Red China`s Soccer Imperialists

The World Soccer Challenge was a competition that took place in 2009 by invitation and the teams were Chelsea of England, America of Mexico, Internazionale of Milan, and A.C. Milan. In a league system Chelsea won their three games and were champions. The 2011 tournament featured Spain`s Barcelona, invited by virtue of their being European Cup winners. Spain`s Real Madrid were champions by virtue of their winning their three games. Although Manchester United won their three games also. Against New England Revolution left winger, Ashley Young, signed from Aston Villa, made his debut.  United won, 4-1. In the 51^st minute half-time substitute, former Liverpool and England centre forward, Michael Owen, kept his cool to slot into the far corner when confronted by onrushing Revolution `keeper Shuttleworth. Another of manager Alex Ferguson's second-half substitutes, Italian forward Federico Macheda, who`d begun with Lazio but signed for United at 16, made it 2-0 (54) after Owen's opener, and with an equally composed finish. Macheda added a third on 61 minutes; lashing a shot into the far corner of the New England net after right full back Rafael's cross had eluded a crowd of players inside the penalty area. On 80 minutes French winger, Gabriel Obertan, bought for £3m from Bordeaux in July 2009, South Korean midfield dynamo, Ji-sung Park, bought from PSV Eindhoven for £4m in July 2005, and Welsh left winger, Ryan Giggs, a product of United`s youth policy, who debuted on March 2, 1991, as a sub for injured full back, Denis Irwin, against Everton at Old Trafford, combined superbly inside the penalty area to play in Park, who clipped an audacious finish over Shuttleworth.

 New signings, `keeper David de Gea brought from Atlético Madrid (£17.8 m), and defender, Phil Jones, brought from Blackburn Rovers (£16.5 m), debuted against Chicago Fire as United won, 3-1. England centre forward, Wayne Rooney (66), who latched onto a pinpoint long ball from United central defender, Rio Ferdinand, and lifted the ball over the onrushing Chicago `keeper, Conway. With 15 minutes remaining of the second half, combining down the right flank with Portuguese right winger, Nani, Brazilian right back, Rafael shimmied along the by-line and coolly squeezed the ball through Conway's legs (75). To wrap things up, Nani made the Fire look foolish in defence when cheekily dinking the ball into the net (82). United won their last and third game against Spain`s FC Barcelona, 2-1, with a goal from Nani (22) after the Catalan side committed forward and the Reds cleared the set-piece to break quickly down the pitch. England forward, Danny Welbeck, slipped a pass between two Barcelona defenders for Nani to chase and, collecting the ball, the Portuguese right winger kept his cool to steer it through the gap between Barca `keeper Victor Valdes' legs. United`s second came through Michael Owen (76) when England`s Tom Cleverley collected a stray pass and put the striker in through the middle where, in his favored one-on-one scenario, Owen dinked the ball over onrushing Barca `keeper Valdes. Madrid were crowned International Champions Cup winners by virtue of their scoring more goals.

 The 2012 tournament featured Chelsea, invited by virtue of their being European Cup winners, and again Real Madrid were the only team to win all their games. In 2013 the World Soccer Challenge was rebranded the International Champions Cup. By virtue of their winning two games, 3-1 against Los Angeles Galaxy, and 2-1 against Everton, Real Madrid progressed to a Final with Chelsea, who also progressed by virtue of their winning two games, 2-0 against Internazionale and 2-0 against A.C. Milan. Real Madrid beat Chelsea in the Final of the International Champions Cup, 3-1. In 2014 Manchester United progressed to the Final by virtue of winning their three group games. Against Roma of Italy, 3-2, Rooney latched onto Mata’s pass on the edge of the ‘D’ and arced a wonderful shot into the top-left corner (36). Three minutes later Rooney provided a superb ball over the top from the halfway line, which Spanish midfielder, Juan Mata, brought down expertly before lobbing `keeper De Sanctis (39). Just before the break, England defender Phil Jones ran forward and played the ball to Spanish midfielder, Ander Herrera, transferred in June 2014 from Athletic Bilbao (€36 m), whose first-time lay-off into England striker Danny Welbeck’s path resulted in the forward being felled by Urby Emanuelson inside the box. Rooney stepped up to take the spot kick and sent De Sanctis the wrong way for the goal (45 + 1).

 Internazionale of Milan were then beaten, 5-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw, with spot kick successes for England winger, Ashley Young, Mexican forward signed from Chivas on July 1, 2010, Javier Hernández, England midfielder, Tom Cleverley, Scots` midfielder and sometimes captain, Darren Fletcher, and Japan`s midfield star, Shinji Kagawa, bought from Borussia Dortmund for £13 m in 2012. Real Madrid were beaten, 3-1, with goals from Manchester United left winger, Ashley Young (20, 37). His first came after a one-two between Scots` midfielder, Darren Fletcher and Rooney on the edge of the box. Fletcher slipped a pass to Welbeck, who found Young on the far left of the box, and he steered a shot inside `keeper Casillas' near post. On 37 minutes Young collected possession on the left and curled a cross towards Rooney which was just too high for the striker but the ball crept in at the far post. Mexican forward, Javier `Chicharito` Hernández, `little pea`, converted a header from Kagawa's cross on 80 minutes. In the International Champions Cup Final United faced Liverpool, who progressed by virtue of the three group games they`d played against Olympiacos of Greece, 1-0, Manchester City, 2-2 (3-1 on penalties) and A.C. Milan, 2-0. Manchester United beat Liverpool in the Final of the International Champions Cup, 3-1, with a goal from a volley back across the goal and into the far right corner of the net by Wayne Rooney (55) after a deep cross past the far post from Hernández on the right and behind the forward players, a deflected left-footed shot from 12 yards by Juan Mata (57) after Shaw found him with an infield pass from his left foot out on the left wing, and England left winger, Jessie Lingard (88) who, after Shinji Kagawa half-controlled a right wing cross into the centre from Ashley Young, pounced to unleash an unstoppable right-footed drive from 15 yards out, and that after Liverpool`s midfield captain, Steven Gerrard, had opened the scoring with a 14^th minute penalty.

 In 2015 the tournament featured an International Champions Cup of Australia, China, and America. Real Madrid were champions of Australia by virtue of their becoming winners of the group. Despite losing 6-7 to Roma on penalties after a 0-0 draw, they beat Manchester City, 4-1, while City drew 2-2 with Roma, who won on penalties, 5-4, so Madrid were champions by virtue of their being the only clear winner. Real Madrid were champions of China by virtue of their beating Internazionale, 3-0, and drawing, 0-0 with A.C. Milan, who beat Inter Milan, 1-0, and so Madrid were champions by virtue of their scoring more goals. Paris Saint Germain became 2015 International Champions Cup winners of America by virtue of their scoring more goals than New York Red Bulls, after they amassed 10 league points in their four games against Benfica of Portugal, 3-2, Fiorentina of Italy, 4-2, Chelsea, 1-1 (5-6 on penalties), and Manchester United, 2-0, who were defeated on that basis. If United had beaten PSG they`d have been International Champions Cup winners after inflicting defeat on América Mexico, 0-1, with a goal on his debut for France`s defensive midfielder, Morgan Schneiderlin, bought by United manager, Louis Van Gaal, for £1.2 m from Southampton, and who rose at the far post to float a header from Juan Mata's cross beyond Hugo Gonzalez in the Club América goal. Following that success United had beaten United States` San Jose Earthquakes, 3-1, with goals from Juan Mata (32) after a run down the left from winger, Ashley Young, followed by a cross. Dutch forward Memphis Depay (37), with his first goal for the club, latched onto a loose back pass from Jean Baptiste Pierazzi to score, before Brazilian U-20 International, Andreas Pereira (61), also with his first goal for the club, headed home from England winger Jessie Lingard`s cross. United then beat Spain`s Barcelona, 3-1, through a headed goal from Wayne Rooney at the centre of the penalty area from a corner on the left by Ashley Young (8), a right-footed strike by England winger, Jessie Lingard (65), who converted a low cross into the six yard box by defender, Tyler Blackett, from his left boot, and a strike from Belgian midfielder, Adnan Januzaj (90+1) who, turning back and away from the Barca goal to collect a pass falling behind him with his right foot, turned to his right and, controlling the ball, resumed his run on goal. Surging on through the Barca defence Januzaj drove the ball left-footed low and into the net, but it wasn`t enough goals scored and PSG were Intercontinental Champions Cup winners.

 In 2016 the tournament featured an International Champions Cup of Australia, China, and America. Borussia Dortmund of Germany beat Manchester United, 4-1, with new manager Jose Mourinho`s first major signing as United boss, Dortmund`s right winger, and captain of Armenia, Henrik Mkhitaryan, scoring the United goal after England`s teenage sensation goalscorer, Marcus Rashford, on for winger Memphis Depay in the 45<sup>th</sup> minute, dummied for Spain`s Juan Mata to lay the ball off for Mkhitaryan to shoot from the centre of the goal in the 59^th minute, 1-3. The China group game between United and Manchester City was cancelled due to bad weather, so despite City beating Borussia, 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, a champion was neither discernible nor declared. Juventus of Italy became International Champions Cup winners of Australia, despite losing to Melbourne Victory of Australia, 3-4, after a 1-1 draw, because of a 2-1 defeat of Spurs. Paris Saint Germain (PSG) became International Cup Champions of America after winning their three group games, 3-1 against Inter Milan, 3-1 against Real Madrid, and 4-0 against Leicester City.

 What isn`t evident is the legitimacy of teams being declared champions of continents when they don`t have clubs and stadiums there. In 2015 Spain`s Real Madrid participated in separate International Champions` Cup tournaments, and were declared champions of Australia and China, although their club stadium is the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, which suggests that the organizers of the ICC have hubris. Australia and China fans might find it presumptuous of Spanish team, Real Madrid, to accept the title of Champions of Australia and China, where it might be legitimate to suppose that the champions there are Australia and China. In the International Champions Cup of China there weren`t Chinese teams, and in the International Champions Cup of Australia, Melbourne Victory`s defeat of Juvé, 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, was the only championship sign of a national Australian defence in a competition awarded in 2015 to Real Madrid in the absence of a team from Australia participating, and to Juventus in 2016 despite the Italian`s being beaten by Melbourne Victory, who were allowed to play only a single game in accordance with the rules of the competition, whereas Juventus played a second game against Spurs and won, 2-1.

Though Manchester United participated in the International Champions Cup of China, as English F.A. Cup winners in 2016, 2-1, against Crystal Palace, it isn`t a qualifying round from an Australasian perspective. Whereas it`s logical to suppose that the European Champions might participate in a tournament in the United States of America, with the International Champions Cup as a prize, it isn`t sensible to suppose that a team that`d won a national cup competition in Europe should be invited to contest a continental trophy without the participation of the local clubs there. United made attempts to be welcomed in China and Australia with pre-season touring, and the bringing into the squad Asian talent such as South Korea`s industrious midfielder, Ji-sung Park, in July 2005 from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, and Japan`s energetic midfield star, Shinji Kagawa, from Borussia Dortmund in 2012, but the ICC organizers proclaimed Real Madrid and Juventus conquerors without a welcome to face.

The Steve James Phenomenon

Steve James was the centre back Manchester United did have. He was a member of the F.A. Youth Cup side in 1965-66, which didn`t progress to the Final as some of his predecessors had. James` contemporaries were future England `keeper, Jimmy Rimmer, England left back, and 1966-67 championship winner with United, Bobby Noble (Capt.), Scotland`s centre back, John Fitzpatrick, Irish winger, George Best, who`d win the league in `67 and the European Cup in `68, along with England centre back, and sometime United centre forward, David Sadler, and England left wing, John Aston. Those players had been in the team that had won the 1963-64 F.A. Youth Cup, 1-1, against Swindon Town away, with a 70^th minute goal from Best, and 4-1 at Old Trafford, after a hat-trick (3) from Sadler and a single goal from Aston, which gave the team a 5-2 aggregate victory.

 Steve James was behind Fitzpatrick in Sir Matt Busby`s thoughts about selecting centre backs for the first team. Bill Foulkes, who`d been at right back before the Munich air crash, when the club had lost eight players dead and two permanently disabled coming back from a 3-3 draw against Red Star Belgrade that guaranteed a European Cup quarter final against A. C. Milan. Foulkes, who`d won the league in 1956 and 1957 with United, which had allowed Busby to accept an invitation for the club to participate in the European Cup, moved into the centre half berth but, despite a 2-1 win at Old Trafford, A. C. Milan destroyed a weakened United in the San Siro, 4-0. By 1963 Foulkes was partnered by Maurice Setters at the back and United overcame Leicester City, 3-1, in the F.A. Cup Final for their first trophy since the 1957 league title. The emergence of hard tackling Nobby Stiles, alongside Foulkes, brought United league titles in 1964-65 and 1966-67, before the historic night at London`s Wembley stadium, when the reds overcame Benfica of Portugal, 4-1, with a rare headed goal from deep lying centre forward, Bobby Charlton and, after Benfica`s Jaime Graça equalized on 79 minutes, goals in extra time from George Best (92), 19 year old Brian Kidd (94), who was in the team for injured Scots` goal getter, Denis Law, and Charlton again in the 99^th minute.

 Steve James made his debut against Liverpool in October 1968 and, capped by the England Youth team that year, James went on to make 21 appearances in the red shirt. Early in the season United lost 1-2 to Argentina`s Estudiantes de La Plata, winners of the Copa de Libertadores, that is, `freedom`s cup`, against Brazil`s Palmeiras. It was the Intercontinental Cup Final contested between the South American champions and the winners of the European Champions` Cup. United lost 0-1 away, and drew 1-1 at home, and so were beaten on aggregate, despite a last gasp 89^th minute goal from then record signing from Burnley (£117, 000), Willie Morgan. Although Estudiantes` victory over Palmeiras of Brazil went to three games, because each team had won a leg of the final, and the rules didn`t provide for aggregate wins, the IC competition did, and many supporters were angry over a Brian Kidd strike at Old Trafford that was disallowed after having seemingly been in the Estudiantes` goal, and which would have made the final result, 2-2 on aggregate, which by the rules of the contest would`ve meant a third game to decide the issue, much as the rule governing the Copa de Libertadores required a third deciding game if each side had won a leg of the contest.

 Although Steve James made 21 appearances that 1968-69 season, he didn`t win a medal. The club made it through to the European Cup semi-final, but defeat 0-2 in the San Siro to A.C. Milan, followed by a 70<sup>th</sup> minute Charlton strike for a 1-0 win at Old Trafford, put the team out on aggregate, 1-2, although Steve had made two appearances in the competition quarter finals against Rapid Wien, at Old Trafford, 3-0, with goals from Best (2) and Morgan, and in the Vienna away leg, which United drew 0-0, so he might have anticipated a centre half berth in the final, which A.C. Milan won against Dutch side, Ajax of Amsterdam, 4-1. Busby, knighted by England`s queen, Elizabeth II, retired in 1969 to be replaced by coach Wilf McGuinness, whose tenure as manager was characterized by semi-final failure in the League Cup, 1970, 3-4 to Manchester City on aggregate, and 1971, 2-3 to Aston Villa on aggregate. Although Steve James didn`t figure in either the League Cup semi-final loss to City, or the semi-final loss to Leeds United in the 1970 F.A. Cup, 0-1, after two 0-0 draws followed by replays, he played in the 1-1 home leg against Villa in 1971, before the side lost 1-2 away in the semi-final of the League Cup. The 1970 F. A. Cup semi-final defeat to Leeds was characterized by McGuinness` seemingly inexplicable preference for Italian midfielder, Carlo Sartori, over goal scoring legend, Denis Law, who was sub for the three games. Steve James made only two league appearances, and a single appearance in the League Cup campaign in 1969-70, but 13 appearances in 1970-71, and 3 in the League Cup, were followed in 1971-72 by 37 league appearances for new manager, Frank O` Farrell, formerly of Leicester City, and United were top of the league at Christmas, but finished 8^th.

 Steve James was perceived as a good centre half by O` Farrell, which is obvious from his number of appearances in the league (37/42) that 1971-72 season. Ian Storey-Moore, a left winger bought from Nottingham Forest in the New Year, scored 5 goals in 11 games towards the end of the campaign, but it wasn`t enough. United experienced 7 successive defeats at the turn of the year, before O`Farrell`s emergency buy, Storey-Moore, for £225, 000. Steve James missed the first three defeats, and Paul Edwards, who`d been deployed as a right back by McGuinness, most notably in the League Cup semi-final United lost to Manchester City, 3-4, when Paul had let fly from long range in the home leg, which finished 2-2, and beat the city `keeper with his only ever goal for the club in the 23^rd minute to equalize a 17^th minute Ian Bowyer effort. Edwards played only four games in the 1971-72 league campaign and was centre back for the three January 1972 contests United lost to West Ham away, 0-3, and to Wolves and Chelsea at home, 1-3 and 0-1. Steve returned to the team for the away game at West Bromwich Albion on January 29, which United lost, 1-2, and despite Brian Kidd opening the scoring with a goal on 24 minutes. James remained in the side for the subsequent February home defeats at Newcastle, 0-2, and Leeds away, 1-5, which were followed by a March 4 away defeat to Spurs, 0-2.

 Steve James` absence from the team for the first three games in the New Year had dented his and the club`s confidence and collapse had ensued. Despite Ian Storey Moore`s almost instant impact upon arriving from Forest immediately after the 7<sup>th</sup> successive league defeat, 0-2, at Spurs, when Ian scored 5 times in the last eleven games of the 1971-72 campaign, United finished 8<sup>th</sup> when looking every inch champions before January 1<sup>st</sup>. Storey-Moore retired in 1974 through injury after scoring only another 7 goals for United. Unpredictable genius, George Best, had told the press he wouldn`t play for the Manchester club if they were relegated, and without Ian Storey-Moore the reds didn`t have a replacement. The Irish winger, whose highest number of goals scored in a season was 28 in 1967-68, had top scored in 1971-72 with 18. George had reached double figures in terms of his season`s tally in every season since 1964-65, apart from 1965-66 (9), but retired to a beach in Spain, rather than assist the team out of deep trouble in 1973-74, and without an adequate replacement, which Storey-Moore had been, relegation resulted.

 Steve James remained amongst the loyal members of the squad. He played 22 games in 1972-73, and United finished 18^th, barely out of the relegation zone. O` Farrell was replaced as manager by Scotland`s national team boss, Tommy Docherty, and a whirlwind of buying and selling ensued. George Best played 19 games for 4 goals, and Bobby Charlton was top scorer with 6. Docherty bought Lou Macari from Celtic for £200, 000, a diminutive but striking header of the aerial ball with `springs in his heels`, who ultimately found success with the red devils as a tigrish midfield goal poacher, and free kick specialist. Macari`s late 5 goal tally in 1972-73 was a sign of what might be to come. In 1973-74, however, the United slide proved unstoppable. George Best could spare the team only 12 appearances and 2 goals, and `crocked` Ian Storey-Moore played only twice. Steve James contributed 21 games at centre half and 2 goals, which otherwise would seem negligible, but for the fact that Irish forward, Sammy McIlroy who, labelled the last of `The Busby Babes`, had made a scoring debut as a forward for Busby`s managerial successor, Wilf McGuinness, in a 3-3 draw with Manchester City in 1971, and finished the 1973-74 relegation season as United`s top scorer with only 6.

