Super Sub evolution

            Last night United clawed their way through to a 2-3 win at Villa Park against Aston Villa. Not one of their best nights at the Birmingham club but it showed once again that the devils are not dead even if tey have no pulse, and that they finally have a replacement for Solskjaer.

            It was the 8th time United have comeback this season and it is a clear indication that the fighting spirit in the heart of the club still lives. The same fighting spirit that, 13 years ago, dragged United to a first treble, the second ever in European History. United were Champions then after doing pretty much what the present team is doing with the only and noteworthy exception being, back in 1999 Unirted were a better unit at the defensive side of the game. It is not a coincidence that sees United have defensive problems at the time where the rest of the league has forgotten to defend. Attck has become the best form of defense and, as more teams continue to impolement it, you can be assured that the comebacks will pour in. They have just played 11 games and they already hold the record for the most comebacks in the Premier League era. It is crazy stuff.


            Back in 1999, the United defense was lead by a big man. He was debatably the best keeper to wear the United colours. Peter Schmiechel, the Great Dane, was no match for the best strikers in the world. 6ft 4in tall he was the immovable object in front of goal. And then there was Jap Stam. Superlatives are not enough to describel the dutchman's defensive contribution to the reds. His sale to Lazio was, as Sir Alex admitted, his worst ever sale. The current defensive contingent has not matured enough to match these greats. The ones who have , Ferdinand and Evra, look past their prime and you can see the shedding of pace and judgemnt affecting United's results. United have to improve at the back and they have to learn that relying on the team to get the goals back at the front is simply to risky. It is at the present still a castle of cards at United.

        Talking of goals, a figure has risen at Old Trafford. True, he has already been there for two season, but Haernandez 2 goals and 1 assist (to an own goal) yesterday showed United that they do really have a super-sub in their hands. And so rarely has there been a super-sub of such instinct and talent who, among other things, doesn't mind being called a super sub and is extremely pleased with his position in the club's structure. The last one that springs to memory was the little Norwegian goal-poacher, Ole Gunnar Soskjaer. And while comparing Herenandez and Solskjaer, simillarities are not hard to come by. Apart from the thirst for goals and the lethality in the penalty area, they have one more thing in common, the instantly likabl;e baby faces. United might just have found a replacement fo the man who won them the treble 13 years ago with a winner in the European Cup Final and then one against Liverpool in the F.A cup. Chicarito is the man for the job.

A little push to a few cameras.

           Let's take a step back from football and look at the world at large. Humans are a much evolved race from a few decades ago. The continuous negotiations between science and the human race continue. We are on the brink of finding the Higgs boson, the God particle. We have machines to look and propel life into space. We have people living in space. We have before us a more advanced population. We have technology. If we take a look back into football and see how it's being used there, we will see progress. From the ways of training , to response to an injury, to rehabilitation, to kits that focus energy, we have changed. Then if we look a little deeper into one section of the football community things look a little dusty. This section has been in the news for all the wrong reasons this past week. Football controversy begins and ends with them most of the time. Our moderators with yellow and red rectangles in their pocket and armed with just the attention drawing whistle  our referees.

            The use of the word 'just' in the previous sentence is because I think they deserve more. They stand between 22 huge egos and a ball and they, more often than not, are easily trampled. If not by the 22 souls then by the thousands who have paid money to watch them. If not them then the assailant media who will camp in their front lawns and question them about ethics. Mostly it's a combination of all this brute pressure. It may not happen every 90 minutes of the beautiful game, but it happens and when it happens it  hits hard. So why can't we help them. FIFA can but they have not yet and it is frustrating for the football fan.

          This week it was the goal West Ham should have had but instead had disallowed for offside. That would have seen them beat the champions and quiet frankly would have been the cherry on the icing for the hammers who have shown great character following their promotion under Big Sam.  Lat week's mistakes have been well publicized. The Suarez goal disallowed in the Merseyside derby took second page only to the combination of a unjust red card to former Scouser Torres (though some may argue, and fairly so, that he must have been sent off earlier), and the goal credited to United which was scored by Hernandez from an offside position. The events in London were a disgrace to the game at play and more essentially to the refereeing set-up in the world of football.

       The referee holds the remote of the game in his hands and on the field he play God, but he is, like every other person in the world, a human and it is in the nature of us humans to err. But it is also in the nature of us humans to do all we can to prevent erring again. You touch a hot plate, you burn a finger but you learn never to touch it again. And you will not approach it without protection again. But where are the protection for our referees. Why is all the goal line and video technology going to waste in a corner of FIFA's 'to implement' cabinet which is right now, for all we know, buried in the Swiss Alps. Why aren't we using technology.

