joke about such things, Sir Alex Ferguson touched on his
amusement at the way that every Manchester United draw is
turned into a drama and every defeat into a crisis. “We lost
something like four games out of five in the autumn of
1996,” he recalled, “and there was an hour-long programme on
Radio 5: ‘The Demise of Manchester United’. We only won the
league by seven points that year.”
‘Ferguson has grown accustomed to having the last laugh on
his critics and, for as long as the Barclaycard Premiership
trophy remains in the Old Trafford trophy cabinet and his
team are still in the European Cup, he will continue to make
light of suggestions of a crisis at the club. As damaging as
Wednesday night’s 2-1 defeat away to FC Porto appeared,
United should still be confident of overturning the first-
leg deficit and progressing to the quarter-finals, even
without the suspended Roy Keane.
‘It is not United’s ability to rise to the occasion, though,
that is open to question. They could beat Porto on March 9
and could even, as unlikely as it seems, win the Premiership
title or European Cup this season, but doing so would merely
serve to paper over the numerous cracks that have appeared
in Ferguson’s team since they won the Premiership last May.
Of greater concern to the United board — and Ferguson’s
enemies among the club’s shareholders — will be the bigger
picture.
‘Unless they fall into the same complacent trap that cost
them the Premiership title last season, Arsenal are close to
becoming the dominant force in English football, having
progressed while United have moved backwards over the past
three years.
‘In the past 2½ years, Ferguson has spent almost £130
million in a bid to reinforce what was already, by some
distance, the strongest team in England. Some of those buys
have been inspired (Ruud van Nistelrooy, even at £19
million), some have been excessive (Rio Ferdinand and
Cristiano Ronaldo), but others (Diego Forlán, Kleberson,
David Bellion) seemed as bizarre at the time as they do now.
‘As bemusing as some of the players Ferguson has bought are
those he has not. In the summer of 2001, even after the
controversial sale of Jaap Stam, he had seven international
defenders and another two, David May and John O’Shea, who
were capable of filling in when required. Even before the
suspension of Ferdinand, he went into this season with only
five, which, now that he regards Mikael Silvestre as a
central defender, did not include a recognised left back.
‘Talk of the right-hand side leads, inevitably, to David
Beckham, whose sale to Real Madrid may have been perfectly
well reasoned at the time, given that his long-term
commitment to United was considerably less than he suggests
in his autobiography, but whom Ferguson has neglected to
replace. The sale of Juan Sebastián Verón to Chelsea was
less controversial, but he often performed well in Europe
and, with no Beckham either, the midfield has relied almost
entirely on Scholes for invention.
‘Above all, Ferguson may be pining for the influence of
Carlos Queiroz, who left his position as assistant manager
to take charge of Real Madrid and whose sophisticated
approach to coaching matters has been missed. As in 2002,
when United were beaten to the title by Arsenal, Ferguson
has seen fit to work without an assistant manager. And,
while talk of United’s downfall may be premature or
exaggerated, there are questions that Ferguson, on his own,
is struggling to answer.’