Authors: Doron, Nik, Bricki, Herzog’s Child, Stretford End and Rob
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With the season nearly over (the Reserves will compete in the Manchester Senior Cup final at the Etihad tomorrow) we reflect on the highs and the lows. Each contributor to the blog shares their thoughts and hopes…
Nik
Thoughts on the season now it’s done:
Disappointing to end it with no silverware, and a woeful run in Europe (this, largely down to the tactical evolution we are seeing), but the season pretty much went according to plan: start slowly prior to Xmas (we always do), hit the New Year with aplomb and amass the points; watch City falter after initial adrenaline rush. Thus allowing City the two important wins from the four encounters was both demoralising and idiotic in equal measure. Draw the game at the Etihad and we win the league by a comfortable 6 points. It didn’t happen (they were better!), we move on, we strengthen… we go again.
Player of the season:
I’m really pleased for Carrick because he has had an immense season, but in terms of his productivity, it has only been a marginal improvement on last season where he adopted a more defensive role in the team. It’s got to be Jonny Evans, who has been imperious in Vidic’s absence from start to finish, re-kindling his early career form. Suffered dog’s abuse from the vast majority of fans and journalists, leading Fergie to vent his ire in the match-day programme, in what was a rare showing of public anger.
Goal of the season:
Scholes’ first goal since his comeback against Bolton was a moment to savour; not just the goal itself, but the movement off the ball, the historic exquisite timing, and the fact that he was ‘back’, and with gargantuan desire and his mojo re-discovered to boot.
Performance of the season (team):
The first half mauling of City in the FA Cup, showing us fans that the players had really hurt post ‘the 1-6’. Fergie instructed the team to press with intensity, went with Welbeck up top and Rooney dropping deep – a formula that worked quite well actually (ahem).
Breakthrough star:
Welbeck. Proved that his season at Sunderland was no fluke. Welcome home Danny.
Moment of the season:
Both Evra’s and de Gea’s second half of the season. Doffs hat to both chaps.
Biggest disappointment of the season:
Going with the unfit Park (who did well for half an hour on Toure!) ahead of Welbeck, who was re-discovering a bit of form at the time, was a decision that will haunt me forever. Fergie gambled on the draw, but it was definitely a strange and timid decision in hindsight.
Summer hopes/expectations:
With Gibson gone, Berbatov on his way, and Park, Anderson and Macheda likely to follow it is essential that we invest wisely this summer. A creative central midfielder was required last season (we were snubbed), and is our first priority this; Rooney can’t continue to perform a duel role. I’d also add a fullback/centre half and a forward in the mould of Benzema (I said the mould of Benzema!). A replacement for Fletcher would be necessary if the worst materialises.
Stretford End
Thoughts on the season now it’s done:
United should have had it wrapped up following City’s defeat to Arsenal. The defeat to Wigan (who were fighting for their lives and played extremely well) was disappointing, but there was a still a five point gap. Throwing away a two goal lead in the space of eight minutes is very unlike Manchester United – so although United fought back after it looked like City would win mid-season – United couldn’t last the pace. Having said that, drawing level on points with the best Manchester City side ever is nothing to be ashamed about! It’s just frustrating that it could – and probably should have – been twenty league titles for United.
The European Cup exit was extremely disappointing, considering United had done well to reach the final the previous May. However, I do think that this is still a developing side (that will need additions) and the likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Danny Welbeck, David De Gea and Tom Cleverley will have an additional year experience going into the new campaign. On the field – the future is still bright, but the squad must be strengthened.
Player of the season:
Antonio Valencia for me. Very difficult when Wayne Rooney has 34 goals, Paul Scholes’ return to the fold made such an impact and Michael Carrick has had his best season in a United shirt. I’ve opted for Valencia as I think he is the best winger in the league. Pace, delivery and as he showed against Blackburn Rovers, he is capable of brilliance in front of goal. I blogged a couple of months ago about Antonio Valencia’s impact in the side and the obvious comparisons with Andrei Kanchelskis.
Goal of the season:
Danny Welbeck’s goal against Everton. I thought it showed fantastic technique and skill.
Performance of the season (team):
Might not seem the obvious choice, but I’ll go for Chelsea away – the 3-3 draw. To be three goals down against the European Cup finalists – should mean three points lost. But United fought back and were unlucky not to win the match. David De Gea also showed his quality with an unbelievable stop from Juan Mata’s freekick late on.
Breakthrough star:
Danny Welbeck. I think he has had a great season. I’d like to see Fergie challenge him to hit twenty goals next season (got 12 in all competitions this season – 9 in the league) as he did with Ronaldo as he was developing. I also remember that Fergie said of Ronaldo “We knew he’d develop his physique as he has done, but we didn’t know how deadly he’d be in front of goal” – if Welbeck can improve his goal return, he will be one of the best forwards in England. Great movement, closes fullbacks down so they rush their play – a good season.
