Morrison vs. Morrison

I remember when I was still playing football on a regular and competitive basis. One weekend our team traveled to Olney, Maryland to play against their travel team. Here in the States, we don’t have academies, really; we have what we call “select” or “travel.” Aside from ODP (Olympic Development Program), it’s the closest we have to competitive youth football.

So, we get there and the atmosphere is pretty typical. Olney was known for being a dirty team. Even the parents were dirty – yelling at the opposing team’s kids, swearing, threatening, etc. We never ever liked playing them. From the get-go, their kids are acting like total heathens. It quickly turns into a battle. As the game got into the last few minutes, one of their players slides in studs up – from behind – and takes down our sweeper. In the heat of the moment, I chase him down, a la Wayne Rooney, and absolutely take him out. The play was dead. Everyone saw it. Ref shows me red. I knew it was coming. I storm off the pitch, more upset at how out of hand the game had gotten than actually getting the red. My coach grabs my arm, looks at me, and reprimands me for stooping to their level. I didn’t want to hear him, so I grabbed my bag and stormed off to the car to wait, a la Balotelli. He was old and he didn’t’ get it. He was out of touch with the game. I was 13 and that’s exactly what I was thinking at that exact moment. In that instance, I had no desire to listen to anyone. I was above it all. I was right; I was defending my player; I wasn’t going to be told otherwise. Sound familiar?

In light of everything that’s happened over the last year with players like Tevez, Balotelli, Rooney, and now Ravel Morrison; it is impossible for me to not draw parallels when hearing the rumors this past week. The biggest difference though? I WAS 13. I wasn’t a professional. I had nothing to throw away. I was never going to play for United. I wasn’t being scouted for a club team. I wasn’t even being scouted for college. In that moment, though, I felt entitled. The unfortunate parallel with our current situation is that Ravel Morrison feels like he’s entitled EVERY moment. Entitlement is one of the many problems with young players nowadays. “What are people going to give me right now?!”

You’ve heard it all week. Ravel is the best thing to come out of the academy since Paul Scholes. He’s been told he’s the next best thing for years and the boy is only 18. Think about having a little chip on your shoulder, but imagine everyone feeding that ego from the time you were 10 years old. It’s created the person that Ravel is now. He doesn’t take direction cause he just doesn’t care. He doesn’t listen to what wiser and more seasoned players/coaches tell him cause he thinks he knows better. In the end, players like Morrison – who have talent for miles – end up doing only what’s best for them. He’s with United and he’s on the biggest stage. He knows what’s being said about him and he knows that the exposure he’s getting now (negative and positive) is something he wouldn’t have seen at another club. He thinks he’s setting himself up for a payday by being at United – and that’s what he cares about.

The truth is he’ll get paid somewhere. Some team will pay the fee we agree on and he’ll go to their team and collect a check that would make people who would appreciate it grateful for it beyond words. To him though, he feels like it’s owed to him. I’ve got news for him: He hasn’t earned anything from us. He’s played in three League Cup games. He’s making more money than 99% of 18 years make. He has talent to make him millions of dollars and win lots of trophies, but he’s most likely going to sacrifice 15-20 million pound contracts years down the road for a fraction of that right now. He lacks the reasoning, idealization, and perspective to know this. He wants his and he wants it now. Someone as legendary as Fergie isn’t going to be able to change his mind. He’d respond to a younger manager who has proven he can do the job. As much as it pains me to say it, someone like Mourinho or Mancini. I GUARANTEE he looks up to Balotelli and would secretly (or, in the not-too-distant-future and not-so-secretly) love playing for City.

When it comes down to it, Ravel is the type of player who doesn’t respond to elders well. Take it from me; I was a little heathen in my day, too. He doesn’t respond to authority well. It could be his upbringing or it could just be him. What’s going to happen in the next few months is that he’ll most likely leave United for a fee we’ll most likely shake our heads at. He’ll go to a team that needs a player right now, not a team that will sit him on the bench (would probably rule City out). He’ll get a couple pounds to put in his pocket, but he’ll have sacrificed his future for his right now. Who knows if this kid will end up being great? We can’t get inside his head to figure this whole thing out. Maybe he'll listen to sound reasoning and stay?

But like I said yesterday, the only thing stopping Ravel Morrison from being great is Ravel Morrison. 

