Article 22 - Manchester United 2011–12
It was a sea of change at Old Trafford in the summer of 2011. Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville have retired from football. Owen Hargreaves was released from his contract after being tormented by injuries post-2007–08 season. Youth products that have served the club very well over the years, Wes Brown and John O’Shea were sold to Sunderland. Another youth product who failed to leave a lasting mark in the first team unlike Brown and O Shea, Darron Gibson was sold to Everton. French flop Gabriel Obertan was sold to Newcastle United. Bebe who looked raw and not ready to play at a high level was loaned out to Turkish side Besiktas.
Sir Alex Ferguson chose young Spanish stopper David De Gea to replace van der Sar. I was hoping we would sign Manuel Neuer from Schalke 04 but he chose to remain in his native Germany to join Bayern Munich. I have seen De Gea in highlights of Atletico Madrid matches and for the Spanish U-21 team, he did show he had a good leap, agility and like all Spanish players of his era, comfortable with the ball at feet. However, I was not too sure on his physique to cope with the hurly-burly style of English football.
Young English centre-back, Phil Jones impressed for Blackburn Rovers last season and was signed in the hope that with Chris Smalling, we would have a modern answer to the legendary Steve Bruce-Gary Pallister centre back partnership. It was also a signing made in the view of replacing Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. Smalling and Jones were tipped to be England’s first-choice centre back pairing for the future after featuring regularly for the U21 side.
Also coming through the door at Old Trafford was an English winger that was flying for Watford and then for Aston Villa, Ashley Young, a signing that was exciting on paper but with all due respect, it’s one thing to play well for Villa and another to do the same for United. We would have to see how he copes with the pressure for one of the biggest, most popular club in the world.
United began the season with an exciting come from behind 3–2 win over noisy neighbours, Manchester City to win the Community Shield.
To digress, I shall take a look back at the title challengers we have had in the last decade. Arsenal, our first strongest challenger of the new Millenium, won the Premier League in the 2001–02 and 2003–04 seasons. Since the Invincibles season, they have slowly declined as they started losing key members from the Invincibles team, players with strong characters and leaders in the dressing room. In their place, Arsene Wenger signed players of technical quality but he missed out a key component of his successful teams, strong leaders and characters.
As a pattern began to emerge of Arsenal, rivals stopped taking their threat too seriously. They were not capable of holding on to leads at the top of the table for long and if they were chasing for the top spot, they couldn’t take advantage if their rivals dropped points. Arsenal was certain to start dropping points when the pressure got to the team, exposing a weak mentality. Chelsea overtook Arsenal as United’s main challengers for most seasons after winning two back-to-back Premier League titles in 2004–05 and 2005–06. If they didn’t win the title, they would at least win a Cup.
Chelsea’s team had strong leaders, characters and players of technical quality and won the league a third time in 2009–10. They might lose out on winning the title but would still be capable of beating us in Cups or running us close. They were the biggest and most consistent threat to United. Liverpool, the last member of the Big 4, was an inconsistent threat. Because of the rivalry, both clubs had, matches between the two teams would always be too close to call even at the worse of times or form for either club. However, in terms of the title challenge, they finished above us only once in the 2001–02 season and ran us close in the 2008–09 season. That was the closest they got to us in the 2000–2010 decade.
A new threat for Manchester United started appearing since the 2009–10 season and this threat came much closer to home, our very own neighbours, Manchester City. For decades, City has been in the shadow of United until they got lucky when Abu Dhabi based Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited completed a takeover of the club officially in 2008. Chelsea’s became a threat on the back of the backing of billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich. In City’s case, it was not just one mega-rich owner, it was the funding by an oil-rich state.
United legend, Mark Hughes was City manager in 2009–10 and they had signed Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Slyvinho, Joleon Lescott, Patrick Viera, Adam Johnson. He didn’t last long in the job and was replaced midway through the season by Italian manager, Roberto Mancini, also a legend in his own right as a player in Serie A. He had just managed Inter to 3 consecutive Scudetti and signed Yaya Toure, David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov, Mario Balotelli, James Milner, Edin Dzeko, losing Slyvinho and the first big signing made by the Abu Dhabi group, Robinho. He won the FA Cup in his full season for the club in 2010–11, ending their 35-year trophy drought.
For this season, they signed Gael Clichy, Sergio Aguero, Stefan Savic, Samir Nasri and ex-United player, Owen Hargreaves, losing Patrick Viera and Shay Given. Besides Tevez and Hargreaves, there is another United link in the form of Sir Alex Ferguson’s former assistant, Brian Kidd. He was Mancini’s assistant now. There was no limit to the investment from the Abu Dhabi based group in their pursuit to be the number 1 team in England, Europe and the world. As the signings mounted, the noise got louder from City and became a source of irritation to United followers, staff and players. The Manchester derby now took on extra significance.
Getting back to league action, United buoyed by their Community Shield success and with a strong desire to keep City in their place, made a flying start to the season to go straight to the top of the league. The superb start included an 8–2 pummeling of Arsenal at Old Trafford. Until that moment, I thought the 6–1 win over them in 2000–01 was a fluke result on a day where it all fell in place for us. I never thought it was possible for us to better that scoreline and we did.
