Fearless in Manchester, the undoing of the Red Devils

I write this after a weekend that has been a very good one if you are an Arsenal supporter.

Having all but one of your closest rivals lose or cancel each other out in a draw, while your team wins to strengthen its hold on the top position is always a cause for a bit of celebration... until the next round of matches comes along, anyway.

But while we Gooners raise a toast to Arsene Wenger, I cannot help but have one eye on the situation at Old Trafford. It seems dire to say the least. I believe it may actually be worse than most Manchester United fans care to admit.

Quite simply, I believe the exit of Alex Ferguson and the lack of a good game-changing signing during the summer transfer window has removed any last remnants of the air of invincibility that the Red Devils had built up over the Premiership years in English football.

Of course, Manchester United were never invincible in any given season – only the Gunners achieved that in season 2003-04 –  but that aura of fear was always present among most teams going to Old Trafford, or even hosting Fergie’s lads, with a sense of wanting to avoid defeat rather playing to win.

There is no doubt that for most of the past two decades, half the battle was already won by Manchester United even before kick-off... and I am not talking about Fergie’s infamous mind games here.

It is not a new phenomenon in the top flight of English football.

I will never forget what my late eldest brother told me back in the late 1970s and early 1980s about Liverpool’s dominance in the then First Division, and even in Europe for that matter.

My brother was a long-suffering Manchester United supporter at the time, when the team’s success was limited to the 1977 FA Cup win and before that, the 1968 European Cup and 1966-67 First Division title. Yes, there was a 9-year gap between trophies at Old Trafford.

So, it was not surprising when he lamented to me a few times while we were following the live broadcast of English football via the BBC World Service every Saturday night, that teams were simply afraid or intimidated by the Liverpool juggernaut.

Here was a team that Bill Shankly built and Bob Paisley enhanced – among two of the greatest managers that the English game had produced. Before Ferguson, Paisley was the most successful manager in English football.

At its peak, Liverpool had seven players in the English national team, and some top Scots too, with the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness and Alan Hansen.

The Reds were then fortunate to have some continuity after Paisley stepped down in 1983 with a member of the famous Anfield boot room boys, Joe Fagan, taking over the reins.

That helped to maintain the status quo of winning the league title, with a European Cup and League Cup for a unique treble at the end of the 1983-84 season.

Dalglish took over in 1985, and the promote-from-within policy maintained the continuity of league success, with two more titles, including their first League-FA Cup double in 1986.

But the ascent of Souness to the manager’s seat in 1991 was the beginning of the end for Liverpool. I suppose he was just not cut out for the job.

And as we all know, the launch of the English Premier League eventually brought an end to the Shankly/Paisley legacy and the start of a new era for another big team in red.

My brother, Ganesh, unfortunately, never got his chance to see his beloved Manchester United enjoy the same dominance that he envied about Liverpool.

As I recall, he was among the first to sign up for the Manchester United Supporters’ Club in 1992 – it was the first supporters club launched in Malaysia, incidentally – and enjoyed the Red Devils lifting their first title in 26 years the following year.

But sadly, the second consecutive title was won on April 24, 1994, just a week before he passed away, and he missed watching them take the unique League-FA Cup double that May, too.

I am sure he has been celebrating his team’s glory years from up above but I wonder what he would be telling me now, with the team making their worst start in a league season since 1989-90.

That season was the make or break season for Ferguson after finishing in positions 11, 2 and 11, respectively, in the previous three seasons the Scot had been in charge. The Red Devils ended up number 13 on the League table in 1990 and that should have cost Ferguson his job but for the small matter of winning the FA Cup, his first trophy.

The Manchester United manager added to his achievements by winning the European Cup-Winners’ Cup the following year. This was followed by the league runners-up position in 1992, the last time the top tier was called the First Division.

Not for lack of effort or ability, but David Moyes is likely to have the proverbial sword of Damocles hanging over him should Manchester United fail to keep the momentum of 23 years going in his first season in charge.

Yes, it is all still early in the season and it might even be a little bit of mischievous speculation on my part, but three defeats in their first six matches is going to be telling on the players’ confidence. More importantly, Moyes is no Ferguson.

He came from outside the Manchester United culture and worse still, booted out all of Ferguson’s men in favour of his own group of coaches and staff from Everton. Something has got to give and it is showing on the pitch already.

These are not going to be pleasant times for the masses of Manchester United fans around but it is also going to be a great time for their true supporters to set an example as the glory-hunters start bailing out of the “sinking ship” in the months ahead. – September 30, 2013.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.