Brian McClair

Arriving at Manchester United at the beginning of the 1987-88 season, Brian McClair had won the Scottish FA Cup in 1985 and the Scottish league championship in 1986 as a goalscoring centre forward brought to Old Trafford by Alex Ferguson who bore a strikers` resemblance to future United captain, Bryan Robson, as a player for `Gers.

  For many years the taboo against playing for both Glasgow Celtic and Rangers remained until striker, Alfie Conn, who`d been transferred to England`s Tottenham Hotspur (1974-77) from Protestant Rangers (1968-74), went to the green hoops of Catholic Celtic (1977-79), where he scored 32 goals after netting 38 for `Spurs` and 93 for Rangers. Former `Gers centre forward, Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager (1986-2013), had no such taboo against Celtic players to enforce at traditionally Catholic United and McClair was brought to lead the line after Ferguson`s appointment at the start of the 1986 campaign failed to produce a trophy.  

 Indeed, Manchester United would be trophyless until 1989-90 despite McClair`s tally of 24 league goals in his first season, which established his place in the team and, although he was never really effective as a forward, Brian found favour with Ferguson in what was initially a midfield support role familiar to United fans from the days of Sammy McIlroy (1971-81) who`d begun as a centre forward as `the last of the Busby babes` nurtured by legendary manager, Matt Busby, scoring in a 3-3 draw against Manchester City at Old Trafford in the 1971-72 campaign and was preferred by succeeding manager, Tommy Docherty, in a midfield support role after the team was relegated and promoted in successive seasons (1973-75) before winning the only trophy of Docherty`s tenure, the FA Cup in 1977 with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool who were almost treble winners that season but for the Wembley upset as the Merseyside giants` league championship side went on to beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 in the European Cup Final of that year. Super `Sam` had almost won the FA Cup the previous season for United but had inexplicably hit the left hand post with a header when it seemed impossible that it shouldn`t go in and the Old Trafford outfit had lost 0-1 to Second Division Southampton and a late `sucker punch` from Bobby Stokes in a Southampton counter attack after United had dominated throughout. Just as McIlroy`s goals dried up under pressure with his highest number of goals scored being 10 in 1975-76, so McClair reached double figures only thrice more, 10 in 1988-89, 13 in 1990-91, and 18 in 1991-92, in a `converted` goalscoring midfield support role.

 In a distinguished career Brian McClair emulated two Manchester United legends, Arthur Albiston (1974-88), Scotland`s left back, and England`s captain, Bryan Robson (1981-94), who both won three FA Cup winners` medals in a period of relative mediocrity. Arthur had been fortunate that an injury had kept Stewart Houston out of the 1977 FA Cup Final, but appearances in the 1983 Final against Brighton and Hove Albion (2-2 and 4-0 in the replay) and Everton in the 1985 Final (1-0) were the record breaking highlights of a fourteen year career at Old Trafford`s `Theatre of Dreams`. Midfield powerhouse Bryan Robson arrived when his manager, Ron Atkinson at West Bromwich Albion, decided he couldn`t accept the job in Manchester unless Robson went with him. Bryan signed in 1981 for a then record transfer fee of 1.5 million GBP but received only 1983 and 1985 Cup Final winners` medals for his dynamic efforts until Ferguson and McClair`s arrival and Manchester United began to fulfil their potential as the club with the greatest support globally and the financial wherewithal to rise from a falsely mediocre position that had embarrassed Old Trafford since Matt Busby (1945-69) had managed the club to European Cup Final victory over Benfica (4-1) in 1968.

 Although McClair scored only 5 times in 1989-90, his support from midfield was a factor contributory to Manchester United`s first trophy under Ferguson and since the FA Cup Final victory over Everton in 1985 overseen by `Big Ron` Atkinson. The victory was Robson`s third and last; even though a very young United side would win the FA Cup without him in 1994 while he was still a vital part of the championship winning squad that term. McClair would be a part of that success too, although he`d come off the substitutes` bench to score the fourth goal against Chelsea in the 92^nd minute. Notable by their absence, McClair and centre half, Steve Bruce, didn`t make the 1996 FA Cup Final in which `Fergie`s Fledglings`, who`d won the double in 1993-94, were going for the FA Cup again after winning the championship in 1995-96. United won against Liverpool 1-0 after a typically mercurial performance from inspirational captain and French centre forward, Eric Cantona, who scored in the 85<sup>th</sup> minute with a volley through a crowd of Liverpool players inside the `keeper`s area. McClair and Bruce were surprisingly omitted but, after winning the Scottish FA Cup in 1985, the Scot did have three FA Cup Final winners` medals and so had emulated England captain, Bryan Robson, and fellow Scot, Arthur Albiston, left back for his country and United.

 McClair`s spell at United was rewarded with more than two FA Cup winners` medals to add to his Scots` Cup medal and league championship. Robson`s perseverance was rewarded by a winners` medal in the European Cup Winners` Cup Final of 1991 against Barcelona (2-1), followed by the European Super Cup (1-0) in which McClair scored the winning goal against European Cup holders, Red Star Belgrade, in the 67^th minute. A league Cup winners` medal in 1992 following a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest with a goal from McClair in the 14<sup>th</sup> minute, before United`s first championship in twenty-seven years in the 1992-93 season, were rewards for injury prone Robson and squad player Brian, who both kept persevering and picking up trophies with just a few significant appearances towards the conclusion of fine career contributions. In 1992-93 and 1993-94, Bryan Robson made 14 and 15 appearances respectively and picked up a championship medal on each occasion before ending his career at United, while McClair also kept up appearances and claimed a championship winners` medal in his penultimate season of 1996-97 with his lowest number of appearances (19), before a trophyless 1997-98 (13) season saw the end of a United playing career that was never anything less than doggedly determined and fiercely understated in its illustriousness.

Soccer Tsar Andrei Kanchelskis

Manchester United right winger, Andrei Kanchelskis, played for the Soviet Union of Socialist Republics (USSR), known as the Soviet Union before the Russian Federation was brought into being by President Mikhail Gorbachev on December 25, 1991. Before the USSR became the Russian Federation a Russian Soviet team that had qualified for the 1992 European soccer championships played under the flag of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which consisted of those nations of Eastern Europe that would be a part of the new Russian Federation, while others would remain independent (CIS) and some would join the European Union that had come into being in 1958 as a group of nations in Western Europe aiming to help each other economically.

 The European Economic Community (EEC) became the European Union (EU) in 1993 after its political aims expanded until it was a part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with a defence system shared with the United States and others. The Commonwealth of Independent States` soccer team was important for Eastern Europe because it represented the goal of a European Commonwealth inclusive of Russia, who had players in the squad, and not a federation of states described as Russian because controlled by Russia in what was a new Soviet system of centralized government from the Russian capital, Moscow.

 Andrei Kanchelskis had begun his soccer career with Ukraine`s Dynamo Kiev (1998-90) before leaving for another Ukrainian club, Shaktar Donetsk, where he was a member of the team that won the Russian cup in 1990. Of Lithuanian origin, Kanchelskis was born in the Ukraine but chose to play for Russia 59 times scoring 7 goals. Alex Ferguson signed Andrei in 1991 for Manchester United and in 1992 he was a member of the multinational squad that took part as the Commonwealth of International States (CIS) in the European Championships in which the side finished 8^th overall.

 The results of the Commonwealth of Independent States` (CIS) team were afterwards transferred to the Russian Federation national side and Andrei Kanchelskis participated in the 1996 European Championships as a member of the Russian Federation team. Andrei played in all three CIS games against Germany, 1-1, Holland, 0-0 and Scotland, 0-3, in which Manchester United`s centre forward, Brian McClair, in his 26^th international appearance, scored his first for Scotland and the team`s second in the 16<sup>th</sup> minute after his shot was deflected past CIS `keeper, Dmitri Kharine, by left full back, Kakhaber Tskhadadze. In Euro` `96 Russia finished bottom of their group and Kanchelskis played in defeats against Italy, 1-2, and Germany, 0-3, but was omitted for the final drawn game against the Czech Republic, 3-3.

 Andrei Kanchelskis was the first choice right winger at Old Trafford until future England captain, David Beckham, made his debut in a 1994-95 season in which United failed to win a trophy despite appearing in the FA Cup Final against Everton, 0-1. The following 1995-96 season Andrei was transferred to Everton and David, who`d made just four first team appearances the previous season, began to emerge as the dominant right sided midfield star of his generation with 33 appearances and 7 goals. During his years at the Theatre Of Dreams, the Russian winger collected medals in the European Super Cup (1991), the English League Cup (1992), the English championship (1993 and 1994) and the FA Cup (1994), which included the elusive league and cup double (1994) that had only previously been achieved in the modern era by Tottenham Hotspur (1960-61), Arsenal (1970-71) and Liverpool (1985-86).

 Manchester United was becoming a political force as they prepared one of their players to play for a team that included Russia as a member of an international organization of nations, that is, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), rather than as a central governor of unfree states, which is what the Soviet Union had been and the Russian Federation would be after the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Because Andrei had played for an Eastern European union the possibility of a European Union with Russia as a member was mooted.

 Although politics isn`t generally felt to be a part of soccer`s remit, Manchester United`s triumph in the European Cup of 1999 was followed by the club`s acceptance of the invitation to play against Palmeiras of Brazil in the Final of the Intercontinental Cup which the English based team won, 1-0, thanks to a goal from Irish midfield supremo, Roy Keane, who arrived at the far post to drive in a pinpoint left wing cross from Welsh wing wizard, Ryan Giggs, in the 35^th minute. United were making friends in South America and the next time they played for the World Club Championship against Ecuador`s LDU Quito in the Final they`d three South American players in the starting line-up, Brazilian right back Rafael, midfield creator Anderson of Brazil, and centre forward Carlos Tevez of Argentina, both of whom had helped the side at Moscow`s Luzhniki stadium beat Chelsea on penalties in the European Cup Final of 2008 to qualify for the World Club Championship Finals in Japan.

 Star right winger, Portugal`s Cristiano Ronaldo, missed in the penalty shoot out against Chelsea after scoring with a header to give United the lead. Chelsea midfielder, Frank Lampard, had tapped in from close range just before half time after a long range shot by Michael Essien was deflected; first off central defender, Nemanja Vidic, and then off his defensive partner Rio Ferdinand. `Keeper Edwin Van Der Sar lost his footing trying to recover and Lampard pounced. The game finished 1-1 and Brazil`s Anderson took the first penalty for United in the shoot out and scored. Anderson had come on as a substitute for defender Wes Brown at right full back. Wes had put in the cross from out wide for Ronaldo to score the United goal in normal time with a header. After added extra time Argentina`s Carlos Tevez scored from his spot kick in the penalty shoot out to decide the winners, but Ronaldo missed and Chelsea centre forward, Nicholas Anelka too. Ryan Giggs got the winner after Chelsea captain, centre back John Terry, fell on his arse in the rain and hit the post.

