Article 13 — Manchester United 98
The King Eric Cantona has left his throne, Alex Ferguson chose Teddy Sheringham from Tottenham Hotspur to replace him. David Beckham inherited the number 7 jersey from The King and Roy Keane was named the new club captain. Henning Berg was also signed that summer from Blackburn Rovers together with another Norwegian striker Erik Nevland on the back of the success of Solksjaer’s signing the previous season.
United started the season by winning the Charity Shield against Chelsea on penalties after a 1–1 draw.
United got off to a flyer, they were unbeaten in the first 8 matches in the league. United had got off to a great start in the Champions League too beating Hungarian side Kosice 3–0 in their first match.
The season changed when new captain Roy Keane damaged his knee ligament against Leeds United in Manchester United’s first defeat of the season. Keane was ruled out for the rest of the season and the effect of his absence will be season-defining for United. To digress, let’s have a look at United’s Champions League group stage.
The Champions League would be United’s Holy Grail and after the previous season’s unlucky and profligate exit from the competition in the semi-final against the eventual champions Borussia Dortmund, Alex Ferguson felt that this would finally be the season where United conquer Europe.
United navigated the group stage better than they ever did in 1997–98. For the second season running, they were in the same group as Juventus, a club that schooled them on European football in both matches last season. However, this season United got the better of them, winning a thrilling game 3–2.
That was United’s second win of the group stage and they went on to beat Kosice for a second time and Feyenoord home and away. In the away game against Feyenoord, Paul Bosvelt caught Denis Irwin with a horrendous tackle. At that time, it was feared that Irwin had broken his leg but it was not the case and had ruptured medial ligaments. The injury still kept him out for some time. United lost their last match against Juventus but the result was inconsequential as they qualified top of the group.
Bringing the focus back to English football, United were knocked out of the 3rd Round by Ipswich Town, a result that is a surprise but considering the line-up United put out, it wasn’t a surprise or a feeling of great loss for the team as they aimed for bigger prizes. In the league, United was on fire and for them to do so at an early stage of the league is unlike them.
The nearest challengers for United would come from Arsenal. A little known Frenchman, Arsene Wenger was hired to manage Arsenal in 1996. He had previously managed in Japan. Arsenal finished last season on the periphery as they ended the season level on points with United’s closest challengers, Newcastle United and Liverpool.
He had signed little known Frenchmen Patrick Viera and Nicolas Anelka last season and this season he strengthened the side further by signing Marc Overmars from Ajax and another unknown Frenchman, Emmanuel Petit. The unknown Frenchmen, Viera, Anelka and Petit made themselves known this season. Together with Dennis Bergkamp already at the club, Arsenal had an English core of David Seaman, Lee Dixon, the captain Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn, David Platt and Ian Wright.
In the first match between United and Arsenal at Highbury, Arsenal showed the defending champions what was in store for them as they won a thrilling match 3–2. They denied United from opening up a 7 point lead at the top with this win.
The defeat didn’t have an impact on United as they chugged on with their usual flair in relentless fashion.
By February 1998, United opened up an 11 point lead at the top while Arsenal had 3 games in hand. However, problems were mounting for United. Ryan Giggs was hamstrung in their FA Cup 5th Round match against Barnsley who achieved a shock result in the replay to knock United out. Giggs would be out for some time. In the Champions League quarter-final, United achieved a credible 0–0 draw away to Monaco in the first leg, confident that they can win the tie in the return leg at Old Trafford.
This was a time when United began stumbling. Arsenal was building a head of steam and were eating into United’s lead. The potential title decider between United and Arsenal at Old Trafford came soon after. Marc Overmars scored 15 minutes before the end to win the game for Arsenal and that swung the pendulum in Arsenal’s favour in the title race. Not only did United lose this game, but a hamstring injury picked up by Peter Schmeichel in this match meant he missed the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Monaco.
United entered the game against Monaco confident that they could win the game but a score draw meant that United was out of Europe in the quarter-final.
The defeat didn’t have an impact on United in England as they won their next two games but one felt that Arsenal had momentum in their favour. Arsenal was 6 points behind and they still had 3 games in hand. Two consecutive draws against Newcastle and Liverpool meant Arsenal would go top for the first time since October and they held their nerve to win the league title. Arsene Wenger would become the first foreign manager to win the league since the inception of the Premier League and he would go on to complete the Double a week later.
Injuries took a toll on United this season as they lost Roy Keane from an early stage of the season. Ryan Giggs got injured at a crucial time of the season without an able replacement. Ben Thornley wasn’t quite good enough to step in for Giggs. There were other injuries too that kept players out at a crucial time of the season and the squad lacked quality depth to be able to cover for the loss of important players. What followed would be an intense rivalry against Arsenal for consecutive seasons and a monumental season coming up next.