     The right winged football fanatic may say it is to keep the human touch in the game, which is a fair argument except for the fact that it is not. If it was we wouldn't abuse referees when they make bad desicions or even game destroying ones, cause it all, as this argument may suggest  in the Spirit of the Game. Why keep a human when you demand non human like behaviour  I'm not suggesting totally removing the human referee. No. That would be devastating  Just imagine a robot trying to stop Roy Keane from breaking a opponents leg or negotiating with Sir Alex for stoppage time. Those robots will be blown to smithereens. All us football fans need is to keep the human touch in the game while assisting that touch with Science. It's worked for Cricket, a boring Britsh game, another British sport, so why not for football. Why will the English footballing community respond any differently. And it isn't even going to cost that much. The goal-line technology might but a camera to review the decisions is already there, and in numbers too. If we can see it in T.V why can the referee have a tablet where he too can see it. Why can't he. There seems no reason why not.

    FIFA and UEFA are walking a tight rope here over a game that is for some people a religion and they would do well to pave a broader path for themselves by connecting science and the moderators of the beautiful game. It is easy and will fulfill the wants of many and save the sanity of hundreds of referees around the globe. If done fast it will be a saviour. But for the many already affected, it may be a little too late (ex:Tom  Ovrebo who was ill-fated to referee a Chelsea v Barcelona game horribly.)  Science has begun the marathon a long time and seems a shame football has not caught up with her. But we should and we will. All it needs is a little push to a few cameras.

     

Splitting Seams: The Portuguese wingman

             Nani has been an embodiment of inconsistency at Old Trafford. He flatters to deceive and the game at the Bridge in the Capital One Cup was such a game, the story of which was the story of his career in Manchester.

           Nani, when he came to United from Lisbon in 2007, was proclaimed the new Ronaldo. The young Portuguese with a €25.5 million price tag on his head scored on his debut in pre-season against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical in a 6-0 win for the Reds. On his competitive debut United won on penalties against Mourinho's Chelsea in the Community Shield  He scored his first competitive goal for the reds against Tottenham Hotspurs from 30 yards, a truly remarkable goal that gave the keeper no chance. It was one of the many he would go on to score in the Red of Manchester United. Two assists in a man of the match performance in  February against Arsenal helped United cruise to a 4-0 win against the gunners. He also was involved in a brawl with William Gallas and was sent off a few weeks later for an headbutt on West Ham player Lucas Neil. He then scored a crucial penalty against Chelsea at the shootouts in the Champions League final in Moscow, as he showed that he was too big a player to succumb to pressure. The litmus test was over, and Louis Nani was ready for the world.

        His second season, while not eventful as the first saw some great as well as disappointing performances from the winger. And then came the spotlights and with them they bought eyes of the whole footballing world. Cristiano Ronaldo had left for Madrid and it was finally time to see weather Nani was ready to step up to the position if not the class and flair of his fellow countryman. The world's weight was on his shoulders in his third season. He got a dislocated shoulder on his first day at work in the community shield  He was back in August but a string of poor performances followed. Nani vented his frustration at the gaffer, criticizing him for a lack of confidence. In spite of the outburst he was given a chance and he took it providing Rooney with an assist in a 4-0 win against Hull, shining at the Manchester derby, and then netting spectacularly against Arsenal. But Nani being Nani was sent off after four days for a lunge on Stiliyan Petrov. He scored in 3-2 win against Bayern Munich and ended the season with 7 goals in all competitions as the new Ronaldo title slowly began to wear off.

   In his third season he scored his first ever goal in a Manchester derby, netting one of the two of United goals. However his goal was overshadowed by Wayne Rooney's stunner which was voted the best goal of the Premier League era. He was included in the PFA Premier league team of the year and was voted the Player's Player of the year at OT. He had a few bad performances but he came out on to. The fout=rth season was more of the same.

     Wednesday night was also more of the same. Nani stuck a beauty, but otherwise was easy to miss. He was caught in possession all too often and one of those, when United held a 3-2 lead lead to United conceding a penalty and Chelsea equalizing to put the tie into extra time. Nani's obsession to beat his man and the take another had cost United the game and Sir Alex wasn't happy about it. Th OT faithful have appreciate Nani's contributions to the football club but how long they will tolerate his selfishness is being tested as I write. Zenit wanted him over the summer for 33million and Juventus are reportedly trying too. Either way Nani may have overstayed his welcome at OT. His form this season hasn't been great and United will be happy to us the cash to get the new play maker they desperately need.

His services for United are in no way small and United fans will always remember all his wonder-goals and the two he scored in the Community Shield against Manchester City in an awe inspiring comeback, but his days in red are coming to an end. 

Splitting seams

     A club is larger than any player. United are a large club. No individual in United is ensured of a palce is the main team. No one at this club is indispensible and over the years we have shaken off enough great players and fairly weak ones too. This new column by this blog takes a look at the players at the club who are slowly drifting away from the club.This blogger is not a betting guy but if he was he would definitely put money on these players to leave at some time over the next few seasons to graze on other pastures.