'His head bashed and his team battered, Alan Shearer might have been contemplating a pitiful conclusion to his Newcastle United career yesterday. A thumping at the hands of Manchester United would have been no way to mark his last big game but, sadly, nor was it much of an encouragement to continue. Did he trudge off through the rain wondering why he had agreed to stay for another year?
The former England captain is not a man for regrets — which is just as well given that he has twice turned down moves to Old Trafford — but even a man of his stoicism must have been tormented by his club’s disintegration since he announced, amid much backslapping, his decision to continue for another campaign.
To measure how dreadful Newcastle were yesterday, just consider the transformation in Ruud van Nistelrooy from first minute to last. The United striker arrived in Cardiff in the worst form of his life. After 90 minutes in the company of Jean-Alain Boumsong, he could not have felt happier.
The Holland forward had not scored in his previous eight games for United since returning from an Achilles injury — indeed he had not scored at domestic level since November. It remains to be seen whether one uplifting afternoon, and two goals, have entirely banished the dark mood that had enveloped him, but a semi-final against Newcastle must have seemed like a pretty good cure.
Strangely, Sir Alex Ferguson cited an injury to Darren Fletcher as a big reason for his side’s loss of form. "People look on him as up and coming but we have faltered since he went out," the United manager said. But the loss of the Scotland midfield player hardly compares to the absence of one of Europe’s elite strikers.
A fit Van Nistelrooy brings a guarantee of 30 goals a season, which is why United supporters will hope that rumours of a move abroad do not grow in strength. Aside from the prospect of beating Arsenal to win the FA Cup, the prospect of Van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney in tandem is the most uplifting sight on United’s uncertain horizon. Despite complaints, supposedly from within the dressing-room, about the system that forces Rooney to operate wide rather than just behind Van Nistelrooy, the English prodigy was terrific yesterday. For his creative ability and the way he can dictate a game, he is becoming as important for club as for country.'