Prelude to the End of the Season– Rivals, Form and the Future

The end is near. That time is coming. Feel the passion. Feel your heart beating as the clock edges towards the 90 and you need that goal. Do we score? Only time will tell…

Rivals & Form

I really don’t like Man City. Especially in recent times, having taken over Chelsea’s position as the latest club trying to buy success and it irks me. Their fans will sing and sing about how amazing their team has become, however one cannot truly say they have earned the potential success they may achieve in the years to come. But fact is fact, and if they win trophies they will count regardless of how the trophies were won. However, we still hold their fate in our hands, as we meet in the FA Cup Semi-final and we are currently in pole position for the league. I’m not going to start talking about their poor stadium attendance or the lack of respect for their manager or their pathetic Chief Executive Gary Cook or the fact that the money-grabbing whore Tevez who still doesn’t speak proper English is their captain, and of course that pig Balotelli. You know what, I actually hate City.

But as an outsider, not living in Manchester, my most hated team has and will always be Liverpool. The scousers make me sick. I have absolutely loved and revelled in their recent dismal collapse since their infamous “so close yet so far” 2^nd place finish on the 08/09 season- it just makes me smile. Another point to be noted from their side – if United win the league this season, not only will we surpass their treasured record of 18 league titles and therefore dismiss their claim as the most successful team in England, we will do it with possibly the worst team to ever have won the league. No one can dispute that, not even me as a die-hard fan. Our team’s success must be credited to the manager, because the players we have at the moment do not have the same fearful and formidable look at United teams of the past. We lack that creativity in the middle of the park and no team will have won the league with the kind of away record we have produced this season. That said, I’m proud of where we are right now, heading into the most crucial period of the league with games coming thick and fast until the end of the season. 

I believe that the general rise of quality from the lower teams in the league has directly influenced our away form, and had it been Chelsea instead of Arsenal challenging us for the league right now, I would be a lot more worried than I am. But things change quickly in football, just look at both those teams this season. At the beginning of the season, everyone was saying the league was done and dusted; it was Chelsea’s to lose and United had no chance. In 6 weeks, we witnessed an even bigger collapse than the Protea’s at the Cricket World Cup last week. They fell to pieces and now sit back in 3^rd. Arsenal on the other hand, wow; they must surely be mentally defeated after the recent 3 week spell of failure. Firstly, they lost the Carling Cup Final to Birmingham, an average team who gave a good account of themselves but really should have been beaten and the Gunners would have claimed some much needed silverware after a long barren spell. But they blew it and lost after a defensive mix up. Then they went to the Nou Camp and got completely outplayed by possibly the best Barcelona team I will ever see. Yes, they were unlucky with a red card for Van Persie, but the truth is that they had ZERO shots at goal and Barca didn’t even have the first choice centre backs playing. Very poor. What else is there? Oh yes, they then came to Old Trafford for the FA Cup Quarter-final and got outplayed by a United team with 7 defenders in the starting eleven. That was also followed by a 2-2 draw away at West Brom. I don’t know what more to say, it’s going to take some deep mental strength to keep going and put those disappointments behind them. 

The Future

So as it stands, we are in pole position going into the back end of the season. But this will not mean anything if we fail to secure some kind of silverware at the end of it all. I support my team through thick and thin, I never expect success but we have been here and done it all before and Fergie knows best. I’m also happy to report that he has recently stated that “two or three” positions will be filled in the summer which makes me happy because our team needs investment, but that is another article all together. Right now I could not ask for anything more. Lets see if the current crop has what it takes to make that special class of 1999 and win the Treble!

Those heart pounding moments are coming up soon, where you watch every game so closely, staring and shouting at the screen (I mean the ref), and hoping results go your way. There are going to be ups and downs, good times and bad times, mistakes and moments of magic. But one thing is for sure, it’s going to be one thrilling end to the season! 

I Believe and Trust in Fergie.