We followed that up by hammering one of our bogey teams, Bolton Wanderers 5–0 at the Reebok Stadium and beat Chelsea 3–1 at Old Trafford the following week, a game where Rooney slipped to miss a penalty and Fernando Torres incredibly missed an open goal much to the delight of United fans. That miss was cheered like as if we had scored due to the identity of the player that missed it, a player who tormented us when he was with fierce rivals, Liverpool.
A 1–1 draw to Liverpool at Anfield which was infamous for Luis Suarez’s racial remark at Patrice Evra meant City overtook United for the first time that season. Next up was the first Manchester derby of the Premier League season. United was infamously mauled at Old Trafford 1–6, the heaviest defeat at Old Trafford in my time as a fan. This defeat surpassed the humiliation of the 1–4 defeat at home to Liverpool in 2008–09 and Manchester United’s heaviest defeat at Old Trafford since 1955.
United’s form didn’t suffer as much in the subsequent weeks per se but it deeply hit the confidence of the team. The swagger and free-flowing play in the opening weeks was gone, the team preferring to try and keep things tight at the back instead. United played out an entertaining 3–3 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the 5th February 2012, a game United didn’t deserve to find themselves 0–3 down but showed remarkable resolve and typical fighting spirit to come back and claim a point.
The following week was the return match between United and Liverpool at Old Trafford and a reunion of Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez. The entire pre-match attention was focused on that rather than the match itself. Things got interesting from the pre-match handshake when Suarez failed to shake Evra’s hand, it ended with a 2–1 win for United and Evra’s exaggerated celebration in front of the Stretford End and Suarez.
A 2–0 win at home against West Bromwich Albion saw United regain leadership in the Premier League after Manchester City lost 0–1 to Swansea City.
City then looked to be stumbling as they drew 2 games and lost one in the last 2 weeks of March and the first week of April 2012. United capitalised by winning their 3 matches in that period and moved 8 points clear of their neighbours with 6 games left to be played. At that stage, with United’s experience, it looked odds on that United would retain the league title they won the previous season and extend City’s anguish. A late, late win over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in that run was typical of United to crush the hopes of any chasing team looking on hoping for a favour.
However, this was not an ordinary season and there was to be another twist in the title race. A surprise 0–1 defeat away to Wigan Athletic was followed by an uncharacteristic 4–4 draw at home to Everton with the away side coming from 2–4 down to draw.
City capitalised on United dropping points to move to 3 points behind the Red Devils ahead of the 2nd derby of the season which was to be the title decider. City won a tight game that United only needed to draw, 1–0 thanks to a header by their captain, Vincent Kompany to send City top of the league level on points but with a superior goal difference. United have made things tougher for themselves in their defence of the league title.
Both teams won their next matches to mean the league title will be decided on the final day of the season. United was away at Sunderland and City was at home against Queens Park Rangers (QPR) who needed to win to save themselves from being relegated.
United took the lead through Wayne Rooney at Sunderland. City responded by taking the lead through Pablo Zabaleta, QPR equalised through former Liverpool striker, Djibril Cisse to put United top. QPR found themselves down to 10 men when Joey Barton got sent off but they extended their lead through Jamie Mackie. It was looking like United would get a big favour from QPR who were managed by United legend Mark Hughes.
In stoppage time, City pulled one back through Edin Dzeko and it was still not enough for them to go back top. Time was running out. The game was already over at the Stadium Of Light, United players were on the pitch anxiously waiting for this result. Deep in injury time, Sergio Aguero scored the sickening winner to break the hearts of anyone of United persuasion and win a dramatic title for City, City’s first league title in 44 years. City gave United a taste of their medicine by scoring so late to win a game and a trophy. It was the first time since I started watching football that a league title had been decided by goal difference.
United was knocked out in the 5th Round in the League Cup by Crystal Palace. In the FA Cup, there was to be a surprise new signing before the 3rd Round match against Manchester City. Paul Scholes stunned everyone to come out of retirement and appear as a second-half substitute to knock holders City out of the FA Cup. However, United was knocked out 1–2 in the 4th Round by Liverpool at Anfield.
In the Champions League, United had a horrific campaign. They drew the first 2 games 1–1 against Benfica away and 3–3 against FC Basle at home, beat Romanian team Otelul Galati 2–0 home and away before another 2–2 draw at home to Benfica. United needed to beat Swiss side FC Basle to qualify to the knockout round. United had a tough time the last time they played Basle in 2002–03 but had the brilliance of Ruud van Nistelrooy to save them from a defeat then. There was no such luck this time as the Swiss side beat United to knock us out of the Champions League and consign us to a place in the Europa League, a tournament we didn’t want to be a part of.
United was appearing in the tournament for the first time since 1995–96 and evidently didn’t have their heart set on it. United managed to knock Dutch giants, Ajax Amsterdam out 3–2 on aggregate, winning 2–0 at the Amsterdam Arena and lose 1–2 at Old Trafford. In the next round, United played against Spanish side Athletic Bilbao. They lost the first leg 2–3 at Old Trafford before a 1–2 defeat at San Mames Stadium knocked us out 3–5 on aggregate.
