Apparently, it’s Manchester United day on the RF Football. That’s OK. Yesterday was Russian football day.
Since Manchester United beat Wigan 5-0 this weekend, I’ve had some form of this conversation multiple times.
Him: “Good win for United.”
Me: “How so?”
Him: “A 5-0 win isn’t good?”
Me: “Did you watch the match?”
Him: “Yes, of course.”
Me: “The first half?”
Him: (annoyed) “Yes.”
Me: “Oh. My bad.”
Normally I enjoy a good football discussion, but I’ve felt this one leads to a dead end.
There is a perception that Wigan’s tough because of what they did last weekend, beating Aston Villa. And when Aston Villa beat Liverpool at Anfield yesterday, that notion got some affirmation. But Wigan is not a very talented side, they still do not have a consistent way of threatening opponents, and I’ve seen little reason to change my feeling that Wigan is destined for a relegation battle.
I’m reminded of Paul Ince’s plight last season. Ince was hired to replace Mark Hughes at Blackburn. He then lost David Bentley to Spurs and had Roque Santa Cruz – the absolute key to the Rovers’ challenge for Europe the previous season – rediscover his penchant for injury. Yet Ince went to Goodison on the opening weekend, got a draw, and had the Rovers faithful abuzz with the virtues of their new gaffer.
Fast forward three months and a fan base that had actively campaigned against Sam Allardyce’s history and tactics was welcoming the former Bolton and Newcastle man with open arms. And to Sam’s credit, he saved a side direly lacking in quality from relegation.
Ince was a young charismatic former Premier League player who made a name for himself revitalizing a club that the lower levels of league football, playing an attractive brand of football along the way.
Read that sentence again, but replace Ince with Martinez. I’m not saying Roberto Martínez is Paul Ince. I’m just saying we shouldn’t be surprised if he is eventually back with Swansea (or a similar club). History – recent history – informs this view.
With this in mind, Manchester United fans should not be so excited. Rather than bask in the glow of their five goal second half, look at how they got their goals. The back line for Wigan collapsed, and after Manchester United started exploiting it, there roof caved in. While the onslaught was nice for Red Devils supporters, there wasn’t anything to build on save the hope of more instances of their micro-derby.
United supporters should be looking at the first half – forty-five minutes of football where an inferior team was able to create too many chances, have too much of the ball, while United was unable to execute in the final third. If that sounds familiar, then you also watched minutes 0 through 180 of United’s season, where they had an even differential and three points against two promoted sides.
Two promoted sides and one side that looks a strong candidate to go down. Getting five goals in a half can overshadow, but it can’t heal.
Anyone that watched the full game knows how much Man U struggled in it. It was much more a case of Wigan wilting than Man U dominating.
You sure?
I agree with you. I was difficult for me to think that Manchester United had suddenly figured it out. But at the same time (“with this dope rhyme that I kick”), I can still hear people saying the equivalent of “five goals is five goals.
“I’m sorry if they weren’t pretty enough for you. We’ll just have to be happy with our five goals.”
[...] Rather than go into Diving versus Professional Fouls (which, let’s face it, I’ll probably do later), I wanted to throw out a couple if discussion points – aspects of this disproportionately and unexpectedly large uproar about the instance which might explain why people are electing to draw the line here, in a match we all knew Arsenal would win, and therefore had the importance of the second half of a typical Manchester United-Wigan match. [...]