Sir Alex Ferguson was in typically deflective mood
after Manchester United's exit from the Champions League.
Photograph: John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images
Once again, Sir Alex
Ferguson decided to adhere to what Leo Durocher, the old
baseball coach, used to say about "show me a good loser and I'll
show you an idiot". This time it was a Stan Boardman moment,
deriding Bayern Munich as "typical Germans" for surrounding the
referee to campaign for Rafael da Silva's red card. Typical
Ferguson, you could say. The habit of trying to influence, or
deceive, match officials is practised in every country – even
Ferguson's beloved Scotland, judging by the way Darren Fletcher was
flailing his arms at Mike Dean and beseeching him for a nonexistent
penalty against Chelsea last Saturday.
By now, we have grown accustomed to this kind of response from
Ferguson, whether it be questioning whether Italians can be trusted
or calling the Dutch "arrogant", as he did after a 3-1 defeat to
PSV Eindhoven in 2000. The shock factor has diminished over the
years, replaced by a knowing roll of the eyes from those who know
him best. Nobody works the levers of the media better than
Manchester
United's manager and, like a conjuror, these little
outbursts can succeed in misdirecting his audience from the
shortcomings of his own team. Those Germans: they bombed our
chippie, you know.
What Ferguson did not want to consider on Wednesday night was
the notion that his team had come up short. Bayern, he said, were
"lucky". In fact, he used that word half a dozen times and, in
fairness, with a little justification on the basis that, 11 versus
11, United did look the more likely winners. It has been a galling
week for the Premier League champions but there were mitigating
circumstances, among them Wayne Rooney's injury, and the lesson of
history is that we should desist from the kind of knee-jerk
reaction that had another newspaper's website posing the question
at 8am today "Has time got the
better of Ferguson?"
The hair may not be so chestnut any more, the bags under his
eyes seemed supersized on Wednesday and his voice was laced with
unmistakeable sadness, but do not question his longevity. Bill
Shankly left Anfield at the age of 60. Brian Clough relinquished
his powers at Nottingham Forest at 58. Bob Paisley lasted until he
was 64 and Sir Matt Busby closed his reign at Old Trafford when he
was 62.
Time caught up with them all. Even Busby. On one coach journey,
a sheet of paper was passed around United's players showing a
caricature of Busby, drawn with great skill and care in ink,
depicting him with his nose as a penis and his cheeks as two
testicles. The caption read "Bollocks Chops". Eamon Dunphy, one of
United's players of the time, remembers it illustrating "the depths
to which Busby's stock had sunk among a faction in the club". Can
you seriously imagine the class of 2010 treating Ferguson with so
little respect?
Even so, there are legitimate concerns for United supporters.
One is Michael Carrick's regression and his seemingly fixed
inability to influence big matches. Rio Ferdinand is now 31 and
troubled by recurrent back problems. Rafael da Silva has shown
that, while talented, he is still very raw. Ryan Giggs, Paul
Scholes and particularly Gary Neville are in decline. Edwin van der
Sar will retire at the end of next season. And the replacements for
this illustrious cast of thirtysomethings do not always inspire
confidence.
The French winger Gabriel Obertan has vanished almost without
trace since the 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Leeds United in January.
Darron Gibson is a splendid striker of the ball but lacks the
mobility and passing range of a really top midfielder. Ben Foster
has endured a dreadful year. A £10m deal has been put in place for
Fulham's young central defender Chris Smalling but, since then, he
has looked error-prone to say the least.
Then there is the issue of Dimitar Berbatov and the overwhelming
sense that Wednesday demonstrated he has not worked. Berbatov was
on the bench despite Rooney's patent lack of fitness. After Rooney
was withdrawn, with the team needing another goal, there were 25
minutes when Ferguson moved Nani, a winger, into the
centre-forward's role. Berbatov has now started only six out of 22
Champions League games since becoming United's most expensive
player at £30.75m from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2008. He
was introduced with 10 minutes to go.
Ferguson will deny it, of course, but even the most trusting
disciple could be forgiven for wondering whether the manager can
ever be believed again after the Peculiar Case of Wayne Rooney's
Right Ankle. Ferguson also denies that the ruling Glazer family
have kept from him the £80m that United received from Real Madrid
for Cristiano Ronaldo but, again, can we take his word for it?
This is the true problem for United: they need a better class of
replacement for their older players and that will require their
owners to flex some financial muscle. Everyone in football knows
that is not going to happen.