After a high-flying start to the season, the confidence, swagger and free-flowing football was truncated after the annihilation at Old Trafford by Manchester City. United overcame that to get back to the top of the league at a crucial time of the season in February 2012 but uncharacteristically let slip a healthy lead. United’s Cup runs were flat. A season after appearing in the final of the Champions League, United failed to qualify out of the group stage for the first time since 2005–06 which was an embarrassment. They didn’t pay as much attention to the Europa League, a trophy that was missing in Sir Alex’s trophy cabinet, preferring to focus on retaining the Premier League instead.
David De Gea as expected had a shaky season, struggling to cope with the physicality of the game in England and high balls. He did show glimpses of his quality though, with a marvellous save keeping out compatriot Juan Mata’s free-kick for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that was destined for the top corner being the standout save of the season by him.
There was no doubt on his ability and shot-stopping, he needed to develop physically if he was to be a success as United’s number 1. To take him out of the line of fire and pressure, his understudy, Danish goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard was called on to replace him. Lindegaard was signed in November 2010 from Norwegian club Aalesunds FK. Tomasz Kuszczak was loaned out to Watford in the second half of the season.
Club captain Nemanja Vidic was sidelined for 5 weeks early in the season before twisting his knee against FC Basel at Old Trafford in the Champions League to sideline him for the rest of the season. In Vidic’s absence, Jonny Evans had more opportunities to play but was not as assured in his performances as the Serbian. Rio Ferdinand still had his injury troubles but played more than he did in previous seasons.
Phil Jones made a good start to life at United playing in a variety of positions, right-back, centre-back and centre-midfield turning in all-action, swashbuckling performances. Chris Smalling was further down the pecking order after Ferdinand and Evans, still developing as a player. United’s first-choice centre-back pairing of Ferdinand and Vidic was still the best pairing when both players were fully fit. If United had resisted Gerard Pique’s sale, he would surely have found space in the first team and United’s defence has been crying out for a quality player like him since the regularity of Ferdinand and Vidic’s absence increased. Patrice Evra was still the only member of United’s backline to play regularly with the same quality. In Vidic’s absence, Evra became the club captain. Rafael Da Silva failed to nail down the right-back position as he was rotated with Smalling and Jones. His twin, Fabio played more games this season but wasn’t close to getting into the first team regularly.
In midfield, United failed to sign a replacement for Paul Scholes in the summer which was a surprise and a worry. It looked like once again Sir Alex would defy common opinion by delving into the youth ranks for Tom Cleverley. Cleverley was the catalyst of United’s comeback win over City in the Community Shield. After a strong start to life as a first-team United player, he had the bad luck of injuries curtailing his appearances for the season. Darren Fletcher was another member of the midfield to not have luck on his side. He only made 10 appearances before taking an extended break from football due to his illness, ulcerative colitis. Anderson too picked up a knee injury that sidelined him until February 2012 but more injuries meant an end to his season. These absences left United short-handed in centre midfield with only Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs fit.
Scholes was recalled out of desperation but despite missing half the season, still played like he was never away, producing top-level performances. Ashley Young got off to a great start to his time at the club like the rest of the team but then found it hard-going like the rest. He performed decently though in his debut season impressing with his set-piece deliveries, crosses and shots.
United’s standout player for the season was an unexpected candidate, Antonio Valencia. He had recovered from a horrific ankle fracture and dislocation to bring his performance up another level this season. He scored a great goal in the 81st minute against Blackburn Rovers to set United up for a vital win. That goal won him the Manchester United Goal Of The Season award and added two other individual accolades, Sir Matt Busby Player Of The Year and Manchester United Players’ Player Of The Year Award.
Wayne Rooney ended the season as top scorer with 34 goals across all competitions, Javier Hernandez was suffering from 2nd season syndrome but still scored enough goals to finish as the joint 2nd top scorer in the team with 12 goals including the important equaliser against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. This season saw the return of a youth academy graduate in Danny Welbeck. He did well in his loan spell at Sunderland and was one of the bright spots of the season for United, finishing it as joint 2nd top scorer with 12 goals. He impressed with his movement, physicality and finishing. Dimitar Berbatov couldn’t replicate last season’s form and Michael Owen made just a handful of appearances.
Manchester City fully exploited the wealth of their new owners signing a truckload of players every season but the signings they made in the last couple of seasons have been of players that were much wanted in Europe and approaching their prime years. United wasted the seasons after 2008–09 gambling on the signings they made with only Antonio Valencia and Javier Hernandez justifying their purchase. United could have done with the signing of high-quality players in defence, midfield and attack to replace injury-hit players like Ferdinand and Vidic, ageing players like Scholes and Giggs and provide greater competition upfront. As mentioned earlier, Pique would have broken into the first team had he stayed on but he might have struggled with getting the right partner to play alongside.
I can understand Sir Alex Ferguson and United’s philosophy of relying on their own youth products and talent-spotting of little known players. However, the decisions made on the transfer market have not been justified. The emergence of two youth products in the form of Cleverley and Welbeck indicate an exciting future though.
