In today’s Manchester United roundup – can Tottenham cause an upset, Fergie sticks it into Liverpool and Manchester City fans will need to behave themselves at Old Trafford.
Manchester United v Tottenham FA Cup Preview
It seems that with United’s jaunt over to Riyadh to play Al-Hilal coupled with Tottenham’s emphatic 5-1 win over Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final has everyone purring in favor of another giant-killing, so to speak.
It doesn’t matter that Tottenham played on Tuesday and Manchester United on Monday. It doesn’t matter that the match is at Old Trafford. It doesn’t matter that Manchester United have a fit back and reliable four, something that Tottenham have not been able to boast for quite some time.
All that matters is fantasy and the charm of an upset, so on the back of the Arsenal win, everyone apparently now wants yesterday’s laughing stock to be today’s heroes.
Fair enough, and to be fair this is an excellent chance for Tottenham and Juande Ramos to show their pedigree by putting on a good performance at Old Trafford. I’d still back United for the win though, simply because Tottenham will always concede, and United have the best defensive record in the league (yea yea, save the ‘its a cup tie’ routine).
But at least it will be a competitive fixture, eh? Not like Tuesday…
Fergie sticks both feet (and an arm) into Liverpool
As you’ve heard by now, Alex Ferguson took full advantage of a question asked to him by a reporter on the current situation at Liverpool. He might just have answered a simple question honestly, but the implications of his response and the impact it will have / has had on Liverpool fans and the press is interesting.
To quote Ian Spragg:
On the surface, it sounds like the United boss is showing his support for Rafa. Managers are all in the same boat and all that. Brotherly solidarity comrade.
In reality, Fergie is dancing on the Spaniard’s grave. If you put his words into any reputable translation website and ask it to translate into English, it comes out something like this: “Ha, ha, ha! You got caught with your pants down. Rafa, you’re a dead man walking. Good riddance. United are a bigger club than Liverpool and you’ve much chance of winning the title as I have bedding Kelly Brook. It’s so funny, I’ve wet myself.”
You can read Ian’s full article here.
There has also been some media backlash for DIC, with the Guardian publishing two opinion columns talking about political and social implications of Liverpool being potentially owned by a club with a dictator as its backer.
DIC’s political backing, and indeed the human-rights and democratic record of the UAE is not the problem (although that’s how this is being played in public). The media paint a black and white story and it gets eaten up by a gullible public who have never lived in the UAE and do not realise how peace-loving and friendly the people are. Their goal is not world domination, it’s progress and prosperity.
Having said that, there’s is a vaild underlying concern that you cannot trust someone who has that much power AND could be motivated to use its assets to back his religious / political views, which may differ sharply from your country’s interests in the long run.
Here we have a wonderful opportunity for a bridge between two cultures, a perfect example of football working to unite two different people, and all we can do is keep our head stuck in suspicion and distrust.
Yes, the DIC have their baggage. And yet their track record and philosophy as businessmen (always bring in the best people, give them whatever they need (including time and money) to get the best-possible results) and their finances mean that you would be extremely stupid not to have them as club owners.
The Americans will refinance the loan and get on with things – but they won’t be able to give Liverpool the big stadium that DIC would have bankrolled, the signings DIC could have bankrolled (I hear Mascherano wants to go to Juventus?), or the sponsorships and marketing help (Liverpool will be HUGE in the region if this happens, and you cannot underestimate the positive impact of that) that DIC would bring with them.
Oh well…
Manchester City fans must show class
I feel for Manchester City fans – I really do. Most of them are decent (Anthony) and love football and their club, and you can never fault anyone for that.
However, we all know that there are a number of idiots in any society and football fans are no exception. Come Manchester City’s trip to Old Trafford in February, there will be a handful of Manchester City supporters who will probably, despite the exhortations of their manager, captain and the constant media attention, disrupt the one-minute silence being held in the memory of those lost in Munich 1958.
In some ways I agree with Adrian – a 1-minute applause would have been a less prickly situation, but as Manchester United have rightly decided, there is a proper way to show respect and that should not be compromised because of a few idiots.
Hopefully Manchester City fans will show respect, not because one of their own perished in the crash but because it’s the classy thing to do, and as a football club who are doing so well after a long time, they owe it to themselves, their manager, their players and their owner to be decent, if only for a minute.
True
True (leave Liverpool to the Yanks — Liverpool for 6th place and UEFA next year!)
True
I have no doubt that United will beat Tottenham, everybody knows Tottenham’s miserly record – they will take years to get back that psychological edge.
