The best team ever in England? Yeah I guess so, they won the most Premiership and FA Cup. One of the strongest in Europe? Probably, they reached in pretty far every season and won 3 times. A team full of superstars? Yeah of course, they got a lot of world-class players. Team with one of the best coach? Ah yes, Sir Alex Ferguson is a legend for MU fans.
Manchester United has been dominating the English Premier League throughout 20 to 30 years and even now. Last year marked them as the team that won the most Premiership in England, in the order word, best team in England yet. Before the season started, everyone expected them to be the favorite for the 2011-12 season. Man United won all the friendlies during the pre-season and even an amazing comeback against their local rival in the Community Shield (3-2). They started off the season fresh, beating Tottenham (3-0), Arsenal (8-2), Bolton (5-0), Chelsea (3-1) and many other big teams. Sir Alex's test of younglings in the team does showed him that it worked out pretty well. Wayne Rooney was a scoring machine whom once a top scorers and several hattricks. Throughout the season, Man United has shown that they are one dominant team in England.
Everything started to change when they draw the first game with Stoke. It was an unnecessary draw, but it still happened. That was time when a stock of players starting to get injured including a lot of rising stars, playmakers, and defenders. Man United didn't perform that well after the draw, but they still gain victories although without a massive score line. Situation showed the poor quality of team when they were defeated by Manchester City in Old Trafford is a surprising score of 1-6. As Man City were taking the top, United struggled with both league and European games. Man United performed poorly in the UEFA Champions League with only 2 win, 3 close-shaved draws, and one loss. The poor performance cost them the qualification and made them playing in the Europa League instead. Pretty surprising right? A team that went to the Champions League final last year ended up in the Europa League this year. Man United were really unstable lately. Some matches they won by like 5 goals but were defeated in their recent two matches.
I think this is a serious problem for the league champion, although Sir Alex deny it. Injuries play some role in Man United's drop in form but I think the mentality and encouragement has the bigger role. By going to Europa League, this might hurt the players' esteem and feeling since this is a real surprise. A lot of players retired earlier this season which forced Sir Alex to play the younglings. With a lot of injuries, Sir Alex has to fix the team by putting in new players and manage the new type of formation and play style. I think that by putting Rooney and Jones as a midfield is a big mistake for Man United. Alex Ferguson should set up a new permanent play style for his squad and start winning like before. As the form of the team becomes stable, this will give more encouragement to the team. I don't think buying new superstars will help the team that much when there are no permanent style of play. If you watch Man United playing, you will notice that their playing style are "messy" lately. This problem should be fix as soon as possible.
Anyway, this Sunday, Manchester United will have a chance to revenge their local rival after their humiliate defeat. Although I really believe that Manchester City will win, but it should be another fun and a must-watch FA Cup match of the season.
SUNDAY MEGA-FOOTBALL
FA Cup 3rd Round
Manchester City vs Manchester United
20:00 (Thai Time)
Photo Credit: Zimbio
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