Why Losing Against Blackburn Isn't a Real Shocker

If you know me, you know I’m not one for knee-jerk reactions. I run my mouth on Twitter, but anything that seems knee-jerk is more than likely just me being facetious. It’s a blessing and a curse that I think all Twitterers have. We use social media as an outlet, opting to type it out rather than scream it out. I should say that I do both. So, when I say that this result isn’t as shocking as Ian Darke, Steve McManaman, or any other pundit are making it out to be, you know that it’s really how I feel.

Throughout the season people will point at this game and point at that game and say it’s where we won or lost the title. We did it all of last season and somehow won by a 9 pt margin. Granted, the last few games that got us to 9 points were after we had already really clinched the title. Some people say that you can’t point to one match because that result changes the chemical balance of the rest of the season, win or lose. Some people are firm believers that if we don’t win the title this year, the Blackburn loss today will be the reason. I’m stuck somewhere in between. Whatever you feel about today’s loss, the permeating factor for me is that this loss isn’t as shocking as people are truly making it out to be. And this isn’t me dumbing this loss down like it didn’t mean anything and we shouldn’t have expected to win. Bottom line: We should have taken 3 pts.

When looking at this fixture after the thumpings we gave Fulham, Wigan, and Wolves, Blackburn was a forgone conclusion of 3 pts. We were suddenly back in form and no one ever thought that this game would be a hiccup. Blackburn is in disrepair at the bottom of the table, their fans calling for Kean to be sacked before, at half, and after each game. We were so busy worried about City and keeping pace that we simply overlooked this game, leading to the reason why we lost: Playing a hodge podge of players, hoping for a win, won’t get you a win. Even against Blackburn. Here are the two reasons why this loss isn’t as surprising as it may seem.

1) Look at our team, seriously. Some have a “No excuses!” attitude, but that’s just not realistic. Sure, our team – even the first half lottery picks – should have been good enough to win today. The issue I have with that is when you throw players together who haven’t played together (and in those positions together), you can’t expect an immediate result. That talent on the field was good enough to get three points, but look at the squad and where we were playing and tell me it wasn’t a contributing factor in dropping points. This is what has plagued City over the seasons. Good players who hadn’t played together not getting points. Now that they’re playing together (and in position), they play well. In another example, if you take a makeshift basketball team and put the center in at point guard and the point guard at center, you’re not going to win. Carrick at CB is a stop-gap that caught up with us. Jones at CB isn’t my first or second choice. No Evans or Rio or Rooney or Giggs. We had Park and Rafa in MF. We had Welbeck on the wing, a place he consistently doesn’t perform. Then you have Chicha (who hasn’t played much) up top with Berba (who people think shouldn’t play much). Add in some howlers by De Gea and that’s three points gone like the beer on New Year’s Eve.

2) Blackburn are absolutely fighting for their lives. If they were a WBA or a Stoke, sitting mid-table on the New Year, it’s not a big deal to go to OT and hope to get a point. But Steve Kean is in the cellar, locked there, looking for a way out. They are going to do whatever it takes to get even one point. Today at OT they did just that. They didn’t have much offense, but they took advantage of the chances (and blunders – De Gea and our makeshift defense) when they were presented. An early PK and early 2^nd half goal were all they really needed to secure at least one point. We fought back, but it just wasn’t going to happen. Blackburn showed up to our home, knocked down the door, smash/grabbed 3 points and turned around before we could figure out what happened. Kudos to them.

In 2012, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the 2^nd half of the season, but we all know anything can happen. For that reason, and that reason alone, I’m not going to write us off yet. If we don’t win the title, I’m not sure I’ll even point at this game and say it was the reason. Chances are it won’t be a three point difference. Chances are there will be other games people will point at. What I’m really hoping for is a strong second half and being able to cheekily point at this game and say, “That’s the game where we turned it all around and won the title.” Of course I’d be being facetious. Or, would I?

August 31st, 2011 - The Day United Went Out of the Champions League

The exit from last night’s Champions League Group Stage came long before the referee blew the final whistle. Some will say that it was when we failed to win home matches against Basel and Benefica. Some will say that it came when we made so many changes to the side that faced Benefica. Some will even say that it was when Hernandez went down injured against Villa this past Saturday. I’m going to say that it came back on August 31^st, 2011 – the day we failed to secure a CM that we’ve desperately needed. Sure, sure, that may sound a bit harsh, but it’s really not if you think about it.

