Hi All There was a thought provoking article in the Sun yesterday (Monday) & I have "stolen" it for Your perusal. Hope You enjoy.
It was listed under the banner "Can Becks get back?" & was written by a guy named Steven Howard. I just hope I'm not infringing on any copyright rules here, but what the hell.......... There was a second smaller headline which read..............Fergie must resist any temptation to take on the roll of the Tinkerman. OK, here is the feature.............. Alex Ferguson finds himself in one of the most extraordinary predicaments of his entire Manchester United career. Inside 2 weeks, the balance of power Arsene Wenger prematurely & unwisely suggested had moved to North London has swung irresistibly back to its customary location. One quick glance at the fixture list reveals a clear path to yet another Manchester United Premiership title. And yet, it leaves boss Ferguson with the sort of headache he has probably not experienced since the empties were swept away following the celebrations to accompany United's Treble back in 1999. How on earth does He restore such luminaries as David Beckham to a United side which has rediscovered its best form on the back of the determination & resolve of players often viewed in the past as the less significant cogs in the big wheel of fortune? When United were being shamefully exposed by rivals Manchester City at Maine Road just a few weeks ago, their fans grasped one straw. Things would finally change when Beckham, Roy Keane, & Nicky Butt returned to first-team action. Now Ferguson has to ask himself the trickiest question of all: Do I need them? In the case of Beckham & Butt, probably not. It is a situation further complicated by the fact the two centre-halves on duty that day against City that day, Rio Ferdinand & Laurant Blanc, have been so successfully replaced by Wes Brown & Mikael Silvestre. The oldest maxim in football is: If it ain't bust, don't fix it. Just last week, Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri was reflecting on the nickname he acquired in Italy - The Tinkerman. It came about, as Chelsea fans would discover for themselves, because he could not resist fiddling with both the content & shape of teams he sent out. Thanks to the current financial climate at Stamford Bridge, Ranieri was unable to bring in any new faces this summer. He stuck with what he had, maintained the same line-up and, suddenly, Chelsea are floating on the sort of air - and at a height - that normally requires oxygen masks. Now Ferguson himself must resist the temptation to tinker if he is not to take the wind out of the sails of a yacht flying along at such a lick it could win the America's Cup, let alone any football competition it contests. As he said only the day before his side's comprehensive defeat of defending champion's Arsenal: "Player's have come in & seized their opportunity. If they keep playing like this, there is no need to change anything - irrespective of whether Roy Keane or anyone else is ready to come back. Having won at Anfield, how can I change the team if we beat Arsenal as well?" Though Ferguson will find it hard to resist reinstating Keane & Ferdinand, there is now no need to hurry Beckham along. The England skipper has pencilled in Saturday's home fixture with West Ham as his possible comeback. But with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer performing so capably in his position, what is the rush? Especially when it's 'the rush' that Solskjaer injects in his place. Beckham has many qualities but pace is not one of them. For far too long, United have lacked the ability to get in behind defences on the right - an option Solskjaer is now providing. The Norwegian is also a good crosser of the ball, while, on Saturday he further proved his defensive qualities. So old goldenballs may well find himself having to sit on them on the sidelines for some time. Which will be no bad thing. United have long required a shake-up, as certain players clearly thought their position in the team was sacrosanct. It left others, notably Paul Scholes, being sacrificed to accommodate them. As for Phil Neville, he was the epitome of what Ferguson had been talking about against the Gunners. And what, then, of Arsenal, who breezed arrogantly into Old Trafford, ponced about for 90 minutes and were suitably rewarded? Gilberto Silva looks as if he has hit the wall, Silvain Wiltord disappeared up his own backside, while Ashley Cole - with some help from Pascal Cygan - was caught out of position for both United goals. And Thierry Henry, the Emperor of Rome? He paid for Arsene Wenger's strange decision to start Dennis Bergkamp on the bench, on an afternoon when Arsenal's game plan was consigned to the shredder by their own indifferent form and some superior tactical thinking from the United bench. Yet had Henry accepted the rare gift the United defence handed him early on - a one-on-one with Fabian Barthez - the whole contest could have been profoundly different. In the end, though, the visitors were well beaten by a team who wanted it more, and who enter the Christmas period with a belief matched only by the resurgent Chelsea. If they are to retain their title, overworked Patrick Viera desperately, needs a fighter like Ray Parlour. Meanwhile, United can watch the competition cut each other's throat. Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham for a real bloodcurdler this weekend, end the year at home to Liverpool, and welcome it in with the visit of Chelsea. Liverpool, now almost a rabble, have the Merseyside derby plus Blackburn at Anfield, followed by that Arsenal trip and then one to Newcastle. United, in comparison, have winable games at Blackburn and Middlesbrough, with home matches against Birmingham and Sunderland next up. So, by the evening of January 1, there could well be a familiar sight on the Premiership summit, United, the team that copes best with the pressure of setting the pace, followed by the clattering hooves of Chelsea and Arsenal. Not that it is always best to lead at this stage. Last New Year's Day, top of the table were.............................Leeds I am sorry it took so long to send, but I'm not the fastest typist in the World. And I couldn't find the archive section in the website. Here's to a another 3 points tonight. Season's Greetings to Reds all over the World, especially to all my friends in South Africa..... FOREVER RED Gerry [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] *************************************** Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe from the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
