United Rant

Declining Rooney an asset to realise

It is difficult to accept but the current Manchester United side is simply not good enough to impose its style on other teams. No shame in that though – only one team in the world, Barcelona, is capable of doing that. So broadly speaking, Sir Alex Ferguson faces two options: maximising the team’s attacking potential [...]

Euro disapointment at the heart of Fergie’s anguish

Defeat in the Champions League this week may have been acutely unfortunate, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s pain in the wake of Manchester United’s exit to Real Madrid says as much about the manager’s record in Europe’s premier competition, as it did about the club’s disappointment. It is the Scot’s desire to improve on his two [...]

Reds’ defence progresses from cavalcade to concentration

When Manchester United conceded three during a tragi-comic first half at Reading’s Madjesky Stadium in December it appeared to sum up a campaign. After all, while the Reds’ fragile defence was brutally exposed by limited opposition, United still won the game – netting four against the relegation threatened Berkshire side. The game at Reading moved [...]

Gill’s departure leaves Ferguson isolated

David Gill’s surprise announcement on Tuesday, that he is to step down as chief executive of Manchester United after 10 years in the position, comes as a personal “blow” to manager Sir Alex Ferguson, leaving the 71-year-old Scot without a key Old Trafford ally. It is the most serious conclusion to draw from Gill’s resignation, [...]

Ferguson trusts in squad as fans dare to dream

“Success is the result of what sociologists like to call ‘accumulative advantage’,” argued Malcolm Gladwell in the peerless Outliers. “Those who are successful are most likely to be given the kinds of opportunities that lead to further success.” It is a viewpoint with which Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson might agree. After 26 years [...]

The sacrifice: Wayne Rooney’s European Journey

In the build up to Wednesday’s 1-1 draw between Real Madrid and Manchester United, the Madrid-based paper Marca depicted Wayne Rooney as ‘El Coco’ – the bogeyman. This was widely misreported in the British press as an insult, where it really acknowledged the city’s fear of the Rooney’s ability. Madridistas might, therefore, have felt a [...]

Advantage Madrid as confident Reds head to Spain

“It’s ridiculous to think,” said Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson ahead of United’s 2-0 victory over the Toffees on Sunday. “That we play on the Sunday and Real Madrid play on the Saturday with that extra day’s rest.” Thus grew a thousand headlines – and whether Ferguson’s “anger” at the Premier League’s Faustian pact [...]

Hubris be damned, part II

“The ides of March are come. Ay, Caesar; but not gone.” Julius Cesar (III, i) There was a time, shortly after Manchester United stretched the club’s Premier League lead to five points last April, when United Rant threw caution to the wind. “Hubris be damned,” was the cry, with the Reds’ lead seemingly unassailable and [...]

Project FA Cup

There is a little something about Manchester United’s renewed relationship with the FA Cup this season. It has been a love affair not always on solid ground over the past decade, but after the Reds’ comfortable victory over Fulham at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, thoughts have turned once again to a Wembley final in [...]

Scholes: 20 years as a pro

There was little fanfare from the maestro on Wednesday; it would, in all honesty, be more surprising if Paul Scholes actually knew the significance of the date: 23 January, 1992. Remember it, for these moments come by but once in a lifetime – two decades on from Scholes inking a signature on his first professional [...]