Moment of the season:
Paul Scholes’ return to the playing squad. A player like that should only retire when he physically can’t walk anymore. The 8-2 victory over Arsenal was also pretty special.
Biggest disappointment of the season:
Other than the obvious final day madness, the 6-1 defeat to City and the European Cup exit in the group stages were particularly disappointing. But losing the league on goal difference, ironic considering the attacking philosophy and approach that United through the years have promoted, is the biggest disappointment.
Summer hopes/expectations:
United have tied up Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs for another year, but this doesn’t change the fact that United need to add a top class attacking midfielder to the ranks. Fergie went for Sneijder and Nasri last season, but opting to either stay where they were or move to another club – this time around I hope that Fergie will tie up a deal early, however – with Euro 2012 on the horizon – we might not see anything until after the tournament. I’d also like to see some of the younger players integrated within the first team squad as they look to push on and step up a level.
Bricki
Thoughts on the season now it’s done:
Not the disaster many have suggested – losing a title on goal difference with the highest points ever to not win isn’t failure. Plenty to build on.
Player of the season:
Michael Carrick – the calm in the storm of midfield.
Goal of the season:
Welbeck vs Everton – his coming of age goal.
Performance of the season (team):
Chelsea away – the last 30 minutes reignited our title race.
Breakthrough star:
Jonny Evans – cemented his place in the back four asking big questions of Rio and a returning Vidic long term. (Honorable mention to Carrick and Scholes – he’ll be a star in years to come…!)
Moment of the season:
The David De Gea save from Mata’s freekick – the moment he arrived as the United goalkeeper. Still convinced that no other keeper in the league has the movement or anticipation to make that save.
Biggest disappointment of the season:
The wasted chances to take the title and the injuries to Cleverley that restricted his chances after promising preseason.
Summer hopes/expectations:
A creative midfielder and some more strength in there too; a left back to challenge Evra and United to flex whatever muscles they have in the market to show we are not going to go away quietly.
Rob
Thoughts on the season now it’s done:
More ups and downs than a drug addict on a bungee cord. That we got 89 league points shouldn’t obscure major deficiencies in our team, our embarrassing dependence on Giggs and Scholes, and the genuine threat of City dominating for years. Our late-season bottle job shouldn’t make us forget a tremendous run from January to April, and the promise shown by our young players. With one or two adjustments, the starting XI from the 8-2 will be our starting XI in coming seasons. Forget the past 1.5 months and the future doesn’t look quite so bleak.
Player of the season:
Michael Carrick. Steadied the team after the 6-1, carried Giggsy on his back at times, and rekindled his great partnership with Scholesy. Seems to have won over a lot of skeptics, not an easy thing.
Goal of the season:
Rooney and Welbeck’s impression of Yorke and Cole against Everton. We’ve had a lot of excellent team goals this season.
Performance of the season (team):
Can’t see past the 8-2. Arsenal put out a young side, but so did we. A display of unforgettable verve and beauty.
Breakthrough star:
Danny Welbeck. I love everything about him, down to his ludicrous haircuts. He improved so much at Sunderland, and has come on even more this season at United. So exciting.
Moment of the season:
Valencia’s goal at Blackburn. It settled a tense and extremely difficult game, and it genuinely felt like a ‘Macheda moment.’ It’s a shame that we threw the league away after it, but the pure, visceral joy that goal evoked – that was Manchester United at its very best. Giggsy’s winner at Norwich runs a close second, for similar reasons.
Biggest disappointment of the season:
Losing the league wasn’t a huge disappointment, but the way it happened was utterly devastating. The final 10 minutes against Everton will haunt me all summer. City’s comeback against QPR will haunt me for the rest of my life. Hope is poison.
Summer hopes/expectations:
See above. I hope none of our players get injured at the Euros, we bid farewell to Park and Owen, find a good home for Berba, and settle the Pogba situation. Most of all, I hope Darren Fletcher makes a full recovery from his illness, regardless of what it means for his playing career. Expectations, you say? I expect Malcolm Glazer’s children to continue making me regret studying economics.
Herzog’s Child
Thoughts on the season now it’s done:
I couldn’t possibly put my discontent into words. I think I’ll leave it to ‘Museum girl’ in Woody Allen’s Play It Again Sam – who, when surveying a Jackson Pollock painting, offers an insight that mirrors every red’s end of season thoughts: ‘It restates the negativeness of the universe. The hideous lonely emptiness of existence. Nothingness. The predicament of Man forced to live in a barren, Godless eternity like a tiny flame flickering in an immense void with nothing but waste, horror and degradation, forming a useless bleak straitjacket in a black absurd cosmos.’ That’ll do…
Player of the season:
Michael Carrick.