Paul Scholes was going to retire at some point. And long before he announced it, he wasn’t this midfield magician who played 50+ games for us each season. The preemptive searching for a midfield was nonexistent and I will not count Sneijdergate as anything other than some fans’ pipe dream signing. They put all their eggs in a basket hoping Sneijder could come here when we should have been focusing our efforts on a player we could have gotten and a player who wouldn’t sit out a majority of the games we play. When it comes down to it, there will always be speculation as to why we didn’t get certain players, fine, but we could have made stronger efforts to get players like Nasri, Modric, Diarra, Khedira, (<insert player’s name here), etc. We replaced VDS, got some fullbacks to beef up our somewhat aging backline, and got a winger to pair with Nani. That’s all well and good (and in Phil Jones’ case I’ll say “absolutely spectacular”), but what we have needed for some time is a great CMF. Those who think otherwise have to be on another planet far, far from here. 

So, the rest of us saw the summer transfer window close with 50m worth of new signings, none of which were a CMF. I didn’t want him, but hell, I might even consider Scott Parker a good signing in retrospect. So what happens? The season starts off with a thrilling Charity Shield win versus City and then some resounding performances where we looked like the United team of yesteryears thumping Bolton and Arsenal. The title was ours. City, you can have the FA Cup; we’ll take the Premier League title again. Thank you very much. But alas, this early season form only did us a disservice in the end because it blinded many fans into thinking that we had a spectacularly well-rounded team when we really didn’t. Getting big names and splashing some cash is fine and dandy, but not when the issue of the hole in our MF gets swept under the rug. Young looked good early, but has sunk to a level of mediocrity. De Gea has had his fumbles, but I’m 110% behind him being one of the best keepers in the world in the next two seasons. And Jones? That really speaks for itself now doesn’t it?

Sure, injuries haven’t helped our cause, but as I’ve said before, you can’t plan for injuries. You can plan for fielding a great team by putting together great players – and that includes a much-needed CMF. The Glazers have been the cancer of this team for years, but they shelled out 50m for players. We could’ve used Young’s 18-20m for a CMF and that’s all I’ll say on that. So we were forced to plug the holes in the dam time and time again, like we have been for several seasons. But when you’ve got a gaping hole in your midfield, you’re not going to be much good. In the interim, we’ve used Jones as a utility man and we’ve used Rooney as a stopgap CMF at times. We’ve also mixed up the line-up to try and compensate for the lack of creativity and strength in our midfield. We have to be an autonomous unit that gels from back to front. Games that we would have scored 3 and 4 goals in years past have only yielded single goal efforts. This is not the United team we need to be. The 1-nil wins and clean sheets are great, but they could be doubly great if we scored more goals. Battering a team with possession and attempts but not goals only deflates a team into a funk – a funk United are in.

When it comes down to it, the Carling Cup exit, the Champions League exit, and the 5-point gap between us and City in the Premier League all could’ve been different if we had signed the CMF that we needed. And you can say, “One player wouldn’t have made all this difference.” And to that I’d say you’re sorely mistaken. It wouldn’t just be about everything that he produces, it would be about what the team would produce with him in there, and that’s a big difference. A CMF controls the game. They do the job of connecting the front and back lines. They do everything that we’ve needed, but haven’t gotten. Instead, we’re looking at the rest of this season without Vidic and only the Prem title as the aim to shoot for. And keep in mind that being out of all these competitions cost us more than any midfielder would have. Just makes the pill a little harder to swallow when you look back. So the goal we should have right now is to hold ground in the PL till January and look to buy in the window. Should we buy? Absolutely. Will we buy? Probably not. But that issue is saved for an entirely different novel.

Follow me on Twitter at @JasTheDevil

Let's All Laugh at City???

It’s one of my favorite things to say about our noisy neighbors, but “Let’s all laugh at City” could soon be shelved, right next to the “35 Years” banner we literally held over their heads for the last 3.5 decades. With an FA Cup in their desolate trophy cabinet, City have started this league season with more than just a few pipe dreams. As I type this, they are 5 pts clear of us and a week off a 6-1 thumping of a United team that was a miniscule shadow of our early season form. We have some fickle fans, but even the most grounded United fans can share in some trepidation when it comes to this year's City team. The real question is: Are they better than United? Let’s find out.

