Manchester United's shadow side survived Saturday's FA
Cup test but TEAMtalk's Jon Holmes is more concerned by the club's
upcoming road trips.
Had the trajectory of Richard Brodie's late looping header been
slightly to the left, we may have been reflecting on a shock
outcome for Crawley Town in their fifth-round tie at Old
Trafford.
Instead, pride and a few regrets are all the 'other' Red Devils
have to show for their efforts against the 11-times FA Cup
winners.
Sir Alex Ferguson admitted after last month's narrow win over
Southampton in round four that he had meddled too much with
United's system at St Mary's, but this time the personnel took the
blame for an insipid display against non-league opposition.
Ferguson said he hoped some of his players would 'learn a big
lesson' from their chastening FA Cup experience in front of a crowd
of almost 75,000, who paid around £40 a head for a bird's eye view
of Bebe's blind-alley wanderings.
In truth, the Portuguese youngster was not much worse than
Gabriel Obertan, and together they conspired to make Javier
Hernandez, who has already dug his team-mates out of several tight
spots in his short United career to date, totally anonymous.
In any case, Ferguson is unlikely to dwell on the display for
much longer than it takes to neck a couple of glasses of wine with
Steve Evans, with his first team now set for four hugely important
away fixtures in the next fortnight.
United's form on their travels has been patchy since the turn of
the year. Of course, they have lost just once - the 2-1 defeat at
Wolves two weekends ago - but there have been several close calls.
The combination of Hernandez's super-sub antics at The Hawthorns
and Bloomfield Road, a missed West Brom penalty, a
'should-have-been-given' Blackpool spot-kick and a
backs-to-the-wall defensive display at Tottenham have seen
Ferguson's men skirt dangerously close to defeats only to come away
with cherished results. Their overall away record in the Premier
League - won three, drawn eight, lost one - shows resilience but
not brilliance.
With that in mind, Ferguson could be forgiven for being a little
apprehensive ahead of United's next European appointment on
Wednesday night, and the three league encounters that follow.
Marseille have only lost twice at home all season - to Caen in
their Ligue 1 season opener, and to Spartak Moscow in Champions
League Group F. They edged past Saint-Etienne 2-1 at the Stade
Velodrome on Saturday to strengthen their title hopes and the likes
of Stephane Mbia and Souleymane Diawara will at the very least
present United with a stern physical challenge.
As for the forthcoming domestic fixtures, they appear at first
glance to represent three increasing levels of difficulty.
Wigan has always been a happy hunting ground for Ferguson's
sides: they have never failed to win there, and the last time they
made the short trip north-west in August 2009, they triumphed 5-0.
But the Latics looked lively at Old Trafford in November before
going down to nine men, and seem to be showing appetite for their
relegation scrap judging by their recent league results against
Blackburn (a 4-3 home win) and Liverpool (a 1-1 draw at
Anfield).
Perhaps that game will constitute a little local difficulty and
nothing more, but the Stamford Bridge summit with Chelsea - now
fixed for Tuesday, March 1 - looks altogether trickier.
The reigning Double-winners are plainly in a proper funk, made
worse by their FA Cup elimination by Everton, but there could be
something of the wounded lion about them in next month's key clash.
Carlo Ancelotti's players will have a week to prepare for the game
after their Champions League last-16 first-leg tie in Copenhagen
and with a proud unbeaten record against United on home turf
stretching back to 2002, a major showdown such as this could be
exactly what they need to raise their spirits.
And five days later, hostilities will be renewed with bitter
rivals Liverpool. Memories of the Anfield raids by Blackpool and
Wolves earlier in the season have been wiped away with the
passionate welcome afforded to Kenny Dalglish, whose first match
back in charge was the FA Cup third-round defeat at Old Trafford.
The Reds have conquered the Red Devils on their last two Merseyside
meetings and will be particularly eager to derail United this
season in order to stay alongside them on the perch of top-division
titles so memorably referred to by Ferguson all those years
ago.
The Marseille tie must be viewed separately but as far as the
Premier League is concerned, United will have to step up through
the gears if they are to remain in pole position. Rivals for the
crown Arsenal, four points back in the table with home games
against Stoke and Sunderland in this period, are ready to pounce
should the leaders slip up on their travels around England in the
next 14 days.
The excitement generated by Wayne Rooney's overhead-kick winner
over Manchester City in last weekend's derby may have kept the home
fires burning, but United's mettle must be measured on the road
before the FA Cup looms back into view.