 The club recovered well enough in the Second Division to win the title, largely because of the centre forward Docherty bought from Hull City for £200, 000, future England striker, Stuart Pearson, who netted 17 times, while Lou Macari rediscovered his striker`s boots for 11 goals. In Scotland he`d played for Celtic, where the opposition to the `Celts`, and the other Glasgow team, Rangers, was around the playing level of the English Second Division, before future United manager, Alex Ferguson, began winning titles and cups under the noses of the Celts and `Gers in the 1980s with Aberdeen. Consequently, United and Macari`s renaissance was largely due to Pearson`s knowledge of the Second Division, because he`d scored in it with Hull City, and a reduction in technical level, which suited Macari, who`d been used to Celtic`s marauding of lesser clubs in their plundering of silverware at the top of the Scottish league. With the `green hoops` Macari had won Scottish championships with a highest goal tally of 10 in 1972 from 20 appearances, which was his highest number of appearances in 4 seasons that saw him amass Scottish league title medals in 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, and 1972–73, and Scottish Cup winners medals in 1970–71 and 1971–72. With his appearances limited by Celtic`s wealth of talent and in depth resources, because everyone wants to play for winners, and the only other winners in Scotland were Rangers, Macari was persuaded by Docherty to move to Old Trafford.

 Steve James moved on at the end of the 1975-76 season having helped United through the dark days with 13 appearances at centre back in 1974-75. Jim Holton, who after arriving from Shrewsbury Town broke his leg twice in 1972-73, and after United were relegated in 1973-74, when Jim made 34 appearances, had gone on to play in all Scotland`s undefeated 1974 World Cup Finals` games. Jim appeared 14 times in 1974-75 at centre back, although Yorkshire cricket`s fast bowler, Arnold Sidebottom, making 13 defensive appearances in the centre successfully competed with Steve James to rival Holton for a place in the first eleven. The team challenged for the league title in the 1975-76 season, and they perhaps would have won, but for an inexplicable change of `keeper, Irishman Paddy Roche for `68 European Cup winning `keeper, Alex Stepney, midway through the campaign, which saw United lose 0-4 to Manchester City at Maine Road in the 4^th round of the League Cup; 1-3 away at Liverpool`s Anfield, and 1-3 away at Arsenal`s Highbury. Roche had been given his chance on November 1, 1975, and the team scraped a 1-0 win against Norwich City at Old Trafford. Though United beat Villa, 2-0, at Old Trafford, Roche`s away form was disastrous, and many believe that, although Stepney returned for the rest of the campaign, Roche`s inclusion for those few games had cost United the league Cup and the title, which they finally conceded to Liverpool with 60 points to United`s 56.

 Despite failing to win the league title in 1975-76, with Pearson (13) and Macari (12) more able to do what they could, because of more able support from well chosen new faces, for example, future England right winger, Steve Coppell, bought from Tranmere Rovers for £60, 000, and left winger, Gordon Hill, who came from Millwall for £70, 000, United made it to the F.A. Cup Final where, expected to win, they confounded the pundits and lost, 0-1, to an 83^rd minute breakaway Southampton strike by Bobby Stokes. Centre back, Steve James, didn`t play that season and was transferred to York City, while Holton went off to Sunderland, but James` career, 1966-76, from youth to seniority, was more typically United. George Best died of alcoholism.

Shaw Enough?

Manchester United`s left back position has been a source of some amusement over the decades, because of the inordinate strength of the incumbent in his position, and the consequent difficulty encountered by newer players seeking to wear the shirt numbered 3. After the appointment of Matt Busby in 1946, the left back spot was filled by John Aston, who also served as a forward for United and England, and was later known as John Aston Snr, because his son, England`s John Jnr, was the left winger for United when they won the European Cup in 1968. He received instructions from Matt Busby to run at the Benfica right back, Adolfo Calisto, who `turned as slowly as a Portuguese carousel`, according to the manager`s coaching staff reports, and Aston`s pace along the left touchline as he beat the defender that day was a feature in United`s eventual 4-1 victory after an opening rare headed 53<sup>rd</sup> minute goal from deep lying centre forward, Bobby Charlton, was equalized by Benfica`s Jaime Graça (73), and extra time was needed to complete the triumph with goals from Irish winger, George Best (92), teenage striker, Brian Kidd (94), and Charlton again in the 99^th minute. John Aston Snr was at left back when United won the F.A. Cup 4-2 against Blackpool in 1948.

 For the league championship campaign of 1951-52, a season which saw United win with 57 points from Tottenham Hotspur with 53, John Snr is credited with being played by Busby as a forward scoring 4 goals in 18 appearances, although future England and United captain, Roger Byrne, who made several appearances on the left wing that season, scoring 7 goals, effectively was competing with Aston for the left back berth in the side and John was proving difficult to replace. In fact it was probably Byrne`s attacking flair that won him the number 3 shirt and, despite pressure from his understudy at United, Geoff Bent, who also went on to play fullback for England, Byrne retained his position as United and England`s left back until both he and Bent lost their lives in the Munich air crash as the team was coming back from a European quarter final away leg victory over Red Star Belgrade, which they`d drawn, 3-3, but had qualified to meet A.C. Milan in the semi-final on aggregate, because of a 2-1 home win at Old Trafford, Manchester. Although with a weakened squad that had lost nine players, seven dead, and two who`d never play again, United won the home leg against A.C. Milan on a wave of unparalleled sympathy and emotion that had persuaded inside forward, Ernie Taylor, who scored, to transfer from Aston Villa before the game, and which carried United forward at the `theater of dreams`, 2-1, with another goal from uninjured forward, Dennis Viollet. At the San Siro stadium in Milan, however, the team succumbed to the harsher realities of practical Italian demolition experts against inexperience, 0-4, and didn`t make the Final.

 On February 6, 1958, seven players lost their lives as the plane carrying the team back from Belgrade crashed on take off from Munich airport, while others suffered career threatening injuries. Those who died were England left back, and captain, Roger Byrne, and his understudy, right back, Geoff Bent, England midfielders, Eddie Colman, the player who`d been hailed as the `giant` of the England team for the forthcoming World Cup, that is, central midfield striker, Duncan Edwards, and England centre back, Mark Jones, England left winger, David Pegg, England centre forward, Tommy Taylor, and mercurial Irish forward, Liam `Billy` Whelan. Irish inside forward and sometime centre back, Jackie Blanchflower, and England winger, Johnny Berry, were so badly injured they never played again. Busby`s rebuilding program began with his adopting the devilishly difficult to beat symbol of the devil with its pitchfork and a new nickname for the club, `The Red Devils`, where before the Munich air crash the young squad had been affectionately known as `The Busby Babes`. United`s `Babes` had largely been a product of the youth team and that`s where Busby turned for a new left back to replace his England and United captain, Roger Byrne, and his understudy, Geoff Bent. Although Ian Greaves was the first player to fill the left back position, Irishman Shay Brennan played on the wing that season, as Byrne had done before, replacing Aston Snr. Greaves had won a 1956 championship winners` medal, but Brennan would move from the wing to fill the left back position in due course and would be there to win a championship medal in 1964-65, and 1966-67, and a European Cup winners medal in 1968 as a member of the team that beat Benfica at London`s national Wembley stadium, 4-1.

 As it turned out, left winger Shay Brennan, scored in the semi-final of the F.A. Cup that season, but United lost in the Final, 0-2, to Bolton Wanderers. It wouldn`t be until 1963 before the team returned to Wembley and won against Leicester City, 3-1, with goals from record transfer buy from Italy`s Torino, Scots` striker, Denis Law (£110, 000), and England`s striker, David Herd (2). When the 1968 Intercontinental Cup Final was played between Manchester United, as the winners of the European Cup, and the South American champions, who were Estudiantes of Argentina, winners of the Copa Libertadores de América, Tony Dunne and Shay Brennan were vying for the established United left back position. With Dunne at right back, and Francis Burns at left back for United, Estudiantes won their home leg, 1-0, with a header from Marcus Conigliari in the 27^th minute. With Dunne at left back, and Shay Brennan at right back for United, the South American champions drew 1-1 at Old Trafford after a surprise 6^th minute header from the `little witch`, Estudiantes` right winger, Juan Ramón Verón, to take the trophy, and despite a last gasp 89<sup>th</sup> minute strike from United`s record new signing from Burnley (£117, 000) Scots` right winger, Willie Morgan.

 Manchester United`s recovery was slow after the blow of losing manager, Sir Matt Busby, through retirement, and so newly knighted by England`s queen, Elizabeth II, after the team`s European Cup win. It wouldn`t be until after relegation to the second tier of English soccer that United would win a further major trophy, under the managership of Scot, Tommy Docherty, in the F.A. Cup Final of 1977. Arthur Albiston had made a few appearances for the team that won the Second Division championship in 1974-75 to return to the top tier of English soccer, and Albiston would go on to be a winner of the only three trophies United would capture, before Alex Ferguson`s appointment as manager in 1986, as left back for a team that would win the F.A. Cup in 1977 and again in 1983 and 1985. Albiston took over from fellow Scot, Stewart Houston, who was injured for the 1977 Final, which United won, 2-1, against Liverpool with a goal from centre forward, Jimmy Greenhoff, who in the 55<sup>th</sup> minute deflected a shot from Scot`s midfield dynamo, Lou Macari, off his chest and into the net after England centre forward, Stuart Pearson, had drilled a shot under Liverpool `keeper Ray Clemence in the 51<sup>st</sup> minute, but a 53<sup>rd</sup> minute trademark unstoppable volley from Liverpool midfielder, Jimmy Case, had equalized. It was a double blow for Houston, because he`d been on the losing side in the 1976 Final, 0-1, to Southampton, and an 83^rd minute breakaway strike from Bobby Stokes when United had been pressing throughout the contest and had been expected to win.

 Before Houston`s career began at left back with United under Docherty, and before the relegation season of 1973-74, left backs came and went in quick succession. Bobby Noble had won a championship medal in the left back position in 1966-67, but a car accident ended his career and Shay Brennan resumed in the left back berth. Francis Burns flattered to deceive from 1970-73 under the successive managerships of former United coach, Wilf McGuinness, and manager Frank O` Farrell, brought from Leicester City. When McGuinness failed to progress the team in successive League Cup semi-final defeats, 3-4, to Manchester City (1970) and 1-3 to Aston Villa (1971), and in an F.A. Cup semi-final defeat to Leeds United, 0-1, after a third replay in which both previous games ended 0-0 with Scots` legendary goalscorer, Denis Law, kept inexplicably unused on the substitutes` bench, Tommy Docherty, who`d been managing Scotland, took over for the 1972-73 season run in. Burns` days as United`s number 3 were over, and Scots` left back, Stewart Houston, was bought from Brentford for £55, 000 in 1973.

 Tommy Docherty`s tenure was characterized by a refusal to proceed at a pace suitable to an ageing squad. Players came and went in a whirlwind of wheeler dealing and an unsettled playing staff weren`t able to find the right blend of skill and determination quickly enough. The club was ironically relegated on the last day of the season through a Denis Law back-heeled goal after the legendary scorer of 171 league goals for United had been transferred to rivals Manchester City by Docherty, because of his age, 34, and where he scored nine goals that season, while United`s top scorer, Sammy McIlroy, finished with six. An affair with Mary Brown, the United physiotherapist Laurie`s wife, resulted in the appointment of Dave Sexton and Docherty`s removal after the 1977 F.A. Cup triumph. Sexton took United to a further F.A. Cup Final Appearance in 1979 but lost, 2-3, to Arsenal, and despite United`s pulling it back to 2-2 through Sammy McIlroy, and centre back, Gordon McQueen, who`d been playing up front because he`d cramp and couldn`t deal with the Arsenal forwards. In the dying seconds of the game an Alan Sunderland header from a Graham Rix cross wide on the left cost Sexton his position as United manager, and flamboyant West Bromwich Albion boss, Ron Atkinson, was appointed for the 1981-82 season. Atkinson immediately brought Bryan Robson, the future captain of United and England, from W.B.A., for a club record transfer fee of £1.5 million, and it was Atkinson that brought the club its only subsequent successes in the F.A. Cup Finals of 1983, 4-0, against Brighton, after a replay following a 2-2 draw, and 1985, 1-0, against Everton. Atkinson was sacked for inexplicably offloading top striker, Mark Hughes, to Spain`s FC Barcelona for £2 million after the Welshman had top scored in the successive seasons 1985 (16), and 1986 (17).

 Alex Ferguson, brought from Aberdeen in Scotland, where he`d been the only manager to bring a European trophy, the 1983 Cup Winners Cup, to a team other than Celtic or Rangers, bought Hughes back for £1.8 million in 1988 after his appointment in 1986, and Hughes went on to play for Alex for seven seasons until 1994-95 when, although he played in the F.A. Cup Final, which United lost to Everton, 1-0, and the team finished runners up in the league to new money soccer aristocrats, Blackburn Rovers, bankrolled by local entrepreneur Jack Walker, Mark had scored only 8 league goals, and although he left for Chelsea, where he won the F.A. Cup again in 1997, 2-0 against `Boro and the League Cup, 2-0, again against `Boro, and the Cup Winners Cup in 1998, 1-0, against VfB Stuttgart of Germany (albeit as an unused sub), he never got close again to his usual dozen or more for the season, which was necessary to United if they were to challenge for honours.

 Hughes even managed a swan song at Blackburn Rovers as a central midfielder, winning the League Cup of 2002, 2-1, against Spurs, while at United Mark won league titles in 1992-93, 1993-94; the F.A. Cup in 1984-85, 1989-90, 1993-94; the League Cup in 1991-92; the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990–91 and the 1991 European Super Cup, 1991, 1-0 against Red Star Belgrade, with a Brian McClair tap in on 67 minutes from a rebound off the post after a shot from England midfielder, Neil Webb. McClair was a Scots` centre forward, signed for the 1887-88 season from Celtic for £850, 000, and who`d also been the only scorer of the game in the 14^th minute of the League Cup Final of 1992 against Nottingham Forest, 1-0. Centre back, Gary Pallister, had played the ball to McClair inside the Forest half, who laid it off to left winger, Ryan Giggs, who drew defenders towards him by running directly at goal, before sliding the ball sideways to McClair, who was able to slip into the penalty area to strike left-footed into the bottom right corner of the net. It`d been Hughes that`d brought United back from the brink of defeat to Crystal Palace before the replay victory, 1-0, after the game ended 2-2 when first Bryan Robson had equalized Palace centre back Gary O` Reilly`s header in the 17^th minute. It was 1-1 at half time after McClair floated a ball to the far post from the right where Robson headed it home on 35 minutes. Hughes gave United the lead in the 62^nd minute after he latched onto a cross-shot from Neil Webb, but Palace `supersub`, Ian Wright, went on a run past two United defenders before sliding the ball past United`s Scots` `keeper, Jim Leighton in the 72<sup>nd</sup> minute. In extra time Palace left midfielder, John Salako floated a ball to Wright at the United back post and his volley made it 3-2 before United winger, Danny Wallace put a ball through for Hughes to chase and the Manchester forward calmly steered it past the onrushing Palace `keeper, Martin in the 113^th minute to force the replay, which United of course won with a goal from Lee Martin, left back, who speculatively ran the length of the pitch, before receiving a ball from Webb on his chest and, observing it fall at his feet, delightedly crashed it into the roof of the Crystal Palace net on 59 minutes.

 Arthur Albiston remained United`s first choice left back until 1987 but was giving way to Colin Gibson who`d been bought as a more attacking fullback by Ron Atkinson from Aston Villa for £275, 000 in November 1985, and despite playing his due quota of games Albiston didn`t quite recover his place with the appointment of Ferguson. Gibson, and Clayton Blackmore, a midfielder with a powerful shot, began to appear in the left back berth more frequently than anyone might have supposed and Blackmore was there when United won the Cup Winners Cup themselves with two goals from Mark Hughes against his old club, Barcelona, in the 1991 Final. After making only 5 appearances, and another 6 as sub, Albiston left United for Ron Atkinson`s W.B.A. on a free transfer at the end of the 1987-88 season. Although Clayton Blackmore had the left back berth for the 2-1 win over FC Barcelona in the CWC Final, it`d been Lee Martin who`d played at left back and scored the only goal of the replay against Crystal Palace to win the F.A. Cup, 1-0, after the first game had ended 3-3. United`s search for a left back finally ended with the arrival of Denis Irwin from Oldham Athletic for the 1990-91 season, a player similar to Irishman Tony Dunne, who`d played at left back, or right back, for United until 1973, after United manager Busby had brought him from Irish side, Shelbourne, for £5, 000 in 1960. Consequently, when England`s Paul Parker was his right back partner (1991-96), Irwin played left full back, and again when Gary Neville emerged as right back during the era of the `Fergie fledglings`, who`d win two F.A. Cup and league doubles (1996 and `99), and the 1999 European Cup against Bayern Munich, 2-1. Neville properly emerged in 1994-95 and although Irwin`s last full competitive season in a United shirt was 2001-02, while Neville continued in his regular right back spot until 2010-11, apart from Neville`s injury ravaged season, 2007-08, when he didn`t play at all, Irwin was his left back partner for 7 campaigns, during which the pair combined to win the F.A. Cup and league double in 1996 and 1999, the league in 1997, 2000, and 2001, and the league, F.A. Cup and European Cup treble in 1999.

 French left full back Mikael Silvestre had been a large part of Denis Irwin`s finding he had the ability to switch to right back if required. Silvestre had been bought from Italy`s Inter Milan for £4 million before the 1999-2000 season, and he went on to contribute as a mainstay of the defence, sometimes as a centre back, until the end of the 2006-07 term. Silvestre was a league champion with Manchester United in 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, and 2007-08. In addition, Mikael was a 2003-04 F.A. Cup winner, a 2005-06 League Cup winner, a 2008 European Cup winner, and a 1999 Intercontinental Cup winner. When Sir Alex Ferguson, who like his predecessor, Sir Matt Busby, had been knighted by England`s queen, Elizabeth II, for winning the European Cup in 1999, brought Argentine left back, Gabriel Heinze, from Paris Saint-Germain in 2004 for £6.9 million, it was rather as cover for Silvestre and the central defenders, because Heinze could play in central defence too. The arrival of Patrice Evra from A.S. Monaco for £5. 5 million coincided with the departure of Heinze, although the Argentine defender had won a league championship medal with United in 2006-07 with 17 appearances, and 5 more as substitute. Evra would be United`s mainstay left full back until 2014 amassing a huge total of medals before leaving after Ferguson retired due to ill health and new manager David Moyes arrived from Everton. At left back for United Patrice Evra won league championships in 2006–07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, and 2012-13; the League Cups of 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10; the European Cup in 2008 against Chelsea, 6-5 (a.e.t.), on penalties after a draw, 1-1, and the World Club Cup in 2008, 1-0, against LDU Quito.

 Like Wilf McGuinness before him, Moyes` nemesis was a League Cup semi-final. Against Sunderland at home after a 1-2 defeat away, Moyes` United side won, 2-1, in front of an incredulous crowd that saw the team lose on penalties with only sometime Scots` captain, Darren Fletcher, finding the net for the reds. Evra was giving Moyes his last season at United on the left, and right back on the night, Rafael Da Silva, the Brazilian signed by Ferguson through Brazilian club Fluminense, along with Rafael`s brother, Fabio, who also played right back, missed the last United penalty that would have given them another chance, because Sunderland were equally abysmal in front of goal and themselves only managed two. Like McGuinness before him, who lost two League Cup semis in `70 and `71, and an F.A. Cup semi in `70, it was mene tekel upharsin for Moyes, that is, `the writing on the wall`, and he was replaced after the 2014 World Cup by Dutchman, Louis Van Gaal, who`d managed Holland into third place. Van Gaal`s left back, Marcos Rojo of Argentina, arrived from Sporting Lisbon for £16 million at the beginning of the 2014-15 season, and was still there when Van Gaal left to be replaced by Portugal`s Jose Mourinho after only winning the F.A. Cup Final against Crystal Palace, 2-1, in his two seasons in charge. England`s Luke Shaw, bought from Southampton for £30 million by Van Gaal in 2014, looked set to be one of the foremost in a long history of quality left full backs with years of tenure in the position ahead, but injury limited his first season`s appearances to 16, and in his second season (2015-16), injury again saw Luke make only 5 appearances, so it remains to be seen whether Rojo will find favor with Mourinho, or Shaw will recover lost ground. Rojo was in the Final at left back when goals from Spain`s right midfielder, Juan Mata, and England winger, Jessie Lingard, won the trophy for United, so Marcus will doubtless be reluctant to be left back at home when it`s time again for the team bus to wend up Wembley way.

Louis Van Gaal`s International Champions` Cup of the United States of America

The F.A. Charity Shield was re-Christened the Community Shield in 2002, because of attempts by the Charity Commission to brand the English Football Association `racketeers`. Consequently, the Shield was renamed by the F.A., in a move away from what had been its customary single donation to a selected charity - or charities - and on to community endowment projects. Competed for since 1908, when Sandy Turnbull scored 25 goals as Manchester United became Football League champions for the first time in their history, which had begun with their founding as Newton Heath, `The Heathens`, in 1878, the English Shield was won against the London champions of the Southern Football League, Queens Park Rangers, 4-0, with a `hat trick` (3) from centre forward, Jimmy Turnbull (no relation), and a single goal from left winger, George Wall, after a 1-1 draw and a replay, which left J. Turnbull with four (4) goals.

 The 2016 contest was scheduled to take place between Manchester United, as F.A. Cup winners under the stewardship of Dutchman Louis Van Gaal, but under the new management of Portugal`s Jose Mourinho, and Leicester City, league champions. After 1908 United won the Shield on another 19 subsequent occasions, the last being 2013 when former Everton manager, David Moyes, successor to Sir Alex Ferguson, two times European Cup winning manager with United (1999, 2008), oversaw the team that had won Ferguson the last of his 13 championships (2012-13), before he retired due to ill health, beat Wigan Athletic, 2-0, with goals in the 6<sup>th</sup> and 59<sup>th</sup> minute from Dutch centre forward, Robin Van Persie, brought by Sir Alex from Arsenal for £24 million to give more firepower to the attack. Persie had scored 26 league goals that term as United won the title with 89 points to Manchester City`s 78 and so qualify for the Charity Shield game against F.A. Cup winners, Wigan.

 The 2013 Shield contest was Moyes` first game in charge, and the only trophy he won before being replaced by Dutchman, Van Gaal, at the start of the 2014-15 season. Traditionally, the contest for the Shield occurs between the winners of the English championship and the F.A. Cup, apart from its inaugural seasons up to 1913, when it was contested between the Football League champions and the Southern Football League champions, and after 1913 it became a contest between professionals and amateurs. The subsequent outbreak of the First World War (1914-18) heralded further change, and the competition came to be between the league champions and the winners of the second division title, until 1921, when the league champions versus the F.A. Cup winners format was finally established. Occasionally, because of special occasions, such as the league and cup double being performed, for example, by Spurs (1961), Arsenal (1971), and United in 1994, `96 and `99, the contest was by invitation, or determined by who finished as runner up in the cup or league to the F.A. Cup and league championship `double winner`, and who were willing to compete of course.

 The distaste with which this friendly has been treated by journalists and clubs alike is a throwback to the days when the European Cup was perceived as a competition of secondary importance to English teams concerned primarily with winning the championship at home. Only after Manchester United entered as English league champions in 1957 did the European Cup begin to establish itself as a predominant competition to English eyes, and even after Manchester United`s winning of the European Cup in 1968, 4-1, against Benfica at England`s national Wembley stadium, London, the Intercontinental Cup Final with the Champions of South America, by virtue of Estudiantes of Argentina winning the Copa Libertadores de América, that is, `freedom`s cup`, was perceived as something equivalent to the generally supposed non-event taking place pre-season at Wembley; the Charity Shield between the league champions and the cup winners.

 Of course the confidence trick was that Manchester United, with 20, have won the Shield on more occasions than any other club (Liverpool, 15), which is why the other clubs despise it as an irrelevance. They can`t compete. Consequently, when United under the managership of five times league winner, Matt Busby, won the European Cup, 4-1 (a.e.t), with goals from Irish wing genius, George Best (92), a header from teenage centre forward Brian Kidd (94), who was in the side for injured Scots` goalscoring sensation, `king` Denis Law, and Bobby Charlton (99), it was another triumph despised by others. Benfica`s right midfielder, Jaime Graça, had previously equalized England`s deep-lying centre forward Bobby Charlton`s rare headed 53^rd minute opener to force extra time at 1-1, and although the subsequent winning of the European Cup gave United entry into the Intercontinental Cup, envy led the media to depict the contest for that trophy as an inconsequential event on a par with the English Shield competition.

 Against Estudiantes of Argentina, winners of the South American championship, that is, the Copa Libertadores de América, Manchester United lost on aggregate 1-2, after losing 0-1 in Buenos Aires to a headed 27^th minute goal by forward, Marcus Conigliaro, and drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford, Manchester, after a crowd silencing 6^th minute opener from winger, Juan Ramón Verón, father of Juan `Seba` Sebastián Verón, who`d win a title with Ferguson`s United as a midfielder in 2002-3, and despite a `last gasp`, which produced a 90^th minute strike from Scots` right winger, bought by newly knighted Sir Matt Busby for £117, 000 that summer from Burnley, Willie Morgan. Though United won the European Cup in 1999 after beating Bayern Munich, 1-2, with more trademark `last gasp` goals from substitute strikers (67^th and 81^st minutes), Teddy Sheringham (91) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (93), and which qualified the team for the Intercontinental Cup Final against Palmeiras of Sao Paolo, Brazil, that they won, 1-0, after a 35^th minute goal at the right near post touched in by captain Roy Keane from a left wing cross by Ryan Giggs, the IC Final was perceived by the newspapers and the media as an irrelevant inconsequentiality, and European Cup winners, Liverpool, even refused to compete against Boca Juniors of Argentina in 1977 and 1978.

 Manchester United`s victory over Chelsea in the 2008 European Cup Final at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, on penalties, when the game ended, 1-1, and extra time was needed to decide the contest, followed upon a 45<sup>th</sup> minute equalizing goal from Chelsea midfielder, Frank Lampard, after a 26<sup>th</sup> minute headed goal from a left footed cross out on the right wing by right back Brown onto the head of United`s powerfully skilful Portuguese right winger, Cristiano Ronaldo, and which left Ryan Giggs to slot home a victory penalty after Chelsea centre back, John Terry, fell on his arse in the rain and missed. That Giggs strike put United through to the final series of matches in the inaugural World Club Championship that had replaced the IC Final.

 Derided again by the mass media and the newspapers as a competition of inconsequentiality, perhaps because Manchester United had agreed to try and win it, the team entered the lists at the semi-final stage, and beat Japan`s Gamba Osaka, who`d qualified by winning the Asian Federation Cup (AFC) over two legs against Australia`s Adelaide United, 5-0. After a 28<sup>th</sup> minute headed opening goal from Serbian centre back, Nemanja Vidić, another headed goal from right wing, Cristiano Ronaldo, from a similar corner on the right taken by Ryan Giggs on 46 minutes, brought the game to the half way mark. Gamba Osaka forward, Masato Yamazaki, replied with a strike from inside the area in the 74<sup>th</sup> minute but a minute later England centre forward, Wayne Rooney, chested on a cross from the right, which took him into the left of the `keeper`s area, where a left footed strike, low, found the right of the net, 3-1. Sometime Scots` midfield captain, Darren Fletcher then scored with a header from a cross by French left back, Patrice Evra in the 78^th minute, and a similar strike from Rooney in almost the same position as his first goal of the game, found the right of the net through an outside of the right boot flick on in the 79th minute.

 That gave United a 5-1 lead, and despite Gamba Osaka launching something of a late comeback with Gamba Osaka`s creative midfielder, Yasuhito Endō, converting an 85<sup>th</sup> minute penalty after United right back and captain, Gary Neville, was adjudged to have prevented a cross from the left reaching the Japanese forwards by handling the ball, and which was followed by a further last gasp 91<sup>st</sup> minute strike from defensive midfielder, Hideo Hashimoto, United held on for a win, 5-3. Having qualified for the World Club Cup Final with their semi-final victory over Japan`s Gamba Osaka, Manchester United`s `Red Devils`, as they`d come to be known since their days as Newton Heath`s `Heathens`, beat LDU Quito of Ecuador with a strike from the 2008 competition`s top goalscorer, England`s Wayne Rooney, who drilled the ball home from where he`d apparently been standing conserving energy on the edge of the keeper`s area in the 73^rd minute, just waiting for the ball to come to him, because United had been reduced to 10 players with the 49^th minute sending off of Serbian centre back, Nemanja Vidic, and so the players left on the field had to do the work of 11. Applying his strategic knowledge of the game to occupy the most dangerous space, rather than risk exhaustion by ball chasing, and losing ground in the event of a counter attack by LDU Quito, Rooney had simply awaited a chance falling to his expertise in positional play.

 Manchester United`s 21<sup>st</sup> century task was to overcome the parochialism at home, which had sought to establish the league championship as being of more consequence than the European Cup before United`s entrance into the contest as 1956-7 English champions, and the subsequent emotion at the club`s loss in the snow of the Munich air crash. Returning from a 3-3 draw in Yugoslavia against Red Star Belgrade, after two goals from Bobby Charlton and another from centre forward, Dennis Viollet, had put them through to a semi-final with A.C. Milan, they lost 2-5, and 0-4 at the San Siro stadium, despite a brave, 2-1, home victory at `the theatre of dreams` stadium, Old Trafford, with goals from Dennis Viollet and inside forward, Ernie Taylor, who`d been bought from Aston Villa by Busby in an attempt to replace the heart of the team that died.

 On February 6, 1958, seven players lost their lives as the plane carrying the team back from Belgrade crashed on take off from Munich airport, while others suffered career threatening injuries. Those who died were England left back, and captain, Roger Byrne, and his understudy, right back, Geoff Bent, England midfielders, Eddie Colman, and the player who`d been hailed as the `giant` of the England team for the forthcoming World Cup, that is, central midfield striker, Duncan Edwards, and England centre back, Mark Jones, England left winger, David Pegg, England centre forward, Tommy Taylor, and mercurial Irish forward, Liam `Billy` Whelan. Irish inside forward and sometime centre back, Jackie Blanchflower, and England winger, Johnny Berry, were so badly injured they never played again, and Matt Busby had to rebuild a team from the remains of the playing staff after the disaster before ultimately triumphing, 4-1, against Benfica at London`s national Wembley stadium to finally win the European Cup in 1968. Busby`s team had been so young it`d been labeled `The Busby Babes` but, after the tragedy, he gave his rebuilt squad the title `Red Devils`, and the club crest thereafter featured a devil with a pitchfork. It was an indication that Busby would prepare his future teams to be devilishly difficult to prevent from achieving that success which had been snatched away by the enemy, death, on the snow and ice of Munich`s airport runway.

 Parochialism at home, which had sought to establish the league championship as being of more consequence than the European Cup, derided the Charity Shield as a competition of at least as little consequence as the Intercontinental Cup. What the English never appeared to understand was that winning the league and the F.A. Cup was a qualifying round, which the South Americans always had understood with respect to qualifying for the Intercontinental Cup, and later the World Club Cup, by winning the Copa de Libertadores. In England United`s attempts to win were handicapped by press` preconceptions influencing public opinion, and a lack lustre team failed to win in 1968 against Argentina`s Estudiantes, 1-2, in the Final of the Intercontinental Cup, largely due to a dismissive media, before overcoming envious disparagement of the trophy`s value to eventually win the competition in 1999, 1-0, against Palmeiras of Sao Paolo, Brazil. When the inaugural World Club Cup was won against LDU Quito in 2008, the media and newspapers in England were forced to accept that Manchester United were world champions, and reluctantly celebrated the event. However, despite the Glazers of the United States of America becoming the owners of the club, the first trophy won by the team under the stewardship of Louis Van Gaal, the International Champions Cup of the USA, was once again represented in the mass media as silverware without significance.

 The International Champions Cup was dismissed as insignificant, because Manchester United had virtually developed and invented the International Champions Cup in the USA, China and Australia, with their repeated touring in friendlies against local teams during the summer breaks between seasons. England, however, still wasn`t able to perceive that the ICC by invitation tournament still required teams to qualify. The vision of a group system comprising Africa, Oceania, America and Eurasia, didn`t strike the English as legitimately competitive. Despite `team USA` reaching the last 16 of the World Cup in 2014, after finishing second with four points in group G to eventual Final winners Germany (7), 1-0, against Argentina with a goal from Mario Götze (a.e.t. 113^th minute), while England were bottom and ignominiously unqualified in group D, with but a single point after defeats, 1-2, to Italy and Uruguay, 1-2, and a draw against group D winners, Costa Rica, who finished top with 7 points. For the envious, Manchester United are, like the USA, an inferior team, because they win trophies; for example, the English Shield. As a competition for soccer achievers, Manchester United`s win in the 2014 International Champions Cup was envied by the unsuccessful English almost as much as the 2014 German World Cup win, and so the triumph was met with a media and press display of principled superiority over the competition, and the competitors, to belittle the achievement of the winner even before the result of the Final, 3-1, against Liverpool was known.

 Despite group winning victories over Italy`s Roma, 3-2, and Internazionale of Milan (0-0 a.e.t., and 5-3 on penalties), and Spain`s Real Madrid, 3-1, before defeating England`s Liverpool, 3-1, in the Final, with goals from England centre forward, Wayne Rooney, and Spain`s right sided midfielder, Juan Mata, and England winger, Jessie Lingard, the International Champions Cup of the United States of America received the same disparaging envious response from the media as United`s successes in the English Shield, successive versions of the World Club Cup, and the International Champions Cup, which effectively is a world league championship, rather than a knockout trophy. Mata and Lingard were the goalscorers for United and Van Gaal in the team`s `historic` 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace in the F.A. Cup Final of 2016, after qualifying by beating Sheffield United in the 3^rd round, 1-0, Derby (4^th), 3-1 away, Shrewsbury (5^th), 3-0 away, West Ham in a 6^th round replay, 2-1 away at Upton Park, after a 1-1 result at Old Trafford, and Everton, 2-1, in the semi-final. The route to the F.A. Cup Final win over Crystal Palace, with goals from Mata and Lingard, 2-1, was easier than the path to winning the ICC against Liverpool, 3-1, although it did give the club a deserved record 12 wins in the F.A. Cup, and was therefore duly celebrated by the media as another great triumph for the English game. However, it`s unlikely that the players of Real Madrid or Internazionale of Milan would have heard of Shrewsbury, while Mata and Lingard, who scored against Liverpool to win a world trophy, 3-1, that is, the International Champions Cup (ICC) in the USA, were presented by the English press as `second string` players taking part in a reserve side `practice session` in which the hurdles to be overcome, that is, Roma (3 times Italian champions), Inter Milan (3 times European Cup winners), Real Madrid (11 times European Cup winners) and Liverpool (5 times European Cup winners), weren`t there to compete and win a senior club trophy, but to be the intercontinental equivalent of the Central League, which United and Liverpool`s reserve teams compete to win amongst the other local clubs, like Shrewsbury (2008-09 and 2012-13 winners), in the English county of Lancashire.

 Even the Manchester club`s own list of honours doesn`t include the 2014 International Champions Cup of the USA Final victory and trophy as worthy of being listed, because the English have taught United to disparage their own successes. If Manchester United don`t develop a thicker skin, even than the armor they`ve successfully forged to deal with English mockery of the team`s effort, it`ll be others that win the trophies, and United will have succumbed to the envious hate directed against the team, although for decades the fans have tried to drill the players in the correct response to hatred for the club: `Everybody hates us, and we don`t care!` Manchester United are hated for being good, not for being hateful, which is why the supporters want to see due respect for Van Gaal`s successful stint as manager, and the Glazers` achievement in winning the International Champions Cup (ICC) of the United States of America for England.

Manchester United`s Establishment

Sir Alex Ferguson introduced the squad rotation system at Manchester United during his tenure as manager based on money for expensive transfer fees paid for players coming in from other clubs, along with the promotion of more inexpensive junior talent, which afforded the team the opportunity of having a large pool of good players to achieve success on the pitch at `the Theater of Dreams`. From the Academy and on to the field of play at the Old Trafford stadium, where they plied their honed skills, `Fergie`s Fledglings` were left winger, Ryan Giggs, right winger, David Beckham, midfield dynamo, Paul Scholes, the industrious utility player, Nicky Butt, and full backs Gary and Phil Neville who, along with transferred talent, would eventually win the European Cup against Bayern Munich, 1-2, in Spain at F.C. Barcelona`s Camp Nou stadium, and after goals from center forward, Teddy Sheringham, bought from Spurs for £3.5 million at the start of the 1997-8 season, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who`d arrived from Norwegian`s Molde for £1.5 at the start of 1996-7. The goals in the 91^st and 93^rd minutes surprised a German team that had led since the 6^th minute through a low free kick from forward, Mario Basler, which was awarded after United center back, Ronny Johnsen, brought down Carsten Jancker. With his right foot Basler bent the ball around the United wall from just outside the penalty area, and into the net beyond Danish `keeper Peter Schmeichel.

 The Germans led until United`s despair ended in a late attacking flourish of the never say die footballing style for which they are justifiably famed. United had a corner, and with little time left `keeper Schmeichel, who`d scored in similar circumstances, ventured up to Bayern's penalty area. Beckham flighted the corner in just over Schmeichel's head, and center forward, Dwight Yorke, 18 goals in the league that season, put the ball back towards the crowded area. Bayern substitute midfielder, Thorsten Fink, had been brought on by Bayern manager, Ottmar Hitzfeld, who`d receive much criticism for it, because Fink replaced sweeper Lothar Matthäus, 37 years of age, and Hitzfeld clearly felt he was a tired risk by the 80^th minute, but Fink failed to clear a ball that probably wouldn`t ever have troubled Matthäus, and the ball arrived at the feet of Ryan Giggs, whose shot fortuitously found Sheringham, who latched onto it gleefully to swipe it into the bottom corner of the net with his right boot. Neither Sheringham nor Solskjaer were chosen to start against Bayern, and as Sheringham was on for left winger, Jesper Blomqvist, in the 67<sup>th</sup> minute, Solskjaer, who`d scored 12 league goals that season, replaced center forward, Andy Cole (17), in the 81^st minute almost immediately after Lothar Matthäus left the fray.

 Sheringham had scored only twice in the league, but had redeemed himself by scoring with a low drive under Newcastle `keeper Steve Harper after a through ball from Scholes, in the F.A. Cup Final, which United won, 2-0, and so Sheringham had been picked to be amongst the substitutes. Within 30 seconds of the restart after Sheringham`s substitute`s strike, another Beckham corner found the head of Sheringham, who nodded the ball down across the face of goal to where Solskjær, reacting quickly, stuck out his boot and poked the ball into the roof of the Bayern net. Matthäus` departure had ultimately sunk Bayern, and Hitzfelt was blamed, but United`s never say die attitude had won through for them again and the European Cup was theirs for only the second time in the club`s history since Benfica were beaten, 4-1, at London`s Wembley stadium in 1968. Although success in the F.A. Cup Final of 2016 seems like small potatoes in comparison, the modern soccer methodology of a large squad to pick a winning combination from was as much in evidence as it was when Ferguson`s team succeeded in the league, F.A. Cup, and European cup treble of 1999.

 The Manchester United squad that won the European Cup in 1968 contained only fifteen players to make more than 10 starts that season; `keeper Alex Stepney (41), full backs Shay Brennan (13), Francis Burns (36) and Tony Dunne (37); midfielders Pat Crerand (41), John Fitzpatrick (14) and Bobby Charlton (41); center backs Bill Foulkes (24), David Sadler (40) and Nobby Stiles (20); wingers John Aston, Jr. (34) and George Best (41); and forwards Brian Kidd (38) and Denis Law (23). Consequently, due to necessity United can be said to have used only four players in 1968, apart from their first choice starting eleven, because of injury to prolific striker, Denis Law, that is, the European Cup was won with a twelve man squad, whereas Ferguson`s squad contained 18 players to start more than 10 games, and Sheringham and Solskjaer, the heroes of the Nou Camp, weren`t among them. Even though Solskjaer scored 12 goals that season, he started 9 and was sub in 10, while Sheringham, who scored the opening goal in the 11<sup>th</sup> minute in the F.A. Cup Final defeat of Newcastle, 2-0, started 7 and was sub in 10. Consequently, Ferguson`s treble success was based on a much larger pool of established stars (20) than Sir Matt Busby`s 1968 squad, a formula United continued to apply in the aftermath of the retirement of Ferguson, and which bore fruit for Dutch manager, Louis Van Gaal, in the F.A. Cup Final defeat of Crystal Palace, 2-1, in 2016. What that proved was that a team that wasn`t established could win a major trophy, because the club had a squad that was strong enough to survive rotation with success.

 Surviving squad rotation with success was what Sir Alex Ferguson had planned for after his retirement as the most successful manager United ever had. In his last season before Everton manager, David Moyes, was appointed largely on the strength of being able to keep Everton in the Premier League for 11 seasons, Ferguson won the title with a rotating squad strength of 18 players who started more than 10 games; and central England midfielder, Paul Scholes, coaxed out of premature retirement for 8 starts and 8 substitute appearances, while Mexico`s Javier Hernández, in the tradition of Sheringham and Solskjaer, was third top scorer, after Robin Van Persie (26) and Wayne Rooney (12), with 10 goals from only 9 starts. The players who started more than 10 games were; `keeper David De Gea (28); full backs Rafael (27) and Patrice Evra (34);  center backs Rio Ferdinand (26), Jonny Evans (21), Nemanja Vidić (18), Phil Jones (13) and Chris Smalling (10); wingers Antonio Valencia (24), Ashley Young (17) and Ryan Giggs (12); midfielders; Michael Carrick (34), Tom Cleverley (18) and Shinji Kagawa (17); and forwards Robin van Persie (35), Wayne Rooney (22) and Danny Welbeck (13). Five of those players were in the team that beat Crystal Palace, 2-1, in the F.A. Cup Final of 2016; De Gea, Valencia (playing right back), Smalling (sent off in the 105^th minute), Carrick, and Rooney. Two more were among the substitutes; utility defender Phil Jones, and left winger, Ashley Young, who came on for injured striker, Marcus Rashford, in the 72^nd minute. Jessie Lingard, who`d substituted for the scorer of the 81<sup>st</sup> minute first goal for United, Spain`s Juan Mata, and became the winning goalscorer in the 110^th minute, with a powerful volley from inside the area to the top left corner of the net, had been signed by Ferguson at 7 years of age, and had played on the left wing in the side that won the F.A. Youth Cup in 2011; 6-3 on aggregate; 2-2, and 4-1.

 Ferguson`s modern model of building an in depth squad to survive the rigors of changes in manager as well as the vicissitudes of fate and an ageing team had succeeded. Although Moyes and his successor, Dutchman Louis Van Gaal, bought well, and promoted youth when necessary, it was Ferguson`s plan that won for United. In what turned out to be Gaal`s final season before the much heralded arrival of Portugal`s Jose Mourinho as manager, Gaal used 16 players with more than 10 starts to their names, and Ferguson`s Ecuadorian buy for the start of the 2009-10 season, right winger Antonio Valencia, who came from Wigan for £16 million, made the Final line up in the wing back position, with only 8 starts in 2015-16. The players making more than 10 starts were; `keeper De Gea; full backs Matteo Darmian (24) and Marcos Rojo (15); center backs Chris Smalling (35) and Daley Blind (35); wingers Memphis Depay (16), Jesse Lingard (19) and Ashley Young (11); midfielders Juan Mata (34), Morgan Schneiderlin (25), Michael Carrick (22), Ander Herrera (17), Bastian Schweinsteiger (13) and Marouane Fellaini (12); and forwards Anthony Martial (29), Wayne Rooney (27) and Marcus Rashford (11). Of those 17 players, 7 were Ferguson`s, and his formula of a squad strong in depth, with flexibility enough to admit of a few mistakes, was a proven success: United had survived to triumph.

12 Cups

Manchester United won the F.A. Cup Final on Saturday, May 21, at London`s national Wembley stadium, to conclude the pursuit for English soccer`s domestic honors in the 2015-16 season with a goal from just inside the Crystal Palace `keeper`s area. England`s Jesse Lingard demonstrated the virtue of players who`re able to seize upon a chance to instantly accept the direct route to a goal when it`s afforded. Often players shy away from taking opportunities, because they`re conditioned to weave a strategy of passes, before attempting a planned coup de grace. Lingard demonstrated the ideal footballer`s brain able to score when the opportunity offers. Rejecting the conditioning imposed upon players to rely on teamwork and industry, Jesse Lingard, who was preparing to play his usual part in a structured United passing build up, suddenly saw the ball bounce in front of him and to the right of the Crystal Palace goal and crashed the ball right footed into the top left corner in the 110<sup>th</sup> minute of extra time. Down to ten men, after center back Chris Smalling received a second yellow card for a bookable offence and was sent off in the 105<sup>th</sup> minute, the Red Devils from Manchester then had ten minutes to ride out before the trophy could be placed in the hands of deep lying center forward, captain Wayne Rooney ,12 years at the `theater of dreams` since being transferred from David Moyes` Everton to Sir Alex Ferguson`s Manchester United for £25. 6 million in August 2004 when Wayne was 19 years old.

 Although Lingard was in manager Alex Ferguson`s squad for the 2012-13 season in which the team won the league championship, he didn`t play. That trophy winning season was the last with Ferguson in charge, and the following season Everton`s David Moyes was brought in to take over after Sir Alex retired due to ill health. Moyes` sojourn at the Old Trafford stadium wasn`t a success. His big chance came against Sunderland in the 2014 League Cup semi-final. The team lost the first leg away, 1-2, but won the second leg at the `theater of dreams`, 2-1, and then squandered the opportunity to go to Wembley by losing on penalties. When Brazilian right full back Rafael, missed the last of five chances, the team had lost 1-2, with only Scots` midfielder, Darren Fletcher, finding the net for the reds.

 Dutchman Louis Van Gaal`s acceptance of the job after the Netherlands` relative success at the 2014 World Cup finishing in third place after beating Brazil, 3-0, with goals from United`s then center forward, Robin Van Persie, and center back to come, Daley Blind, who was a part of the new boss`s period of transition. Transfer fees were paid for players, for example, Blind from Ajax of Amsterdam for £13. 8 million, who came and went in rapid succession, like Real Madrid`s left footed Ángel Di Maria, bought for £59. 7 m on August 26, 2014, as a winger, and sold on to Paris Saint Germain for £44 m on August 6, 2015, as Van Gaal looked for a pattern of play acceptable to his vision. And of course Ferguson`s legacy went deep. Although Lingard didn`t play in United`s 2012-13 league title season, it was the 13^th for Ferguson, and Lingard`s presence in the squad was an indication of the depth of resources available to Moyes and Van Gaal if they were able to deploy them well. Five of the 2012-13 championship winning United regulars were in the team for the F.A. Cup Final against Crystal Palace, along with winger Ashley Young (17 appearances, and 2 as a substitute in 2012-13), who came on as substitute for youthful center forward prodigy, 18 year old Marcus Rashford, in the 72<sup>nd</sup> minute of the 2016 F.A. Cup Final. Moyes` purchase, Juan Mata, United`s right winger for the three seasons since Moyes arranged his transfer from Chelsea on January 25, 2014, for £37. 1 million, equalized Palace`s 78^th minute goal by midfielder, Jason Puncheon, after fine work from Rooney (22 appearances, 5 as substitute in 2012-13), on the right who, riding tackles, held on to the ball for what seemed an age, before lifting over the heads of the surprised defense a looping lob to the left of the penalty area that Moyes` September 2, 2013, £27.5 million buy from his former club, Everton, Belgium`s midfielder, Marouane Fellaini, chested down in the 81^st minute for Spain`s Juan Mata to strike the ball into the left corner of the net with his left boot, and with no small degree of delighted panache.

 Ferguson protégé Jesse Lingard, who came on for Mata in the 90^th minute, and Ashley Young (72^nd) substituting for the injured Marcus Rashford later joined the starting line-up on the pitch, which included deep-lying center forward, Wayne Rooney, heroes of Ferguson`s era who wouldn`t be denied. Spain`s David De Gea (28 appearances in 2012-13), brought from Real Madrid for £17. 8 million by Ferguson to keep goal, was still there, and Antonio Valencia (24 appearances, and 6 as a substitute in 2012-13), the Ecuadorian right-winger bought from Wigan in 2009 for £16 million, switched to right full back occasionally by Ferguson, had learned enough in that position to play his part in the victory. England`s Chris Smalling (10 appearances, and 5 as a substitute in 2012-13), bought from Fulham in 2010, and for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £8 million, after a fine losing display, 1-2, to Atlético Madrid in the Europa Cup Final, was in central defense, and Michael Carrick (34 appearances, and 2 as a substitute in 2012-13), bought by Ferguson from Spurs on July 31, 2006, for £18.6 million still epitomized the English central midfielder`s passing role. England defender Phil Jones (13 appearances, and 4 as a substitute in 2012-13), bought by Ferguson for around £16. 5 million from Blackburn before the 2011-12 season, contributed another 6 (4) league appearances from players of the Ferguson era during the 2015-16 campaign for honors that began in the F.A. Cup against Sheffield United on January 9, 2015, and nearly didn`t, because it took a 93^rd minute penalty from Rooney to snatch a 0-1 win away.

 Plus factors for Van Gaal were the emergence of young center forward, Marcus Rashford, who replaced Anthony Martial against Denmark`s Midtijylland for a Europa Cup tie at Old Trafford on February 25, 2016, when Martial was injured warming up. Bought from A.S. Monaco for a fee that could amount to £58 million, the then 19 year old French striker, Martial, subsequently top scored in the league campaign with 11 goals from 31 appearances, while Rashford emerged as the second striker who`d take United to Wembley with two goals against Midtjylland in that second round, second leg 5–1 Europa Cup win at home. Losing in the third round of the Europa Cup, 1-3, on aggregate to the English team, Liverpool, that went on to lose in the Final to Spain`s FC Sevilla, 1-3, United`s last hopes of a trophy in the 2015-16 season was the F.A. Cup, and another of `Fergie`s Fledglings`, Uruguayan right back Guilermo Varela, signed on June 11, 2013, from Peñarol in a €2. 8 million deal arranged by Sir Alex, was called upon to strengthen the defense in the absence of recognized strikers in the earlier rounds of the F.A. Cup against Derby (4^th), 3-1, Shrewsbury (5^th), 3-0, and the quarter final at Old Trafford against West Ham, 1-1, which the team won in the replay away, 2-1.

 Martial scored an 83^rd minute equalizer against West Ham at Old Trafford when Spain`s midfielder, Ander Herrera, bought for €36 million on June 26, 2014, from Spain`s Athletic Bilbao, crossed from wide on the right to the far post where Martial was waiting to spoon the ball into the net with his left foot. That strike forced a quarter final replay, and Rashford scored the first goal at Upton Park in the 54^th minute after Martial sidefooted a pass with his right foot from central midfield to Rashford wide on the right of the `keeper`s area, and as Rashford ran on towards goal and the defenders closed in, he sent a strike curling around a beaten defender into the top right corner of the net. Fellaini added a second in the 67^th minute without Palace replying, after a complicated buildup in which Daley Blind, from central midfield, sent a forty yard pass to Fellaini deep to the back of the West Ham area. Fellaini brought the ball down on his chest and passed it right footed to Lingard, who took the ball to the touchline at the right of the goalmouth before crossing with his right boot to Martial, who drilled it right footed into the penalty area where Fellaini was now prowling the goalmouth, and Fellaini tapped the ball nonchalantly home with his left foot.

 The eventual result, 2-1, after a 79^th minute headed consolation goal for West Ham from defender, James Tomkins, took United through to a semi-final against Everton, which the reds won 2-1 with an injury time goal from Martial in the 93^rd minute. Rooney, in central midfield, had picked out Martial wide on the left, and Martial had moved infield to play a one-two with Marcus Rashford, and then another with Ander Herrera, who played him on and into the area. Martial surged between two defenders and, as the `keeper came out to narrow the angle, struck with his right boot to send the ball around the `keeper`s despairing grasp and into the right side of the net. Martial`s goal came after a 57^th minute missed penalty by Everton`s Belgian striker, Romelu Lukaku, after United`s 18 year old Dutch right back, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, brought down Everton`s attacking midfielder, Ross Barkley, and a 75<sup>th</sup> minute own goal by United center back, Chris Smalling who, covering `keeper De Gea`s near post, deflected into the net a cross from Spanish right winger, Gerard Deulofeu. Martial himself had made the first United goal for Fellaini in the 34<sup>th</sup> minute. Pulling the ball back sharply from the touchline at the left side of the goal for the Belgian to sidefoot past the `keeper`s right with his left boot, Martial`s contribution that day earned him his place in the Final at Wembley.

 The other members of the F.A. Cup Final team that were entirely Van Gaal`s were Marcus Rojo at left back, the Argentine defender, and Copa Libertadores winner with Estudiantes in 2009, who bought from Portugal`s Sporting Lisbon for £16 million as an attacking left sided defender on August 19, 2014, was injured in the F.A. Cup Final and substituted in the 66^th minute by Gaal`s other fullback buy from Italy`s Torino for £12. 7 million, Matteo Darmian, winning his first honor at Wembley. Although Guilermo Varela`s added steel at right back against Derby in the 4<sup>th</sup> round, 3-1, Shrewsbury in the 5th, 3-0, and West Ham in the first quarter final, 1-1, gave strength in defense to a United team in desperate need of strikers, before the purchase of Martial, and Rashford`s sudden emergence to score the first goal in the quarter final replay victory against West Ham, Gaal`s preference for former right winger, Antonio Valencia at right full back, and the purchase of then 18 year old left back, Luke Shaw, from Southampton for £30 million on June 27, 2014, suggested neither Varela, Rojo nor Darmian figure in Van Gaal`s projected future after the Final.

 Marcus Rashford managed 5 goals in 11 league appearances as a teenage forward in 2015-16 in stark contrast to Wayne Rooney`s 8 from 28 appearances, given Rooney`s own goals` statistics from 2009-10, when he scored 26 goals in 32 appearances, and 27 goals after 34 appearances in 2011-12. United`s 2016 F.A. Cup Final success 2-1 against Crystal Palace could be a swan song for Rooney and an exciting yet fading memory for some of the successes on May 21, 2016. Even that of injured teenage scoring sensation, Rashford, whose place in the side was taken by the eventual scorer of the winning goal on the day, Jesse Lingard.

Bryan Robson And Steven Gerrard

Leeds United`s center back, Norman Hunter, was often blamed for failing to make a tackle wide on the England right on the half way line against Poland in 1973, which resulted in a goal for Jan Domarski from a simple through ball from the winger Hunter had failed to dispossess. Grezgorz Lato honed in from wide on the left and, ignoring the alarming figures of Derby County center back, Roy McFarland, and Liverpool left back, Emlyn Hughes, sprinting back to put themselves between the ball and the net, coolly passed into the path of Polish forward, Domarski, as he raced into the England penalty area wide on the right to drill a hard shot too close to Peter Shilton`s body for the England `keeper to reach down and collect it, and it went underneath him and into the England goal on 55 minutes. Despite a 63<sup>rd</sup> minute penalty from Leeds United`s center forward, Alan `Sniffer` Clarke, England went out of the World Cup, as the contest finally ended 1-1, because of the forwards` inability to put a goal past Polish `keeper, Jan Tomaszewski, in open play. Jan had been labeled a `clown` before the game by England manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, whose team had won the World Cup 4-2 for England against Germany in 1966 at Wembley Stadium, London, with a hat trick from West Ham striker, Geoff Hurst, and another from his club compatriot, midfielder Martin Peters.

 Germany always claimed that England`s third goal didn`t cross the line, after Geoff Hurst`s right boot inside the penalty box crashed the ball against the bar and down behind the `keeper, while a disallowed goal for Geoff Hurst, assisted by Manchester city inside forward Francis Lee`s wing trickery, in the quarter final against Germany in the 1970 World Cup, gave the Germans revenge as they won 2-3 after that in extra time and England`s effort to retain the Jules Rimet Trophy failed while Brazil with star forward, Pelé, won the trophy for the third time, 4-1, against Italy and, by the competition`s rules, kept it. England had been coasting at 2-0 after a near post goal from Tottenham Hotspur`s midfielder, Alan Mullery who, from wide on the left of midfield, played the ball out wide on the right to Manchester City`s Francis Lee. Mullery ran into the German area and under the `keeper`s nose at the near post to steer in the cross that came in from Lee in the inside right position at the right corner of German `keeper Sepp Maier`s area in the 31^st minute.

 England`s second came through Lee, again in the inside right position and, receiving a pass from Geoff Hurst further infield, crossed into the German penalty area, where Martin Peters drove in the ball at the far post in the 49<sup>th</sup> minute. England manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, then made the tactical error of bringing off legendary Manchester United deep lying center forward, Bobby Charlton, who`d kept the German sweeper, Franz Beckenbauer, who liked to go forward, back in defense. Beckenbauer broke away and rounded Mullery to score from distance just outside the England area at the right corner in the 68^th minute, with a shot that bounced under Shilton and into the bottom left corner, and Charlton was withdrawn in the 70th. German forward and captain, Uwe Seeler, levelled the score in the 82^nd minute, with an amazingly well directed angled back header after left back, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, almost in a midfield position had centered the ball with his right boot into the England penalty area.

 England center forward Geoff Hurst`s disallowed goal in the first period of extra time occurred in circumstances almost identical to the awarding of England`s third goal in the 4-2 defeat of Germany in 1966 as the Argentine referee, Ángel Norberto Coerezza, adjudged the ball to have crossed the line. Manchester City inside forward, Francis Lee, dribbled down the right inside the German area to cross the ball for Hurst to drive the ball into the net, but the ball was adjudged to have been out of play as Lee`s trickery took him dangerously close to the touchline as he sped past the German defenders. When Gerd Müller, who was known for being able to turn on a sixpence in the opponent`s penalty area to get his shot in, prodded in a goal almost on the goal line, after a cross to the far post from wide on the right by 53^rd minute substitute, forward Jürgen Grabowski, which was headed back by left wing, Hannes Löhr, and over England` keeper, Peter Bonetti, to where Müller at the right post, and almost on the goal line, forced it in for 2-3 to Germany in the 108<sup>th</sup> minute of extra time, Germany`s revenge for Hurst`s 1966 goal that wasn`t was complete.

 Martin Peters` bid for a third World Cup Finals was as captain against Poland at Wembley in 1973 and England wouldn`t again be seen at the World Cup until France, 1982, when Manchester United`s `Captain Marvel`, Bryan Robson, would take center stage as England captain (1980-91) in the opening game and score the fastest then recorded goal in World Cup history after 27 seconds against France when Manchester United right winger, Steve Coppell, took a throw near the French corner flag, which was back headed across goal by Ipswich Town center back, Terry Butcher, and Robson, with his left boot angled high above the bounce powered the ball down and into the net. England left the Finals in the curious position of never having lost a game but being eliminated. Beating France, 3-1, in their opener, after another goal from Robson in the 67<sup>th</sup> minute and an 83<sup>rd</sup> strike from Ipswich Town center forward, Paul Mariner. Goals from Nottingham Forest forward, Trevor Francis, against Czechoslovakia, 2-0, and Kuwait, 1-0, saw England through their group, but a draw against West Germany in the next group stage saw the Germans box clever and Germany`s beating Spain while England drew with the Spaniards meant that the English went home unbeaten but unrewarded.

 The 1982 World Cup Finals were a confidence booster for Robson, who`d still not won a major trophy after his move from West Bromwich Albion to follow manager and mentor, `Big Ron` Atkinson, to Manchester United after Englishman, Dave Sexton, had failed to win a trophy at the club following his move from Queens Park Rangers after Scot Tommy Docherty`s surprise exit from Old Trafford after the team`s F.A. Cup Final win over Liverpool, 2-1, in 1977. Docherty was sacked after admitting an affair with Mary Brown, wife of the United physiotherapist, Laurie Brown. Ron took Bryan (£1.5 million) and Remi Moses (£0.5 million), a driving midfielder with a lot of stamina, from The Hawthorns to Old Trafford after the commencement of the 1981-82 season and, although Robson didn`t win anything with Manchester United that term, finishing 3^rd in the league kept Robson`s England place for the World Cup Finals.

 Robson would take part in three successive World Cup Finals as England captain but winning the FIFA World Cup trophy was beyond a squad handicapped by poor management and better international competitors. Driving United on from midfield to attack and from defense into midfield, Robson was the powerhouse on the field for the club for at least as long as he was the heart of the lions of England. Winning F.A. Cup Finals for `Big Ron` against Brighton and Hove Albion in a replay, 4-2, after a 2-2 draw in 1983, and against Everton, 1-0, in 1985, ensured that, when Ron`s reign came to its inevitable end due to the ascendancy of a managerial star at Scotland`s Aberdeen that couldn`t be ignored for long by the Manchester outfit, Atkinson left as a success when Alex Ferguson arrived on November 6, 1986, after Robson had again captained England in the World Cup Finals in Mexico. Injured against Morocco in the group stage, Robson didn`t play again, but England reached the quarter finals against Argentina where superstar forward Diego Maradona`s infamous `hand of God`, steering the ball home with his fist with the referee unsighted in the 51<sup>st</sup> minute, gave the South American side an advantage England couldn`t overcome, and a run the length of the pitch in which Maradona beat half of the England team before scoring in the 55^th minute justified the eventual outcome, a 2-1 win for Argentina, and the South Americans went on to win the final, 3-2, against Germany.

 The arrival of Ferguson at United, after the 1986 World Cup Finals as the only manager outside of the big two Glasgow clubs, Celtic and Rangers, to win a major European trophy, the 1983 European Cup Winners` Cup, meant even greater support than ever for Bryan Robson, United and England captain, and the team won the F.A. Cup Final against Crystal Palace in a replay, 1-0, after a 3-3 draw. Repeating his success in the European Cup Winners` Cup with Manchester United, 2-1, against Spain`s Barcelona, after managing Aberdeen to a 2-1 win over Spain`s Real Madrid in extra time, Ferguson and Robson were the first manager and captain at United to win a major European trophy since Sir Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton won the 1968 European Cup, 4-2, against Portuguese side Benfica. Adding the European Super Cup and the League Cup in the following 1990-91 season, Robson`s reign as England captain ended after the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy at which the national side reached a semi final against Germany, and drew 1-1 in normal and extra time before losing on penalties, 4-3, and Germany went on to win the final against Argentina, 1-0, with an 85^th minute penalty from left wing back, Andreas Brehme.

 Injury prone, Bryan had been at his best for the qualifying campaign, leading England for the 50th time in a 5-0 victory over Albania and scoring both goals in a 2-1 win against Yugoslavia, and he played in the opening group F game against the Republic of Ireland, 1-1, but was replaced injured in the 64^th minute during the 0-0 draw with the Netherlands by Aston Villa`s David Platt who went on to star in Robson`s role. England qualified from group F with a goal from Southampton center back, Mark Wright, in a 1-0 win over Egypt, before beating Belgium, 1-0, with a majestic Platt swiveling volley near the end of extra time in the 119^th minute, while the expected victory over African side, Cameroon, in the quarter finals, was hard won, 3-2, and needed a second penalty from Tottenham Hotspur center forward, Gary Lineker, after an early headed strike from Platt following a cross from Nottingham Forest left full back, Stuart Pearce, in the 25th minute to get the team through after Cameroon led 1-2.

 Although Bryan retired from the England scene in 1991, his club career would go on with Alex Ferguson`s support for two consecutive championships before he retired as a player at the end of the 1993-94 season. United won the title in 1993, and the much sought after `double` of league and F.A. Cup in 1994. Although Robson didn`t play in the F.A. Cup Final in which the team defeated Chelsea, 4-0, he made enough league appearances, 10 (5), to qualify for another champions` medal. Only one other player of his era came close to Robson in his ability to carry a team forward on his own, Steven Gerrard of Liverpool, who after his debut season of 1998-99 managed to cajole and badger a club that hadn`t won a league title since 1990 to the European Cup Final of 2005 and beat A.C. Milan of Italy 3-2 on penalties after it was 3-3 in extra time. Gerrard scored the first Liverpool goal on 54 minutes when Liverpool were losing 0-3 and Steven`s ability to turn the team around and make triumph out of disaster was at the heart of Liverpool`s cup successes in a period when they couldn`t sustain a league campaign with the players they had. Although Gerrard made his England debut in central midfield in 2000, he wasn`t selected for the 2002 World Cup Finals in South Korea and Japan at which England eventually lost, 1-2, to Brazil in the quarter finals as the South Americans were on their way to a meeting with Germany in the final they won, 2-0.

 At club level Gerrard was inspirational, and Liverpool won a treble of League Cup, 5-4 on penalties against Birmingham City after 1-1 and extra time, F.A. Cup, 2-1 against Arsenal with goals from future Manchester United center forward, Michael Owen in the 83^rd and 88^th minutes as Liverpool came from behind, and the UEFA Cup in 2001, 5-4 against Spanish side, Deportivo Alavés, with Gerrard getting Liverpool`s second in the 16<sup>th</sup> minute to put the reds 2-0 up. The team added the European Super Cup at the beginning of the 2001-2002 season by virtue of winning the UEFA Cup, which qualified them to meet the European Cup winners, and Liverpool duly beat Bayern Munich, 3-2. After winning the League Cup again in 2003, 2-0, with goals from Gerrard (39) and Owen (86) against Manchester United, Liverpool`s 2003-2004 qualifying for the European Cup in fourth place in the English championship, and Final victory over A.C. Milan of Italy, gave them the opportunity to win the European Super Cup again at the beginning of the 2005-2006 season and CSKA Moscow of Russia were dispatched, 3-1. Before announcing his decision to leave Liverpool in 2015 for Major League Soccer in the United States of America, Gerrard inspired the reds to a 2011-12 League Cup win against Cardiff City, 3-2 on penalties, with Steven missing his own spot kick after a 1-1 draw ended 2-2 in extra time. The 2001 UEFA Cup was won with a `golden goal` from Deportivo Alavés` right back, DelfÍ Geli, who headed into his own net from midfield Welshman Gary McCallister`s free kick wide on the left in the 116^th minute to gift the game, 5-4, to Liverpool.

 The pressure driven successes of the Steven Gerrard era were in keeping with his drive to compete. Victories over Birmingham on penalties, 5-4, in the 2001 League Cup Final, preceded DelfÍ Geli`s `golden` own goal in the 2001 UEFA Cup Final, and Liverpool were 0-3 down to A.C. Milan before winning on penalties, 3-2, after extra time and a 3-3 draw in the European Cup Final of 2005, while Liverpool`s 3-2 win over Cardiff City in 2011-12 after a 1-1 draw ended 2-2 in extra time emphasized the driving force of Gerrard and the never say die attitude that kept Liverpool winning trophies even when the side wasn`t capable of sustaining a campaign to win the league title.

 The Steven Gerrard factor seemed to be present at the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany when the England team went out of the competition at the quarter final stage against Portugal, 3-1, on penalties after the game had ended 0-0 after extra time and Gerrard missed his spot kick. The eventual winners, Italy, beat France, 5-4, on penalties after a 1-1 draw and extra time. In the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa, England lost to Germany before the quarter finals, 1-4, while the Final was won by Spain`s right winger Andrés Iniesta in the 116<sup>th</sup> minute of extra time against the Netherlands, 1-0. In the 2014 World Cup Finals England didn`t win a game in their group B with defeats to Italy, 1-2, Uruguay, 1-2, and a draw, 0-0, with Cosa Rica. Narrow success had given way to a broad margin in defeat for England, which suggests that tigerish denial of inferiority in order to win against better opposition has become the inferiority that causes defeat. Steven Gerrard made his debut for Liverpool in 1998-99 and was the driving force in the team that tigerishly refused to be beaten.

 Defeating Birmingham City to win the League Cup, 5-4, on penalties, Liverpool went on to defeat Deportivo Alvares in the UEFA Cup Final in extra time with an own `golden goal from Spanish right back, DelfÍ Geli, and the Super Cup against European Cup holders, Bayern Munich, 3-2, while after beating A.C. Milan to win the European Cup themselves on penalties in 2005 after being 0-3 down, Liverpool beat European Cup holders, CSKA Moscow, 3-1, to again win the European Super Cup. Although it`d be expected that the European Cup holders would beat the UEFA Cup Winners in the Super Cup because the UCL Champions are the champions of their domestic leagues, it`s often true that the supposedly inferior team, that is, the UEFA Cup Winners win, because of a tigerish refusal to be beaten. However, tigerishly refusing to be beaten isn`t a sign of football ability, which is probably why England under the captaincy of Steven Gerrard failed so consistently. Tigerish refusal to be beaten replaced ability as the method applied to winning the World Cup and that was ultimately fatal to England`s campaigns.

 Teams led by Bryan Robson could have won the World Cup. England achieved fourth place overall in 1990, losing 1-2 to Italy in the game that decided third and fourth, but England without Robson, who retired from International competition with England in 1991, didn`t qualify for the World Cup Finals in the United States of America in 1994, while with Steven Gerrard as captain their highest achievement was a 2006 quarter final defeat against Portugal, 1-3, on penalties, after extra time when the game had ended 0-0 in normal time, which represented tigerish refusal to accept defeat as a game plan for a side devoid of ability, because they`d left it out of the squad, lest it interfere with the tigerisnhess of Gerrard, who was 18 when he debuted and 25 when Liverpool`s refusal to admit defeat led to their beating A.C. Milan in the European Cup Final of 2005. Although Liverpool won the 2006 F.A. Cup Final against West Ham on penalties, 3-1, after a 3-3 draw and extra time, it was typical tigerish Gerrard who, scoring in the 54<sup>th</sup> minute to make it 2-2, and again in the 91<sup>st</sup> minute to make it 3-3, evinced a refusal to admit defeat that ultimately represented the squad`s weakeness in terms of genuine ability, and Gerrard only led Liverpool to a single further trophy at the age of 32, the 2012 League Cup against Cardiff City, which Gerrard`s tigerish refusal to lose again resulted in a 3-2 victory on penalties after a 1-1 draw and 2-2 in extra time.

 Tigerishness has its uses but Manchester United after Robson, and in the same period of Liverpool`s successes with Gerrard, won four league championships (1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03) as well as the 1999 European Cup against Bayern Munich, 2-1, and the 1999 World Club Cup against South America`s Palmeiras, 1-0, thanks to a left wing cross and a drive in at the far post from Robson`s replacement, Roy Keane. When Gerrard`s Liverpool won their League Cup of 2012, United had gone on to win four more championships (2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11) as well as the 2008 European Cup, 1-0, against Chelsea, and the 2008 World Club Cup, 1-0, against Ecuador`s LDU Quito, with a goal from England`s dynamic center forward, Wayne Rooney. Tigerishness has its day but winning the league and then winning the European Cup is the sign of true quality, which is needed if England are to win the World Cup again.

Three At The Back - And Seven Up Van Gaal!

Netherlands` coach, Louis Van Gaal, arrived at Old Trafford on the back of a World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina, 2-4, after extra time and penalties when the full time score had been 0-0. The loss was his last managerial credential before joining Manchester United as their manager for the 2014-15 season. Van Gaal`s appointment was a move to hire a legitimate successor to Sir Alex Ferguson, and as the former manager of Dutch club side, Ajax, who`d won the European Cup in 1994-95, Gaal`s pedigree was adequate. After the year long debacle that was David Moyes, who`d arrived as manager at Manchester United from Everton at the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Gaal was welcomed as a manager who`d seen success and knew how to awaken a big club. Ajax of Amsterdam were three times European Cup winners in 1971, 1972 and 1973, and Gaal had rejuvenated that sleeping giant so the hope was he could do the same at Old Trafford.

 At Everton David Moyes had been an expert at avoiding relegation for a dozen seasons with the `Toffees`, but at Manchester United he`d inherited a team that had just won the Premiership yet again in 2013 before United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, retired with 13 championships, the two European Cups he was knighted by England`s queen, Elizabeth II, for having won, and sundry lesser trophies. Moyes also inherited a new Dutch centre forward from Arsenal, Robin Van Persie, who Ferguson had brought to bolster a makeshift squad desperate for a play maker to replace England`s Paul Scholes, who`d mysteriously been dropped by Ferguson for European Cup Final defeats to Barcelona, 0-2 in 2009 and 1-3 in 2011. Scholes had actually retired at the end of 2011 bitterly disillusioned before being begged back by Sir Alex to lead the campaign for the title in 2012-13, which United ultimately won with one of the least able squads Ferguson had assembled in his 27 years at the `Theatre Of Dreams` driven on by Scholes` persistent ability, as an already 10 times English championship winner under Ferguson, and of course there were Persie`s goals.

 David Moyes` catastrophe was to lose 1-2 on penalties in the League Cup semi-final to relegation candidates Sunderland after losing 1-2 away and winning 2-1 at home in the two leg contest where, as the teams were tied 3-3 after extra time, each side would have five penalty attempts to score. United only found the back of the net once with Scotland`s captain and right sided midfielder, Darren Fletcher, while centre forward, England`s Danny Welbeck, centre back, Phil Jones, left back, Rafael Da Silva, and rising young attacking Belgian midfield star, Adnan Januzaj, all failed to score from nine yards with only the `keeper to beat and a stationary ball placed for them to run up and take a kick at goal. If United had beaten Sunderland, Moyes would have had a final to his name and the team would have probably pulled together and gone forward as a cohesive unit, but embarassment in front of goal brings no forgiveness and the squad`s failure to progress afterwards in the league, F.A. Cup and European Cup meant the end of Moyes` credibility and tenure as manager at Manchester United.

 Louis Van Gaal`s tenure as Manchester United manager began without the possibility of European glory, because the club finished in 7<sup>th</sup> place in the league outside of the group of qualifiers for European competition. Defeat to League Division 1, Milton Keynes Dons, 0-4, in the second round of the League Cup meant Gaal had lost even the opportunity afforded to Moyes to give him a foundation for future success by progressing to the Final of the English Football Association`s third most important trophy after the championship and F.A. Cup. With a 3-5-1-2 formation Louis was introducing something alien to the usual way Manchester United play, which is 4-2-4 with wingers, full backs and a centre back pairing that leaves two midfielders and two forwards to support the wings and get the goals to beat the opposition.

 Three at the back and a return to the old fashioned wing back, instead of defending full backs on the flanks at the back to take care of the other teams` marauding wing play, was Gaal`s initial plan for the team. At right half, Bob Duckworth, centre half Charlie Roberts, and left half Alex Bell were the old half back line for Manchester United in the early 1900s, which brought the side championship success in 1908 and 1911 and the F.A. Cup in 1909 before the First World War (1914-18) to defeat German Imperialism in Europe curtailed soccer in England for the duration of hostilities. By the time Manchester United won the F.A. Cup for the second occasion in 1948, the half back line system of play was beginning to change. United`s half back trio were right half, John Anderson, centre half, Allenby Chilton, and left half, Henry Cockburn, that is, Matt Busby played three at the back as Louis Van Gaal was to do at the start of his reign as manager.

 Sir Matt Busby went on to win another F.A. Cup with United in 1963 and championships in 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965 and 1967 before crowning his career and retirement with a knighthood from England`s queen, Elizabeth II, after the European Cup Final win over Benfica of Portugal, 4-1, at London`s national Wembley Stadium, with goals from superstar midfielder, Bobby Charlton (2), who`d won the World Cup there with England in 1966, Northern Irish wing genius, George Best, and rising young England centre forward, 19 year old Brian Kidd, replacing the injured Scottish goal king of Old Trafford, Denis Law. That United team had recovered from the Munich air disaster of 6 February, 1958, when the plane crashed on take off carrying the players home after a 3-3 draw against Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia had seen them through to the semi-final of the European Cup where, depleted due to the deaths of several players, United would lose, 0-4 in the away leg, after defeating A.C. Milan 2-1 at home, and would fail to reach the Final.

 Manchester United had lost a team and so had England lost the backbone of a future at Munich where captain and left back, Roger Byrne, reserve left back, Geoff Bent, centre half, Mark Jones, midfield star, Duncan Edwards, wing half Eddie Colman, centre forward, Tommy Taylor, left wing, David Pegg, and Irish forward, Liam Whelan, all lost their lives. United`s transition into the modern era was necessarily perforce as new centre back pairings replaced the old half back lines. The single substitute rule implemented in 1958 for injury meant that teams a goal behind could deploy an attacking player and leave a centre back pair to cover in defence, which eventually became the normal pattern of outfield play.

 Although the scene blurred at Munich for Manchester United, the old half back line and its value to English soccer was losing importance. England right full back, Bill Foulkes, emerged as the `stopper centre half` partner at the back with stiff tackling Nobby Stiles, who would dance with joy alongside Bobby Charlton as a World Cup winner with England in 1966. But United`s love affair with the half back line of right half, centre half, and left half disappeared with the loss of Edwards, Jones and Coleman at Munich, while the emergence of Foulkes as the protypical United `stopper` aligned with Stiles tidying up after the big man, who made the rugged challenges and air interceptions as the ball was played in along the ground, or by wingers to opposing forwards, ensured that the half back line would remain a thing of the past until Dutchman, Louis Van Gaal, reintroduce the old system of play at the beginning of the 2013-14 English football season with Manchester United.

 Although Louis played three at the back without full backs, which was different to the original half back line deployed by English soccer sides in the years before the substitute rule allowed teams to bring on attacking players to change the scoreline by replacing a half back with a forward, the notion of wing backs as full backs wasn`t new. England`s John Aston, who also played at centre forward, was left full back for Manchester United in the 1948 F.A. Cup winning team against Blackpool, 4-2, while Irishman, Johnny Carey, originally an inside left bought from Ireland`s St. James` Gate for £250 in 1937, played right back. Van Gaal`s new look United reintroduced the concept of the wing back instead of the full back, and wingers, Ecuador`s Antonio Valencia and England`s Ashley Young, were asked to perform dual defensive and attacking roles down the right and left flanks.

 With five players in front of a half back line featuring Gaal`s 19 year old £30 million signing, left back Luke Shaw from Southampton, centre back or right back Ferguson signing, Phil Jones, and Ferguson nurtured protégée, Irish centre half and 3 times English championship winner, Jonathan Evans, wingers Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young had both defensive and attacking roles. Although United kept faith with their pattern of a two man midfield with wingers doubling as defensive wing backs, Spaniard Juan Mata signed on 24 September from Chelsea for £37.1 million by former United manager, David Moyes, was given by Gaal a combined playmaker`s and deep-lying third striker`s role behind Dutch striker Robin Van Persie and England`s captain and premier goalscoring sensation, Wayne Rooney, who`d been nurtured by Moyes at Everton, but had been transferred for £25.6 million to United as an 18 year old teenager himself for the 2004-5 campaign and had over 150 league goals to his name at the beginning of Gaal`s managership.

 Manchester United lost at home to Swansea 1-2 on the first day of the 2014-15 season with Van Gaal`s new old system of a half back line with wing backs and a five man midfield that included Mata as the deep-lying centre forward and play maker in the Bobby Charlton mould that had been United and England`s trademark in the 1960s when Sir Matt Busby had continued his 1940s and 1950s love affair with wingers. England`s John Connelly and George Best were Busby`s best known 1960s pairing on the wing and, with the now established Foulkes and Stiles centre back pairing, Busby deployed his deep-lying centre forward, Bobby Charlton, to such good effect that the team won the F.A. Cup in 1963, the league in 1964-5 and 1966-7, with the coveted European Cup of 1968 as the crowning glory to a career Busby couldn`t improve upon as a manager and retired after a disillusioning defeat to Estudiantes of Argentina in an violently ill tempered Intercontinental Cup Final over two legs, 0-1 away and 1-1 at home, which saw George Best sent off for retaliation.

 Busby had been at Old Trafford since the dark days following the end of the Second World War (1939-45) to again beat German Imperialism when United`s stadium had been made into rubble by the German bombs and the club had to beg Manchester City to use theirs at Maine Road. It wouldn`t be until 1999, when United faced South American champions and winners of the Copa Da Libertadores, Palmeiras of Brazil, that the club would win the Intercontinental Cup, 1-0, with a left wing cross from Welsh winger Ryan Giggs that found midfield dynamo, Ireland`s Roy Keane, at the far post putting his boot out to steer the ball home in the 35th minute. United had qualified for the Final as European Cup winners beating Bayern Munich, 2-1, with late goals from substitute forwards, England`s Teddy Sheringham and Norway`s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (on for England`s Andy Cole and Trinidad and Tobago`s Dwight York) to wrest that cup of triumph from the Germans` hands.

 Successive draws, 1-1 at Sunderland`s Stadium of Light, and 0-0 at Burnley`s Turf Moor, were the meager fruits of Louis Van Gaal`s initial games as manager at Manchester United, following upon his home defeat to Swansea on the opening day of the campaign, 1-2, and most fans` opinions were that two points from nine wouldn`t win championships and so that pattern couldn`t be repeated throughout the season even if Gaal`s three at the back half line was a permanent fixture in the Dutchman`s plans for the team`s future at the `Theatre of Dreams`.

 Versatile Argentine defender, Marcos Rojo, left back in the losing Argentine side in the 2014 World Cup Final against Germany, 0-1, was brought to Manchester United by Gaal on 19 August, 2014, from Portuguese club, Sporting Lisbon, for £16 million, and United brought Dutch international, Daley Blind, on 30 August from Ajax Amsterdam for £13.8 million. Blind had played in the left wing back position for Gaal`s Dutch team, beaten by Argentina and Marcos Rojo at left back on their way to the World Cup Final, 2-4 on penalties after extra time with the full time score at 0-0, and so Blind might be expected to fit in easily with the manager`s new system and plans. Argentina`s Angel Di Maria, a left winger, had already arrived from Real Madrid on 26 August for a club record transfer fee of £59.7 million, as Louis Van Gaal rebuilt a Manchester United side looking to develop a novel tactic for wrong footing what tends to be mainly right sided opposition, because having very good left footed players in every position is prohibitively costly for the less rich clubs and a sure way of obtaining a technical advantage for the wealthier.

 Cerberus was the three headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld of Hades in Greek mythology and Manchester United`s Cerberus under Van Gaal would is the half back line trio he fields against opposition playing mainly the four at the back system of full backs at the left and right of the `keeper defending against wingers with two centre backs as `stopper` and `sweeper` in front of the `keeper preventing opposition forwards from getting through and putting the ball in the net. Consequently, Van Gaal`s problem was the same as Manchester United manager Ernest Mangnall`s when Duckworth, Roberts and Bell were the half back line. Although Mangnall`s United won league titles in 1908 and 1911, as well as the 1909 F.A. Cup, Sir Matt Busby would face the same difficulty as Mangnall`s when Anderson, Chilton and Cockburn were his half back trio. United won the F.A. Cup in 1948 and the title in 1952 before the famous young players known as the `Busby Babes` began to emerge through the F.A. Youth Cup system of developing players and the `personality` of the half back line began to change in favour of adaptability rather than a team built on the cohesive efforts of just three individuals.

 The United youth side won the F.A. Youth Cup on the first five occasions from its inaugural inception in 1953 until 1957 and more adaptable young players such as the `gentle giant`, Duncan Edwards, who could play anywhere in defence, midfield or the forward line. Although Edwards, Jones and Coleman took their positions in a senior team that won English league titles in 1955-56 and 1956-57 until the Munich disaster curtailed Busby`s ambition to win the European Cup, youth`s adaptability meant that players could fill their boots without loss of impetus to the team. After Munich Geoff Cope emerged as a young centre back that made the Final of the F.A. Cup in 1958 while Wilf McGuinness, who`d qualified for championship winning medals in 1956 and 1957, and would be manager at United after Busby, was always a fringe member of the squad. Jeff Whitefoot was a right half for United in the title winning teams of 1952 and 1956, while Jackie Blanchflower, sometime Irish inside forward and a `better player` than Ireland`s captain, Danny Blanchflower, according to Danny, who captained North London`s Tottenham Hotspur to the double of league and F.A. Cup in 1961, was left half and centre half before Edwards` emergence as a more versatile and skillful asset to the team. Versatility was the byword for the modern Manchester United and the opportunity to improve the side`s striking capability from the substitute`s bench in 1958 meant the eventual disappearance of the half back line as two centre backs were believed to be enough defensive cover for teams going forward much more to score and secure victory without fear of injury thwarting their thirst for a win.

 Although Van Gaal`s three at the back formation with Manchester United at the beginning of the 2014-15 season seemed new fangled and controversial, in fact it was a return to the tried and trusted formula of the era before the 1958 substitute rule, which allowed teams to go forward more without fear of injury because a replacement forward on the subs` bench could be called upon to augment a team weakened by opposition `hard men` looking to break legs; as England`s `Chopper` Harris at Chelsea and Norman `bite yer legs` Hunter at Leeds United were known to do in their successful club sides of the 1960s and 1970s. Teams that promoted skill such as Manchester United rather abandoned three at the back after 1958 in favour of two centre backs and a left and right full back defending with the `keeper behind midfield, wingmen and forwards up front looking to score against teams adopting the protective strategy of substitutions for injured forwards. Gaal`s buying of predominantly left footed players for his half back line, midfield, and wings at the commencement of the 2014-15 season indicated his perception that the more creative would fit his Cerberus half back line as a system in which very good individuals would be the equivalent of Busby`s `Babes`, who could play anywhere and constituted the avante-garde of English soccer professionalism before Munich curtailed their efforts to transform English soccer from the half back line.

 According to the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) six substitutes could be used, including a `keeper, in competitive matches at the time Louis Van Gaal began his tenure as manager of Manchester United at the start of the 2014-15 season, which afforded additional protection for a team suffering injury to the half back or forward line. In other words, a half back line and a forward line could now be deployed, because the number of substitutes permitted of injury to either without damaging the team`s pattern of play. Van Gaal`s genius was to perceive that he could return to deploying a half back line and so reestablish that tradition of development at Manchester United outlined by his predecessor, Matt Busby.

 With the nickname of `Red Devils`, Manchester United`s three headed dog of a half back line, or Cerberus guarding the entrance to Hades, has a certain romantic attraction. Hades is the Greek concept of hell where the dead departed, who don`t go to heaven, remain. Hell is the place of torment by the `fallen angels` of Satan, known as `devils`, because it`s the place prepared for those humans who`re evil. Satan, of course, was the first angel of God, before he was cast down from heaven to the Earth along with the other `fallen` angels who supported his rebellion. God promised the fallen angels eternal pain forever as a punishment for rejecting God`s creation of Eve and Adam, the first man and woman, who would produce a humanity greater than the angelic host, but until then Christian iconography depicts the devils tormenting the evil amongst mankind with tortures devised by them. Although United`s half back line under Van Gaal represented the romance of keeping the opposition from putting the ball in the net, and that defeat which would be hell for the fans of the `Red Devils`, torment is undoubtedly a significant part of match days for supporters and players alike. If Gaal`s Cerberus half back line kept the ball out of the net, it wouldn`t be hell for the team or the fans and so Manchester United would remain in heaven.

 As Manchester United drew 0-0 with Burnley away at Turf Moor and left winger, Angel Di Maria, made his debut in midfield, Louis Van Gaal was on the brink of signing Daley Blind from Ajax as another defender with a left foot to play alongside Marcos Rojo and England`s Luke Shaw. Only Brazilian right back, Rafael Da Silva, England`s utility defender and midfield destroyer, Phil Jones, and centre backs, Jonathan Evans and Chris Smalling, remained from the era of Ferguson defenders. Although Uruguayan right back, Guilermo Valera, had been bought by Moyes from Uruguay`s Peñarol club, after Ferguson arranged the transfer at the end of his reign as United boss, Gaal`s influx of left footed players included his preference for formerly unknown, 20 year old Tyler Blackett, used as a left footed back throughout Gaal`s early games, and in the pre-season Champions Cup tournament in the United States of America in which Liverpool were defeated, 3-1, in the final. Gaal was sending a warning to right footed players like Da Silva, Jones and Valera that they might have to fight for a right back place with left footed players, just as Evans and Smalling would have to battle left footed centre backs to remain first choice defenders in the aftermath of 5 times English championship winner, Serbian centre half Nemanja Vidic`s packing his bags for Internazionale of Milan in disgust at Moyes` ineptitude and, his partner in defence at the back, former England captain and 6 time English championship winner, Rio Ferdinand`s equally dismissive exit to London`s Queens Park Rangers before Gaal`s arrival.

 Manchester United`s exit to MK Dons in the second round of the League Cup, 0-4, cruelly reminded many supporters of the team`s failure to progress to the League Cup Final of the 2013-14 season with the Sunderland goal at the mercy of their penalty takers in the home second leg of the semi-final qualifier at Old Trafford; Darren Fletcher, Danny Welbeck, Phil Jones, Rafael Da Silva, and Adnan Januzaj. The players only managed to score once through Darren Fletcher out of five attempts, and the `Black Cats` went through with a meager two that ultimately signaled Moyes` failure and departure. Reliance upon three at the back in a half back line that harks back to the golden age of the early 1900s and Busby`s first championship winning teams might seem romantic, but letting in four to a third tier team isn`t. Success at Manchester United depends on the coach`s adopting a winning formula, and a balanced side of left and right wingers, with two strikers and two supporting midfielders down the middle as well as a centre back pairing, left and right full backs, works. Even with a `keeper that comes up to head goals in at corners, as Denmark`s legendary `keeper, Peter Schmeichel (1991-9), did for the `Red Devils` during the period in which he won 5 championship winners` medals. Schmeichel scored a headed goal against Russia`s Rotor Volgograd in the 1995-96 UEFA Cup to preserve the club’s unbeaten home European record, whereas Louis Van Gaal`s Manchester United lost their virginity at home in the first game of the 2014-15 campaign, 1-2 to Swansea City, with three at the back - and seven up!

Cup Of Youth

The F.A. Youth Cup was inaugurated in 1952-53, the season after Manchester United had won the league title of 1951-52 with an ageing team of players that had won the F.A. Cup after WWII (1939-45) against the fascist `Axis` powers of Japan, Italy and Germany, which advocated a brutal philosophy of survival for killers. Many of the side that won the F.A. Cup in 1948 had played through the war years winning regional trophies, most notably the Manchester Senior Cup; 1940-1, 1942-43 and 1945-46 while travel within England was restricted: because of German aircraft and rocket bombing. In need of fresh talent, Manchester United`s coaches put pressure on the youth talent discovered by the scouts. The boys` teams, beginning with the inaugural Youth Cup of 1953, had five consecutive triumphs, which began the dismantling of the wartime side. United`s promoting of players from the youth ranks became the determining philosophy at Old Trafford`s `Theatre Of Dreams` and would bring many more trophies borne on the wings of youth.

 Of course the great tragedy of Munich, February 6, 1958, would loom large on the future. Some of those who emerged from the ranks of youth at Old Trafford`s stadium would lose their lives in the aircrash as the team returned from a quarter final European Champions` Cup draw with Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia. United had taken a 2-1 lead from Old Trafford, Manchester, and were 3-0 up after half an hour with goals from Dennis Viollet after just 2 minutes while left footed forward, Bobby Charlton, added two more on the half hour. The team had been 0-1 down to a Tasic goal on 35 minutes in the home leg; before Bobby (65 mins) and England wing half, Eddie Colman (81 mins), gave the side a lead to take to Belgrade. United eventually had to settle for a 3-3 draw, but it was enough for a 5-4 aggregate victory. Eddie Coleman didn`t survive the crash to go on playing, and United would lose England left back and captain, Roger Byrne; his understudy, Geoff Bent; England centre back, Mark Jones; England`s midfield giant, Duncan Edwards, `a man at fourteen`, as manager, Matt Busby, once described him; Irishman, Liam `Billy` Whelan, at inside forward, who`d scored 26 goals in the previous season`s championship win; English right wing, Johnny Berry; and Jackie Blanchflower, whose brother, Danny, captain of Eire, always maintained Jackie was a better player; even though Danny captained London`s Tottenham Hotspur, the first side of the modern era to win the English `double` of F.A. Cup and league title in 1960-61.

 Kenny Morgans, after playing under the captaincy of Wilf McGuinness for the 1956 Youth Cup triumph, had just begun to replace Johnny Berry on the right wing and had played against Red Star in Yugoslavia aged just 18 before the Munich disaster. Kenny had captained Manchester United in 1957 to an 8-2 aggregate F.A. Youth Cup win over West Ham United. Morgans (1), Alex Dawson (3), Mark Pearson (2) and Nobby Lawton (1) were the name players on the scoresheet. Nobby wouldn`t make his presence felt as a striker until 1960, and even then he scored only 6 goals in 36 appearances before being sold to Preston North End in March, 1963. Kenny Morgans survived the crash and made 9 more starts, but showed little of the skills he`d had on the pitch after Munich and made only four more appearances in the first team before leaving for Swansea in 1961 without scoring a goal in 23 appearances. Eddie Colman had been the captain of the first Manchester United side to win the F.A. Youth Cup in 1953. Edwards, Whelan, and Scanlon from that team, which beat Wolves 7-1 and 2-2 for a 9-3 aggregate win, all played against Red Star Belgrade. Ronnie Cope at centre half for the Youth Cup winning team of 1953 would be needed badly by United after the deaths of Mark Jones and Jackie Blanchflower, who often played at centre back if United felt they needed skill in that area rather than strength. David Pegg, who`d  played on the left wing in the 1953 F.A. Youth Cup win, travelled to Yugoslavia with the squad, but didn`t make the team against Red Star Belgrade. Pegg, Whelan (2) and Scanlon had all scored in the 9-3 aggregate defeat of Wolves in the Youth Cup Final of 1953, before making the step up to the first team as the older players from the championship winning team of 1951-52 gave way to youth. England left winger, Pegg, had to give away his life in the snow at Munich without even kicking a ball in Belgrade. The plane had been attempting to take off from the German airport but heavy snow had impeded the aircraft and the disaster happened.

 Centre half, Allenby Chilton, with Henry Cockburn at left half, and John Anderson at right half, were a part of the half back line format that had been the defensive formula for a generation before twin centre back pairings were adopted throughout English soccer. Chilton, Cockburn and Anderson had been the mainstay of Manchester United`s post-war push to the title of 1951-52 and the 1948 F.A. Cup Final win over Blackpool, 4-2, with goals in the 28<sup>th</sup> and 70<sup>th</sup> minutes from centre forward, `The Gunner` Jack Rowley (2), inside left, Stan Pearson in the 80<sup>th</sup> minute and Anderson in the 82<sup>nd</sup>. By 1958 Coleman, Jones and Edwards had assumed the defensive duties, while Jackie Blanchflower, who`d originally begun in the side at left half, before the emergence of Edwards, had moved up front as an inside forward. United`s captain at right back for the 1948 F.A. Cup Final win over Blackpool was Irishman, Johnny Carey, while John Aston, who often played centre forward, had been at left back. Aston had shared left back duties with Roger Byrne during the 1951-52 championship season and new captain, Roger, was still there at Munich, having won two further league titles in 1955-56 and 1956-57, before both he and his England international understudy, Geoff Bent, lost their lives in the crash.

 Before the war, Johnny Carey had been an inside forward, but post-war he reverted to defensive duties. He`d joined United from St James's Gate in November, 1936, for a League of Ireland record fee of £250 and made his debut on 23<sup>rd</sup> September, 1937, as an inside left. Playing in the wartime team, Carey was instrumental in bringing to Old Trafford`s Theatre Of Dreams, the Lancashire Senior Cups of 1938, 1941, 1943 and 1946 and the Manchester Senior Cups of 1936, 1937, 1939 and 1948, while his eventual replacement in the side, Bill Foulkes, would survive Munich to go on and win the 1968 European Cup against Benfica of Portugal, 4-1 at London`s national Wembley statdium, with goals from Charlton (2), the left wing Irish genius, George Best, and a young forward, Brian Kidd, in the team for the injured goal king of Old Trafford. In 1968-69 Kidd was having a great debut season in which he`d score a United career high 15 league goals. Foulkes would move up to centre half from right back after his debut on 13 December, 1952, aged 20, in a 2-1 win against Liverpool and wouldn`t retire until 1970.

 Jimmy Delaney had been brought from Glasgow Celtic where he`d been since 1933. United manager, Matt Busby, admired the outside right who`d been at Celtic in the years when they`d won the Scottish F.A. Cup (1933, `37) and the league title (1936, `38), and Delaney had been on the right wing for United in the F.A. Cup Final win of 1948 before returning to Scotland and Aberdeen at the age of 36, due partly to the arrival of English winger, Johnny Berry, who`d be on the right for United until his death at Munich. Inside forward, Stan Pearson, made his debut for United in 1937 and he was still there in 1952 when Manchester United won their first title since 1911 and only their third. Their first was under the stewardship of pre-war manager, Ernest Mangnall, in 1908, with the F.A. Cup of 1909 sandwiched between before the outbreak of hostilities with the German Empire during WWI (1914-18) stopped United`s progress. Stan scored 127 goals in 312 league appearances, 7 more than Mark Hughes, and 10 behind George Best.

 Above Stan Pearson in the all time goalscoring feats of soccer stars at Manchester United are Dennis Viollet and Jack Rowley, who was the centre forward for the club after his arrival for 3,000 GBP from Bournemouth aged 17 at his debut on 23^rd October, 1937, against Sheffield Wednesday, but he`d have to wait until his second game against Swansea before he got his first four goals. Bought as a left winger, manager Matt Busby converted Rowley to centre forward, which remained his berth alongside Pearson until Stan left in 1952. Rowley remained until 1954 while he and Stan Pearson were being carefully replaced by Tommy Taylor, the England centre forward who`d also lose his life at Munich, and Dennis Viollet, who`d go on after the disaster to lead the forward line almost to a championship in 1958-59, but the team finished second to Wolves.

 Jack Rowley made 380 appearances in the United red shirt scoring 182 goals between 1937 and 1954, which meant that he and scoring partner, Stan Pearson, improved on the number of trophies won by Johnny Carey, who`d begun at the club in November, 1936. Because of long tenure in their strikers` positions, Pearson and Rowley won Lancashire Senior Cups in 1938, 1941, 1943, 1946 and 1951, and Manchester Senior Cups in 1936, 1937, 1939 and 1948, to go with their 1948 F.A. Cup win and their 1951-52 league championship win. Championship wins for Manchester United in 1955-56 and 1956-57 meant adequate replacements had been found for the giants of the pre-war era. Dennis Viollet would go on to score more goals, 159, than Pearson, while Munich survivor Bobby Charlton`s (1956-73) final total of 199 league goals for Manchester United eclipsed even Jack Rowley`s (1937-54) career haul of 182 during his campaigns.

  After Munich the teams that had won the F.A. Youth Cup were called upon to supply first team ability if not experience. Ronnie Cope, captain of the 1953 side was brought in at centre half, and Albert Scanlon, a left winger, who`d won F.A. Youth Cups in 1953 and 1954, when United had beaten Wolves on aggregate 5-4, with goals from Edwards (2) and Pegg (3), who`d captained the side and converted a penalty in each leg; the second leg being won at Molineux, 1-0. Scanlon was brought in so Bobby Charlton could take up his future role for World Cup winning England (1966) as a deep lying centre forward operating from midfield with strikers` boots for long range hitting. Wilf McGuinness was the future coach at Manchester United who`d be given the manager`s job after Busby`s retirement in 1969, while in 1954 and, after an aggregate 7-1 win in 1955 against West Bromwich Albion in which captain Eddie Coleman (4), Charlton (1) and Edwards (1) were the name scorers, Wilf had won Youth Cups as a left half, and in 1956 he himself captained the youth team to an aggregate 4-3 victory over Chesterfield in which Mark Pearson and Bobby Charlton were the name players who scored in the absence of Eddie Coleman, who was himself with the seniors. McGuinness and Cope were to become a bulwark for United after the Munich disaster in an initial half back line that included Freddie Goodwin, who`d not made the flight to play Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia through illness. Freddie had made his United debut in 1954 and had played for the team in the 1955-56 and 1956-57 victorious championship seasons without qualifying for a winners` medal. United`s first game after Munich was a fifth round F.A. Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday at Old Trafford on 19 February, 1958, in which 17 year old Cope impressed with his composure at centre half and Mark Pearson, who`d been a 1957 Youth Cup winner, made his debut at inside left.

 Stan Crowther had been signed at left half from Aston Villa, who`d beaten Manchester United in the previous season`s F.A. Cup Final, just hours before the kick off against Sheffield Wednesday. United won 3-0 with goals from inside right, Shay Brennan (2), who`d be the Irish right back for the side against Benfica in their 1968 European Cup victory over Benfica, 4-1, while young centre forward, Alex Dawson, who`d been in the 1956 and 1957 F.A. Youth Cup winning teams, got the other goal that sent United through to the quarter finals and another emotion charged encounter with West Bromwich Albion, who`d draw the first game 2-2 with goals from Alex Dawson and Ernie Taylor. Taylor had been brought by Busby as a reluctant stop gap at inside right from Aston Villa, but it was inside forward, Colin Webster, who`d made 15 appearances and scored 4 times for United in the 1955-56 championship campaign to win a medal, who got the only goal of the replay to beat W.B.A. 1-0 to set up a semi-final occasion against Fulham who held United 2-2 in the initial game with Charlton (2) ensuring the replay. United won 5-3 after a hat-trick from Alex Dawson and further strikes from Charlton and Brennan.

 Manchester United lost 0-2 in the F.A. Cup Final after losing in the previous season`s showpiece 1-2 to Aston Villa and a double strike in the 68<sup>th</sup> and 73<sup>rd</sup> minute from outside left, Peter McParland, which left United with too much to do and only a late 83<sup>rd</sup> minute consolation goal from centre forward, Tommy Taylor, cheered the fans. In the 1958 Final, the almost terrifying presence of colossal centre forward, captain Nat Lofthouse, and the venue of the national stadium, Wembley, awed a very young United and possible the referee also. Lofthouse scored twice; once using his gigantic strength to bundle United `keeper, Harry Gregg, over the line with the ball in his hands shortly after the interval with Bolton 1-0 up after catching the United defence cold on just 3 minutes. But United had shown that faith in youth produced resilience and hopes were that the club could rebuild from defeat to triumph over disaster. The following season`s campaign was intensely emotional with supporters wondering who would make the team and become the new soccer stars at the Theatre Of Dreams.

 Matt Busby responded by bringing to Old Trafford the `golden boy of British football`, centre forward Albert Quixall, who`d scored 63 goals in 243 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday for a then record transfer fee of 45, 000 GBP. The team was much more static than the fluid selection of the `Busby Babe` era when players from the youth and reserve teams were in and out of the senior side constantly as Busby looked to permutate amongst a large pool of talent that was reminiscent of the later era of Alex Ferguson who applied the principle of `squad rotation` to rest and freshen his troops throughout a long season`s campaign that brought him four trophies in 1999; the league; the F.A. Cup; the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. Busby`s policy of permutating a squad lay the foundations for Ferguson`s legendary success. But the Munich disaster had taken its toll. Pared to a nucleus of players, it`d be several more seasons before there was enough talent at the club to again sustain a long season`s campaign for trophies on several fronts.

 Ian Greaves who`d played 15 times at left back in the title winning season of 1955-56 for a medal, but made only 3 appearances in the successful 1956-57 triumph and missed the Munich crash through injury, was the obvious first choice replacement for Byrne after February 6, and with `keeper Gregg and right back Foulkes he formed a more or less permanent defence that had Ronnie Cope at centre half, Goodwin at right half and McGuinness at left half. With Charlton taking up the deep lying centre forward role in a roving midfield role from where he could direct play and try on his shooting boots, Quixall partnered Viollet with Scanlon on the left wing. On the right was Warren Bradley who`d been amongst England amateur internationals at Bishop Auckland loaned to United during their rebuilding program. Bradley made 24 appearances on the right wing in a 1958-59 season in which, ironically apart from Quixall, United`s goalscoring prowess was enviable; Bradley (12), Charlton (29), Scanlon (16) and Viollet (21) each weighed in for a season`s haul of 78 between them. Quixall found the net only 4 times in 33 appearances, which probably accounted for United`s failure to take the title that year. The fate of United`s `golden boy` was reminiscent of Gary Birtles`, who made 28 starts for United in 1980-81, after costing 1, 000, 000 GBP from Nottingham Forest, and didn`t score.

 United languished at the foot of the table for a couple of seasons before success again in the 1963 F.A. Cup Final defeat of Leicester City, 3-1, in which Denis Law (1) and David Herd (2) scored the goals in the 30^th, 57^th and 85^th minutes. Herd was a proven striker bought by Busby from Arsenal in an attempt to raise United`s league title ambitions through goals, while Denis had been a goalscoring prodigy at Manchester City scoring 19 goals in 37 appearances in 1960-61, before Italian giants, Torino, took him away for a brief experimental sojourn in Serie `A` and a relatively disappointing return of 10 goals in 27 appearances. Busby paid a then record fee of 115, 000 GBP for the services of Law, who was so effective he became known as Old Trafford`s `King` (1962-73), finally scoring 171 goals in 309 appearances, and winning two league championships in 1964-65 and 1966-67 alongside Herd.

 The period of Law and Herd as striking partners was the most productive in terms of trophies that Manchester United would have before Alex Ferguson`s legendary reign properly began with the F.A. Cup Final replay win of 1990 over Crystal Palace, 1-0, thanks to a run and shoot from left full back, Lee Martin. On a speculative charge from his own penalty area to Palace`s, in the 53^rd minute Martin accepted a ball on his chest before allowing it to fall to where he could unleash an unstoppable drive into the net. United were nurturing a future Arsenal `keeper in the reserves, Jimmy Rimmer, while David Gaskell, the 1957 F.A. Youth Cup winning `keeper had been between the posts in United`s defeat of Leicester, 3-1, in the 1963 F.A. Cup Final. JImmy Rimmer would make several appearances for United in the `keeper`s role after being  a part of the 1964 F.A. Youth Cup winning side that contained other stars of the future; left back, Bobby Noble, who made 29 appearances for the championship winning team of 1966-67, before injury ended his career; wing half, John Fitzpatrick; winger Willie Anderson, who would later be first team understudy to winger, George Best; centre forward or centre back, David Sadler, and left wing, John Aston. Best and Sadler would contribute to Manchester United`s championship successes in 1965 while Aston and Noble would have to wait to join them for the successful 1967 campaign, and they would also be amongst the pivotal members of a United team that would be the first English club to win the coveted European Champions` Cup, 4-1, against Benfica with goals from Charlton in the 53^rd and 99^th minutes, Best (92^nd ) and Kidd (94^th), after extra time when the scores were at 1-1.

 The story of the 1968 European Cup win is of a team bereft of the talent it needed. David Herd broke his leg in 1967 and never really recovered. Denis Law had a knee injury that kept him out of the Final and he was never really at his peak again. Nobby Stiles entertained viewing audiences globally as he danced around Wembley stadium after a Geoff Hurst hat-trick and another goal from West Ham colleague, inside forward Martin Peters, beat Germany, 4-2, in the 1966 World Cup Final, but star United defender Nobby was blind without his contact lenses and he had a reputation for losing them on the pitch, which caused him to lunge into life-endangering tackles. John Fitzpatrick would be getting his chance after the 1968 European Cup Final, so centre forward, David Sadler, played centre half against Benfica while, in deference to the needs of an injury hit team, Nobby Stiles received from Busby a berth in left midfield. Hugely exciting and dynamic winger, George Best, was moved inside by Busby so John Aston could shine on the left wing against the Portuguese. Without Law and Herd, 19 year old Brian Kidd was selected for the Final as a zestful replacement for Law, while Best was in Herd`s position up front. Although the chemistry worked particularly well for that game only, Bill Foulkes had been at centre back since 1951 or thereabouts and he didn`t move as well as he had. Busby`s retirement a year later after failing to master what the English newspapers described as, a `brutal` Estudiantes De La Plata in the Intercontinental Cup Final between the Argentinian winners of the South American Copa Libertadores and the European Champions, which the English team lost 1-2 on aggregate, had left Manchester United ruing a brief Renaissance inspired in no small measure by the winning graduates of the 1964 F.A. Youth Cup.

 Scot, Tommy Docherty, who`d managed Chelsea to a 1965 League Cup Final win, replaced Frank O` Farrell, who`d arrived from Leicester to replace Wilf McGuinness after he`d steered an ageing team to a 1969-70 F.A. Cup semi-final against Leeds, which United lost in the second replay, 0-1, after successive goalless draws, and Wilf`s inexplicable preference for Italian midfielder, Carlo Sartori, to goal `King` Denis Law. The League Cup semi-final of 1970 followed against Manchester City, which United lost on aggregate, 3-4, after a goal from Charlton in the first leg, which United lost 1-2 at Maine Road. In the second leg at Old Trafford, right full back, Paul Edwards, scored. Paul`s contribution to United, like Ian Ure`s,  bought from Arsenal as a centre half, wouldn`t extend further than the 1969-70 (18 appearances) and 1970-71 (29 appearances) campaigns. Ure would make 34 and 13 appearances respectively for United in seasons 1969-70 and 1970-71, and the defeats to Leeds in the 1970 F.A. Cup semi-final, together with the 1970 League Cup semi-final defeat, ultimately curtailed his United career. Despite a second goal from Denis Law, a 2-2 draw in the 1970 League Cup semi-final at Old Trafford put Manchester City through. After the 1971 League Cup semi-final against Aston Villa, which United lost on aggregate, 2-3, despite Brian Kidd scoring in each leg home and away, Wilf McGuinness` days as manager at the Theatre of Dreams were over and so were the playing careers of Edwards and Ure.

 Frank O` Farrell arrived feeling he was qualified to manage Manchester United after steering Second Division Leicester City to the title and into the top tier of English soccer by the end of the 1970-71 season. United were 10 points clear at Christmas but lost 7 straight games in the New Year and O`Farrell had had his chance. Tommy Docherty was appointed after the 1971-72 season and began an overhaul of the United playing staff, which would see the end of the careers of players like John Fitzpatrick at Manchester United. John was a one club player with an unquenchable thirst for success who appeared significantly for United for just four seasons before retiring through injury. He made 14 appearances in 1967-68, 28 appearances in 1968-69 for 3 goals, 20 appearances in 1969-70 for 3 goals, and 35 appearances in 1970-71 for 2 goals, while he received only a European Cup Winners` medal as the named `reserve` in 1968 to go with his F.A. Youth Cup winners` medal of 1964.

 The player to span the managerial generations at Old Trafford was Willie Morgan, a Scot brought by Busby for the 1968-69 campaign from Burnley to play on the right wing as a replacement for John Connelly who`d been transferred from Burnley to United in 1964-65 and had won a championship medal that same season. Morgan was used to replacing Connelly, because he`d done the same at Burnley when John left for United. Willie went on to survive managers McGuinness, O` Farrell, and for a while, Docherty, who gave Morgan the captain`s armband for the 1974-75 campaign to get promotion from the Second Division at the first attempt after the club was humiliatingly relegated to a Denis Law back heeled goal when the former `King` of Old Trafford had been offloaded back to Manchester City by Docherty as a player `past his prime`.

 Tommy Docherty bought Second Division veteran centre forward, Stuart Pearson, from Hull City for 200, 000 GBP, because of his experience and proven scoring ability at that level. Pearson repaid the money well spent with goals that would take United back to the top tier at the end of the 1974-75 season as Second Division champions. But the Pearson goal that would give United the platform for their first trophy since 1968`s European Cup triumph, came when Stuart drove the ball under the legs of Liverpool `keeper, Ray Clemence, for the equalizing goal in the 1977 F.A. Cup Final, which would be won, 2-1, after a strike from midfield battler, Lou Macari, was steered into the net off his chest by Jimmy Greenhoff, United`s centre forward. By the end of the 1974-75 season, Docherty had replaced Morgan on the right wing and Irishman Gerry Daly on the left. Daly moved into midfield but Morgan had survived his last manager. Steve Coppell, right wing, and Gordon Hill, left wing, were bought from Tranmere and Millwall respectively to be the wings of a prayer that would take United and Pearson to F.A. Cup Final success in 1977.

 Youth team players would emerge to make a difference, most notably centre forwards, Mark Hughes and Norman Whiteside, who weren`t F.A. Youth Cup winners, but did make the 1982 Final, which United narrowly lost to Watford, 7-6 on aggregate. Hughes (2) Whiteside (1) and the powerful shooting boots of midfielder, Clayton Blackmore (1), demonstrated enough to `Big Ron` Atkinson, then United`s manager after Docherty`s replacement, Dave Sexton, who`d guided Q.P.R to second place in the table, just one point behind Liverpool in 1975-76, had also failed to put the championship trophy in the Old Trafford cabinet. Hughes would score twice against Crystal Palace to force a 3-3 draw and a replay in the F.A. Cup Final of 1990, before left full back, Lee Martin, who`d been an F.A. Youth Cup Finalist with United in Manchester City`s 3-1 defeat of the red shirts in 1986, drove in the goal in the replay that would properly begin Ferguson`s reign as a successful manager. Martin was withdrawn in the 88<sup>th</sup> minute and was replaced by Clayton Blackmore, who would excel in the role for a season or so. Despite Mark Hughes` top scoring in 1984-85 and 1985-86, Atkinson sold him to Barcelona for 2, 000, 000 GBP, and he`d starred alongside Norman Whiteside in the 1985 F.A. Cup Final against Everton, which was notable mainly for United centre back, Kevin Moran, being sent off in the 78<sup>th</sup> minute, so leaving the side with only ten men, and Norman Whiteside`s curling shot from the right edge of the penalty area that went in at the far post in the 110^tth minute of extra time to give United a surprisingly well earned win. Whiteside had scored in the 4-0 F.A. Cup Final replay victory over Brighton and Hove Albion after a 2-2 draw, but it was Atkinson`s decision to sell Hughes that was his downfall. After taking up the managerial reins for the 1986-87 season, Ferguson resigned Hughes in 1988-89 for 1, 800, 000 GBP and Mark didn`t drop below double figures for a season until his last in 1994-95 (8) when he still made the team for the F.A. Cup Final defeat to Everton, 0-1.

 F.A. Youth Cup Finalist teammate, Clayton Blackmore, was at left back when Mark Hughes added the European Cup Winners` Cup of 1991 to his trophy haul, scoring twice in a 2-1 defeat of Spanish club Barcelona. Clayton was on the left side of midfield when the European Super Cup was added that same year, 1-0, thanks to a goal in the 67<sup>th</sup> minute from Hughes` strike partner, Brian McClair, who`d been brought from Celtic by Ferguson for 850, 000 GBP for the 1987-88 season`s campaigning. Hughes and McClair combined again to bring the League Cup to Old Trafford for the first time in 1992, with McClair scoring the winning goal as early as the 14^th minute, while Clayton Blackmore was making his last appearances as a midfielder/defender for United, since he became a fully fledged professional in 1985-86, as the twenty six year wait for the league title ended in 1992-93, before the `double` winning season of 1993-94 in which McClair and Hughes would each score to take United to an F.A. Cup win over Chelsea, 4-0.

United had won the F.A. Youth Cup in 1992 and again in 1995, with right back, Gary Neville as captain in `92 and his brother, Phil, captain in `95. In his team Gary had right winger and future England captain, David Beckham, who`d inspire United to a further European Cup win in 1999 against Bayern Munich, 2-1, in injury time with goals from Teddy Sheringham in the 91<sup>st</sup> and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 93<sup>rd</sup> minute. Gary`s Youth Cup Final winning team of 1992 also contained left winger, Ryan Giggs, who`d go on to win one more European Cup than Beckham in 2008 when Ryan scored the winning goal in the penalty shoot out that beat Chelsea. Gary`s captain`s armband would last for most of his career (1992-2011), and Phil Neville would have a lengthy spell at Old Trafford (1995-2005) under his brother`s watchful eye. Phil`s F.A. Youth Cup captaincy bore its own fruit too. Ronnie Wallwork was the 1995 F.A. Youth Cup Final teammate of Phil`s that would go on to appear 12 times for Manchester United in the 2000-01 season to claim a championship medal as a defensive midfield player replacing the reds` usual driving force in midfield, captain Roy Keane, whose rugged `never say die` style resulted in his body making efforts it shouldn`t.

 Injury often restricted Keane`s season long effectiveness, as it had with former England captain, Bryan Robson, during his period of driving dynamism at Manchester United, and was as detrimental to the team`s success as critics claimed the jinking wing skills of players like George Best and Gordon Hill had been a handicap to the collective achievements of the side, because they were individually effective, but not incorporated into a pattern of play that the others could work with rather than admire enviously and lament that they couldn`t understand and so weren`t able to control. Uncontrollability was ironically the reason for the success of geniuses like Best and Hill. Genius was what frustrated the dour dullness of coaches obsessed with harnessing technically gifted performers. Less skillful players, who could never emulate unpredictability, wouldn`t get into a first eleven made up of creative individuals, and so the aim of the `professional` became fascistic elimination of the gifted talent. Players like Robson and Keane combined flair with aggression as dominant driving forces from midfield, which satisfied coaches` desire for involvement, but damned creativity while inculcating an ethos of physical disregard that inevitably produced what the critics had suggested unique invention did. With a midfield dynamo never fully operational due to breakdown, the side was limited by an engine that functioned marvelously but fitfully. Bryan Robson was even called `Captain Marvel` jeeringly, because he could perform superheroically in fits and starts, but it was all `sound and fury, signifying nothing`1 when he couldn`t make the team for the next encounter because of a thigh strain or a `niggling` hamstring, and clubs challenging for honors talked Robson and Keane up so that they`d make ever more prodigious efforts and break down before the prizes were handed out to the tortoises rather than the hare.

 The typical scenario was Manchester United under manager, Frank O` Farrell, 10 points clear at Christmas and an 8th place finish in 1971-72, following a hare start and an injury to aggressive yet skilful left wing, Ian Storey Moore, bought from Nottingham Forest for 225, 000 GBP, stalled the engine after the kick start from 11 starts and 5 goals which United had badly needed. Manager, Ron Atkinson, amassed 30 league points after winning 10 straight games at the beginning of the 1985-86 season, but the team finished 4<sup>th</sup> on 76 points. Bryan Robson dislocated his shoulder in February 1986, which ruled him out of any effectiveness he might have had with England in the 1986 World Cup Finals, and for Manchester United he made only 21 starts for 7 goals. Ron Atkinson`s solution was to have adequate replacements for injury prone Robson, which is why he brought defensive midfield star Remi Moses from W.B.A in the transfer package that secured the services of Robson.  Alex Ferguson did the same with Roy Keane, which meant an opportunity for Phil Neville to hone his talent for emergency central midfield duty.

 Juan Ramon, `the little witch`, had been the thorn in the side of Manchester United as they  lost 2-1 to Argentina`s Estudiantes De La Plata in the Intercontinental Cup Final of 1969, making the headed goal from Conigliaro in the 28<sup>th</sup> minute of the first leg, 1-0, and scoring with a header at Old Trafford in the 7<sup>th</sup> minute of the second leg, to make it 2-0 on aggregate, with only a Willie Morgan strike in the 89<sup>th</sup> minute as the consolation for United. Ferguson would bring Juan Sebastian Ramon, son of `the little witch`, to the Theatre Of Dreams, for the 2001-02 season for a then record 28, 100, 000 GBP, largely because United needed cover for a midfield that contained England`s Paul Scholes and Keane, and that had won three successive championships since 1999`s treble winning season, but was finding it difficult to maintain momentum in the face of strong tackles from opposition defenders trying to stop or injure those working in the engine room. Veron won a league title in 2003 before being lured to Chelsea by new owner, Russia`s billionaire Abramovich, while Keane`s retirement after 2005 led to Ferguson`s turning to West Ham United`s Michael Carrick (2006-14) as a ball player who could tackle without getting `crocked`, which steadied United`s midfield wondrously. Manchester United had won the Youth Cup Final in 2003 against Middlesboro and left winger, Kieran Richardson, who scored in the 3-1 win, would have some impact before and after Carrick`s arrival. With 8 starts and 7 substitute appearances in United`s championship winning season of 2006-07, Richardson represented the possibilities afforded by the then novel five substitutes rule implemented by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which made it possible to `spell` ageing performers like Ryan Giggs during the game to prolong their career.

 By 2014 Giggs had been a player at Manchester United since 1991 and was so well established he was given the role of caretaker manager after the sacking of Ferguson`s replacement, David Moyes, who`d flattered to deceive. Moyes lost a League Cup semi-final to bottom team Sunderland and failed to master a Bayern Munich team in the European Cup quarter final, 2-4, after taking the lead in a game that ended 1-1 at Old Trafford. United had been buoyed after a 58^th minute headed goal from Serbian central defensive stalwart since 2005-06, Nemanja Vidic, who`d already declared he was leaving and the club would have nothing left to play for that season if Bayern won, which they did, 1-3, in Munich. United`s only strike came from Patrice Evra, French left back, who`d opened the floodgates in the 57<sup>th</sup> minute at 0-1 after being found in the penalty area by an out swinging cross from Ecuadorian right winger, Antonio Valencia, that missed everyone but Evra who delightedly crashed the ball into the top corner of the Bayern net. The strike was reminiscent of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer`s against Bayern Munich in the European Cup Final of 1999, which gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory. Giggs played on that occasion and would again in 2008, in some measure due to Richardson and other players spelling him for long periods of play when the winger`s ageing legs wouldn`t serve for more than an hour or so. 

 Teamwork gave Giggs his shot at managership on 26^th April 2014, at home to Norwich, which United won, 4-0, but the side lost the next game at home to Sunderland, and that was it. Giggs didn`t yet have the experience, but his persevering with the mercurial brilliance of 19 year old Belgian, Adnan Januzaj, who scored in the 94th minute against Norwich and made 27 appearances in a roving striking midfield role that season for 4 goals, indicated Giggs` managerial pedigree. Against Hull City Giggs selected young forwards, Tom Lawrence (20) and James Wilson (18) for their debuts and Wilson scored twice, in the 31^st and 61^st minute as United won, 3-1. The last game of the 2013-14 season produced a 1-1 away draw at Southampton, where Adnan Januzaj continued his run in the team as United`s hope in the future. Although Netherlands` World Cup manager, Louis Van Gaal, would be arriving, Giggs` teammates had protected him enough: he`d be Van Gaal`s assistant.

 The Youth Cup had been won again in 2011 against Sheffield United, but Ferguson hadn`t had the option of keeping the midfield star of the team, Paul Pogba, who waited for his contract with the `red devils` to expire and signed on for consecutive championship success with Juventus in Italy`s Serie `A` in 2012-13 and 2013-14, and the Supercoppa Italiana against Lazio in 2012-13 after coming on as a substitute in the 20^th minute for Claudio Marchisio and opening the scoring in the 23^rd minute of what was to be a 4-0 win for Juvé. If United wanted to have Paul back at Old Trafford, the newspapers reported it`d cost 60, 000, 000 GBP, and it was shaping up like the Hughes` saga, where `Big Ron` had sold Hughes for 1, 800, 000 GBP to Barcelona and Alex Ferguson had to pay 2, 000, 000 GBP to have him returned. United`s youth team policy had now contributed to the rise of a new French star who`d play in the World Cup of 2014, but the role of `feeder` club to the Spanish giants, Barcelona had taken Hughes, and Real Madrid had taken Beckham and his groomed successor, Portuguese right winger, Christiano Ronaldo.

 David Beckham had been instrumental in bringing the 1999 European Cup to Old Trafford, when the right winger had crossed from the left for Teddy Sheringham to head the ball on for Solskjaer to put out his foot and steer the ball into Bayern`s goal in the 93<sup>rd</sup> minute, 2-1. Ronaldo had scored the headed goal against Chelsea, in Moscow`s Luzhniki stadium in 2008, from a cross by right back, Wes Brown, over by the right touchline on 26 minutes, which had given United a 1-0 lead devastatingly cancelled out by Frank Lampard in the 45^th minute as the players were looking forward to the half time interval. The contest went to extra time and penalties when Chelsea captain John Terry fell on his arse in the rain where he had to score to win the trophy for the blues but missed. Giggs stepped up to convert his spot kick and the European Cup went back to the Theatre Of Dreams.

 Paul Pogba`s declining of a contract with United to play for Juventus was symptomatic of United`s failure to attract and keep good players at the club. United centre forward, Wayne Rooney, used United`s inability to lure new talent to raise his salary to 300, 000 GBP per week under David Moyes` stewardship, but United didn`t win a trophy. Louis Van Gaal`s arrival as the new Dutch boss at Old Trafford meant either Youth Cup Final success, productive of talent grown for the overseas market, as Paul Pogba ultimately was, or a youth policy designed to tie good young players to the club if overseas imports couldn`t be persuaded to brave the Manchester winters, and the absence of a tan, for a more satisfying path to heaven on the wings of the prayerful.

 1 Shakespeare, William MacBeth, `Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.` (Act 5, Scene 5, l. 24-8), 1599-1606.

What Did Dave Sexton Ever Do For Manchester United?

Dave Sexton was Chelsea manager after Tommy Docherty left for Manchester United and United boss after Tommy Docherty was sacked shortly after the team he`d built to climb out of the Second Division of English football in 1974-75 upon relegation at the end of the 1973-74 season had won the 1977 F.A. Cup Final 2-1 against a Liverpool team that would have completed the treble of league, European Cup and F.A. Cup that year if United hadn`t defeated the Merseysiders at Wembley stadium, London, to take the trophy for only the fourth time in the club`s history and the first since 1963 when David Herd and Denis Law had scored the goals that beat Leicester City 3-1. United`s 1977 victory was recompense for their failure the previous season to beat Second Division Southampton in the F.A. Cup Final of 1976 which the team lost to a late Bobby Stokes strike in the 83rd minute. Although Stuart Pearson and Jimmy Greenhoff were the goalscoring heroes against Liverpool a year later at Wembley, an extra-marital affair with Mary, wife of the United physiotherapist, Laurie Brown, and the relative paucity of success for the United players during Docherty`s tenure, resulted in Dave Sexton`s being brought from Queens Park Rangers, where he`d nurtured a fine team that included Scotland`s playmaker, Don Masson, England right winger, Dave Thomas, England captain and midfield maestro, Gerry Francis, and the mercurial striking skills of England forward Stan Bowles.

 Although Sexton didn`t win anything with QPR, a team he`d bolstered with players from Chelsea, midfielder John Hollins and defender David Webb, the London team had come within a point of the league title in 1975-76. Success with Chelsea had come on the heels of Docherty`s departure as manager there in 1967 where Tommy`s side had won the League Cup in 1965. Sexton`s Chelsea won the F.A. Cup in 1970 and the European Cup Winners` Cup in 1971 before Sexton`s sacking by relegated Chelsea and his move to QPR in 1974-75 coincided with United`s relegation to the Second Division under Docherty. Sexton`s arrival at Manchester United for the 1977-78 campaign looked very similar to his taking over the reins at Chelsea after Docherty`s dismissal. Hopes at United were that Sexton would win a European trophy as he had at Chelsea with the squad Docherty had built there, but hadn`t been able to make the best use of, whereas Sexton had taken the players to successive triumphs in the 1970 F.A. Cup Final and 1971 Cup Winners` Cup. United had won the European Cup in 1968 at Wembley against Benfica of Portugal 4-1, with goals from Bobby Charlton (2), George Best and Brian Kidd, so ambition was high, but would Sexton be able to satisfy the demand for achievement at `the world`s biggest club`, as he had improved Chelsea`s standing in the early 1970s, when Docherty there hadn`t lived up to expectations; despite building a good young blues` side.

 The Chelsea core of Tommy Docherty`s League Cup winners` 3-2 against Leicester City were still much in evidence during Sexton`s successful period; `keeper Peter Bonetti, Ron `Chopper` Harris, at centre half, and midfield general, John Hollins, had been in Docherty`s `65 team, and alongside most notably, Peter Osgood, Docherty`s centre forward nurtured since `64, Bonetti, `Chopper` and Hollins would be there for Sexton against Leeds United in the 1970 F.A. Cup Final. Leeds were beaten 2-1 in a replay with Osgood making the scoresheet after a 2-2 draw, while the team beat Real Madrid in the 1971 European Cup Winners` Cup Final with Osgood scoring home and away in an aggregate 3-2 win over both legs. Speculation at United revolved around who`d be the backbone of the team for Sexton for the 1977-78 season after Docherty and could Sexton improve the United team to win as he`d done with the Chelsea side he`d also inherited from Tommy, `the Doc`, Docherty.

 Osgood had been in the Southampton team that had beaten United 0-1 in the 1976 F.A. Cup Final in the twilight of the England centre forward`s career, but Sexton had had the dynamic and forceful England captain at QPR, Gerry Francis, and speculation was rife that he`d bring the superstar performer to Old Trafford where he`d command the `serried ranks against the foe`1 (Sam: 2. 8) The reputed fee was 450,000 GBP and United had already lost out to Liverpool on Kenny Dalglish`s much heralded 440,000 GBP move from Scotland`s Glasgow Celtic to improve his soccer experience in England and replace English striker, Kevin Keegan, who`d opted to leave Merseyside for Germany`s Hamburg SV to broaden his own experience after Liverpool`s crushing 3-1 victory over Germany`s Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1977 European Cup Final. As it turned out the rumors weren’t enough to persuade QPR to part with England captain Francis` undoubtedly great talent as a skilful midfield dynamo and goalscorer, so what would Sexton do? Gordon Hill, Manchester United`s left winger, substituted by tenacious Irish midfielder, David McCreery, in successive F.A. Cup Finals to bolster United`s defence when it looked as if they`d lose by more or lose their lead, was top scorer in consecutive seasons for United (1976-8), but Sexton decided to sell him to Derby County for 250,000 GBP and bring Wrexham`s Mickey Thomas from Wales to play on the left side of midfield. Most commentators believed the sale of Hill contributed to Sexton`s failure, but Dave had other contributions to make before leaving.

 The giant Scots` centre forward and centre back pairing at Leeds United, Joe Jordan (350, 000 GBP) and Gordon McQueen (495, 000 GBP), were brought to rectify a flaw many had perceived at the heart of the United defence, where Brian Greenhoff, a converted midfielder, had often looked too small to deal with towering opposition centre forwards like Peter Osgood, for example, which had left Scotland centre back, Martin Buchan, with often too much to do. It was also felt that United`s forward line had lacked height for many seasons since the decline of Brian Kidd, who`d scored against Benfica of Lisbon with his head as a 19 year old replacement for injured `King` Denis Law against the Portuguese side in the 4-1 European Cup Final triumph of 1968, but Kidd hadn`t fulfilled expectations after scoring a career high 15 league goals at Manchester United in his debut season, and it was expected that Joe Jordan`s height would now make itself felt in goals in an area United had been deficient since Kidd`s seasons` tally began to fall away drastically after Docherty`s arrival to replace Frank O` Farrell in December 1972 when Brian had 8 goals so far for the campaign. Brian Kidd would score but 2 more that season, and 4 in 1972-73 followed by 2 in 1973-74 when United were relegated at season`s end.

 Although Sexton gave an opportunity to Irish `keeper Paddy Roche in the 1977-78 season in which he made 19 appearances, Paddy`s performances towards the middle of the 1975-76 season when Tommy Docherty had inexplicably decided to drop England `keeper, Alex Stepney, and promote the raw young Irishman to put himself between the ball at the striker`s foot and the net, had been disastrous when it seemed as if United would sweep all before them that season on the wings of Steve Coppell and Gordon Hill. Roche was given a run of five consecutive matches in November, 1975. Although he kept the ball out of the net in two games, he lost ten goals in three losses to Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal. Roche didn`t make another appearance that season and the defeat to Manchester City 0-4 at Maine Road in the 4<sup>th</sup> round of the League Cup was accounted suicide when the reliable Stepney was available. United hadn`t won a domestic cup in well over a decade and the decision to select the untried Roche over the seasoned veteran, Stepney, contributed to Docherty`s final removal as a manager of unsound judgement.

 Dave Sexton promoted a young South African `keeper, Gary Bailey, aged 20, who made 28 appearances in the 1978-79 season. Bailey`d paid his own airfare to attend a Manchester United trial and became amongst the best `keepers of his generation, although he was blamed for letting in a headed Alan Sunderland goal after a seemingly innocuous left wing cross from over by the corner flag by Graham Rix in the final moments of the 1979 F.A. Cup Final. United had lost 2-3 in what was amongst the earliest games Gary played in the team. Ultimately it was Sexton`s farewell, because United never came closer to winning a trophy under Dave`s management. Bringing England playmaker, Ray `Butch` Wilkins, from Chelsea for 800, 000 GBP was a bold move forward. Wilkins would go on to captain England and United. Sexton`s successor, `Big Ron` Atkinson from West Bromwich Albion, would be grateful for `Butch`, who would score dramatically from long range in the 1983 F.A. Cup Final draw, 2-2, with Brighton And Hove Albion, before United won the replay, 4-0. United finished two points behind champions Liverpool in 1979-80 and a leggy 22 year old Irishman, Ashley Grimes, made 20 starts on the left side of midfield, scoring 3 goals. Although Joe Jordan managed to get into double figures in 1979-80 (13) and 1980-81 (15), it wasn`t enough to keep Sexton at Manchester United. Irish defender, Kevin Moran, had emerged at centre back and would remain there for many seasons, but Yugoslavian defender, Nikolai Jovanovic, brought from Red Star Belgrade where he scored 50 goals in 359 appearances was much less impressive in the 19 starts Sexton gave him in the 1980-81 season. Paying a club record transfer fee of 1, 000, 000 GBP for Nottingham Forest striker, Gary Birtles, who started 25 times without finding the net, brought Sexton the sack.

 Ron Atkinson`s 1983 F.A. Cup winning side was but the first of only two trophy successes at the club during Atkinson`s tenure as manager. Bailey, McQueen, Moran, Wilkins and Grimes would be the Sexton imports and promotions present in the 1983 line up, while the 1-0 1985 F.A. Cup team would still contain Bailey and former Gaelic football star, Kevin Moran. Sexton had unearthed a `keeper and eventually a centre back, but Ron sent Gary Birtles back to Forest. Atkinson would sell `Butch` Wilkins to Forest at a time when he had the new England captain, powerhouse Bryan Robson, brought from his old club WBA to make a complete England midfield, but `Big Ron` sold Ray to Italian soccer giants A. C. Milan for 1, 500, 000 GBP, as later he`d sell newly emerged young Welsh striking hero Mark Hughes to Barcelona for 2, 000, 000 GBP in a Summer `86 move that further branded him susceptible to European glamour clubs looking to prey on Ron`s weakness for loving the limelight of the newspapers` sports` pages at the expense of the club`s fortunes.

 After beginning the 1985-86 season, with three consecutive defeats, Ron was sacked by the United board in November 1986 after a 4^th round League Cup exit to Southampton with the club languishing second to bottom in the championship race. Legendary Rangers` centre forward, Scot Alex Ferguson, was brought from Aberdeen, where he`d been the only manager outside of the big Glasgow clubs, Rangers and Celtic, to win a European trophy; the Cup Winners` Cup in 1983. Docherty, Sexton and Atkinson had managed United out of the Matt Busby era of five championships between 1952 and 1967, but the title had eluded all of them. Hughes was pointedly returned by Alex Ferguson in the Summer of `88 for a club record 1, 800, 000 GBP from where he was playing for Germany`s Bayern Munich to commence the 1988-89 season as Manchester United`s centre forward. The F.A. Cup was subsequently won in 1990, with Mark Hughes putting United in front at 2-1 with a confusingly rare left foot shot into the top right corner from the left of the penalty area in the 62^nd minute, before extra time and an equalizer for the physically indefatigable Hughes receiving a through ball from Paul Ince and driving a shot along the ground past the onrushing Crystal Palace `keeper into the bottom left corner to level the score at 3-3 in the 113<sup>th</sup> minute. United won the replay 1-0 with a goal from left full back, Lee Martin, who`d run speculatively upfield before surprisedly receiving the ball on his chest on the edge of the area and, finding it fall at his feet nicely, ran on to blast it high into the roof of the net with no little glee.

 Victory for Manchester United in the European Cup Winners` Cup in 1991 followed upon their F.A. Cup Final success of 1990, with Hughes getting both goals in the 2-1 victory over Barcelona. The European Super Cup was won against Red Star Belgrade, 1-0, in 1991, and the League Cup, 1-0, against Nottingham Forest, in 1992, with Hughes` striking partner, Brian McClair, brought from Celtic to start the 1987-88 campaign for 850, 000 GBP, getting the single goal on both occasions. But it`d be twenty six years after their first championship win in 1907-08, under the stewardship of Ernest Mangnall, before in 1992-93 Hughes` stolid reliability as a finisher, combined with occasional genius in front of goal, brought to Old Trafford`s Theatre Of Dreams Manchester United`s eighth championship and the first of the thirteen Alex would eventually win for the club before his retirement season`s last league title in 2012-13.

 Alex Ferguson`s eye for a striker was by then legendary after signing such devastating forwards as Mark Hughes (120), Brian McClair (88), Eric Cantona (64), Dwight Yorke (48), Andy Cole (93), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (91), Teddy Sheringham (31), Ruud Van Nistelrooy (95), Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov (48) so, when United`s spirit seemed exhausted in losing the title on goal difference to Manchester City in 2011-12, noone was surprised as Alex went to North London rivals Arsenal and bought Dutchman, Robin Van Persie for 24, 000, 000 GBP, to score the 26 goals in Ferguson`s last season that won the championship and a hero`s farewell for the manager.

1 https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/view.cgi?bk=9&ch=8 .