Manchester United’s whirlwind season

Pic: flickr/gowestphoto

Manchester United’s whirlwind season


John Duggan

Well, well, well. Where to start? It’s been a whirlwind of a season. Before it started, everyone thought Manchester United were going to struggle after losing those muppets, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. Even the Scousers were suggesting that we wouldn’t make it into the top four of the league this season. Well, those words have come back and bitten the Scousers you know where!
When everyone was speaking about us as if we were as bad as Burnley (ha ha ha!), one man stood up and brought us where we are today – Mr Wayne Rooney, stand up and take a bow. He wasn’t going to let his team be overawed by the noisy neighbours with their moneybags across the road who thought they were going to literally buy the Premier League title. I know Chelsea did this a few years back, but they actually bought good players; Manchester City bought Joleon Lescott! I just don’t get it – City buy a money-grabber setting himself up for retirement and let probably one of the best defenders in the league this season go for £5 million! That’s one of the reasons why the noisy neighbours will NEVER win a trophy.
Anyway, back to the man of the hour. He has been playing mind-blowing football and has been consistent all season. Unfortunately he has no one decent to play with up front. Dimitar Berbatov has not been good enough in the big games, and the recent Chelsea match proves this. I don’t think he even showed up for the game, he was that bad. He just doesn’t suit United’s fast, intelligent, high-tempo play.
My suggestion would be to sell him to some has-been team. AC Milan comes to mind – they are supposedly interested in him and have a £15-20 million offer ready for the summer. If we were to take that, we could buy a proven striker like David Villa and/or Karim Benzema. We have been after the latter for a couple of seasons now and I don’t think he has been happy at Real Madrid. I would be happy to take him and show Real what they could have had.
James Milner is another name that has been mentioned and I think that would be a very intelligent buy because the likes of Giggsy and Scholesy are now winding down after glittering careers. Milner can play anywhere across midfield and, in my view, besides the wonderful Rooney, he’s the most improved player in the Premier League on the evidence of this season’s performances. He would also be a great buy for the future success of this mighty club because he and Rooney could tear up rival defences for years to come.
My predictions for the end of the season are as follows:
Premier League: United (hopefully the Scousers can do us a favour against the Blues)
FA Cup: Pompey (everyone has a chance!)
Champions League: Barca (led by the phenomenal Messi)
World Cup: Argentina (for the same reason)

John Duggan from Newport is a student at Rice College, Westport and is on work experience at The Mayo News