Goal of the season:
Nani’s first in the Community shield.
Performance of the season (team):
That I had to think long and hard about this tells its own story. I could giddily choose the early-season Arsenal slaughter-spree, but that was merely a freak day. 0-5 away to Fulham, a place where we tend to struggle, was probably the most convincing performance of a largely turgid campaign. Sealed wonderfully by what was probably Berbatov’s last moment of genius in the red of United.
Breakthrough star:
Danny Welbeck. I said early in the season that whatever happened between then and May, this campaign heralded at least one success: the arrival of a local, and potentially outstanding, striker. His rise has been a shaft of light in an otherwise dark season.
Moment of the season:
The blitzing of Arsenal offered much hilarity. Giggs popping up at the death at Norwich ignited hope, but it was Valencia’s thunderous opener at Blackburn that had the heart scurrying up the throat. A brilliant moment from an exceptional man.
Biggest disappointment of the season:
Away from the obvious off-field cancer, the loss of the United way, the necessity of Paul Scholes’ return and the reversion to negative tactics when the title was within reach were highly lamentable moments. I could go on, but I’ll stop there…
Summer hopes/expectations:
Ideally, for the majority of our fickle support to finally realise the horrors of the Glazer model. On the pitch: some character, some quality. A return to the United of old, where fluidity, not functionality, prevailed and we had a go at every team.
Doron
Thoughts on the season now it’s done:
The most un-United of campaigns in that we had it and we threw it away. Our inability and City’s ability to fight marked a role reversal; and yet despite that, our injury depleted troops lost a league on goal difference alone. A really hard one to fathom and accept but on the whole we were probably rarely consistently good enough so there are few complaints from my end.
Player of the season:
Carrick. United’s quiet man has been immense – whether it was shielding the back four and helping to stem the leak of goals or his exquisite and incisive use of the ball high up the pitch, he was the consistently good player. It’s also worth point out that his form helped Scholes to settle on his return rather than the other way around as many journalists like to think.
Goal of the season:
Nani’s first in the Charity Shield.
Performance of the season (team):
Fulham away. Traditionally we’ve not always played well there but from front to back United were outstanding and the quality of some of the goals scored was excellent.
Breakthrough star:
Welbeck. At long last, we’ve nearly produced another Mancunian striking star. Special mention to Michael Keane who won Reserves player of the year too – made his first team debut and has been outstanding at centre back for the second string.
Moment of the season:
So many to choose from: De Gea’s save at Chelsea; Giggs at Norwich; Carrick’s goal at QPR… the two I’d pick are Welbeck moments – his winner at Arsenal felt big at the time; and his goal at home to Spurs – the Cleverley-Welbeck link-up that so many hoped would become the fulcrum for our season.
Biggest disappointment of the season:
Europe; losing Morrison (although it seemed inevitable) and maybe Pogba; the start of Evra’s decline as a defender; but most galling of all, the lack of fight and sheer un-Unitedness of the end of season capitulation.
Summer hopes/expectations:
That the money we do have is spent wisely. I expect and I’d accept United not to win the league next year in the hope that a young squad continues to develop and learn – have faith in our youth but add a star on top. Will be interesting to see what the Glazers do, talk of a flotation in the Far East may produce cash – where that goes and how it’s used will be hugely important.
I pretty much agree with what has been written. But I do find Wellbeck frustrating, he just seems to lack confidence or as if he’s playing in awe with Rooney. Some matches I feel like saying telling him to buck his ideas up, go grab the ball off Rooney and stick it in the net, turn round and say there you go, trust me. I know with time he’s going to get even better, and he has the potential to be real top scorer with strike rate of an Andy Cole.
Hi Ben, thanks for the comment. For what it’s worth, I totally agree with you. The first few times he played this season, he kept deferring to the senior players around him – Rooney especially. I think that’s just a part of him being a local lad though, playing with guys he would’ve grown up watching and admiring just as we do. Over time, I think he’ll grow out of that, and he’ll feel more like an equal with the senior guys. Especially as he’s been given so much responsibility already, in what’s been his first full season in the United first team.
Hi guyz
i echo most of ur sentiments. Mine is to say was frustrated with the under use of berbatov, i think the times 14 and 19 showed some naivity i think berba wud have really come thru. And going forward still think fergie shud atleast give clev n ando a chance together as evidence of early season matches, esp the city game (charity). Really loved how they worked together going forward + defending.