Surely, surely, someone, sooner or later, will score a goal against Manchester United. I keep telling myself that. This ridiculous run of clean sheets - they haven't conceded a league goal since Samir Nasri's delightful strike in the defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates on November 8th, now more than three months ago - has to end eventually.
However, watching United at the moment allows a suspension of reality; not only has nobody scored against Man U in yonks (that well-known unit of time), nobody has actually looked like doing so. Edwin Van Der Sar has hardly hit a rich vein of form; instead one gets the feeling that a wheelie bin placed in the centre of the goal would have the same shut out record. The backline, led by this writer's current choice for Footballer of the Year, Nemanja Vidic, appears to rival Fort Knox for impregnability (is that a word? I hope so). As the old mantra goes, if you don't concede, you can't lose.
Add the fact that Alex Ferguson has such rich attacking talent available and it actually seems unfair on everyone else. Now Wayne Rooney is back, Cristiano Ronaldo has got over the dip in form that resulted from his lack of pre-season, and Dimitar Berbatov has realised that his role in the team encompasses more than jogging about and running his fingers through his hair, they have moved up a gear from a holiday period spent grinding out one-nil wins in the finest George Graham style. No-one can score against them, and no-one can keep them out, and as soon as players get injured or lose form Fergie can turn to the bench and bring in another gem - only three players (Van Der Sar, Vidic and Berbatov) have started twenty or more league games so far, yet seventeen players have been on the pitch in at least ten league matches. Darren Gibson, Jonny Evans and the absolutely wonderful Rafael have emerged as real first team prospects. The veteran Scot must be asking himself, "Can it get any better than this?"
Whether they really are the best Man Utd team ever, as has been touted by a few journalists this week, is a debate that can go on and on. Last year's side did a heck of a job, the treble winners of 1999 had the likes of Beckham, Keane, Sheringham, Giggs and Scholes at their peak, and who can forget the ooh-la-la of the squad that contained the divine Eric Cantona? Look further into the annals of history and you will also find the Busby Babes, and after that the 1968 European Cup winners who managed to boast three utter legends, Best, Charlton and Law, up front.
It's a fun debate to have, though. And certainly this United team deserve to be involved in it, even if they might not be the victors. They are certainly the best team in England this year by a distance, and I pray that fortune does not keep them from a Champions League final with the mighty Barcelona, for that is a match that surely makes the mouth water like none other.
L.
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