As for Fergie having a pop at Rafa, I don’t think so.
Think about it – why would Fergie want Rafa to go? Potentially Liverpool might get a better manager. Fergie has Liverpool exactly where he wants them and all the better to defend Rafa and hope that he keeps his job.
Chris
http://www.EliteSoccerCoach.com
Thanks for the compliment Ahmed lol. Here’s my thoughts on it, based on what I know and have read recently from other blues.
I’d like to think that all City fans would show respect, most of them seem to think (judging by the M.E.N. Site comments) that there is a media campaign to make us look bad. They have cited that the silence for George Best was observed largely impeccably, but for the intervention of visiting Liverpool fans in November 2005. If any City fans read this, pay attention to what I just wrote, because I don’t want you thinking I am being completely critical.
It would be foolish to deny that there is an element that sing derogatory songs about the crash, virtually any home fan who has been to a game with City visiting would tell you that in the since the turn of the decade really. I think in City’s programme in 2000-1 there was a piece that made the national papers because they said a song about Munich was in the top 3 City chants, slamming the programme editorial.
Look at some of the comments on youtube whenever City have beaten united and there is almost always a reference to it, though whether one can compare the typing behind a computer and singing at games is another story, and/or whether alcohol is involved. I think small elements in the South Stand at Eastlands do it although I can’t speak much for the away games anymore.
I particularly recall an incident in May 2005, we had beaten Villa 2-1 away and four of us had gone to the game, two of whom I didn’t know particularly well. Off memory, one of the two started singing and slagging off the United fans who were catching departing trains after a home game (I think against West Brom), using that particular word and was cautioned by a copper, who admitted to being a United fan. You can imagine being a Policeman, not suggesting he used it in his judgement, but how he felt inside and how he had to act professionally.
Anyway, those are just a few of the things I have experienced. Of course it still exists out there otherwise it wouldn’t make such a big fuss. Even City requested a minute’s applause. That said, I think a lot of blues feel that this issue is being dragged out of all proportion.
I say a lot, because there are 40,000 odd at Eastlands most weeks, a tiny fraction of that sing and it is the majority who feel vilified by the press here. I went to Old Trafford last season but, having moved away now, will not be going, but I know if I was, I would observe it impeccably and I think 3,000 will do the same. Trouble is, as somebody quite rightly pointed out on the MEN site, if 2,999 do, and 1 doesn’t, that 1 will cause a storm among City fans who DO observe it, then the United fans will pick up on the fuss and whole thing will be ruined, by a miniscule proportion of the decent fans.
City’s attendances picked up during 2003-4 in the new season, I think a few people crawled out the woodwork just for the aesthetics factor back then, but somewhere between 28,000 (div 2 1998-9) and 40,000 of the fans are what you associate that is good about us, loyal and generally with a long-suffering, honed sense of humour. The type of fans to snap up 7,000 for Bramall Lane on Sunday.
Really hope that everything goes well on the day, it will be poignant and United will be very fired up with the atmosphere surely. I haven’t seen City win there in my lifetime but I very much hope the silence is observed and I hope that statistic changes.
Just to add, I know personally I have given much more thought to the stiking reinforcements Sven plans to bring in than this issue, which probably is the case for a few fans right now.
Finally, I remember United playing up at Sunderland in 2000-1 (again) and audibly you could hear the United fans singing ‘City’s going down like a Russian Submarine’, which was a reference to Kursk. When City went there in December, the Sunderland fans started singing it too. I also recall Middlesbrough fans singing ‘United, United, United’ at Maine Road a couple of years after that. I think half the time its just to wind opposition fans up, there is definitely an element of that involved. The fans who have perhaps sang about Munich probably have done so from habit and rarely think about what happened in 1958.
before segregation decent fans stood alongside one another now if an opposition fan is even in a box some fans go mad the chanting and attitude is much worse than it was and the type of away fans who used to be behind the away goal are much worse, evey club has its idiots liverpool fans tell me about united fans singing unsabory songs about hillsboro e.g, “sardines, sardines”
Yeah, man utd fans chant ‘murderers, murderers’ and ‘sardines, sardines’ at liverpool fans, but they sure as hell wouldn’t do it in a mins silence for hillsborough.
Chanting happens. Anything to wind up the opposition fans, and its mostly bad taste in good jest, and during the game.
A mins applause just isnt appropriate for what happened that day. It was a dark day for football worldwide, and it will be remembered with heavy heart.