A LEGACY IN JEOPARDY - MOURINHO'S MEN HAVE TO DELIVER SOON
Under
the Shadows of Manchester City. Who would have ever seen that statement being
used to describe such a prestigious club such as Manchester United but the
reality is that in comparison between both Manchester Clubs at the moment,
Manchester City are light years away ahead of our own Manchester United. But
Manchester City having the upper the hand over Manchester United have not
always been the case as everyone is aware. In the past, during the ferguson
era, United were seen as the clear dominant team in Manchester and the club
were always able to justify the proclamation by playing spectacular, eye
catching football night after night, winning domestic titles and winning
european titles season after season. Manchester United became so dominant
around the world of football that the expectation of winning at least one major trophy per season became a routine for the club. Manchester City on the other
hand in the past had always been a struggling club lurking behind the dominance
of Manchester United but the situation have been turned around dramatically in the
past three season and in the blink of an eye, Manchester City have established
their dominance around Manchester and City seem to be heading for an eye
opening dominance over the Premier League and other major football competition around europe.
So where exactly is Old Trafford heading in the near future with the level of
performance the club is putting up at the moment? Upwards! that is a certainty!
Over the past two seasons, under the guidience of Manager Mourinho, the red
side of Manchester have improve their status in the Premier League Table from
below the top four possition in the table to a constant 2nd place possition. However, the climb
towards the top of the Premier League table and the constant Champions League
qualification achievement have given the football statisticians the
understanding that the club, under the guide of Mourinho, is starting to find
their way back to the Elite status the club once was. But the question now is:
have the Red Devils left the rebuilding a litte to late and have the bitter
rivals, Manchester City, estabilished such a domint reign currently over
Manchester that breaking Citys dominance in Manchester might be impossible to
accomplish in the near future? According to multiple british sports media, the sittuation facing Old Trafford is not that the noisy neighbours
Manchester City are currently playing dominant, demorolizing football but the
fear that Manchester City will control and over shadow Manchester Uniteds
championship record and in turn destroying the pride and confidence that has
helped Old Trafford to multiple successfull title winning season time and time
agan in the past. During the time Sir Alex Ferguson was in change, quick tempo
football was the expected siittuation in every game Manchester United were
involved in and the most important aspect that made the club so great was not
only the goals the red devils were scoring but style of play and the level of
intensive football the club were able to win games with. The most alluring ora
about Manchester United football was always the clubs ability to retain
possession of the football and at the same time complete a stagaring 70% of the
teams passes in each and every game. The club was playing the style of football
that made United earn the status of the top 5 most entertaining and most
expected club to be victorious in all competition around Europe.
“ For three consecutive seasons, 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09, the Premier League provided three of the four Champions League semi-finalists, an unprecedented level of dominance. In truth, this wasn’t converted into enough outright success, and it’s notable that in four consecutive years – Arsenal in 2006, Liverpool in 2007, Chelsea in 2008 and Manchester United in 2009 – each member of the ‘Big Four’ was a defeated finalist. It took an all-Premier League final, in 2008, for an English club to taste success, as Manchester United defeated Chelsea after a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
Manchester United were unquestionably the Premier League’s best side; in this three-year period, they won the title every season. The defensive quartet of Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra was so cohesive that all four were voted into the PFA Team of the Year for 2006/07, the only time this has happened in Premier League history, while Edwin van der Sar was United’s best goalkeeper since Peter Schmeichel, keeping an incredible, record-breaking 14 consecutive clean sheets midway through 2008/09. The midfield was boosted by the addition of Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves, while Paul Scholes played an increasingly withdrawn role and became an outstanding deep-lying playmaker.”
Michael Cox, Independent News. Thursday 1 June 2017
Finally, the reality is that Manchester United is slowly
turning into the club can not perform in the big stage and the fans around Old
Trafford have started to resign to the idea that Manchester City have become
the alpha dogs in Manchester now. But that resigned mentality has to be nipped
in the bud as quickly as possible on Old Trafford because the fact still
remains, Manchester United still has the most record for success in Manchester
as of today. But in other to maintain the comfidence that has been built and established in Old Trafford
over the years Mourinho and his men simply cannot afford to finish next season without
a notable crown. This season and the season prio would be concidered as slip
ups but failure to deliver at least one major european Title next season will
result to actions taken by Manchester United's hierarchy.
