So, if Manchester
United are going to win another treble, or at least get
close to their towering achievement of 1999 by going the full
distance in each of the three big challenges that remain, who is
going to be this year's footballer of the year?
Not the PFA Player of the Year, the one where voting
has already taken place and the winner is due to be announced this
weekend. Though arguably more authentic than the
football writers' version, because players themselves make the
choices, the PFA award is always slightly compromised by the
necessity for a shortlist that is usually drawn up much too early
in the season. The Football Writers' Association (FWA) award is
usually seen as having more gravitas, because it is a completely
free vote and it comes much closer to the end of the season, and
even players initially blase about the honour tend to be
overwhelmed when they see the photographs of their illustrious
predecessors dating right back to 1948 (Stanley Matthews) lining
the walls of the Royal Lancaster hotel's cavernous banqueting
room.
The last time United won a treble, the FWA award went to David
Ginola of Tottenham, a fact that Sir Alex Ferguson now mentions
only about four times a week. He still laughs out loud at the
memory while simultaneously shaking his head at confirmation that
journalists know nothing whatsoever about football, but for the
first couple of years after the event the United manager used to
regale passersby with the same incredible story about four times a
day.
The reason Ginola won the award that year is quite simple. The
United vote was hopelessly split, with up to half a dozen players
sharing it between them, so the core of London votes the Spurs
player picked up for having a decent season was enough to push him
past the post first. It was an obvious embarrassment, and probably
no accident that Roy Keane won the award the following season then
Teddy Sheringham the next, but then, as now, United had several
leading candidates and because the treble was won with almost
literally the last kick of the season all the votes had been cast.
Ginola picked up his award in London (he was also the PFA's choice
that season, to be fair) a couple of weeks before United added
first the FA Cup and then the European Cup to their domestic league
title.
There is nothing in the rules that says the player of the year
must come from the most successful team; it is supposed to be an
individual award after all. There would be few complaints if
Gareth Bale,
for instance, picked up one or both honours this season, even
though Spurs may well finish empty-handed and the winger's recent
performances have been compromised by injury. Yet a treble is such
a startling achievement it almost overshadows all others. If a team
have really been that dominant it seems perverse to go looking
anywhere else for the best player, or certainly it does when
looking back on events from a few years down the line.
The trouble with trebles though, as we are seeing again this
season, is that dominance has a habit of announcing itself late. It
is only a few weeks since even Ferguson was laughing off the
possibility of repeating 1999, saying he would be happy with just
one of the major awards. United have not looked all that formidable
for much of the season. They look strong right now, with Chelsea
out of the way and either Barcelona or Real Madrid their likeliest
stumbling block, yet for most of the season people have been
complaining that they are an ordinary side that are at the top of
the Premier League virtually by default.
To repeat the question in the first paragraph then, should
United be able to prove otherwise in the next few weeks, which of
their players has had the most remarkable season? Nemanja Vidic has
been a solid presence as captain, and is on the PFA list, though
defenders traditionally struggle to get noticed when it comes to
awards. Patrice Evra has been just as good, and even Edwin van der
Sar has his backers, which just goes to show that even in the
unglamorous area of defence United can produce a number of
outstanding performers.
Up front where the headlines are made Dimitar Berbatov is
the league's leading scorer but cannot get in the side
for important matches. Nani has had probably his best ever season
but is not the most effective player at Old Trafford, never mind
the rest of the country. Wayne Rooney is now rediscovering his best
form but produced little before Christmas to suggest he should keep
the award he won last year. Rooney thoroughly deserved it last
year; this season he has not been quite as impressive. Ryan Giggs,
on the other hand, has probably produced more sublime match-winning
moments this season than when he won the PFA award two years ago.
In 2009 it appeared he was honoured for being such a nice guy and
looking after himself so well, whereas now he has a real chance of
being the only player ever to win two trebles separated by 12 years
and play a vital role in each.
Yet the more you look at United's season the more the
contribution of a player in his first year in England stands out.
Javier Hernández started out making brief contributions as a
substitute, finishing reliably and winning the confidence of his
manager and his team-mates. He now has 18 goals from 20 starts, has
relegated £30m Berbatov to the bench and is credited with helping
bring the best out of Rooney. The fact that he cost only £6m is
neither here nor there – Giggs cost nothing and the less said about
Ferguson's £7m investment in Bébé the better – though there is
something irresistible about the young Mexican scoring for fun when
a player such as £50m Fernando Torres looks as if he may never
manage another goal in his life.
Hernández scored both the goals against Marseille that put
United into the quarter-final against Chelsea, and he would have
had two more against Carlo Ancelotti's side at Old Trafford but for
a highly questionable offside decision denying him his first.
Television replays showed Hernández was about level both times – he
was certainly more level for the first than Berbatov was for the
opener against Fulham on Saturday – and one camera view of the
disallowed goal suggested his feet had been onside while his head
(he was leaning forward, looking round his defender) was in an
offside position. Complete nonsense, of course. Anyone in such a
position ought to be given the benefit of the doubt and declared
level. Linesmen cannot be expected to reach the sort of fine
judgements that television pictures make possible, though the
spirit of the law should be that if a player is not clearly offside
then he is onside.
Anyway, the Little Pea, I would suggest, is now as strong a
candidate for player of the year as the big bloke from Serbia. It
probably comes down to a choice between the value put on reliable
defending and sparkling finishing, though in terms of having a
terrific, eye-catching season, Hernández could easily give Bale a
run for his money. Individual awards do not matter that much, in
the general scheme of things, though at least if history repeats
itself and United once again win all the prizes and see the player
of the year award go to Tottenham, Ferguson could add a punchline
to his favourite joke by bidding for Bale's services. He was never
going to buy Ginola.