Stuart Mathieson
March 23, 2009
THE time has come for United's squad - assembled at a cost of £180m with a near £100m annual wage bill - to decide whether they want to be legends... or go down in history as the team that threw it all away.
Back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time in four years should now lead to some long, hard self-analysis at Old Trafford.
Top of Sir Alex Ferguson's agenda should be to address why two of his biggest earners Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are in almost constant conflict with referees.
Sir Alex will have three players banned for their next Premier League clash against Aston Villa on April 5 when the champions attempt to stop the slide following stunning defeats by Liverpool and Fulham.
Chelsea failed to capitalise on the Reds' depressing 2-0 reverse at Craven Cottage on Saturday, but on Sunday resurgent Liverpool demolished fifth place Villa 5-0 at Anfield to peg United's lead at the top of the league to a single point - although United remain favourites for the title because of their game in hand.
The self-inflicted absentee list is the last thing United need as they search for a recovery plan.
Every player needs to raise their game and get the club's potential history-making quintuple bid back on track. There are disturbing signs that the once dominant Kings of Cool who always come strong at the business end of the season have exposed an Achilles heel their rivals will be keen to capitalise on. United's poise is unravelling.
Against Champions League-chasing Villa, Fergie will not have the services of Nemanja Vidic who'll be serving the second of his two-match suspension for his professional foul against Liverpool. The defender has now earned three red cards this season.
Punishment
Paul Scholes will serve his one-game punishment for his red card for handball at Fulham while Rooney will watch from the stands against Villa after two bookable offences at Craven Cottage.
The England striker will be sweating on referee Phil Dowd's report to see whether he will be hit with a further two-match ban for his reaction to the red card. *
confirmed only ONE match ban *
He remonstrated with the official and then punched a corner flag with a swinging right hook as he stormed off to the dressing room.
United's red card tally this season has now risen to seven.Scholes' goal-line handball on Saturday added to the red he received in Monaco in the UEFA Super Cup in September.
The midfielder went for two yellows on that occasion, having followed up a foul with another deliberate handball offence when he punched a cross into the net against Zenit St Petersburg.
Ronaldo went in the Manchester derby at Eastlands in November for two yellows. His second, too, was for deliberate handball.
Vidic's first two early baths was for a couple of fouls on Robbie Keane at Anfield in September and then an off-the-ball alleged elbow against Liga De Quito in the FIFA Club World Cup final in Japan in December. United, of course, managed to ride the losses of their offenders early in the season. Ferguson has always been proud of United's history of high placings in the Fair Play League.
When the Reds reconvene after the international break he is certain to read the riot act to ensure there is no further damage to United's run-in in the Premier League and Euro Cup.
Discipline isn't all about getting the wrong side of the referee. There will no doubt also be quiet focus on Ronaldo's worrying decline into animated petulance.
The World Player of the Year is adding to the anti-United fever on opposition grounds with his over-exaggerated antics and reactions to tackles and team-mates.
He lost his focus at Fulham and United lost a match-changing performer in the process.
United's players head out en masse this week to join up with their national squads for friendlies and World Cup qualifiers over the next ten days, and the break comes at a timely point for the Reds.
On the back of two straight league defeats, this is a chance for the players to take a step back, then return and regroup for the clash with Aston Villa a week on Sunday.
There's good news as Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani both only have a friendly against 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa on Saturday, so they will be fresh for their return to United duties.
Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney are both suspended for the Villa match (along with Paul Scholes) so they will look to keep up their match sharpness with Serbia and England respectively.
For England, who face Slovakia in a friendly on Saturday and Ukraine in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday 1 April, United have three other representatives - Ben Foster, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick.
Serbia meet Romania in their Group Seven qualifier on Saturday, after which Vidic will return to Carrington. Also in that group, Patrice Evra's third-place France will be aiming to close the gap with a double header against Lithuania, who occupy second spot.
Several Reds face far-flung journeys; Carlos Tevez is in the Argentina squad for their clashes with Venezuala and Bolivia, while Brazil, a point ahead of Argentina in second (though trailing South America qualifying group leaders Paraguay by six points), have Anderson in their squad for matches against Ecuador and Peru.
Ji-sung Park is confident ahead of South Korea's meeting with their northern counterparts (they also have a friendly against Iraq on Saturday). The effervescent midfielder says he isn't too fatigued after travelling to his homeland. "I'm not too tired and we have time to prepare in order to give a good performance," Ji told Korean reporters.
Dimitar Berbatov will hope to be fit to face Villa for United, and he'll have two weeks to try and get over his injured ankle sustained against Fulham as he pulled out of the Bulgaria for their matches with the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus.
The Irish are level on points with leaders Italy in Group Eight, and Darron Gibson and John O'Shea will be hoping to help give a good showing first against Bulgaria then in a crunch clash away to the Italians.
Northern Ireland have Jonny Evans in their squad for two matches in Belfast, against Poland and Slovakia, while Darren Fletcher's Scotland - second in Group Nine - face vital matches against leaders Holland and third-placed Iceland.
Elsewhere in the United squad, goalkeeper Ben Amos is in England's Under-20 friendly to face Italy on Tuesday 31 March, while Danny Welbeck and Danny Drinkwater, are in England's U19s for a friendly with Czech Republic on Wednesday 25 March.
Mar 24 2009, 05:33 PM
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