The most glaring thing to notice about this City team is that they finally mean business, and I’m not just talking about spending the money this time. For years City have thrown money at a problem they couldn’t seem to fix – winning. When an ownership with deep pockets takes over, money will be spent. We all knew that would happen. But, we watched from our side of town while City made an attempt to replicate even the most minute United success with purchase after purchase. It’s quite difficult to sit on the other side while your rivals win every trophy possible, so City took the approach that loads of money would buy loads of the best players. The simple law of economics does prevail and, yes, whoever has the most money can afford the best players. The problem City faced was that they were buying players for exorbitant amounts of money, but they were overpaying and buying the wrong players. Robinho, Milner, Adebayor, SWP (the 2nd go-around), Santa Cruz, Zabaleta, Barry, etc. Some are gone, some are still there, but City kept buying. We laughed at the failures year after year, but at some point, these players would learn to play together. That time has come.

Over the last three or so seasons, City fielded a team with the highest wages and highest transfer fees, but no one wanted to play together. The joke was that no one spoke the same language, so how could they possibly play football as a cohesive unit. The funny part about this was that it was true. They constantly underachieved. Even an FA Cup and a CL birth last season were considered a letdown for a team with close to 600m in players. In the end, City and its fans were ecstatic with those two accomplishments, though I’m sure a Carling Cup win would’ve satisfied a City fan after 35 years of nothing. However, it still begged the question, “When will City produce?” No manager, Mancini or not, can stick around from just winning an FA Cup or Carling Cup each year. City wanted European glory just like every other team, so coming into this season the stakes were just a bit higher for them. They tasted some success and wanted more. But, is more success in City’s future? Let’s look at both teams now.

City have gelled in a way that hasn’t been seen since, well, since some 35 years ago. Mancini is finally finding a way to make the players work. His comment about having a lack of players was comical, but when you’re spoiled with money, you get greedy and unsatisfied. David Silva has been their star, controlling a mid-field that needed some serious grounding and continuity. Balotelli is still petulant, but he’s started producing. Tevez turned into the sour apple everyone in Manchester knew he would, so Mancini went out and purchased his replacement, Aguero. Kompany has always been their best defender, but they’ve fortified themselves in the back so far, conceding very few goals. Silva has glued their MF together while their strikers have put in goals. The bickering and lack of team unity have turned into a viable squad.  They have slaughtered teams, including United – us being the only real competition thus far. You know who they remind me of? Chelsea this time last year. Remember what happened to Chelsea at season’s end? They were 9 points back of United. So let’s look at United.

We spent the off-season getting De Gea, Young, and Jones. We couldn’t lock down a CMF, but when the season started we settled in on using Cleverley as Scholes’ immediate replacement. The formula seemed to work – until it didn’t. Eventually, the MF issue of the last few seasons crept back into view and our early season form went away. The culmination of this slip in form happened to City. At home. 6-1. Does that mean City is better than us? On the weekend, yes. On the season, no. The one thing that we have on our side that will set us apart as season’s end is Fergie. He finds a way to win. Mancini hasn’t shown us that yet. He has a plethora of players at his disposal, but when his team starts sustaining injuries or booking suspensions or Balotelli’s temper, can Mancini find a team that works like Fergie can? For me, the answer is “No.”

You can could argue that on paper, and even on the field, City have a better team. Lord knows they have the money to support that. But, what they don’t have is a heart like Manchester United. Fergie has the respect of players. And, he holds their respect without having to demand it - he's earned it. It’s just the United way. Mancini has spats with his players on the sidelines – see Balotelli and Tevez. That would not happen at United. And while Mancini has dealt with Balotelli and Tevez, the bottom-line is that he shouldn’t have to. Sure, Fergie has had spats with players (Beckham and Ronaldo), but he's also been at the club for 25 years and it's almost never on the sidelines of a match. Mancini hasn't even hit the two year mark. He might very well be a great manager, but that has yet to be seen. The sincere truth is that there's just an air of professionalism at Old Trafford that has yet to find its way over to Stockport. And see, the season isn’t 9 games long. A Prem season is 38 games long. We understand what it takes to get through those 38 league games, and about 20 some odd others, and have something to show for it. Just drive by OT and you’ll see the proof of 19 domestic titles. Drive by Stockport and you won’t see any of that. You'll see one trophy and a half-empty stadium on match day. In the end, City isn’t a better team than United. It’s something they have to earn. Something they have to want. Something that they’ll have to come and get from us. Something I hope they have to wait another season to try and do.

