{"id":362512,"date":"2011-04-03T06:49:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-03T06:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/03\/forget-the-controversies-manchester-united-will-be-crowned-premier-league-champions-but-treble-is-surely-beyond-them\/"},"modified":"2011-04-03T06:49:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-03T06:49:00","slug":"forget-the-controversies-manchester-united-will-be-crowned-premier-league-champions-but-treble-is-surely-beyond-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/forget-the-controversies-manchester-united-will-be-crowned-premier-league-champions-but-treble-is-surely-beyond-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget the controversies – Manchester United will be crowned Premier League champions but treble is surely beyond them"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

COMMENT<\/strong>
By Wayne Veysey<\/a> at Upton Park<\/p>\n

From torture to magic. Usually in the space of one game. Often within a single half. It has been a recurring theme of Manchester United<\/a>\u2019s curious yet compelling season.\n<\/p>\n

Despite Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s protestations to the contrary, there has been little of the champagne football that has been the hallmark of the vintage United teams.<\/p>\n

Yet sheer bloody-mindedness and battle-hardened competitiveness runs deep in the club\u2019s DNA. That, more than anything else, has been enough to get them over the line on so many occasions this season and makes a 19th<\/sup> championship crown a growing formality.<\/p>\n

It is United\u2019s Premier League to lose and they demonstrated with a thrilling comeback at Upton Park that they don\u2019t intend it to be relinquished from their grasp.<\/p>\n

Ferguson\u2019s serial winners were fortunate on Saturday lunchtime. Even their one-eyed manager admitted afterwards that they \u201cgot lucky\u201d when last defender Nemanja Vidic escaped a red card for hauling Demba Ba down outside the box at the end of the first half.<\/p>\n

The Serbian had a stinker. He is a magnificent centre-half, and has been the rock on which United\u2019s Premier League challenge has been built this season, but when he is bad, he is terrible.<\/p>\n

Vidic could have been given a yellow when he was tricked by Carlton Cole\u2019s neat footwork into handing West Ham a second penalty and his third principal offence of an error-strewn afternoon came in the second half when he again illegitimately brought down Ba.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Lucky star | <\/strong>Nemanja Vidic had a stinker at Upton Park and was fortunate to stay on pitch<\/p>\n

It is not just Fernando Torres, it seems, who is capable of inducing a Vidic meltdown.<\/p>\n

Referee Lee Mason was also generous in the extreme by pointing to the spot for the third time in the afternoon when Matthew Upson handled a Fabio pass with a left arm that had barely strayed from his side.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, that should not detract from a comeback that was almost a replica of the January trip to Bloomfield Road, when a weakened United were two goals down at half-time before summoning the heavy mob from the bench to clinch victory.<\/p>\n

Wayne Rooney\u2019s performance mirrored that of his team. In the opening period, he was a million miles from his best despite Antonio Valencia sending a stream of inviting crosses into the box from the right flank. In the second, the centre-forward\u2019s fortunes changed completely after his Beckham-esque curling free-kick ignited his team\u2019s revival.<\/p>\n

His second consisted of two brilliant touches \u2013 a shift of the ball to open up an angle and a thunderous finish \u2013 before he rolled home the penalty to complete a fightback that had become increasingly inevitable.<\/p>\n

Rooney blotted his copybook by bizarrely swearing into the Sky TV<\/em> cameras as he celebrated his second goal, an issue that the broadcaster declined to take up with player or manager afterwards.<\/p>\n

Yet the controversies will be long forgotten when, as seems increasingly likely, Vidic stands upon a hastily-constructed podium and raises the Premier League trophy above his head.<\/p>\n

The question is whether the Serbian will be doing the same with the FA Cup and Champions League gongs.<\/p>\n

Surely not this season. Not on the evidence of a spluttering campaign when United have tended to be good enough rather than especially good.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Treble hunter |<\/strong> Sir Alex has set his sights on a repeat of 1999 but question marks remain<\/strong><\/p>\n

The team is deficient in too many areas to do what Jose Mourinho\u2019s Inter Milan did 12 months ago.<\/p>\n

Even assuming Edwin van der Sar shakes off a minor groin injury and returns between the posts in the first-leg of the quarter-final clash against Chelsea, the defence is hardly watertight, with or without Rio Ferdinand.<\/p>\n

The midfield personnel change from game to game \u2013 and it is anyone\u2019s guess who represents the first-choice four or five \u2013 and do not control the play or create the chances of the 2008 double winners.<\/p>\n

That said, United look strong on the flanks and up front. Nani\u2019s zest, Valencia\u2019s crossing, Ryan Giggs’ vision and Park Ji-Sung\u2019s industry are complementary modes of attack. Dimitar Berbatov, Javier Hernandez and Rooney, whose hat-trick takes him into double figures in the Premier League this season and triple figures during his United career, combined to lethal effect against West Ham.<\/p>\n

Yet there are too many jigsaw pieces missing to be confident of a once-in-a-generation treble; fluency, collective quality and fortune with injuries among them.<\/p>\n

Chelsea will be formidable opponents over two legs in what will be a thunderous English civil war, and the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City will matter more to United\u2019s noisy neighbours.<\/p>\n

Ferguson\u2019s managerial genius has papered over the cracks at home but there will be one opponent down the line \u2013 be it Chelsea, City or one of the continent\u2019s big beasts \u2013 who will prick United\u2019s bubble.<\/p>\n

It is hard to dispute Ferguson\u2019s assertion that United \u201cplayed like champions\u201d against West Ham. The Premier League engraver can begin practising the same strokes used 12 times before.<\/p>\n

Can his counterparts at the FA and Champions League do the same as the possibility of a repeat of 1999 remains a tantalising possibility? Forget it.<\/p>\n

Follow Wayne Veysey on\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Read more:
\nForget the controversies – Manchester United will be crowned Premier League champions but treble is surely beyond them<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COMMENT By Wayne Veysey at Upton Park From torture to magic. 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