Edward Paul Sheringham was born in April 1966 and his career in England saw him have start out at Millwall and have contracted spells at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur before signing for Manchester United in the summer of 1997. It’s safe to say that at £3.5m, the forward represented one of the best value for money purchases of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign at Old Trafford.

His arrival at the club understandably drew comparisons with Eric Cantona, given that he arrived immediately after the Frenchman had announced his shock decision to retire. United were linked with all kinds of playmakers with the strongest rumour being that they would sign little Brazilian Juninho from recently relegated Middlesbrough; but instead, Ferguson turned to Spurs and paid £3.5m. In hindsight it looks a bargain; at the time eyebrows were raised. At 31, Sheringham was almost two months older than Cantona and it seemed a big gamble.

Sheringham didn’t inherit Cantona’s shirt but he did assume penalty taking responsibility, missing from the spot on his debut, ironically at White Hart Lane. His first season was considered somewhat of a disaster despite scoring 14 goals in all competitions – his relationship with the fellow senior striker who he was bought to play alongside, Andy Cole, had been lukewarm to be kind after Cole considered the veteran had snubbed him when he was making his international debut. That relationship totally broke down in the first season when Teddy blamed Cole for his part in a goal conceded against Bolton at the back end of that first season, which saw United end up trophyless.

As a result of that and the arrival of Dwight Yorke the next season, Sheringham saw his opportunities limited, playing under half the league games. Sheringham scored just 5 goals in the 98-99 season but his contribution would never be forgotten. He came on as a substitute in both the FA Cup Final and the Champions League final to score United’s first goals in both games – the first, the eventual winner against Newcastle, and the second, a crucial injury time equaliser against Bayern Munich. The treble that season represented the first major trophies of Sheringham’s career, and after being abused by merciless Arsenal fans for his Tottenham connections, he took great delight in reminding them that he now had quite a handsome collection.

Teddy, like Ole Solskjaer, became a dream to manage for Sir Alex Ferguson – both strikers giving something that neither Cole or Yorke had. On the one hand, when Cole and Yorke were on song, they were unbeatable, but both were susceptible to dips in form. The other two were waiting in the wings knowing that while they may not be as prolific when on song, they gave what Cole and Yorke couldn’t – and in Sheringham’s case, it was timing and intelligence that never seemed to suffer from loss of consistency.

United had planned to move the forward on after the 1999/2000 campaign – no real issue with the players form, but Ferguson felt that more of a cutting edge was needed up front in Europe and had identified Ruud van Nistelrooy to come in. Ruud infamously broke down injured in his medical and although he obviously ended up at United 12 months later it did hand Teddy a reprieve, a chance for a golden swansong, and he grabbed that opportunity with both hands.

Undoubtedly the beneficiary of a United midfield of Beckham, Scholes, Keane, Butt and Giggs that was at its energetic peak, Sheringham’s sense of timing and moment had never diminished and moving into his 35th year he managed to score an impressive 15 league goals in 29 games, earning him the PFA player of the year award and a third consecutive league title medal. It would be fair to say that despite that recognition from his fellow pro’s, even that would have come second to the feeling of scoring the final goal in the last minute of a 6 goal hammering of Arsenal in his final season at United.

Some of his goals and overall contribution that season was a real joy to watch and although it could be accepted he was never the genius that Cantona was, he wasn’t a bad replacement and indeed, looked twice the player that Dimitar Berbatov, a fellow Spurs-Utd mover at almost ten times the cost, ever has.

van Nistelrooy’s recovery facilitated Sheringham’s return to Tottenham on a free transfer, and although his form in his last season and prompted Sir Alex to offer Teddy a year extension, the player clearly had a renewed (and justified) belief that he could contribute on a more frequent basis than seemed open to him at Old Trafford.

His two year return to White Hart Lane consolidated his place as a legend, or at the very least, above the backhanded compliment of “cult status”, at two of English football’s most famous clubs, with a very impressive 26 goals in 80 games for a veteran closer to 40 than 30. A year at Portsmouth followed as he helped the South Coast club stay up in their first ever Premier League season with a great return of ten goals, before he signed for West Ham and spent 3 seasons there. The first season in the Championship, he scored 20 leagues goals, and when they returned to the top flight he was still a key performer, notably becoming the oldest outfield player in the history of the Premier League at over 40.

His career ended with a spell at Colchester in the Championship in 2008 where he finished just 2 games short of 900 appearances in his long, storied career.

A player of Sheringham’s quality is rare and this can best be proven by his absence – how the current England – and United, for that matter – set up would benefit from a peak Teddy right now.

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Premier League Champions Manchester United put beleagured Portsmouth to the sword to return to the top of the table and become top scorers in the division with the best goal difference though the relegation threatened visitors fully contributed to their own downfall with two own goals – making OG the second top scorer for the club this season – and a heavy deflection.

The game was expected to be a procession with murmurs of record scores and odds as long as 30-1 on an away win given the turmoil Portsmouth find themselves in but those predictions were not respectful of the fact that despite being bottom of the table, the South Coast team have not really embarrassed themselves this season and in David James they had an experienced keeper who was well capable of shutting out Untied single handedly.

Sir Alex Ferguson had selected a side that certainly appeared to be more counter attack based with less pressing urgency from the central midfield area and that was how it translated, making the game one that would be shaped from the first goal. And for a while in this contest, it wasn’t always cut and dried that it would be the Champions who would get it.

Jonny Evans went close with a looping header on 12 minutes before Pompey hit back and tested van der Sar through van den Borre. Nani – on the left today after impressive form on the right recently – was causing problems but he fired a long range shot wide and then Rooney’s effort from the Portguese wingers pass was snuffed out.

Nani then set up United’s top scorer again – Rooney had plenty of space, centrally, from 20 yards, but his shot was well over. He was almost punished for the wastefulness when Portsmouth attacked and worked a move well out left to Belhadj. His shot beat van der Sar but Evans was alert to clear off the line, back to Belhadj who spooned over. It was then the hosts turn to create another chance, Neville picked up a Valencia pass to burst into the area and set up Berbatov. The Bulgarian’s shot was less than clinical to say the least and underlined the fact he is not exactly a natural finisher.

The breakthrough did come before the half time whistle though, when Neville’s short corner found its way to Fletcher via Valencia. The Scot crossed and managed to find Rooney amid a pool of white shirts in the 6 yard box. The forward made no mistake; and as the game headed towards the halfway point he began the move that settled the result. Nani was wide left and outfoxed van den Borre, before attempting to cross. The Belgian defender did manage to get a touch to the ball but it only directed it goalwards, and David James was unable to react quick enough to stop it going in. Just as last week, Nani could take the credit but despite his celebrations there is no way he will be awarded the goal.

Aside from a short burst after the Belhadj chance the Red Devils never really got out of first gear nor were they made to by Portsmouth. This made the second half at times a laborious affair regardless of the 3 goals scored.

On 55 minutes Valencia played the ball into Berbatov and collected the brilliant return but his shot was easily turned wide by James, before a 3 minute spell either side of the hour brought two more goals. The visitors were unable to adequately clear and the ball fell to Carrick 25 yards out. He had space to set himself up and although his shot took a huge deflection from Hughes it beat James and smashed in off the cross bar. The fourth came when Berbatov collected a long pass and held the ball up for what seemed like an eternity, looking for the pass. No option presented itself other than the invitation to shoot and the Bulgarian accepted it, steering the ball home from the edge of the area.

Sir Alex took the opportunity to make a triple change with what seemed like an audition for Gibson, Owen and Diouf.

Gibson presumably has a chance to make himself the reserve midfielder given Anderson’s current squad status and he did ok, using the ball well at times; Owen on the other hand was poor. Having been signed for his predatory instinct it is clear the veteran spends most of his time trying to link up instead of playing to what should be his strengths – a point not lost on Diouf who was arguably the most impressive of the three introductions.

None of the subs did manage to effect the scoreline; nor did any other United player, but 3 minutes after the changes a spectacular own goal from Mark Wilson in trying to clear Evra’s great cross completed the scores. There were a couple of half chances from there with the most clear falling to Diouf. Gibson’s pass was clever and Diouf did well to beat his marker but his shot was poor and cleared the bar by some distance.

The game was played on the 52nd anniversairy of the Munich disaster and the visitors and their supporters impeccably observed the minutes silence; the visiting supporters would not have been happy that their own players featured so heavily in their own downfall. Ferguson however would have been delighted with the ease of the victory given that the next three games will have a huge impact on United’s trophy hopes of this season.

Ratings : van der Sar 6, Neville 7, Brown 6, Evans 8, Evra 8, Valencia 7, *Carrick 8, Fletcher 7 (Gibson 6), Nani 8, Rooney 8 (Owen 5), Berbatov 7 (Diouf 7)

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Portsmouth have made a habit of making their Fratton Park home an uncomfortable place for United and raised their game again against the Champions to belie their league position. The Red Devils needed stand in keeper Tomas Kuszczak to be at his very best to smother a Dindane chance and then straight away deny Jamie O’Hara’s half volley from 20 yards.