Follow me on Twitter at @JasTheDevil

Our Fantastic Back Four - Are They Really That Good?

Despite our most recent success, most notably over the last five seasons, there have always been issues that needed addressing. This is nothing new for any team because there’s always something that can be fixed. But during the last few years, injuries have plagued our defense, lack of creativity has plagued our MF, and true depth has plagued both those areas. With this new squad, we are chock full of options, especially in defense.  This hasn’t always been the case.

Fans will never forget the injured plagued season of three years ago, when it seemed like we never had a fully fit back four. Fans will remember SAF plugging the damn with makeshift defenders (Michael Carrick) just trying to stay afloat. With four titles in five years, SAF made it work. All of a sudden, we have a strong back line with options. When Rio or Vidic would pick up a knock three years ago, we cringed at who would be put back there. So far this season, Rio and Vidic haven’t really played and we’ve still looked excellent. This begs the question – Is our back four really that good? The answer isn’t as clear-cut as what the beginning of this campaign would have you think.

The long and short of it is that our back four, whoever we decide to field, is really that good. However, we can’t get carried away with the hoopla just yet. After the Bolton game, the biggest worry was whether or not Rooney would get a third successive hat trick. After the Chelsea game, the biggest worry isn’t just that we had a crap game in MF – it’s that Chelsea had many scoring opportunities. These scoring opportunities weren’t given in the first four games of the season. With that, we have to keep in mind that Chelsea was a first true test of this young PL season. It could’ve easily been a game that we lost. A big focal point? The defense.

Let’s take a closer look at who we have in the back and go from there. Since part of this article is about the depth in the back, let’s just leave Rio and Vidic out of the equation for now. The ten million pound signing of Chris Smalling from Fulham last year had some scratching their heads. Not now. The lad is a damn fine back and has shown us that. The shaky Jonny Evans of last year seems to be in hiding as he was my MOTM in the Chelsea game. There was mixed reaction when we signed Phil Jones. Some people hadn’t really seen him play at Blackburn and some just worried about his age. So far, Phil Jones is probably our player of the year. Evra didn’t have a good season last year, but has stepped up for us in these first few games. He does get caught out still, so he’ll need to keep addressing that. We also have the Da Silva twins. Quick fan favorites last season, the twins have gone back to being spectators as of recently, which is saying something about the quality of our defense. Rafa has a shoulder issue that’s kept him out, but even if they were both fit – and more level-headed – I still think that Jones, Smalling, and Evra would be the go-to players. These are the pro’s.

Here are the con’s. Our team has lacked youth in the last few years. We went from being one of the oldest teams to now being one of the youngest teams. With that comes the growing pains, as evidenced by the Chelsea match. Keep in mind that the group of defenders we have at our disposal haven’t played together all that much. Playing five PL games pales in comparison to having several seasons under your belt. While we can pat them on the back for the recent play, their youth and general inexperience will get exposed. Evra is currently the staple in the back. He didn’t play with Evans all that much, and before this season didn’t play with Smalling much or Jones at all. Evans has been a rock, but only played with Smalling during a select few games last year. Jones is new. He’s amazing, but he’s new. It takes time to gel together, to understand exactly how to work as a four and not a one, to know what a player will do before he does it. What I’m basically saying is that there is a learning curve. And while we’ve been ahead of this curve all season, there will be times where the vitality and youthfulness of our back four will become a liability rather than an asset. I don’t expect it to happen much, but it will happen. We’ve needed young players and now we’ve got them. And the good and bad that comes along with it.

