Questions are being raised by the fans, “What is going on in Old Trafford?” A team which started off so well is suffering from successive loses now. The journey started in late August, when Sir Alex Ferguson signed the Dutch striker, Robin Van Persie who rejected a contract from the rivals Manchester City to arrive at Old Trafford. He assured the Red Devil fans their 20th Premier League title. The season kicked off with a disappointment as they lost against Everton away in Goodison Park. But Manchester United are known to rises from ashes and they came back to the title race by Van Persie scoring his home debut goal against Fulham and sealing their victory. Wayne Rooney picked up an injury in the same match and thus put himself away from the field for the next four weeks.
Sir Alex Ferguson was facing the distinct possibility that Manchester United’s 1000th game on his watch would end in something bordering on disarray. But the Dutchman was there to help and scored a late equalizer as well as a winner and thus sealed Alex Ferguson’s 1000th match a victory. The former gunner had become the fan favorite in Manchester United, they saw him as the savior for their 20th Premier League title. His consistency proved it, he picked up as many goals as possible. He scored against Chelsea, Liverpool , his former club Arsenal and scored the late winner against City. The expectations of the fans grew, they not only wanted their 20th Premier League title but a treble. On the other hand,
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Manchester United was progressing in FA Cup as well as UEFA Champions League. They had secured themselves a place in Round of 16 as they had the most number of points in the group stages. Manchester United was drawn with the Spanish Champions Real Madrid for Round of 16. The first leg was drawn with Danny Welbeck netting and former Red Devil Ronaldo scoring the equalizer for his team. The atmosphere in Old Trafford was different to that of any other matches, the Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs was going to make his 1000th senior appearances against Real Madrid. The fans strongly believed that the Dutchman would lead them to victory against the Los Blancos. The first half of the game produced no goals from either of the teams. In the early second half, Lius Nani picked a shoot and it was deflected by Sergio Ramos resulting netting his own goal. The atmosphere in the Theater of Dreams was different now, every Red Devil believed that they would seal the victory and their treble dreams were near but the destiny had its own ways to shock the Red Devils. Lius Nani was booked a red card for an unintentional foul against Alvaro Arbeloa and mighty Red Devils which looked so strong few minutes back seemed to be weakened by reducing them to 10 men. Two goals were scored by Real Madrid and thus knocking of Manchester United from UEFA Champions League and thus shattering their treble dream. It took few days for the Red Devils and their manager to regain their consciousness.
Alex Ferguson now aimed a double and was looking forward to Chelsea’s match in Old Trafford. The angry Red Devils scored two early goals and created an atmosphere that they were after the double but nevertheless the Blues made their own way in the second half. They scored two goals and thus forced themselves for a Replay. The Replay was scheduled on 1st of April in Stamford Bridge. Manchester United held the Lions in the first half but failed to do the same in second half as Ba scored their winner. The Red Devil’s dreams were again shattered, being 15 points clear on the top of the table; they believed that the 20th Premier League title was all theirs. The players and manager concentrated on the upcoming fixtures and the Manchester Derby was awaiting them. But they failed again, Manchester City won their away match at Old Trafford sealing a 2-1 victory. The Dutchman seemed of no help either, he had not scored for many matches and a goal drought prevailed. Rooney who had just returned from an injury that he had picked up during international break was not of much help. Where is Manchester United going wrong? What forced them to lose successive games?
The inconsistency of the Dutchman:
Many fans were starting to wonder whether the deadly Dutchman needed a rest – after all he has featured in every single Manchester United league game this season, as well as international games for Holland. The Dutchman, Van Persie had not scored in 10 club matches and his inconsistency is growing a threat for Alex Ferguson’s side. In the beginning of the season, the Red Devils were heavily dependent on the Dutchman and he seemed collapsed as he could fulfill his fan’s expectations to score against Real Madrid. He needs his own rest and maybe he will recover in time. Every striker goes through a stage where they tend to not score goals and let’s hope this period does not last long for Van Persie.
The less no. of games for the Japanese international:
Shinji Kagawa has played only 14 games in Premier League this season. He picked up an injury in the early part of the season but now when he is in his form which he proved by scoring an hat-trick against Norwich city. He is not given chances to play important games like Manchester Derby or their match against Chelsea. It is not wise of Alex Ferguson to keep such a skilled player and not use him. He needs to be given more chances and henceforth making the midfield stronger
The dilemma between the wingers:
The wingers play one of the most important roles in a match. Manchester United which has produced an amazing number of great wingers seems to have a problem with them this season. With Nani’s and Valencia’s inconsistency and Ashley Young’s successive injuries, Alex Ferguson is forced to depend on his 39 year old player, Ryan Giggs who has been absolutely fantastic this season. Ferguson plays Welbeck in place of Valencia due his inconsistency. Alex Ferguson being the wise one made a transfer for Wilfried Zaha to replace Lius Nani and making efforts to bring Valencia back to form. But for now Zaha is not arriving at Old Trafford until the end of the season, so Alex Ferguson has to concentrate and uplift his wingers.