United meanwhile had only a trademark Scholes drive from a corner that flashed over until Antonio Valencia provided the inspiration the visitors needed to get the breakthrough. A flash of pace and a clever interchange with Wayne Rooney led Michael Brown in to commit a foul on the number 10 and add to his growing list of incidents against United over the years.

Rooney comfortably converted and Portsmouth hit back with a couple of free kicks with balls flung into the box.

The linesman then flagged to signal a misdemeanor in the box as Pompey attacked on another of their set pieces – on second view Vidic appeared to be shirt pulling though it will probably be the softest penalty awarded all season, especially when you consider the 4 high profile decisions that haven’t been awarded for United in recent games. Furthermore, the decision to award a penalty for this sort of infringement could set a dangerous precedent. More likely is the probability of it being yet another “one off” decision that goes against United.

Regardless, Boateng took full advantage and levelled it up, and on chances created, it couldn’t be argued that Portsmouth deserved to be level at half time.

Sir Alex took his opportunity at the break to inspire the team to make the penalty decision inconsequential and whatever he said bore instant fruit after the break when Fletcher’s good work found Giggs who exquisitely found Rooney – the English striker pounced for his 10th goal of the season.

Soon after, to the refrain of “Giggs will tear you apart again” the Welshman was skinning Piquionne, and the Pompey forward could do nothing but get suckered in and upend the United legend in the box for yet another penalty. Rooney promptly smashed in the spotkick to complete his third hattrick for the club and all but seal the result.

Portsmouth did attempt to come back into it but the third killed them off and United were counter attacking at will. With 3 minutes left Rooney left a free kick to Giggs, probably as a thanks for the two assists earlier, and the winger accepted the gift by beautifully curling in from 20 yards, marking his birthday with that landmark goal (100 in the Premier League) for the club – just reward for his brilliant second half display.

The action was still not over as Boateng forced another brilliant save from Kuszczak, the Pole tipping onto the bar at full stretch, ensuring the scoreline had a touch of gloss to it. With Rooney returning to top form, Valencia looking increasingly promising and Giggs’ timeless class, United had a three pronged attack that Portsmouth had no defensive answer and hopefully the encouraging display will prove a good platform for the team to build on over the winter.

Ratings : Kuszczak 8, Neville 7, Brown 7, Vidic 7, Evra 8, Fletcher 8, Carrick 7 (Anderson), Scholes 7, Valencia 9, Rooney 9, *Giggs 9

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Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick scored the goals that returned Premier League Champions Manchester United to the top of the table with a 3 point lead and a game in hand in a comfortable display against Portsmouth.

The first half saw the home side really for the jugular and they started the second half in similar fashion, only to tail off and almost give Pompey a glimmer of hope before Carrick’s late goal sealed it.

Sir Alex Ferguson sprung a change or two in his line up, opting for Rooney up front while not starting Berbatov or Tevez, and playing Anderson despite the talented youngsters exerts in Porto and then the two hour performance on Sunday.

But it was Anderson, and veteran Ryan Giggs, who dictated the early exchanges, Anderson’s logic defying high energy display perfectly complementing Giggs’ intelligent use of the ball – it was no surprise that this combination led to the opening goal after just nine minutes, the Brazilian finding the Welsh legend with an out of this world 45 yard pass, the winger producing one of his trademark slide rule balls, with Wayne Rooney accepting the opportunity to slam United into the lead.

Chances followed as Anderson’s improvisation almost brought him a first United goal and Giggs movement created two great chances for him, though doubters may point towards profligacy for the reason that the opportunities were spurned.

Fletcher had an opportunity and Ronaldo began to creep into the game, while O’Shea had an effort cleared off the line – but it took Michael Carrick, on for the tireless Anderson, to seal the result. Paul Scholes, in his 600th appearance in a United shirt, played a ball that has long been his trademark, allowing his midfield partner to rely on his own ability and composure to steer the ball into the corner of the net to ensure United’s return to the top of the table.

Rafael and Ronaldo had later chances to add a greater gloss to the final scoreline but all attention will now be focussed on the Saturday teatime fixture with Tottenham – a crucial component of the 13 point obstacle between United and an 18th domestic league championship.

Source: (Yolkie)

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