United fans are quite fickle, but have hopefully adopted a new philosophy this season. We’ve been begging for a youthful side and we’ve got one. United fans must understand the trials and tribulations that go along with this desire. Almost all fans that I’ve encountered have been steadfast and true with our youngsters, especially backing David de Gea when pundits write him off. He’s had a few shaky moments, but he’s also produced some wonderful ones, too. But we’ve been there to support him. Hell, look at everyone’s Twitter avatar. This support needs to carry through to our other youngsters in the back. We haven’t had to give it much thought, but we have to now. To the fans who are already supporting them – good for you. It’s up to us to defend our defenders, through it all.

Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasTheDevil

Blogging Reds, Episode 4

 Here is a link to the Blogging Reds podcast that was recorded this week with me, @TheBusbyBoys, @janmetcalf, and @TheBusbyWay. We discuss the Bolton match, the Benefica match, with looking ahead to Chelsea and Leeds. Have a listen.

Blogging Reds, Episode 4

 

Young Guns - The Future of Manchester United

::Sigh::

Did you hear that noise? It was the sound of the transfer window closing. Did you hear that other noise? Probably not. It was the sound of me cracking a beer and making a toast. This summer seemed to be especially long for me as a United fan, particularly because we did most of our signings early in the window. Hell, the season was barely out when we signed Phil Jones. But, doing our business early made for an excruciatingly long and tedious summer. Throw in Sneijdergate 2011 and I had had enough by the start of the US Tour.

Now, that’s not to say that I wasn’t hopeful we might sign another player after we brought in the other three signings. Going all the way back to last season, fans had been clamoring for a MF signing. People continued to take the piss out of Carrick even though he had a better season than his previous. Fletcher had been out for months with some weird virus. We were relatively unsure about the likelihood of moving our youngsters up. Smalling played well after his signing from Fulham, so many were hopeful. Jonny Evans had been shaky. Cleverley did well on loan at Wigan, but we weren’t exactly sure if he was ready. Welbeck’s loan at Sunderland was good for him, but many weren’t sure he could supplement a strong attacking force with Rooney, Hernandez, and Berbatov. Anderson had a lackluster season overall, with many throwing out a last season ultimatum to the Brazilian. We had signed Phil Jones, but he hadn’t played for us yet. Young is a proven player in the EPL, but we hadn’t been able to see that translate to United. And the youngster most of us were worried about was David de Gea. In the MF, we didn’t have a direct Scholes replacement, but in goal we had a direct VDS replacement. Fans were a bit nervous, which is why everyone wanted that wonderful MF summer signing.

Throughout the tumultuous transfer window, the name that was most linked with United was Wesley Sneijder. The majority of fans immediately wanted the Dutchman. I, however, was a bit hesitant. The man is a great player, don’t get me wrong. But, with his injuries and meteoric rise in price over the span of one year, I was a bit hesitant. Scholes was a one-off player. We’ll never be able to replace him and shouldn’t try to find a Scholesy-type player. Keep in mind that Scholes didn’t play a vital role for us over the last two seasons, especially last season, our 19^th title season. Sure, he had flashes of brilliance, but overall, we did without him. Finding someone in a rush to replace Scholes would be a bad move and I don’t think that Sneijder was the right player for that. This also brought up the discussion about what type of MF we truly needed – a creative one or a defensive one.

Of the available targets this summer, I wanted one of the following: Modric, Nasri, De Rossi, or Diarra. Now that Nasri is at City, I’ll never want him at United, let’s just get that clear. He ultimately chose his path to City and I’ll never forget it. The other three, I feel, would’ve been great signings for us. But, I can not and will not harp on the what could’ve been. For the love of God, we just crushed Arsenal 8-2. We got our first away win on the first game of the season.  Add these BPL games to an impressive pre-season where all of our youngsters stepped up, and I can’t wonder what would’ve or should’ve happened.

SAF showed his confidence in our youngsters by fielding the 2^nd youngest team EVER in a league match. He rewarded those players by leaving the starting 11 in place for the Arsenal match. As we all know, SAF mixed it up, especially in the MF, a lot last season, but the confidence he has in these players is apparent. Our team is really strong and I went into this season with an optimism I don’t normally have. That was without a big signing in the MF. Now, don’t get me wrong – there are going to be tests on this young team, some of which they aren’t going to pass. But, I will not be one of the people that calls for someone’s head when that happens. I have faith that we have a strong enough squad to get the job done. I hope other fans feel the same way. Cause in the end, this young team is the future of our club. Let’s get behind them from the get-go.

Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasTheDevil