The art of goalkeeping is an art lost on some people, most noticeably the chap in the clip below. After the calamity antics and circus routine of Pepe Reina in last weeks 3-0 victory over Liverpool, this clip reminds me of all the great goalkeepers Liverpool have had over the years. This is perhaps one of the funniest goal keeping clips i’ve seen due to the sheer panic on the lad’s face as he comically runs around in circle losing complete understanding of where he is and what he is suppose to be doing!

Now the furore of Sunday’s headline grabbing exploits by Mascherano have somewhat calmed, let’s take a minute to observe the “side issue” – the fact that Manchester United crushed Liverpool 3-0. In fact, extending the study a little more individual will show us that for the second time this season, Anderson performed while Gerrard was anonymous.

Back in October, everyone was forced to sit up and take notice of the young Brazilian when his performance at the Emirates put Cesc Fabregas firmly in the shadow – particularly considering that in the build up to the fixture, Fabregas was being hailed as “the best player in the world”. In December, Anderson was entrusted with shackling Steven Gerrard, but as before, the job description didn’t entirely reflect the actual performance, as it was Gerrard struggling to compete with the dominant ex-Porto star.

The stabilisers were off and when Fabregas travelled with Arsenal for an FA Cup tie in February, he was thoroughly outplayed and embarrassed by Anderson, to the point where Wenger had to take off the young Spaniard. Fast forward to last Sunday, and it was no longer a question of whether Anderson had to “contain” Gerrard.

No longer a question – a statement of the rapid development from arrival to dominant force – but this only serves to illustrate the major contrast of the perceived failure of South Americans at Old Trafford in the preceding generation. Seba Veron, Kleberson and Diego Forlan are all prime examples of quality footballers who never really settled in Manchester, the reason unclear, but the resultant message very clear – Fergie should not sign footballers from this continent. Excitement surrounding the possibility of the arrival of Ronaldinho from PSG in 2003 was met with anxiety considering the track record.

The reason for the transformation is not totally clear, but it is certain that Carlos Querioz has played a major part in it – Cristiano Ronaldo settling and now bursting through the stratosphere (indeed, Ronaldo’s presence is probably a key factor to the ease Nani and Anderson have settled) set a new blueprint and culture for Portuguese speaking footballers at Old Trafford.

Aside from Anderson, Carlos Tevez, too, has quickly taken to his new club – critics will say how he has looked jaded of late, but those same critics neglect to mention the fact he has played football without a break for almost a year, being thrust into this season from the off after injuries to Rooney and Saha. At the peak of his form in the Autumn, he was simply sensational, and though we still expect him to perform, it will be next season we should really expect him at his best again.

Nani has shown flashes of brilliance, particularly in the big games – his elevation is such that inclusion in the first XI in a big game would not be a surprise or a disappointment.

Rodrigo Possebon, a low key January signing, played the recent reserve fixture against Liverpool and Xavi Alonso like he was auditioning for a role of “Anderson v Fabregas, FA Cup” – (anyone thinking “Possebon..” Carlsberg style t-shirts? Copyright!), and at that sort of development pace he should be knocking on the door of the first team for at least a chance in pre-season.

Everyone had a chuckle when it was announced United had signed a pair of Brazilian twins, but in Fabio and Rafael we really have stolen a march on our rivals – Fabio was the much heralded U17 captain but plays at left back (strictly speaking, although watching him, you get the impression he can play at ease in most positions) so may not get a chance as quick as his brother, although both are right footed. Both were magnificent in the U17 World Cup last year, and play with the traditional Brazilian full-back saunter.

The good news gets better – none of this seems to be at the expense of our English core – Ben Foster is just about ready for the first team, Ferdinand and Brown are at their peaks, Hargreaves and Carrick will jostle for midfield positions for the next 4 or 5 years, and Wayne Rooney will hopefully have another generation leading the line. And better still, rather than the style of play changing, it feels like a 21st century makeover, but still stamped with the Manchester United trademark – dazzling wing play, flamboyancy and showmanship, all out attack, even defenders with a swagger and arrogance.

The “upgrade”, if you like, is the addition of the South American and Portuguese samba style – previously ineffectual but presently, slowly but surely, transforming (hopefully) this current United side into one that dominates for its second generation underneath Sir Alex, possibly and hopefully providing us with some of the best football ever seen in Britain.
The resolve of the side in recent weeks to get a last minute draw at Spurs and persist to get a win at Derby draw comparisons from the 99 side – and in Nani, Anderson, Ronaldo, we have an audacity that not even that all conquering side could match, save for some Ryan Giggs European night specials from 1997-2002. The kind of arrogance that the Theatre of Dreams became renowned for – think Best taking off his boot, think Eric either sticking his chest out or juggling the ball past City’s defence, think Giggs bewildering the Juventus defence, and now, think Ronaldo’s stepovers, think Anderson kicking dust in Gerrards face for 70 yards, think the sheer outrageous talent of Nani flicking the ball up, needing three Arsenal defenders to hack and kick at him just to stop the embarrassment. It’s the speed and flair of the 1994 team married (potentially) with the guts and resilience of the 1999 side.

It’s a tall order but it is the poser that has often been asked this season – indeed, even on this site – could this United side be the best ever? Well, maybe it could, but rather than that, maybe it’s just the natural transition of “the United way”.

The next 8 weeks will provide some answers to the above.

What an eventful week with Foster being flung into the first xi with the injury to Van Der sar and the suspension to Kuszack, it was meant to be an easy game for the 24 year old. Not so as Derby raised their game against United by 100% compared to the humiliating defeat against Chelsea in mid week. Foster played superb and although he has been quoted that he still expects a loan move, he really will have given Fergie a good problem with the title run in reaching its conclusion. To have the confidence, shot stopping ability and positioning as he did on Saturday for someone who has been out for eight months is top class and I’d like to think that he might be given a chance over the next few games.

So we get Roma again – admit Internet and pub rumours of the draw being rigged – and miss out on playing an English side. To be honest, i’m not too bothered as to who we play – I come from the school of thought that if you’re good enough you want to play the best. Sure you can get lucky, but then there is always the flip side of that you can become unlucky (1997 and 2002 spring to mind). Roma is a good draw but they are a good team – make not illusions this is a tough match and United will have to be on top gear to beat a side who disposed of Milan 2-1 on Sunday.

Lastly, we look forward to Liverpool who have been in a good run of form lately. Their last five results show a massive improvement on the side that were dumped out of the FA Cup by Barnsley:

Liverpool 2-1 Reading

Inter Milan 0-1 Liverpool (& the referee)

Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle

Liverpool 4-0 West Ham

Bolton 1-3 Liverpool

It makes for impressive reading and United will have to be cautious against a side who have obviously been lifted by having the pressure of competing in a number of competitions taken away from them. They have had good results recently but so have United and in Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney and Anderson they have the four brightest young talents in Europe. Sure Torres is brilliant – we tried to sign him around seven times if you believe what you read – but Ferdinand tends to have his better games against fast quick strikers than he would do against a strong aggressive centre forward. He had the upper hand at Anfield and hopefully he will do at Old Trafford.

Massive game Sunday (obviously not forgetting the vitally important game against Bolton on Wednesday) and United will want a good win before watching Arsenal take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a game in which, if United beat Liverpool, could be quite enjoyable for United supporters.

At the end of the 90 minutes, Sir Alex Ferguson was left fuming at the performance of Martin Atkinson then proceeded to have a pop at the refereeing hierarchy in England. Now, the first thing people will do is have a go at Fergie for being ‘unprofessional’ and disrespectful to the officials and the opposition. If anyone, who wants to have a go at United or at Ferguson himself, should really analyse the facts and the game itself before assuming ‘arrogant United’.

United were far the better team on Saturday. Yes, of course a side can lose a game of football to an inferior team but then manner in which United did lose surely can’t measure the level of criticism the side has received for going out of the competition. United had 64% of the ball over the course of the 90 minutes and had 20 shots on goal. These shots came in the form of Carlos Tevez’s smashed drive cleared off the line by Johnson, Patrice Evra brushing the fingers tips of James and flies off the post or the inability of Carrick to convert the ball from a yard out (to be fair to him I don’t think it’s as bad as some fans made out). But United could not break down a Portsmouth side that played extremely well defensively.

However, had Martin Atkinson given the penalty to United in the first half after Distin’s bodycheck on Ronaldo, Portsmouth would have had to attack and inevitably would have played into United’s hands. Some rivals fans have mocked Fergie – trying to portray him as an raving lunatic to even question the decision. Atkinson got it wrong. There is no two ways about it, the ref got it wrong and should receive criticism from the manager who was affected by his actions. Why shouldn’t he be? Just because it is Fergie having a go? Nonsense! The referee was diabolical and if I made those types of decisions at my job I would be disciplined, right in the same way Atkinson should be.

This backs up Fergie comments, which have come under harsh abuse from respectable journalists, Henry Winter being one. Now Henry Winter is a superb journalist, articulate, creative, intelligent and above all interesting. Winter attacks Ferguson for criticising the official regardless of the fact that Fergie is 100% correct, instead focusing on the lunge by Wayne Rooney. This is the problem that occurs when an official doesn’t do his job correctly, players get frustrated and try to take the matter into their own hands. Thus Rooney jumping in like a maniac on Kranjcar.

So to conclude, fair play to Pompey, they defended well and all the best to them in the semi-finals, but to turn the game on its head and focus on Fergie is wrong. Some fans and writers were blaming Fergie for double standards, stating that he wouldn’t have said those things had it been for the other side or had United won the game….Of course he wouldn’t! What do you take him for!? I can see Fergie questioning the officials (maybe not as emotionally as Saturday) if we had won the game, but not for the other side – who in their right mind would? The FA Cup is over for another season, but United can take this as a positive and they can now concentrate on the Champions League and the League – A bitter blow to be out, but still not the same as the forced upon siege mentality of Liverpool as blogged previously!

If Ryan Giggs plays tonight he will have racked up 100 Champions League appearances for Manchester United.  It is a great achievement for such a long servant to the club.  In the 99 games that he has played so far he has scored an impressive 25 goals (so a goal every four games).  This makes him the second top European cup scorer behind Ruud VanNistelrooy (who notched up 38 for the club).

Giggs first played in the European Cup back in the 93/94 season as a 20 year old.  His first game was against Honved of Hungary and helped Manchester United to a 3-2 win in Hungry.  The goals being converted by Keane (2) and Cantona.  United finished off the Hungarian Champions 2-1, with a brace from Steve Bruce.  The inexperience of the United side showed in the next round, losing to the Turkish Champions on the away goal rule.  United drew 3-3 at Old Trafford and the Turks held the English Champions to a 0-0 draw in Turkey.  Events in the 0-0 circulated around Eric Cantona who was to be banned for a number of games the following season.  It was a good learning experience for United to face.

The Champions League was introduced in 1994/95 and with United winning the domestic league the previous May were entered once again.  Giggs played in the first ever Champions League match at Old Trafford, when IFK Gothenburg visited Old Trafford. United got off to a great start in the group beating the Swedish Champions 4-2 and Giggs getting two of the goals.  However, the rest of the group didn’t go so smoothly with United losing to Barcelona 4-0 and the Nou Camp and then going 3-1 down to IFK Gothenburg.  Fergie learned from these two failed European experiences and the next time United qualified for the tournament they would reach the Semi final losing to Dortmund 2-0 over both legs.

Some of the great Giggsy goals over the years included that memorial goal against Juventus in 1997 to beat the Italians 3-2.  Juventus were always considered the bench mark as United had lost to the Italians in previous tournaments.  He continued the knack of scoring great goals against Juve in the 2002/03 season when United beat the Italians in turin 3-0, with Giggs (who was under pressure at the time for some poor performances domestically) picked up the ball from the half way line and dribbled around a number of players before slotting the ball right footed passed the helpless Buffon.  The other goal that stands out against Juventus (once again!) is the goal in the final minutes at Old Trafford to secure a 1-1 draw in the 1998/99 season.  Juventus played a lot better than United in the first leg, however that goal allowed United to push on to the next level in the second leg and win 3-2 to get to the final.

Ryan Giggs has been a great servant to the club and although he is getting on in years he is still a valuable asset to the club and will hopefully help United achieve a wide range of trophies this season.  He should have won the competition at least two more times with United, however this was not to be and his only winners medals comes from the 1999 final.  Ryan Giggs – a great servant, a great ambassador and most of all a great player.

Let’s face it, as United fans we’ve developed a bit of a thick skin over the years from having rival fans have a dig at what seem to them like ridiculous excuses for not performing – the most infamous one being the trip to the Dell in the grey shirt.

And Carlos Queiroz’s comments after the derby game seem set to fuel the fires, claiming that the players were suffering from fatigue.

I don’t think the comment should be as mocked as it has been, it was a fair assessment following an international friendly week where Ronaldo was forced to play 90 minutes in Italy, Ferdinand and Brown both playing the full match (while Micah Richards had a week off, in essence) against the Swiss at home is another notable reference. These players haven’t had a rest all season and while this is not an excuse – City outplayed us and thoroughly deserved to win – it is the bigger, more general picture that we should look at.

Brown has been our only choice at right back all season, Simpson has impressed in fits and starts but really Brown is the senior man. He’s barely had any time off, because when the centre halves are out, he’s first choice replacement there too. Rio has barely missed a minute, likewise Ronaldo, but both seemed to be suffering the consequences of a gruelling and pointless midweek.

Some will say “but they might have been playing for United in midweek”, yep, that’s true, but Ferguson’s selection policy would be to protect those players from burnout and he would have used them sensibly, not recklessly.

But as I commented above, we need to be looking at the bigger picture. I’m going to instantly draw comparisons with 10 years ago. 1997/1998. Is it fair to say tiredness killed that season? Perhaps. There are many paralells.

Roy Keane was injured early season and while the replacement, Butt, performed admirably being thrust into his first real position of responsibility, he simply couldn’t keep it up, and there was no-one to come in for Butt.

The comparison is almost the same for this season with Scholes injury, but it is more to do with the timing of Scholes’ return, being thrust straight back in where perhaps a softly softly approach would have been appropriate.

The more general point would be to use comparative injury lists of those eras, and the strength in depth we had in the affected areas in that period. In 1998, a team already shorn of Eric Cantona, United lost Schmeichel, Pallister, Irwin, Keane, and Giggs for crucial parts of the season. We played the likes of Ben Thornley, Gary Neville at centre half, John Curtis. In 2008, we’ve missed Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves, and Louis Saha may as well have handed his number 9 shirt to someone else for the season given his input. Aside from the Scholes injury, we are light in all affected areas. Seeing the likes of John O’Shea go up front against Reading in the first game, and Vidic playing as a centre forward for the last 15 minutes on Sunday, has flashes of Phil Neville replacing Ryan Giggs on the wing against Monaco in 98.

Like 10 years ago, we went into winter full of form and playing the best football in the country by a considerable distance. After Christmas, despite flashes, we stuttered and lost our title without so much as a whimper.

An unfancied Leicester snatched 3 points from Old Trafford in the late winter – likewise, a resurgent City at the weekend. Two late season home fixtures with Liverpool and Arsenal in 1998. Check. Football has a nasty habit (or good, some might say) of pandering to superstition.

Without wanting to sound pessimistic, it would be very unlikely that we will have a full quota available to us in the near future, and there’s probably one or two injuries to key players at key times yet to happen. To be optimistic, using superstition, the 50th anniversary of Munich should inspire the players – it is fair to say that the burden of expectation weighed too heavily on those too eager to impress on Sunday, but that was a one off game, and that alone does not mark the anniversary.

And to end on a positive note – United almost always bounce back from adversity in style, and what greater opportunity to do that by overcoming Arsenal, first directly on Saturday in the FA Cup, and then in the League to retain the title? It is too early to say whether the potential disappointment will prove whether the current players are as good as hoped, but the next few months will certainly give us an insight of their personality in adversity.