 Manchester United had appeared in the Intercontinental Cup Final on one other occasion after wining the European Cup in 1968. Played over two legs home and away, United faced Estudiantes of Argentina and lost, 1-2, on aggregate. Juan Ramon Veron, the `little witch`, Estudiantes` right winger, had crossed for forward Marcos Conigliaro to give the Argentinians a 28<sup>th</sup> minute lead to take to Old Trafford. Veron himself scored from a header in the 7<sup>th</sup> minute at the Theatre Of Dreams and a late goal from the boot of right winger, Willie Morgan, in the 90<sup>th</sup> minute wasn`t enough to win the trophy for United. But the club had won friends in South America. Unlike Liverpool who refused to play against the Argentine side, Boca Juniors, in consecutive seasons after winning the European Cup in 1977 and 1978.

 Although Liverpool agreed to play Brazilian team Flamengo in 1981 and lost, 0-3, the single game took place in Japan, and the Falklands war with Argentina broke out in 1982 over dictator General Galtieri`s invasion of the small group of islands under British government close to the Argentine mainland on the South American continent. Liverpool`s refusal to participate in a two leg encounter with Boca Juniors at Anfield and La Boca in Buenos Aires was because of prejudice against players from a nation Alf Ramsay described as `animals` when he was the manager of England`s World Cup winners in 1966. A Geoff Hurst hat trick against Germany won the World Cup for England, and just as the wave of feeling for Manchester United went some way to healing the rift between the English and the Germans after World War Two (1939-45) when the team`s plane crashed at Munich`s airport on February 6, 1958, and several players lost their lives as they prepared for the upcoming World Cup in Sweden, so Liverpool`s taking the hand of friendship with Boca Juniors could have lessened feelings of hostility between the people of the United Kingdom and Argentina. Germany`s World Cup loss of 1966 wasn`t felt so bitterly, because of the bridges Manchester United had built with the German people after Munich. Borussia Monchengladbach grasped the hand of the Argentinians in 1977, although the German side lost, 2-5, on aggregate, while Boca Juniors would again have been Liverpool`s opponents in the 1978 Intercontinental Cup Final, but the Anfield team wouldn`t travel to South America and the competition was cancelled; even though the 1978 World Cup Finals were to be played in Argentina and the English players needed the experience.

 Manchester United won the European Cup Final of 2008 against London`s Chelsea, at Moscow`s Luzhniki stadium in Russia, while their Russian winger, Andrei Kanchelskis, was prepared to play for a United Europe team in the 1992 European nations` championship, because a European Union inclusive of Russia is desirable. Friendship with South America is the prize for teams who win in Europe and Manchester United are sporting ambassadors for the world, because they choose not to hide from the responsibility which goes with global renown. To compete for the World Club Cup with European sides, the South American teams have to win the Copa Libertadores, which is the cup of freedom, that is, the cup of the liberators of South America, whereas Liverpool was the centre of the slave trade with the United States of America that, at its peak in 1799, transported by ship 45,000 slaves per annum to the Southern States of the Union. Refusing to compete for freedom`s cup suggests a preference for slavery rather than a United Europe or a United America.

 Manchester United`s England captain, David Beckham, won Major League Soccer`s (MLS) champions` cup with Los Angeles Galaxy of the United States` Western Conference (2011, 2012), so the L.A. Galaxy could compete for the World Club Cup of a United America and Europe. Liverpool`s failure to try to win for freedom against Boca Juniors of South America and make representations on behalf of Europe for peace before the Falklands war seems to have been what Liverpool`s winning of the old English divisions were for. To make war for Europe and divide America to maintain slavery. Liverpool were kicked out of the European Cup competition for their fans` killing Italian supporters of Juventus at the 1985 Final. With a reduced number of teams competing and three points for a win rather than two, Manchester United won the new English Premier league title of 1992-93 with Andrei Kanchelskis on the right wing; whatever his politics. Lithuania became a member of the European Union in 2004 while the Ukraine had become an independent nation in 1991. Lithuanian soccer star, Andrei Kanchelskis, born in Ukraine, chose to play on the right wing for Russia. He wasn`t hiding from Liverpool in South America; even though he had played for Everton.

Praying For A Wing

Manchester United have always had a simple playing policy, which is to find the best wingers, like legendary manager, with 13 league titles, Alex Ferguson, found David Beckham (1993-2003) and Ryan Giggs (1990-), to make the forwards responsible for scoring goals, because of a plentiful supply of excellent opportunities, which worked with players like the beligerent and occasionally miraculous Mark Hughes (1980-86, 1988-95) who, never known for bagging hatfuls of goals, got his highest total of 17 in 1985-86 when Danish left winger, Jesper Olsen (1984-88), was the provider.

 Welshman Hughes` strike rate didn`t improve, but he was Mr Reliable. Hughes always got into double figures, mainly because of the speed and energy of United`s resourceful Ukrainian winger, Andrei Kanchelskis (1990-95). In Mark`s second spell at the club, after Ron Atkinson made the mistake that cost him the manager`s job and sold Hughes to Barcelona, Kanchelskis and Lee Sharpe (1988-96) provided support along the right and left flanks, while later Ferguson additions, England`s Andy Cole (1994-2002), Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (1996-2007), and Trinidadian Dwight Yorke (1998-2002) were more natural goalscorers and found it less arduous to find the net.

 Gary Birtles (1980-82) was a great performer for Nottingham Forest with Brian Clough as manager when Forest won the European Cup twice in succession (1979, 80), but Birtles was heavily criticized at Old Trafford for putting the ball in the net only once in 25 appearances after United manager, Dave Sexton, had Gary transferred to Manchester for 1.25 million GBP at the beginning of the 1980-1 campaign. Sexton was ultimately sacked because he preferred to bring left midfielder, Mickey Thomas (1978-81), from Wrexham for 300, 000 GBP, although United already had an excellent wing pairing of Steve Coppell (1975-83) and Gordon Hill (1975-78).  But Sexton sold United`s top goalscorer, Hill, for the seasons 1976-77 (15) and 1977-78 (17), before commencement of the 1978-79 season, and although Gary Birtles had joined from Nottingham Forest as a proven forward who`d won everything in the English game and European honours too, Mickey Thomas` industry on the left of midfield wasn`t enough to assist the new striker, who`d been used to a skilful provider in  wingman, Trevor Francis, and a Forest side brimful with enthusiasm and expectation of success based on a series of triumphs and displays of goalscoring prowess from the forwards.

 Dave Sexton had begun the 1977-78 campaign as manager after replacing Tommy Docherty, who`d installed Steve Coppell to replace ageing right wing and Scotland captain, Willie Morgan (1968-75), who`d been signed by United`s other legendary manager, Matt Busby, after the club`s first European Cup win of 1968 at Wembley against Portuguese champions from Lisbon, Benfica, 4-1. Busby wanted to move Irish winger, George Best (1963-74), from the wing into a more central forward role so Best`s goalscoring flair could be fully utilized in front of goal. Ironically, George`s goals tally increased but the team lost impetus after his move from out wide and won nothing until Willie captained the side out of the Second Division in 1974-75 as champions. After replacing Morgan with Coppell, Tommy Docherty seemed to have made a mistake similar to Busby`s with Best`s wide talent when switching the wing effectiveness of Irishman Gerry Daly (1973-77) into midfield from the left and replacing him with Gordon Hill, but for a while it seemed to have worked. Stuart Pearson (1974-79) appeared as England`s centre forward between Hill and Coppell for an England U-23 European Championship Quarter Final against Hungary at Old Trafford in March, 1976, which England won, 3-1. Hill scored in the 74^th minute, but Hungary had won 0-3 in Budapest. The Hungarians went on to lose to Russia in the Final, but the new England trio of Pearson, Coppell and Hill had almost got the team through. United prayers seemed to have been answered by wings.

 Ultimately it was the removal of Gordon Hill from Manchester United that was manager Dave Sexton`s downfall, because he preferred industry to flair. Although Manchester United won the FA Cup with Hill`s style and panache, tenacious Irish midfield destroyer, David McCreery (1974-79), had displaced the England winger after being brought on as substitute for Gordon in successive FA Cup Finals (1976, 77) when Tommy Docherty had feared his team might concede a goal rather than score another. United`s tremulousness with regard to out and out wing play after Morgan`s arrival and Best`s move inside brought only three further domestic trophies, the FA Cup (1977, 1983 and 1985), after the league title of 1966-67, before Alex Ferguson`s reign as United`s most successful manager of all time began in 1986. Among Ferguson`s signings was Southampton`s winger, Danny Wallace (1989-93), but it was the 1988 signing of 17 year old Lee Sharpe from Torquay as a dazzlingly brilliant left wing at speed that would satisfy Alex`s future ambitions.

 Many had thought that Gordon Strachan, who`d been brought from Ferguson`s previous Scottish champions and European Cup Winners` Cup winners (1983), Aberdeen, by manager Ron Atkinson, who`d replaced Sexton, would renew the successful partnership the pair had in Scotland, but Strachan was a right sided midfielder rather than a winger and was transferred to Leeds. Despite finishing second in the table to Liverpool in 1987-88, a nine point gap didn`t inspire confidence, so Ferguson replaced Strachan with out and out wide man Wallace. Manchester United were to return to the traditional style of serving the forwards with the best opportunities from wingers who could get penetration and the emergence of young striker, Mark Hughes, from within the youth team ranks at Old Trafford set the stage for a feast of excitement as wingers dribbled speedily, swerving around opposition defenders to serve up the ball on a plate for forwards to feed their opponent`s always expectant goalmouth.

 Tommy Docherty was dismissed by the club for a lack of adventure, especially in the transfer market, when players like Celtic and Scottish captain, Kenny Dalglish, were available. Dalglish replaced forward, Kevin Keegan, who left Liverpool for Germany`s Hamburg S.V., after he`d helped win the 1977 European Cup for the Anfield outfit in a 3-1 victory over Germany`s Borussia Monchengladbach. Although Sexton agreed terms to bring Gerry Francis, the dynamically visionary tenacious England captain and midfield general, from previous club Queens Park Rangers (Q.P.R), the deal fell through. Dave`s subsequent policy in the aftermath of failure in the transfer market was to promote industry, rather than buy skill. Prolific Nottingham Forest striker, Gary Birtles, had been used to playing alongside genius, like Trevor Francis, the former Birmingham City star winger, who Clough made England`s first 1m GBP player, but an industrious Manchester United bereft of skill left Gary too much to do alone.

 If wingers don`t play the ball in to target men, like Stuart Pearson, who was transferred by Manchester United`s Tommy Docherty from Second Division Hull City to score the goals that brought promotion after United themselves were relegated to the Second Division in the 1973-74 season, goals can only materialize from midfield and the efforts of forwards unsupplied by the wings. As wings and a prayer, Coppell, Hill and Pearson carried the team on for the goals that beat Liverpool in the 1977 FA Cup Final win, 2-1. United`s wings had carried the side forward the previous season only to lose to unfancied Second Division, Southampton, 0-1, but goals from striker Jimmy Greenhoff`s chest (1976-80), deflecting diminutive midfield dynamo Lou Macari`s (1973-84) strike past Liverpool `keeper Ray Clemence from the right of the area, had won the game. 

 Manchester United`s experienced Irish midfielder, Sammy McIlroy (1971-82), had headed the ball forward for Greenhoff, who had headed on further to Pearson, whose powerful low shot went between and beneath Clemence`s legs to open the scoring in the 51^st minute. Jimmy Case had equalized for Liverpool with a typical turn and strong right foot shot from just inside and centrally placed within the Manchester United area. Trapping a long through ball from the right boot of Liverpool full back, Joey Jones, wide on the left, Case had turned to blast the ball into the top right corner, past the despairing grasp of United `keeper Alex Stepney (1967-78) in the 53^rd minute, who doubtless feared successive FA Cup Final defeats would be unbearable, but Macari and Greenhoff worked some alchemical magic in the 55^th minute to eventually carry the day for the reds.

  At Manchester United it`s important they have the best wingers to carry the team forward and make the strikers score. If the goal machines don`t work with the best wings, the manager is justified in dispensing with forwards who can`t function.  Stuart Pearson scored goals off his elbows, knees, thighs, and the back of his head, when he wasn`t paying enough attention to the crosses from the heroes on the flanks who made him function in his position. Steve Coppell and Gordon Hill hit Pearson with the ball often, and as well as they could, but Pearson lived up to expectations by putting the ball in the net as much as he was able. Steve Coppell was the only winger to play along the flank at United for a while after Ron Atkinson took over the manager`s role, but the 4-3-3 system of two forwards and one winger took the club through to the FA Cup Final of 1983 where the team drew with Brighton, 2-2, before winning a replay at Wembley`s national stadium, London, 4-0.

 An injury to Steve Coppell ended his career just before the Final and his place was taken by Welsh right wing, Alan Davies (1982-85). The next season Davies scored United`s only goal as a substitute against Juventus in the home leg of the European Cup Winners` Cup Semi Final before the side lost in Turin, Italy, 2-1. `Big Ron` Atkinson had brought ageing left winger, Arthur Graham (1983-85), from Leeds and it almost brought victory against Juvé. Young Irish centre forward, Norman Whiteside (1982-89), had equalized after winger Graham had taken a pass from his full back, Arthur Albiston (1974-88), wide on the left. Arthur`s cross  found Irish utility player, Paul McGrath (1982-89), in the Juventus area and the defender, playing a midfield role, backheeled the ball for substitute Norman to crash a left foot shot high into the Italians` net.

 Norman Whiteside was the second youngest man ever to play in the first team against Brighton and Hove Albion away on April 24, 1982, aged 16. The next season he made 39 league appearances before contributing to Manchester United`s 1983 FA Cup Final success, which gave the club entry to the European Cup Winners` Cup of 1983-84. `Big Ron` had brought centre forward, Frank Stapleton (1981-87), who partnered Whiteside, from Arsenal for 900, 000 GBP as his first big transfer signing in 1981. Stapleton and cultured England central midfielder, Ray Wilkins (1979-84), brought from Chelsea by former manager, Dave Sexton, had scored the goals against Brighton in the drawn FA Cup Final of 1983, but United won the replay easily after Norman Whiteside got United`s third in the 30<sup>th</sup> minute with a header from a right wing cross by injured Steve Coppell`s replacement, Alan Davies. `Big Ron` had brought ageing left winger, Arthur Graham, from Leeds and it almost brought victory against Juvé in the European Cup Winners` Cup Semi Final. Seeing success came with wings, Atkinson brought the younger, Jesper Olsen, from Ajax Amsterdam to be newly emergent marksman Hughes` goal provider from the left wing in what were to be Mark`s most successful scoring seasons of 1984-85 (16) and 1985-86 (17), before the FA Cup Final triumph of 1985 in which Hughes` strike partner Norman Whiteside`s low curved shot from the right of the penalty area bent around `keeper Southall and snuck inside the far left post to beat Everton, 1-0, after United`s centre back Kevin Moran had been sent off and the team became ruggedly determined not to lose.

 If United are unsuccessful the onus is on the manager to improve the supply from the wings so that he can see if the forwards are up to the task, and if they`re not then he must get better players. Gary Birtles` goal dearth was due to Welshman Mickey Thomas` withdrawn midfield role, whereas Birtles` strike rate could only have been improved by the presence of prolific topscoring, Gordon Hill, jinking his way along the left touchline. Cutting inside to have a go solo, or putting over a cross onto the heads of the forwards, or a ball into their feet in front of the goal, Gordon Hill`s service would have brought thrill and spills and Gary Birtles would have scored a few he didn`t even consciously aim to bag in the midst of the storm.

 The first superstar Manchester United had was Welshman, Billy Meredith (1906-21), a winger, who helped the club to the FA Cup in 1909 and championships in 1907-08 and 1910-11. United`s next major trophy wasn`t until 1948 after WWI (1914-18) and WWII (1939-45) when Charlie Mitten (1946-50) and Jimmy Delaney (1946-50) were the wings. Matt Busby had seemingly turned to wide play in desperation but wingers were what soccer was about. Pulling opposition defenders around the pitch, clutching at shadows, so as to get their own players forward without being kicked, was the wingmen`s objective. Having shaken off their shadows, the wingers could play the ball into forwards who`d run upfield unhampered. The simple ploy had resulted in the more defensive playing system of a less creatively talented Leeds United team and their emulators. Under future England manager, Don Revie, Leeds took advantage of the single substitute ruling of 1965-66 to entrench the principle of stopping opponents from playing when you were ahead. In Italian soccer what was known as the catenaccio, that is, defend until certain opportunities for strikers arise, became endemic in the English game; to the extent that wingers disappeared and every schoolboy wanted to be a midfielder because the new substitute position was invariably filled by a utility player who primarily functioned as a stop gap central midfield jack of all trades and master of none who came onto the field to prevent play from developing against his team`s lead.

 The role of wingers had been to bedazzle and avoid being kicked because there weren`t substitutions before 1965-66. The belief that players were stronger then is a myth. The more central players gave the ball to the wingers who had to perform so that the other members of the team could run unimpeded and the onus was upon the wide player to make it easy for the forward to score or the manager would get a new winger. Soccer was changing after WWII because clubs had played with a single stopper centre half flanked by half backs. The modern era saw that wings were a consequence of fear and sides began to play with two mobile centre halves flanked by left and right full backs with a stronger, more creative midfield and a single winger. Players like George Best, who became forwards after a spell out wide, were expected to see that as a reward, whereas it was deleterious to the team to sacrifice a winger for goals that should be scored by forwards.

 Although George was very successful as a forward the club wasn`t. United had won the championship (1951-52, 1955-56 and 1956-57) but, although the wingers changed, that is, Johnny Berry (1951-58) and David Pegg (1952-58) for Delaney and Mitten, the centre back pairing still featured a stopper and a half back rather than two mobile centre halves, like `Dolly and Daisy`, the nickname given to Manchester United`s central defenders of the early Ferguson era, Steve Bruce (1987-96) and Gary Pallister (1989-96). Bill Foulkes (1951-70) and Nobby Stiles (1960-71) were the centre half and half back combination that won championships (1964-65 and 1966-67) with John Connelly (1964-66) and George Best on the right and left wings, before the introduction of two substitutes for tactical reasons in 1967-68 began to change the way in which defenders were selected.

 Tactical substitutions  homogenized the defence with the midfield through the preparation of utility players for the bench. All purpose defensive midfielders became indispensable and began to appear in all of the positions behind the forwards in front of the `keeper. John Aston (1965-72) was the man out wide on the left when United won the European Cup (1968), and when Busby brought Willie Morgan to the club from Burnley everything seemed set for further success but Matt retired and was replaced by coach Wilf McGuinness, who was so defensively minded that he refused to play prolific centre forward, `The King`, Denis Law (1962-73), in three attempts to beat Leeds United in the FA Cup Semi Final of 1970, which the team eventually lost to the only goal in a third replay.

 When Frank O` Farrell became manager after McGuinness` failure to change United to suit the modern era, he brought England left winger, Ian Storey-Moore (1972-74), from Nottingham Forest, but Ian didn`t survive the cloggers and was invalided out of the game of soccer. It was the period in which the tackle from behind was being outlawed so that strikers and creative players didn`t have fear of being chopped down by defenders they couldn`t see as they attempted to move forward. The outlawing of the tackle from behind made the game more skilful and exciting for fans who wanted to see the best from players.

 After being moved from the wing by United manager, Matt Busby, George Best had become an inside forward, but the gap out wide was too big for any one player to fill. The changing pattern of the modern game was confusing for United. With two substitutes permitted for tactical rather than injury reasons in 1967-68, attention focused on the centre back pairing and the desirability of playing with two wingers if a single sub would do for defensive cover. If centre halves were essentially full backs in different guise, either could be switched to the centre in the case of injury to a centrocampista, and vice versa, so a utility forward could be employed in the `sub` role, rather than another midfield half back. 

 The need for more defensive flexibility had resulted in United`s midfield tiger, Brian Greenhoff (1970-79), becoming a prototypical centre back of the modern era with Tommy Docherty`s team. Defensive flexibility was illustrated in manager Dave Sexton`s decision to prefer defender, Jimmy Nicholl (1974-82), at right back, before the 1979 FA Cup Final against Arsenal. Manchester United lost, 2-3, and Brian had expected to play in the right full back berth, but Jimmy who himself was a regular centre back, was preferred. Both were centre backs and Greenhoff was a half back, rather than a right back, but Nicholl was a right back and a centre back. Jimmy was preferred although Brian had played much of the season at right full back.

 Although Manchester United lost to Arsenal, defensive flexibility was further illustrated in centre back Gordon McQueen`s (1978-85) mobility and agility for the reds` first goal at 0-2. A right footed cross from a free kick by Coppell over near the right touchline found centre forward, Joe Jordan (1978-81), on the left of the Arsenal area and he drove it into the penalty area where McQueen slotted it home in front of goal in the 86th minute, 1-2. Sammy McIlroy equalized after a left footed forward pass over the Arsenal defence from near the centre circle found the midfielder in the Arsenal area in the 88th miinute, 2-2. McIlroy scored with a solo run and dribble but striker, Alan Sunderland, headed the winner for Arsenal from left winger Graham RIx`s cross wide on the left wing near the corner flag in the 89th, although improved defensive mobility would be United`s successful new strategy in the future.

 When Tommy Docherty took over in 1972 he`d continued the policy of the big centre half, Jim Holton and the half back, Martin Buchan. O` Farrell had inherited Ian Ure (1969-71) as the stopper bought by McGuinness from Arsenal to partner the more mobile Martin Buchan (1972-83). Frank had transferred Buchan from Aberdeen, and Docherty found future Scotland stopper, Jim Holton (1972-76), at Shrewsbury Town. It wouldn`t be until Kevin Moran (1978-88) and Martin Buchan were paired by Ron Atkinson in preference to the big stopper centre half Dave Sexton had bought from Leeds, Gordon McQueen (1978-85), that the future of paired mobile centre halves could be perceived as United and that was because the number of substitutes available was increased from two to five for the beginning of the season 1995-96, and that would be increased to seven for 2008-09, which meant that defensive and midfield cover could be given by a single player, like the new breed of utility half-back, Phil Jones (2011-), while specialist forwards appearing from the bench was an optimal solution that had become real.

 Brian Greenhoff`s role in an effectively seminal role alongside Martin Buchan in the heart of Tommy Docherty`s United defence showed the emphasis in the modern game would be upon mobility at the back and versatility amongst the forwards, because getting ahead became more possible after being behind if there was a fresh wide player to gee-up the striker amongst the `subs` as well as an all purpose half back. Always concerned to adopt the simplest and most effective route to glory, Alex Ferguson`s Manchester United threw caution to the winds and spread their wings to fly in Europe and bring home two more European Cups (1999, 2008) before the manager`s retirement led to greater caution, or perhaps more expansion with new manager, David Moyes (2002-13), who`d kept Everton afloat for a dozen seasons or so without winning anything, which didn`t augur well for a club used to celebrating triumphs on the wings and the prayers of the faithful supporters at the North Stand`s Stretford End.

 Soccer theory at Manchester United has been that the team will go forward if the wings are strong enough and, although the nickname of the `red devils` suggests bedevilment, angels have wings. Managers that bedevil the development of the club are devils to the team while defenders like Nemanja Vidic (2006-14) and Rio Ferdinand (2002-), mobile centre halves of Ferguson`s modern era, `devil` the opposition and wingers, like Cristiano Ronaldo (2003-09), who arrived from Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon to provide the impetus on the right flank for the 2008 European Cup win, raise the team to dizzying heights. Angels have wings and Manchester United are hell to play against, or so the opposition`s legend has it, so devils are welcome at other clubs and the better players have to look to Old Trafford to get a game and spread their wings further. If you`re fooled by the `red devils` image, you won`t fly on the wings of God at the Theatre Of Dreams.

The Diamond

The fallacy surrounding Manchester United in recent seasons has been that of the diamond, which is a tactical concept, and a strategical structure, deriving at Manchester United from the way in which Bobby Charlton was deployed in the 1960s, as a deep lying center forward, alongside hard-tackling midfield creator-destroyers, such as Maurice Setters, Paddy Crerand, David Sadler, or Nobby Stiles. Bringing into play with long range pinpoint passes, left and right wings, for example, Johnny Giles, John Connelly, John Aston, and George Best, a former left-wing himself, Charlton, known for success with his long range shooting and passing game in the second half of the 1950s, combined this with a short passing game of quick interchanges through the middle in the 1960s, carving out opportunities for forwards, who were twinned, that is, either Quixall, Herd, Law, Best, or Kidd, in their period of success. Beginning with the F.A. Cup Final win against Leicester City, 3-1, in 1963, and followed by Championship triumphs in 1964-65, and 1966-67, before a culminating victory in the European Champions’ Cup of 1968 against Benfica, 4-1, at London’s Wembley stadium, Charlton was United’s original diamond.

 The modern theory of the central midfield attacker, as an auxiliary forward, supporting a lone striker in front of him, isn’t what Manchester United did with their diamonds. Alongside England captain Bryan Robson (1982-91) in English manager Ron Atkinson’s early 1980s United team, which brought F.A. Cup success in 1983 and 1985, after Atkinson replaced Londoner, Dave Sexton, for the 1980-81 season, first sometime England captain (on 10 occasions) Ray Wilkins, and then Northern Irish converted striker, Norman Whiteside, in a two man midfield, were diamonds, like Robson. While Wilkins took the holding midfield role, and later Whiteside, after Wilkins was transferred to Italy’s A.C. Milan for £1.5m for the 1984-85 season, Robson was free to move forward in support of the forwards and vice versa. The player going up the field was the lower point of the diamond in tactical terms, while the left and right wings were the corners of the diamond, with the striker, if they struck on goal, constituting the sharper end.

 However, there were twin strikers, which was the point that remained underemphasized in the era after Scot Alex Ferguson’s managerial reign, with his 13 Championships, after being appointed to take over from Atkinson on 6^th November, 1986, largely dependent on that understanding of the diamond. With England’s Paul Scholes there, alongside Paul Ince, Roy Keane, Nicky Butt, Michael Carrick, or Darren Fletcher, after his debut in 1994-95, with 6 starts, and 11 further appearances from the substitutes’ bench, scoring 5 goals, Scholes went on to amass 11 league titles, 3 F.A. Cup winners  medals, 2 in the League Cup, 2 in the European Champions’ Cup, an Intercontinental Cup winners’ medal, and another in the World Club Cup, with several sets of twinned strikers ahead of him in the diamond.

 Scotland’s Brian McClair (1987-98; 88 goals) and Wales’ Mark Hughes (1980-86; 37, 1988-95; 83), and Mark Hughes and Frenchman Eric Cantona (1992-97; 64), were responsible for United’s early success under Ferguson’s stewardship, with the F.A. Cup in 1990, 3-3, a.e.t., and 1-0 in the replay, followed by the European Cup Winners’ Cup, 2-1 against Barcelona, and the Super Cup in 1991, 1-0 against Red Star Belgrade; the League Cup in 1992, 1-0 against Nottingham Forest, and the League Championship in 1993, followed by the F.A. Cup,  4-0 against Chelsea, and league double in 1994, which Scholes didn’t participate in, as a first team player.

 However, both McClair and Hughes were there for Scholes, when he made his debut in the 1994-95 season, although Hughes, ending the campaign on, below par for him, 8 league goals, was transferred to Chelsea for £1m, before the commencement of the 1995-96 season. United, with McClair, then deployed in a deeper, midfield role, Cantona, and diamond hard Scholes won the F.A. Cup, 1-0 against Liverpool, and league Championship double once more., and the Championship again in 1996-97, when Cantona then retired, aged 30.

 Trinidad and Tobago’s Dwight Yorke (1998-2002; 48) and England’s Andy Cole (1995-2001; 93), Norway’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (1996-2007; 91) and England’s Teddy Sheringham (1997-2001; 31), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the Netherlands’ Ruud van Nistelrooy (2001-06; 95), were ahead of Scholes’ diamond, as United completed the treble of league Championship, F.A. Cup winners, 3-0 against Newcastle United, and European Champions’ Cup winners, 2-1, against Bayern Munich, in 1999, as well as Intercontinental Cup winners, 1-0 against Brazil’s Palmeiras. League titles followed in rapid succession; 1999–2000, 2000–01, and 2002–03, and the F.A. Cup in 2004, 3-0 against Millwall, at the Millenium Stadium, city of Cardiff, Wales, while Wembley, London, was being rebuilt.

 The partnerships of Ruud van Nistelrooy and France’s Louis Saha (2004-08; 28), Louis Saha and England captain (2014-17) Wayne Rooney (2004-17; 183), Wayne Rooney and England’s Alan Smith (2004-07; 7), and Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney, brought League Cup success in 2006, 4-0 against Wigan Athletic, and further successive titles; 2006–07, and the treble of 2007–08 league title, European Champions’ Cup, 1-1, a.e.t., and 6-5 on penalties against Chelsea, with Ronaldo failing to find the net, Chelsea captain, England’s center half, John Terry, slipping in the rain, and hitting the post, and France’s center forward, Nicholas Anelka, having his spot kick saved by United’s Dutch ‘keeper, Edwin van der Sar, so making Wales left-winger Ryan Giggs’ successful penalty the winner, and World Club Cup, 1-0, with a goal from Wayne Rooney after Nemanja Vidić was sent off, against LDU Quito of Ecuador.

 The pairings of Wayne Rooney and Argentina’s Carlos Tevez (2007-09; 19), Carlos Tevez and Bulgaria’s Dimitar Berbatov (2008-12; 48), Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, Dimitar Berbatov and Mexico’s Javier Hernández (2010-15; 37), Wayne Rooney and England’s Danny Welbeck (2008-14; 20), and Wayne Rooney and Dutchman Robin van Persie (2012-15; 48), brought the League Cup, 0-0, a.e.t., and 4-0 on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur, and league Championship double to Old Trafford in 2008-2009, followed by a successful defense of the League Cup in 2010, 2-1 against Aston Villa, and what might have been the last of Ferguson’s titles in 2010–11, when Scholes decided to retire, as a player, to join the United first-team coaching staff, after disappointedly being left out of the sides that lost to Spain’s Barcelona in the Champions’ Cup Finals of 2009 and 2011.

 However, with Darren Fletcher injured in 2011-12, when United lost the title to City rivals on a goal difference alone of 8, with both clubs on 89 points, on January 8^th, 2012, Paul resumed his diamond role in the F.A. Cup 3^rd Round defeat of Manchester City, 3-2, away. In 2012–13 the last of Ferguson’s titles was won, and is how Paul Scholes won with United’s diamonds.

 With the exception of Louis van Gaal (2014-16), appointed subsequent to his role as the Dutch national team manager at the 2014 World Cup, where Holland finished third, beating hosts Brazil, 3-0, Portugal’s José Mourinho (December 18^th 2016-2018), and the Netherlands’ Erik Ten Hag, appointed as former United center forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s successor on April 21^st, 2022, successive Manchester United managers failed to approach the same level of success as Ferguson, primarily because of their failure to understand the importance of the diamond to the team.

 Van Gaal thought he could play three center halves, that is, Wales’ Jonny Evans, England’s Phil Jones, and Chris Smalling, with Argentine center half, or left back, Marcos Rojo, bought from Portugal’s Sporting CP for £16m, left back Luke Shaw, bought from Southampton for £30m, and defensive midfielder, the Netherlands’ Daley Blind, bought from Ajax for £14m, later added to the possible triumvirate, Gaal’s strategy was allied to former wingers, in the role of wing halves, as both full backs, Ecuador’s Antonio Valencia and England’s Ashley Young, had been right and left wingers, before they were switched by Ferguson to defense. A tactic harking back to the 1900s, when United had a famous half back line of Duckworth, Roberts and Bell, who won the Championship in 1908 and 1911, and the F.A. Cup Final in 1909, against Bristol City, 1-0.

 Gaal experimented until victory, 2-1, a.e.t., in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, against Crystal Palace, although by the time the line ups were announced, it was clear the Dutchman had accepted the United way and a team had taken the field at Wembley stadium employing the usual two man midfield, wingers, and twin strikers. Although Wayne Rooney, United’s all-time top goal scorer, was billed to appear in the Paul Scholes’ diamond role in midfield, behind Marcus Rashford, as the lone striker. Valenica started the match, and Ashley Young came on in the 72^nd minute as a left winger, as Italy’s Matteo Darmian had already replaced Rojo at left back in the 66^th minute, where they flanked Daley Blind, and Chris Smalling, who was sent off in the 105^th minute of extra time for holding onto the left leg of Palace left wing, Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Yannick Bolasie, to prevent his progressing up the field, in the center of defense.

 Carrick and Belgian’s Marouane Fellaini were in midfield, with Spain’s Juan Mata and France’s Anthony Martial on the left and right wings, while Wayne Rooney and Marcus Rashford were the twin strikers. England winger Jessie Lingard came on in the 90^th minute for Mata, who’d volleyed in left-footed a cross from Wayne Rooney into the penalty area, headed down by Marouane Fellaini, to equalize substitute Jason Puncheon’s 78^th minute goal in the 81^st minute, volleying in left side of the area at a narrow angle, However, it was Lingard who, in the 110^th minute, right of center, inside the 18 yard box, right footed, volleyed into the top left corner of the Palace net, 2-1.

 The win wasn’t enough to keep Gaal in the manager’s seat, and José Mourinho, arriving via Chelsea, where he’d managed ‘the Blues’ to the 2014-15 English Championship, as well as the League Cup that season, galvanized the players to win the club’s first Europa Cup Final, against Ajax, 2-0, and England’s League Cup again, bringing as a free agent Swedish striker, Zlatan Ibrahimović, age 34, from French club Paris Saint-Germain, to pair Marcus Rashford up front. Zlatan scored twice against Southampton, and United ran out winners, 3-2. Paul Pogba, winner of the 2011 F.A. Youth Cup with United, 6-3, home (4-1), but first leg away (2-2), on aggregate against Sheffield United, before leaving for Italy’s Juventus, was brought back by Mourinho for £89m to partner Spain’s Ander Herrera in midfield; bought by Gaal from Spanish side Athletic Bilbao at the start of his reign as United manager for £28.85m. However, Carrick and Fellaini weren’t overlooked, for example, Fellaini played in the diamond behind Zlatan in the defeat of Ajax, although Rooney’s farewell to the twin striker’s position occurred in the 90^th minute, when he came on as a substitute for Mata, and it wasn’t until the 77^th minute that Rashford came on for Lingard, in the diamond role behind the striker, to partner Ibrahimović in the EFL Cup win over S’ton, with ‘Ibra’ heading the winner in the 87^th minute, suggesting the traditional pairing of twin strikers at United was being challenged.

 Despite the arrival of Belgian center forward powerhouse, Romelu Lukaku, United’s failure to capture the 2018 F.A. Cup, losing the Final, 0-1, to a 22^nd minute Eden Hazard penalty for Chelsea, after center back Phil Jones had clumsily brought him down, led to Mourinho’s dismissal, and largely resulted from United’s playing a 4-3-3 system, with Pogba in the center of a midfield that also contained Serbia’s Nemanja Matić, bought for the 2017-18 season from Chelsea for £40m, and Herrera. Chilean forward Alexis Sánchez, ‘El Niño Maravilla’ (The Wonder Child), brought from Arsenal, in an ultimately disastrous January swap deal for the previous season’s Europa Cup winning team’s Armenian right winger, Henrik Mkhitaryan, Alexis would score only 3 times before joining Italy’s Inter Milan for their 2019-20 campaign. Together with Lingard and Rashford, substituted by Lukaku in the 73^rd, who was struggling to regain fitness after an injury, Alexis couldn’t prey with United’s clipped wings, while the squad was similarly lacking in inventiveness from a midfield diamond.

 United had to wait until the League Cup Final of 2023 for their next trophy, with Dutchman Erik Ten Hag, former center back with Eredivisie club Twente Enschede, before being appointed to coach Eerste Divisie’s Go Ahead Eagles to promotion to the Eredivisie in 2012-13. Ten Hag then coached Bayern Munich II to the Regionalliga Bayern in 2013-14, after being runners up in 2012-13, and again in 2014-15, before joining Eredivisie’s Utrecht, where in his first season the side lost 1-2 to Feyenoord in the 2016 KNVB Cup Final. Joining Ajax, Amsterdam, on December 28^th, 2017, the team had already been knocked out of the 2017-18 season’s KNVB. Erik won three out of the next four league titles, after winning the Eredivisie double in 2018-19, with a 4-0 win over Willem II in the KNVB Final; again in 2020-21, with a 2-1 win over Vitesse Arnhem in the KNVB, and the Eredivisie again in 2021-22, but losing the KNVB Final, 1-2, to PSV Eindhoven.

 Legendary Portuguese right winger, Cristiano Ronaldo, winner of the European Champions’ Cup with United in 2008, and 18 goals that season, after being sold to Real Madrid by Ferguson on June 26^th, 2009, for £80m, where he won a further four European Champions’ Cups, in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, was brought back by manager, Solskjaer, for the 2021-22 campaign for €15m from Italy’s Juventus, where CR7 had won Serie A titles in 2018-19 and 2019-20. However, Solskjaer, whose side were runners up in the league to City rivals, and Europa Cup finalists the previous season, 2020-21, losing 11-10 on penalties, a.e.t., after an equalizing strike from Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, 1-1, in the 55^th minute, was sacked on November 21^st, 2021, after a defeat, 1-4, away at Watford; leaving United 7^th in the table.

 Ten Hag was appointed on April 21^st, 2022, after German caretaker manager Ralf Rangnick’s side, on February 23^rd, 2022, drawing 1-1 away to Spain’s Atlético Madrid in the last 16 of the European Champions’ Cup, lost on March 15^th, 2022, 0-1, at Old Trafford. Rashford was ousted from the return leg starting line-up against Atlético by Sweden’s 19 year old Anthony Elanga. Coming on as a substitute in the 75^th minute for Rashford, Elanga had scored the 80^th minute equalizer in the 1-1 draw at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium. Put through by Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes, in the midfield diamond role, before striking right footed from the right side of the 18 yard box, low past Slovenian ‘keeper, Jan Oblak, into the bottom left corner of the goal, the inexperienced Elanga, 2 goals in the league, and three in total, before being transferred to Nottingham Forest for their 2023-24 season, started a game that United, eventually finishing 6^th that league term. needed to win at home, and didn’t.

 In the Europa Cup Final, Solskjaer had started with forwards Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani, and England’s Mason Greenwood, although Rashford and Greenwood were nominally left and right wings. With Fernandes as the diamond midfield creator, in front of central midfielders, Scot Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba, Ralf honored Bruno’s talent, but denied United their traditionally successful paired twin striker combination with wingers. When Rangnick’s team drew with Atlético in the last 16 of the Champions’ Cup, Ronaldo and England’s Jadon Sancho were nominally the wingers, although the absence of the second striker was palpable, and the same was true of the second leg at home, which they lost, 0-1, with Fernandes in the diamond behind Elanga for the most part, rather than the more experienced Rashford, 11 league goals that season.

 Ten Hag moved quickly in the transfer market, buying in from Ajax for £49m Argentine center back, Lisandro Martinez, and Dutch left back from Feyenoord for £13m, Tyrell Malacia, to strengthen the defense; Dane Christian Eriksen, as a free agent after a spell with Brentford, and the Brazilian Casemiro from Real Madrid for £60m, strengthened his midfield options, while Brazilian winger from Ajax, left footed, but preferring to deploy on the right wing, Anthony, bought for £82m, gave the team another attacking ploy. However, the role of Fernandes as the midfield diamond remained problematic, with the option of fielding a single winger, and two strikers, or three strikers, masquerading as left and right wingers, invariably prevailing to the detriment of the club’s desire for success.

 Although scoring 18 times in the 2020-21 league campaign, Bruno’s inability to fit into a midfield of two limited United’s striking capability, and the 2023 League Cup Final defeat of Newcastle United, 2-0, with on loan from Burnley, Wout Weghorst, at center forward, who didn’t score, to add to his league tally of 0 in 10 starts and 7 substitute appearances, further exacerbated the issue. As left footed Anthony appeared on the right wing, with center forward Rashford on the left, without a recognized goal scorer in the center. Although Casemiro, with a 33^rd minute header from England left back Luke Shaw’s free kick, and Rashford, with a 39^th minute strike, after being put through on goal by Weghorst, secured the trophy, it left the diamond looking rather offset.

 Moreso, after City rivals, en route to a historic treble, beating Inter Milan, 1-0, in the European Champions’ Cup Final on June 23^rd at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, after already securing the league title, with Arsenal losing at Nottingham Forest, 0-1, on May 20^th, with a game to play, and four points behind, then beat United, 2-1, in the June 3^rd F.A. Cup Final. United’s four man midfield, including Eriksen, labeled AM (auxiliary midfielder), deployed Casemiro and Brazilian Fred in the center. Fernandes, nominally on the right wing, did score an equalizing penalty in the 33^rd minute. Manchester City left wing, Jack Grealish was controversially adjudged by VAR technology, that is, video assistant referee, to have handled the ball, as England’s United right back, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, attempted to head on. However, with only center forward Rashford and left winger, Sancho, recognizable as forwards, the diamond was perceivably out of its setting.

 United had 9 defeats before January in the 2023-24 term, lying supine in 7^th, and didn’t qualify for the Europa Cup, finishing fourth in their Champions’ League group, although third was required, behind Germany’s Bayern Munich, Denmark’s Copenhagen, and Turkey’s Galatasaray. With one win against Copenhagen, 1-0, at home, and a lone draw, 3-3, against Galatasaray away, in six games, and already out of the League Cup, losing 0-3 at ‘the Theater of Dreams’ to Newcastle in the 4^th Round, only time would tell if Ten Hag would be saved by another good cup run; or wingers and a pair of strikers.

 With or without a midfield diamond or two, improvement could be seen waiting in the wings. Argentina’s Alejandro Garnacho joined United’s youth system from Atlético Madrid in October 2020 for £450, 000, scoring a career-announcing twice from the left wing in United’s 2022 F.A. Youth Cup Final win over Nottingham Forest, 3-1, alongside center midfield, Kobbie Mainoo, 6 first team starts in the 2023-24 season before New Year’s Eve. Garnacho started 5 times, with 14 appearances as substitute, in 2022-23, before a career-establishing 3^rd minute left footed overhead kick on Sunday, November 26^th, at Goodison Park, Walton, Liverpool, opening the scoring in an away victory, 3-0, over Everton.

Supermarket Stam And The Plates Of Meat That Couldn`t Run Enough After Him

1 https://production.investis.com/manutd/findata/reports/anrep01/chstat.pdf.

Clubs Cups

1 Key, Francis Scott `Defence of Fort McHenry`, on the bombardment by the British Royal Navy in Chesapeake Bay, 1814, during the second North American war of independence from George III`s British Empire (1812-15), and which became the lyrics of the national anthem of the United States of America set to a tune by Briton, John Stafford Smith, as `The Star Spangled Banner`, 1931-.

Leeds To Soccer Success At Manchester United

1 BBC News, BBC Home, `On This Day 1950-2005`, May 29,  https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/29/newsid_4464000/4464446.stm.

Manchester United And The Carriage And Wagon Department Of The Lancashire And Yorkshire Railway Depot At Newton Heath

1 `Proud Achievement By Manchester United; Young Forwards Rise To The Occasion In F.A. Cup`, The Times, 20 February, 1958. p. 12.

2 Tyrrell, Tom and David Meek The Hamlyn Illustrated History of Manchester United 1878-1996, London, Hamlyn, 1996, p. 81.

Mangnall, Busby, Docherty And Ferguson, Managing Triumph From Disaster

This article can be found in the May-June 2014 edition of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America`s (NSCAA) Soccer Journal

Clogging In Soccer, Will The Reds Survive?

Manchester United are known for attractive, attacking, entertaining, and successful footballing skills, which survived soccer`s so-called `hard men` to welcome changes in the Football Association rules to prevent the horrendous injury list of players under treatment, because of the notoriously hated `tackle from behind` by defenders that forwards couldn`t see coming and avoid. Hospitalization resulted for many victims of defenders` `clogging`, which was the euphemism employed to describe the practise of kicking a player until he stopped attempting to perform for the entertainment of the supporters.

 Clogs were English wooden shoes, and `clog` came to be used as a generic term for any form of strong footwear, especially in the industrial North of England, where clogs were working shoes for those engaged in hard labour at the beginning of the 18th century`s `Industrial Revolution` and thereafter. In English soccer `clogging` became a euphemism for the brutal activity of kicking, with football boots, those who were otherwise unstoppable skilful footballing geniuses; like George Best of Manchester United, Rodney Marsh at Manchester City, Stan Bowles at Queens Park Rangers, Tony Currie at Sheffield United, and Frank Worthington at Leicester City. Interviewers once asked George Best about his afternoon `taking on` defenders as he tried to go past them with the ball at his feet. Taking off his shirt, George showed the reporters a body almost entirely covered in bruises: `... a bruise is always caused by internal bleeding ... `1

 George Best  had been playing against Chelsea that day and Ron `Chopper` Harris, the Chelsea centre half, had been earning his money by following George around the pitch and kicking, that is, `chopping` George down, everytime Best got near the ball. Photographers particularly found `Chopper` annoying, and one of them wanted to ask Best who the `bullet headed guy` following the Manchester United superstar about the field had been? Everytime there was a photo opportunity, `Chopper` Harris was in the scene framed by the camera lens and the photographer couldn`t get a decent picture of George Best.

 The photographer`s question about the `bullet headed guy`, who was George Best`s footballing assassin on the pitch wasn`t inapposite. George used to relate how, one time at Manchester United`s Old Trafford stadium, the club had received a death threat against him by someone with an Irish accent during the time of what were euphemistically known as `the troubles` in Northern Ireland. The British Army were policing Catholic and Protestant `sectarian violence`, which was being perpetrated by extremist paramilitary organizations against each others` communities. George Best spent the entire game running as fast as he could, even in stoppage time for injuries, or when the ball was out of play, because it was feared the Catholics` Irish Republican Army (IRA), or the Protestant`s Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), or some lunatic group of pseudo-politicos, were out to finish `Chopper` Harris` assassination attempt on George with a sniper`s bullet.

 Before Manchester United`s championship successes in 1964-65 and 1966-67, came the 1963 F.A. Cup Final defeat of Leicester City, 3-1, when a goal from Denis Law, who`d taken a pass from midfielder, Paddy Crerand, after Leicester `keeper Gordon Banks hadn`t kicked the ball out far enough, opened Manchester United`s account against an embarassed England goalkeeper in the 38th minute. David Herd`s two goals, the third to give United a two goal unassailable lead in the 85th minute, after Leicester had pulled a goal back, took the cup back to Manchester and a place in the Old Trafford stadium`s trophy room at what was coming to be known as the `Theatre of Dreams`.

 Fulfilment of the Manchester United dream had to wait until rivals were overcome. The team to beat was Leeds United. Before the outlawing of the `tackle from behind`, Norman `bite yer legs` Hunter was the mainstay of a primarily defensively oriented Leeds United team not averse to a bit of `clogging` to prevent the opposition becoming successful. With the elder brother of Bobby Charlton, Jack, as the centre half who himself declared his hatred of losing, Leeds United and their captain, combative Scottish battler, midfield `general` Billy Bremner, won the English league championship in 1968-69 and 1973-74, but despite reaching the European Cup Final in 1975 against Bayern Munich they lost 0-2.

 In the developmental psychology of Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) dreams are the place where images that impel the inventive genius of humans surface into consciousness from the depths of the unconscious mind. George Best`s experience of the `tackle from behind` as a red for Manchester United at the `Theatre of Dreams` against the white shirts of Leeds United and Real Madrid has what Jung calls an archetypal significance insofar as red blood cells or corpuscles carry oxygen to vivify the body while white cells are the defenders of the body`s immune system: `Disease states such as insufficient or malfunctioning platelets, other coagulation deficiencies, or vascular disorders, such as venous blockage ... [is] haemorrhage called bleeding.`2

 The outlawed English soccer practise of `clogging` corresponds to the formation of bruises, but diseases such as HIV/AIDS cause a malfunction of the blood platelets, which coagulate around a wound, for example, to stop bleeding, while veins block if red cells die, because the white defensive cells of the body`s immune system are killed by the HIV/AIDS virus that pretends to be white cells in order to fool the supporting body into accepting the virality as virility. In footballing terms, `cloggers` kill the game of soccer for the body of its supporters, who aren`t engaged in the `brutality and violence` of pederasty`s `English disease`.

 The prototypical British farce, No Sex Please, We`re British (1971),3 about mannered psychology depicts a woman, Frances, and her husband`s fear of discovery by the English authorities when she begins to mysteriously receive Scandinavian pornography in the mail. In Britain news of the penis is scarce because visual depictions are taboo.

 Soccer is a repressive`s sport designed to inform the participants that they can`t put the ball in their mouths because it`s too big, whereas the mouth of the goal isn`t. Women who have a penis of their own as `futanarian` is what the game of `futty` is about, Moloch, which was one of the `false gods` of the Bible that people were forbidden to worship by God. Pagans sacrificed children to Moloch by throwing them into its maw, and so the open goalmouth of `futty` is where the human children of the `futanarian` woman`s penis` seed` are symbolically devoured to those involved in pagan worship. To humans soccer is a training program telling them not to confuse sexual appetite with food. The human species isn`t for being devoured, and the mouth of the goal isn`t actually Moloch so the football doesn`t represent the testicle sack of the `woman`s seed`, which isn`t consumed by Moloch because the disciplined and trained soccer exponent is a human hero.

 As an independent species with her own penis` semen, women are self-reproductive and socio-economically free, while censorship and media blackouts on her penis` existence are because men don`t want women to know they`re becoming extinct as the human `futty` race of `futanarian`, that is, she`s being secretly eaten by her ogres, men, who have enslaved her host womb to produce civilization, culture and art to devour humanity in their aliens` ceaseless wars against the human race of `futanarian` woman with her own penis` `seed`. God even tells Eve in the Bible that her `seed` will have `perpetual enmity` with the `serpent`s seed`, but she: `... will crush the head of the serpent as she leaves.` (Gen: 3. 15)

 The outlawing of the `tackle from behind` by the English Football Association is sexually relevant because `tackle` is slang for the male penis and testicles, which became an issue for most people after the `killer disease` of HIV/AIDS was discovered to have been created by homosexuals in the late 20th century by mixing blood, semen, and shit in their anuses during women rejecting acts of anal sex together. The `tackle from behind` added the new dimension of anal rape to its repertoire of meaning, while `clogging` in medical terminology refers to what happens during an attack by the viral disease, HIV/AIDS, as the red corpuscles of the blood die and block the arterial walls of the blood vessels because there aren`t any white cells of the body`s immune system to kill the bacteria which attacks the red cells of the oxygen bearing blood. The individual who has clogging of the arteries expires from lack of oxygen, which is sometimes experienced as heart attack or brain haemorrhage. In footballing terms, `Chopper` Harris` clogging of George Best with the `tackle from behind` is analogous to the HIV/AIDS` virus preventing the body from successfully functioning until the individual collapses and dies of exhaustion from fighting the disease, which is what occurs with HIV/AIDS` sufferers.

 The `tackle from behind` was a male behavioural `pattern` that the English F.A. in conjunction with the world body of soccer, UEFA, quite rightly stamped out as psychopathological by imposing rigorous refereeing to ensure that defenders who used the `tackle from behind` were summarily removed from the field of play by means of the red card, which referees were given authority to use in every instance of a player attempting to defeat the object of the game, which is to score goals and skilfully entertain without fear of loss of life or limb.

 In terms of Manchester United`s `Theatre of Dreams` the red shirts and white shorts of their strip represent the dream images or archetypes of Jung`s collective unconscious as they emerge into conscious thought. The red cells of the blood corpuscles needed by the body of soccer to live are supported by the white cells of the body`s immune system, the defenders that kill the bacteria, which would destroy the red oxygen carrying blood cells and harm the developed body. Manchester United`s red and white shirt and shorts archetypally denote the balanced harmony of the body`s systematic defence against attack and energizing necessary to progress healthily. Manchester United`s progress in domestic and European competitions can be examined symbolically in terms of red cells` energies and white cells` defensive and attacking functions before and after the emergence of the HIV/AIDS virus as a `killer disease` threatening the survival of the human species with its `tackle from behind` in the late 20th century.

 Winning European trophies wasn`t an unknown experience for the all white strip of Leeds United, who`d won the UEFA Cup in 1969 and 1971, while successes in the League Cup (1969) and F. A. Cup (1972) easily won their club the competition for greater glory than the reds of Manchester United, whose only achievements between winning the European Cup in 1968 and their triumphant F.A. Cup Final replay of 1990 against Crystal Palace, 1-0, were F.A Cup wins in 1977, 1983 and 1985. Liverpool had expected to win the treble of championship, F.A. Cup and European Cup in 1977, which Manchester United would actually achieve in 1999, after winning the league and second leg of the `treble`, the 1999 F.A. Cup Final against Newcastle United , with goals from Teddy Sheringham on 11 minutes, put through down his right side by the right boot of winger, David Beckham, to stroke the ball between the Newcastle `keeper`s legs with his own right boot from the right side of the area. After half-time, Paul Scholes, collecting a pass out of the Newcastle area from Mark Hughes, who`d shielded the ball with his back to goal, drove in a shot along the ground into the bottom left corner of the net on 52 minutes to complete the second leg of the treble of league, F.A. Cup, and European Cup.

 In the 1977 F.A. Cup Final, goals from Jimmy Greenhoff, who chested Lou Macari`s strike into the net in a frenetic few seconds in the Liverpool area on 51 minutes, and the centre forward from Hull, Stuart Pearson, who broke through on 55 minutes to power the ball underneath an embarassed England `keeper Ray Clemence, who felt he should have stopped Pearson`s effort, gave the F.A. Cup to Manchester United and Liverpool`s treble bid had failed.

 In 1983 Brighton and Hove Albion were the F.A. Cup Final opponents and Manchester United won, 4-0, after a replay. In the initial encounter the silky smooth endeavours of Ray `Butch` Wilkins salvaged the game for the reds in the 72nd minute with a curled strike from the right side of the Brighton area into the top left corner after former Arsenal `classic` target man, centre forward Frank Stapleton, tapped in a ball by the far post that the Brighton `keeper had pushed out at him following a cross from right full back, Mike Duxbury, in the 55th minute. In the replay, right winger Alan Davies, who`d made his Manchester United debut in the first game as a replacement for the injured England winger, Steve Coppell, facing away from the goal in the Brighton area, shielded the ball on 25 minutes and played it out to Bryan Robson, who struck the ball with his good left foot past the `keeper and into the right corner of the net. On 30 minutes Davies crossed from the right and 17 year old centre forward, Norman Whiteside, headed home. Just before half time centre back, Gordon McQueen, headed on a free-kick and the ball fell to Robson to tap in at the far post, and the scoring was completed in the 62nd minute when Dutch midfielder, Arnold Mühren, scored from the penalty spot after Bryan Robson had been brought down by Brighton right back, Gary Stevens.

 In the F.A. Cup Final of 1985, Norman Whiteside curled a shot from the right edge of the penalty area around the Everton `keeper and inside the far post in the 110th minute of extra time to win for a surprised and grateful 10-man Manchester United after centre back, Kevin Moran, had been sent off in the 78th minute for a foul on Peter Reid when he was clean through on the Manchester United goal and almost certain to score.

 At this point in the socio-history of soccer, the reds of Manchester United and any other team with white in their strip could be understood archetypally as the inevitable interplay between the white cells of the body`s defensive immune system and the energized activities of the healthy oxygenized red cells of the body of soccer as it enjoyed its progress towards another season`s conclusion, but the advent of the HIV/AIDS virus would change the meaning of reds against whites before the 21st century had begun.

 At London`s English national football stadium, Wembley, where all F.A. Cup Finals are traditionally staged, 1990`s first encounter between Manchester United and Crystal Palace ended in a draw. England captain, Bryan Robson, the Manchester United player known most for his skilful midfield aggression and strikers` eye for a goal opportunity, had made the score level at 1-1 in the 35th minute; backing away from centre forward  Brian McClair`s right wing cross to direct the header powerfully downwards and into the Palace net. After half-time, right-sided midfielder Neil Webb`s 62nd minute cross shot found Mark Hughes, who struck low into the corner of the net. With Crystal Palace leading 3-2 in extra time it was left to Mark Hughes` perseverance and iron will and determination to bring the scores level at 3-3 in the 113th minute when United winger, Danny Wallace, slipped a pass through centre midfield for Hughes to run onto and he slipped it through into the net as the `keeper came out. In the replay Lee Martin ran the length of the field from his left full back berth to surprisedly receive the ball he crashed into the top left corner of the Palace net to win the trophy in the 59th minute.

 Even though the white defensive cells of Leeds United had been beaten in the semi-final of the F.A. Cup in 1976 by the energized red blood cells of the Manchester United `system`, the reds had still been unable to overcome the Leeds United `hoodoo` upon their success and lost a match they should have won against second tier club Southampton through an 84th minute torpedo from Bobby Stokes that sank hopes of that ship coming in to deliver its cargo of silverware. Leeds United`s hold on Manchester United continued even up until 1991-92, when a seemingly unstoppable `red devils` championship charge mysteriously lost momentum and Leeds United  took control to take the title after Manchester United wilted  dismally 0-2 at Liverpool`s Anfield stadium on the last day of the campaign.

 There was a sense of unease around Old Trafford, but manager Alex Ferguson`s solution was to bring French soccer superstar, Eric Cantona, the coolly imperturbable, dynamically contemptuous and aloof French striker, from Leeds United. Reinforcing the attacking white shorts of Ferguson`s team, Eric Cantona would combine the energy of the oxygenated red cells with the attacking verve of the white cells and devastate the bacterial annoyance posed by Manchester United`s opponents with the brilliance of his footballing star as it had arisen, seen from afar, by the admiring gaze of Alex Ferguson holding a red and white `red devils` strip to tempt the Frenchman on to dizzier heights.

 A year after their F.A. Cup Final defeat of Crystal Palace, Manchester United were winners of the European Cup Winners` Cup, when two goals from Mark Hughes were enough to beat Barcelona, 2-1. Mark Hughes would have a decade of success in reaching double figures as a striker in each season before age and a goal tally that fell to eight in the 1994-95 league season resulted in Manchester United failing to win the 1995 F.A. Cup Final against Everton, 0-1, and an unsentimental manager`s decision let a great player leave. Bringing in youngsters known as `Fergie`s Fledglings`, after the style of former Manchester United manager, Matt Busby`s `Babes`, manager Alex Ferguson relied on the capable captain`s style of French superstar striker, Eric Cantona, to be their shepherd. Eric had caught the manager`s eye in season 1991-92, when Leeds United had just beaten Manchester United to the title; largely because of Eric`s sublime skills as a deep-lying centre forward in the traditional Manchester United mould. Rapt in admiration, Alex brought Cantona to Manchester United and the result was four league championships, beginning with a successful Mark Hughes` led campaign in 1992-93 and including the almost impossible league and F.A. Cup `double` in 1993-94 and 1995-96, before Eric Cantona, `le god` to the West Stand of Old Trafford`s Stretford End, retired with a last champions` medal as a reward for Manchester United 1996-97 season`s campaigning.

 Eric Cantona had scored the single goal that had beaten the `reds` of Liverpool in the F. A. Cup Final of 1996. In the inimitable style of `le god`, Eric had aloofly observed the ball bounce before him in the 85th minute. Majestically drawing back his boot to address the tempting target hanging suspended there in the air, Eric almost sneeringly struck through a crowd of players and into the Liverpool net. Although Chelsea had been beaten in the F.A. Cup Final of 1994, 4-0, mainly through the fortuitousness of two penalty awards in the 60th and 66th minutes and the ruthlessness of Eric Cantona`s finishing from the spot kicks, it was still poor consolation for Manchester United. Liverpool, in an all red strip that made them redder than Manchester United, who wore white shorts, had been winning European trophies consistently for twenty years. However, Manchester United, in archetypal signification of their role as defensive white cells of the body of soccer`s immune system, wore their white shorts with pride against Chelsea, while their red shirts continued to signify the energy in their blood`s resistance to the bacterial contamination of their rivals` desire to keep them down. Mark Hughes in the 69th minute of the 1994 F.A. Cup Final pounced on a slip by defender Frank Sinclair to increase United`s lead while Brian McClair got a fourth after an unselfish pass from midfield strong man, Paul Ince, left the Scots` striker with the easiest of chances to illustrate the Manchester United way: `The best form of defence is attack.`4

 Becoming only the second English team after Manchester United in 1968 to win the European Cup in 1977, thanks to their belligerently skilled forward, Kevin Keegan, who tormented Germany`s Borussia Munchengladbach`s international defender, Bertie Vogts, mercilessly, and Liverpool won 3-1. Kevin Keegan left at the close of the season for German club, SV Hamburg, but Liverpool went on to win the trophy again in 1978, 1981 and 1984 influenced by the arrival from Celtic of Scottish striker, Kenny Dalglish. Manchester United had only won a single European trophy, the European Cup in 1968, while Liverpool had triumphed in the UEFA Cup in 1973 and 1976 before even their first European Cup success, and would go on to win the European Cup again in 2005 led by the midfield strength and guile of England captain, Steven Gerrard, after Manchester United`s 1999 triumph and before the `red devils` won the European Cup for the third time against Chelsea at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow in 2008.

 The reds of Liverpool were far more successful than the `sleeping giant` of Manchester United until Alex Ferguson began the `red devils` climb back to greatness after the `ginger prince` to Eric Cantona`s `le roi`, Paul Scholes, took on the mantle of inspirer from Manchester United`s midfield upon the retirement of `le god`. Winging their way to glory, Ryan Giggs on the left wing and David Beckham on the right, were a pair of providers that would assist Manchester United in overtaking Liverpool`s total of nineteen championships by the close of another victorious 2012-13 title winning season.

 Liverpool`s last title had been in 1989-90, but the faces of the players of Manchester United had been redder than their shirts, either in frustration or embarassment, for twenty-six years, while Liverpool picked up league titles with a seemingly effortless passing and striking style that had swept all before them since Manchester United`s need to recover from the loss of the young team of `Busby Babes`, who`d been decimated in the Munich aircrash disaster on February 6, 1958. Manager Matt Busby`s newly built team of survivors, like Dennis Viollet, who went on to score 110 goals for Manchester United, and the imported talents of expensive strikeforce, David Herd, and soon-to-be goalscoring `King` of Old Trafford, Denis Law, went on to eventually  win the F.A. Cup in 1963 against Leicester City, 3-1, with goals from Herd and Law, who scored the opening goal and had come from Italy`s Torino to boost a faltering Manchester United forward line still recovering from the loss of centre forward, Tommy Taylor, right winger Johnny Berry, left winger David Pegg, and the devastating strength and skill of wing half prodigy, Duncan Edwards, whose untimely demise after the collapse of the Manchester United plane in the slush and ice of the runway at Munich airport on February 6, 1958, as it tried to lift off and take the team home to England, left a hole in the heart and soul of the club that couldn`t be repaired, not even by the emerging triumvirate of Irish wing wizard, George Best, the dynamite left boot of survivor, Bobby Charlton, and the extraordinary goal poaching skills of Denis Law.

 Liverpool`s early successes in the title race were only equal to Manchester United`s in 1964-65 and 1966-67, but the Old Trafford reds couldn`t compete with Liverpool`s red machine that persisted in being too good for everyone else and seemed able to take the title almost at will as the years rolled by; 1963–64, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, and 1989–90. Welsh wing wizard Ryan Giggs` debut on the world`s stage in 1991, coming on as substitute for Lee Martin in the 71st minute of the Super Cup, after qualifying for a chance to win the trophy by becoming European Cup Winners` Cup Winners in 1991 and taking the opportunity to defeat European Cup winners, Red Star Belgrade, signalled something of an eclipse of Liverpool`s fortunes. Manchester United won the European Super Cup, 1-0, thanks to a Brian McClair low shot in the 67th minute after Neil Webb hit the post with a long range effort and the ball bounced back to McClair centre goal, but Ryan Giggs would need to have the undauntedness of youth on his side if Liverpool`s haul of titles were to be equalled and bettered. Even after his right wing partner, David Beckham, left for Real Madrid at the end of the victorious 2002-3 season, however, left winger Ryan Giggs` calming authoritative personality and controlled play from the wing or midfield was up to the task, and Manchester United, with Ryan Giggs having taken league championship honours alongside David Beckham in 1999–2000, 2000–01, and 2002–03, following the inspirational `treble` year of 1998-99, went on to championship glory in 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, and 2010–11 to equal Liverpool`s haul of titles, before Manchester United`s twentieth success in 2012–13 finally overhauled the reds title tally at Anfield`s stadium on Merseyside.

