasons, United have been characterized by wastefulness in front of the goal. They create a lot of chances but more often than not lack the finishing touch . But they always win. They dig deep, grind their opposition down and manage to finish some of the chances they make. And when they were not playing well, they had a certain Portuguese winger who would get them out jail. But Ronaldo is gone and without him, the champions were just not able to break the opposition down.
And the knives came out. Ferguson has lost it, they said. You can’t lose Ronaldo and Tevez and expect to win games without making any big name replacements. Valencia is not good enough to replace Ronaldo. Owen is past his best and and is no longer capable of playing at the top level. Berbatov is lazy and doesn’t work hard enough to warrant a place in the starting 11. And Rooney alone can’t shoulder all the extra responsibilities in attack in the absence on Ronaldo and Tevez. The midfield has a lack of creativity and the defense is wobbly. Amidst all this turmoil came the weekend game against Wigan. Some were predicting a backlash to the Burnley loss, others were predicting a third consecutive nervy encounter.
Sir Alex rung the changes to the side that lost to Burnley. Only Foster, Evans, Evra and Rooney survived the chop. Fletcher, Nani, Scholes and Valencia all returned in midfield, Valencia making his first return to Wigan after his summer transfer. Vidic returned to the centre of the defense hoping to provide much needed stability at the back. Berbatov partnered Rooney upfront. And it was those two who started the brightest combining to first release Flecher and then tee up Scholes at the edge of the box, but both the chances went begging all thanks to poor finishing and heroic defending by Wigan. As the match progressed, Wigan started asking questions of their own and it took some good shot stopping from the much maligned Foster to keep Wigan at Bay. Rooney and Berbatov were menacing throughout the first half, creating a lot of chances but once again failing to provide the finishing touch. As time wore on, uncertainty started creeping into the minds of United supporters. A familiar story to the Burnley game was unfolding, United creating a lot of chances but failing to deliver the knockout punch.
Good footballers are capable of playing well when things are going well, produce moments of genius to win games . But when the going gets tough, the really great ones rise up to the occasion, grab the game from the scruff of its necks and turn it on it’s head. Roy Keane famously did it in Turin and Rooney was doing it against Wigan. 3 goals in the space of 8 minutes, two by Rooney and one from Berbatov, and all was good again. The smiles were back, the shoulders were raised again and the supremely confident United that everyone knows was back. 2 goals later, the rout was complete and everything was rosy again. The critics that were after United’s blood were praising them again for their pristine performance. All the strikers were back in the thick of the action, each of them scoring. The belief was back; there is life without Ronaldo after all. Berbatov was combining beautifully with Rooney, who was exceptional. He was at the centre of every attack and is fast becoming the heartbeat of this United team. He has been unleashed by SAF at the head of the United attack, and with his talent, work rate and commitment, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if he continues to bedazzle. It looks like he has stepped it up a notch to make up for Ronaldo’s loss and he is not finished. I firmly believe there is more to come from Rooney. United’s season depends on that and Rooney will not disappoint.
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