Oh Manchester United!

Manchester United’s successful run to the Finals of the Champion’s League has ended, and a very sad moment this is. United lost on away goals! But for a team which was leading 3-0 before halftime, it was a game well played.

The mindgames had already begun, with Ferguson ruling out Rooney as an option, but adding on that he might be included if he can change Fergie’s mind. And there he was, an hour from start of match, Rooney was named in the starting 11! His presence is such that it can lift the morale of the whole team, and with 75000 people at the Old Trafford, this game could just have been one of the best.

ManU started with a bang, with a lesser known Darren Gibson scoring within the first 5 minutes. Gibson is a new player who has played in a few premier league matches for MU, but HE wouldn’t have been part of any team formation the opposition could have expected. Rafael, Rooney and Nani combined to attack, European style, with Valencia putting in dangerous crosses one after another. Rafael’s game ended after he was shown a second yellow and the referee was mobbed by the germans (typical, could have expected this) and he was sent off. Rooney was taken off and replaced with O’Shea who was making a comeback after 5 months. The game was a nailbiter, but even though MU won 3-2, Bayern made it through to the semi finals on away goals, a splendid last one by Robben.

This is the first time since 2003 that no english team has made it to the semi finals. With Chelsea’s campaign ending against Inter, and Arsenal getting drubbed by Messi, MU was the only hope left.

MU’s season this time has not been upto the mark, with only a Carling Cup for silverware. I feel that we still have a chance at winning the PL, provided we win all our matches now and wait for Chelsea to slip down, the only option being a loss to liverpool.

Hope all ends well for Manchester United!

Wayne Rooney. Missed?

Sir Alex Ferguson was pretty sure that Manchester United’s campaign for a 19th Premier League cup and the Champion’s League won’t be derailed without Rooney. He surely is being proved wrong here.
Rooney hobbled of the pitch in the match against Bayern and it seemed certain that without a man whose in prime form, having netted the ball 34 times this season, Manchester United will be a pale shadow of themselves against an in-form Chelsea and the germans in the second leg. Although it is pretty obvious to note that Bayern can still be taken care of and ManU can definitely make it to the Champions League semis, beating Chelsea seemed out of the question.
They say “no one is irreplaceable” – you can always find substitute stars for an injured player who can play equally well. But there are always some players who have that specialness with them, the X factor, which can turn the game on the head and make that difference. I am a die hard supporter of Manchester United, and have been following them for 7 years now. But even though the pundits were all in favour of ManU winning, specially when the match had to be played on home turf, I couldn’t join them, because it was certain that ManU was missing that special player in their unit. The team may seem pretty balanced, and you have to give Sir Alex the credit for that. But at the same time, he will have to buy an all-out goal scorer like Rooney, because at this moment he doesn’t have any. The only players who met Rooney’s standards int he team were Ronaldo and Tevez. Ronaldo, being the man that he is, ditched the team that made him and left for the Spanish lands, where he isn’t really doing well. As for Tevez, it is certain that Ferguson is missing him. For a man who wasn’t worth the 25 million pounds spent on him as said by the manager, the Argentine is scoring at almost the same rate for Manchester City.
We saw Chelsea leave Drogba on the bench for matches and we also know Rooney and Drogba are players of such class that can fill rival defenses with fear, and Rooney’s absence fired up Chelsea even more. Ancelotti’s decision to leave Drogba on the bench illustrated the Blues’ strength-in-depth compared to United, so lacking in goalscoring strength without Rooney.
The season is almost over, and the title race is still wide open for Arsenal, Chelsea and ManU. And this season has made it clear that Sir Alex will be looking for a second goal scorer for next season and whether he buys x or y, ManU will be a big force this transfer season. Ferguson has always stressed that the team is up for it without Rooney as the team hadn’t lost a match without him. But after this match, there is no saying that the Talisman is not missed. No mind games are going to work now, we need a goal scorer to support Rooney. Berbatov is not upto the challenge most of the times, Owen frequently gets injured and substitutes are not to be relied on all the time. Giggs and Scholes do turn back the clocks with their mesmerizing performances now and then, but they wont last forever.
The reality also brings out the fact that Sir Alex was fully aware of this before the match. And now he cannot deny it.