 Manchester United`s winning of a first league title since 1966-67 seemed dependent upon a rite of passage for the young Ryan Giggs, and although the team failed to clinch the championship when it looked to be easily within their grasp in 1991-92 but eventually went to Leeds United, the League Cup Final was won for the first time with a 1-0 victory against Nottingham Forrest, thanks to a single strike from former Celtic striker, Scottish international Brian McClair who, receiving a pass from Ryan Giggs, struck low and left footed to the `keepers left for the only goal of the game in the 14th minute. Success in the League Cup was something else Manchester United were behind in. Never having won `the Mickey Mouse cup`, third in importance in the English soccer season, even Leeds United had a single success in the competition, while Liverpool had consecutive success in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984 to boast over. Achieving victory in the contest was a step towards overcoming their rivals, and Manchester United duly went on to successes in 2006, 2009, and 2010.

 The decline of Alex Ferguson`s belief in the Dutch centre forward, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who he`d wooed away from Holland`s Feyenoord, but had introduced as `Manchester United`s centre forward for the next decade` when he began in the 2001-2 season, wasn`t because of a goal dearth. Nistelrooy found the net 95 times in 120 league appearances, but Manchester United were league champions only in 2002-3 with Ruud as first choice striker, while young winger Cristiano Ronaldo was brought from Spain`s Sporting Lisbon to boost United`s overall performance in front of goal. Although Ruud Van Nistelrooy made the F. A. Cup Final team of 2004, Cristiano Ronaldo made the breakthrough against Millwall, with a headed goal from right back Gary Neville`s cross on 44 minutes. While Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored from the penalty spot on 65 minutes after Millwall central midfielder, David Livermore, stopped a Ryan Giggs` surge into the penalty area and brought Giggs down unfairly as he was about to strike at the Millwall goal, questions were being raised over the number of strikes Ruud made from penalty kicks, and although he wrapped up the game with an 81st minute tap in from a driven Ryan Giggs` cross that might have gone in without Nistelrooy`s `assist`, questions were also being raised over the number of superfluous strikes he made when the game was won and over.

 Ruud Van Nistelrooy didn`t make the team for the League Cup Final of 2006, which Manchester United won without him. New young centre forward, Wayne Rooney, had arrived from Everton for the 2004-5 season, age 18, and Louis Saha was preferred to Ruud as Rooney`s striking partner even though he wasn`t really ever fully fit and was known to be prone to break downs and so couldn`t be relied upon for a season`s campaign. Ruud Van Nistelrooy`s campaigning at Manchester United was over after 2004-5 when he scored only 6 goals from 17 league appearances. Wayne Rooney top scored with 11 goals from 29 appearances and Ruud, who`d top scored in the European Champions` Cup with 8, while Manchester United  were knocked out by Italian giants A.C. Milan, 0-1 at home and 0-1 away, before even the Quarter FInals, left for Real Madrid where he scored a lot more easy goals and penalties.

 Ruud Van Nistelrooy wasn`t in the mould of a player like Mark Hughes, who scored fewer, but enough and important strikes, such as the brace against Crystal Palace that forced a replay in the F.A. Cup Final of 1990, which United subsequently won with a solo effort from left full back, Lee Martin, and the two against FC Barcelona, which won Manchester United the European Cup Winners` Cup in 1991. Mark Hughes` third goal for Manchester United in the F.A. Cup Final of 1994, which United won 4-0, contributed to the club`s first ever `double` of league and cup, and was the first goal not scored from the penalty spot, in contrast to Ruud Van Nistelrooy`s `pattern`. Real Madrid, the Spanish giants, didn`t win the European Champions` Cup with Ruud Van Nistelrooy, because the competition weren`t easier.

 Ryan Giggs` longevity as a Manchester United star meant that he had a role to play in all of the club`s League Cup triumphs. When Manchester United beat Wigan 4-0 in 2006, the first goal came after `keeper Edwin Van Der Sar's long punt downfield was flicked on by Saha and Wigan`s De Zeeuw and Chimbonda collided to leave Rooney with a clear run on goal before clinically beating the `keeper in the 33rd minute. The score remained the same until 55 minutes when forward Louis Saha scored the second goal, bundling the ball over the line as the goalkeeper failed to stop right back Gary Neville`s cross at Saha`s feet. United`s third came on 59 minutes when Saha at centre field in front of goal laid the ball out right for winger Cristiano Ronaldo to rifle the ball past the `keeper from a tight angle. Centre back Rio Ferdinand knocked the ball down for Wayne Rooney to lash the ball into the Wigan net after a Ryan Giggs` left footed free kick from the right touchline in the 61st minute that underlined the left winger`s  contribution.

 In the League Cup Final of 2009 Tottenham Hotspur were the opponents and Manchester United won on penalties after extra time, 4-1, with strikes from Ryan Giggs, coming on in the 91st minute as a substitute, and Carlos Tevez, who had won the Copa De Libertadores with Argentina`s South American champions Boca Juniors before coming to Old Trafford and winning the European Champions` Cup with Manchester United in 2008 against Chelsea, 1-0. The other penalty goals that defeated Spurs were scored by the Brazilian left midfielder Anderson, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

 The 2010 League Cup Final saw Manchester United come from behind after a penalty awarded against them after 5 minutes when Nemanja Vidic brought down Villa striker Daniel Agbonlahor. Former Liverpool centre forward, Michael Owen, replied with a goal on 12 minutes when Bulgarian centre forward, Dimitar Berbatov, broke down the right wing and surged into the Villa area before crumpling under a tackle from Richard Dunne. The ball rolled over to MIchael Owen who slotted an easy chance home. Michael Owen`s injury prone career once again saw him leave the field of play on 42 minutes to be replaced by England centre forward, Wayne Rooney, who scored Manchester United`s second on 74 minutes after a cross by right winger, Antonio Valencia, and a goal that saw Wayne backpedalling to get his head onto the ball and see it loop over the `keeper into the Aston Villa net.

 Manchester United`s great European rivals in white are Real Madrid who had won the European Cup in 1956 before they met the `Busby Babes`, United`s young championship winning team of the 1955-56 season in England, in the semi-final of the 1957 competition, which Real Madrid won over two legs, 5-4, after a 3-2 home win at the Bernbeau stadium and a 2-2 draw at the Old Trafford stadium, Manchester, before going on to win the European Cup again. The following season Manchester United were again English champions and had won through to the semi-final once more after defeating Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia, winning 2-1 at home and drawing 3-3 away. When the team`s plane crashed at Munich airport on February 6, 1958, trying to take off in the snow and ice, several members of the playing staff were killed, but Manchester United still had to play against A.C. Milan in the European Cup semi-final. The patched together side lost 2-5, while Real Madrid went on to again win the European Cup for the third time.

 The success story of the red of Manchester United and the white of Real Madrid symbolically represent the history of the `tackle from behind`, before the HIV/AIDS virus` began its attack on the red and white cells of the body`s living system, in the latter part of the 20th century. The HIV/AIDS virus` clogging of the white cells, so that they die and the red cells can`t breathe, is analogous to the thuggery practised in soccer, before the `tackle from behind` was outlawed. The result of contracting the HIV/AIDS virus` `killer disease` is analogous to the thuggery of the player who`s a plague, aiming to clog the skilful by means of the `tackle from behind`, which means the death of football, whether Real Madrid in white, or Manchester United in red: `Everybody hates us and we don`t care!`5

 After winning the European Cup in 1958 the white shirts of Real Madrid offered the trophy to the red shirts of Manchester United in token of Real`s love for the game and as a symbol of faith and hope in the future, which was subsequently repaid at United, when the playing staff decimated by the Munich air crash on February 6, 1958, recovered under the stewardship of manager, Matt Busby, and a young England winger, Bobby Charlton, with dynamite in his left boot, went on to captain Manchester United in their European Cup Final defeat of Benfica 4-1 in May 1968. Charlton had been the deep-lying centre forward of the England team in its change strip of red from white in its defeat of the white shirts of Germany 4-2 at London`s Wembley stadium in the summer of 1966, but it was the outlawing of the `tackle from behind` that would ensure the whites of Real Madrid and the reds of Manchester United remained giants in bodily health as exponents of the skills of soccer into the 21st century.

 The white shirts of Real Madrid went on to lift the European Cup again in 1959 and 1960, and once more in the season England won the World Cup, 1966. Manchester United`s second success in the competition in 1999 against Bayern Munich, 2-1, followed upon Real Madrid`s seventh in 1998, when Alex Ferguson`s genius for tactics brought on substitute striking partnership, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, in a move that had been rewarded with success before the game and would again afterwards, when the first choice forward pairing of `black pearls`, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, experienced a dearth of chances to blunt their effectiveness in front of goal. Sheringham and Solskjaer scored in the 91st and 93rd minutes to justify a young side`s resilience in the face of Bayern Munich`s teasing the team to frustration with `keep ball` possession play after the Germans went in front early in the 6th minute from a direct free kick by winger, Mario Basler, on the left side of the United area that `keeper Peter Schmeichel could only watch transfixed as Basler bent the ball right around the defensive wall of his Manchester teammates and into the right corner of the net.

 Just as Matt Busby`s 1968 success had resulted in his receiving a knighthood from the English Queen, Elizabeth II, to become Sir Matt Busby, so the honour was conferred upon his Scottish compatriot, and the title of the manager at Manchester United was thenceforth, Sir Alex Ferguson. Real Madrid were to receive European Cup winners` medals twice more in 2000 and 2002, which brought their total to nine European Cup triumphs, before Manchester United`s third in 2008 against Chelsea, 6-5 on penalties. The score had been 1-1 after extra time, and United had led from a power header by Portuguese right winger, Cristiano Ronaldo, who would soon leave the club for the white of Real Madrid. Ryan Giggs` deciding penalty and Manchester United `keeper Edwin Van Der Sar`s equally decisive save from Chelsea striker, Nicholas Anelka, ensured the red and white life`s blood of Europe`s two greatest soccer symbols would continue to run through her veins.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruise.

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruise.

3 Foot, Alistair and Anthony Marriott, No Sex Please, We`re British, first staged in London's West End in 1971.

4 Clausewitz, Von Carl Phillip Gottfried, Vom Kriege, Berlin, 1832.

5 Football chant originating with Millwall to the tune of The Sutherland Brothers Band, `(We Are) Sailing` from the album, Lifeboat (1972), which was popularized in England by Scottish pop star, Rod Stewart, and appeared as a `cover version` on his 1975 album, Atlantic Crossing, while wife, Swedish film actress, Britt Ekland, appeared on board the British aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal, serenaded by her then husband in the video to promote the song.