FOOTBALL
SIR ALEX FERGUSON HAS LOST THE PLOT:
WHY MAN UTD WON'T DOMINATE
AGAIN UNTIL MOURINHO OR
GUARDIOLA ARRIVES
WEEKLY SPORT SPECIAL ANALYSIS BY FRANK WORRALL, AUTHOR OF WALKING IN A FERGIE WONDERLAND, THE BIOGRAPHY OF SIR ALEX FERGUSON
SO Sir Alex Ferguson achieved a five-year ambition by signing Arsenal's Robin van Persie...and then started him on the bench!
He left him there for almost 70 minutes at Everton on Monday night - even though his United team were clearly in need of both inspiration and a saviour.
United were losing 1-0 and hardly looking like scoring. Indeed, you could easily see the Toffees grabbing a second goal to make sure of the points.
Yet old purple nose continued to sit there, defiantly, determined not to bring on his new superstar signing.
The thinking was obvious: we will score (somehow) and then I can say we were good enough to get a point without even having to throw in my new man...that's how good we are!
It was warped thinking. I am told by more insightful folk than myself that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again...and expecting a different outcome.
Well, how many times over the years has Fergie stubbornly refused to do the obvious? How many times also has he persevered with a player who clearly wasn’t as good as another, just to prove a point?
Dozens. I give you two examples - one from a few years back, one from the current era.
Probably the most obvious case of Fergie the Blunderer is that of the Argentine Juan Sebastian Veron, who simply couldn’t cut it at United.
But Fergie was determined to give him every chance to prove the doubters wrong – and no doubt to justify exactly why in 2001 he had splashed out United’s then record £28.1million transfer fee for the midfielder.
In 2003, Fergie’s attempts to prove the boy WAS up to it collapsed when the man he was keeping out of the team – the wonderful David Beckham – replaced him as a sub and stole the honours in a Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
Becks had been unable to regain his place in the United starting line-up after an early season injury, with the boss preferring to play Solskjaer on the right side of midfield. Ole was a class act, and you can see why Fergie might persevere with the Norwegian until David reached peak fitness again.
But it was impossible to defend the boss’s antics in April 2003, when he stubbornly left Becks out of the team to face Madrid in the Champions League second-leg at Old Trafford. United had lost the first leg 3-1 and so this was the decider: a key match against a crack outfit, with the winner taking a step closer to the final at Old Trafford that Fergie so desired.
It was a match to field your strongest eleven, with no passengers carried, no worries about any man breaking down from an injury he had been carrying. Yet, instead of starting with Becks, Fergie stubbornly – and foolishly – sent out Veron in his place. Veron had been out injured for the previous seven weeks and was still half-fit, so it was a ludicrous decision.
I remember writing at the time that it seemed to be another chapter in the manager’s doomed campaign to prove the Argentine was worth the £28.1 million he had splashed out on him in July 2001. The facts tell the full story of how the boss’s decision backfired that St George’s Day, 23 April 2003.
A hat-trick by the Brazilian Ronaldo meant United were also losing 3-2 on the night when Fergie finally relented and took off the ineffective Veron – and sent on Becks. Within 21 minutes, David had scored twice and United finished 4-3 winners, but lost the tie 6-5 on aggregate.
Afterwards Fergie would claim he had kept Becks on the sidelines for Solskjaer, not Veron, saying: ‘I saw it as quite a straightforward decision. Solskjaer’s form has been fantastic on the right-hand side. I don’t regard him as a sub any more – he deserved his place.’
Two months later Becks would be on his way to join the team who had ended Fergie’s dream of competing in front of his own fans for the Champions League final. In the end, AC Milan would claim the trophy in Manchester after beating their Italian rivals Juventus 3-2 on penalties after the match ended 0-0.
More recently, Fergie has insisted on playing Danny Welbeck instead of Javier Hernandez. Now, no one is denying that Welbeck is a fine work in progress. But he is just that: he is too easily bundled off the ball, he is careless with his passing and his partnership with Rooney is stop-start. In comparison, Chicharito is a natural born striker who is a much better goal-getter and whom Rooney admits he loves working with. Yet he remains on the bench while Welbeck continues to learn his trade.
Someone in the United backroom team should have the guts to tell Fergie he has got it wrong - before the little Mexican leaves.
Just as someone in the United backroom team should have told Fergie he had got it wrong at Everton.
On Monday, United looked bereft of ideas and could certainly have done with Van Persie earlier.
But the clanger over the Dutchman was hardly the first of Fergie's night.
Against a resolute Everton side, who United rarely beat at Goodison, Fergie started with his best winger (Valencia) at full-back and his best midfielder (Carrick) at centre-half.
While the ineffective Nani, and subsequently Ashley Young, struggled to get crosses in, Valencia struggled at the back.
And Carrick struggled to contain the wonderful Marouane Fellaini.
Valencia should have been on the wing with Rafael at full-back (Rafael is, after all, now playing there for Brazil!) while Carrick should have been in his rightful midfield role.
OK, United were shorn of centre-backs because of injury. But surely they have someone in the reserves or youth team who is worth a go? This is Manchester United - and they are forced to play two midfielders in defence in what was bound to be a tough encounter!
It speaks badly of Ferguson and his back-up team.
As does the fact that he bought Van Persie rather than Felaini - in the sense that the one area at the club that has been crying out for attention and rejuvenation was central midfield.
For the money spent on Van Persie, United could have brought in the awesome Felaini, surely the rightful heir to the crown Roy Keane vacated five years ago (and which has not been filled since).
But Fergie had his way and bought the injury-prone Dutchman rather than sorting out the eternal midfield conundrum.
So United continue to struggle in midfield with old-stagers (Giggs and Scholes) and those who are not good enough (Anderson and Cleverley).
And the arrival of Van Persie...it now poses a question mark over the future of United's most naturally gifted striker, Javier Hernandez.
Chicharito cannot be expected to accept his role as No 4 striker at the club - he is better than Welbeck (who Fergie stubbornly still insists on playing ahead of him) and, I am told, is a 'bit down' at the arrival of Van Persie, which now threatens to limit him to even less playing time.
The Mexican superstar is one of the nicest, most humble guys you will ever meet - certainly not your typical ego-driven footballer - but even he can only be expected to take so much.
No, I believe Sir Alex Ferguson dropped a bollock by not playing Van Persie from the off on Monday night, and that the signing shows the Scot is no longer the manager he once was...because of the implications it also has in hoovering up the cash that could have signed Felaini and in the way it has left Chicharito in the lurch.
I predict here and now that United WON'T win the Premier League this season. That honour will go to Man City or Chelsea, with the best the Red Devils can hope for being a battle for third spot with the likes of Arsenal and Spurs.
The countdown to the end of Fergie has begun...and even United fans I spoke to yesterday admitted that they also believe they will only truly be able to start competing for the league and the Champions League again when either Mourinho or Guardiola takes over. The countdown has begun...
FRANK WORRALL
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