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17/06/2024 12:29

Crerand in Midfield

 

Scot, Patrick ‘Paddy' Crerand, was the central midfield general that broke the half back line at Manchester United, but who played alongside him in midfield often defies analysis. A center half, flanked by a right half, and a left half, was how teams shaped up until the end of the Matt Busby era at United. The earliest successful variant being that of Dick Duckworth, Charlie Roberts, and Scot, Alex Bell, in the Ernest Mangnall managed side that won the league title in 1908 and 1911, as well as the 1909 F.A. Cup Final, 1-0, against Bristol City; (GK) Harry Moger, (RB)  George Stacey, (LB) Vince Hayes, (RH) Dick Duckworth, (CH) Charlie Roberts (c), (LH) Alex Bell, (RW) Billy Meredith, (IR) Harold Halse, (CF) Jimmy Turnbull, (IL) Sandy Turnbull (1), (LW) George Wall.

 The line held throughout the First and Second World Wars, with John Anderson, Allenby Chilton, and Henry Cockburn, of the team that won the 1948 F.A. Cup Final, 4-2, against Blackpool; (GK) Jack Crompton, (RB) Johnny Carey (c), (LB) John Aston, (RH) John Anderson, (CH) Allenby Chilton, (LH) Henry Cockburn, (RW) Jimmy Delaney, (IR) Johnny Morris, (CF) Jack Rowley, (IL) Stan Pearson, (LW) Charlie Mitten. Scot, Busby, began to field the youngsters known as ‘The Busby Babes’, with Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, and Duncan Edwards, the half back line that won the championship in 1955-56 and 1956-57, after the class of ‘48 had finally become champions in 1951-52, although with Don Gibson at right half, after being runners up in 1946-47, 1947-48, 1948-49, and 1950-51.

 Though Edwards replaced Jackie Blanchflower at left half, Busby’s selecting him at center half, before the emergence of Mark Jones, and afterwards as an inside forward, demonstrated the versatility needed by a player in the period when there weren’t any substitutes, and flexibility had to be demonstrated by the eleven pitchside. Blanchflower’s pricelessness was as a left sided defender who could be deployed successfully as an attacking midfielder. In 27 starts in 1953-54 he scored 13 goals, 10 in 29 games in 1954-55, 3 in 18 in 1955-56, and with a further 11 starts in 1956-57, barely missing out on a title winners’ medal.

While United looked like winning the championship again in 1957-58, with Blanchflower on 18 starts for the season’s campaign, the club was devastated by an aircrash at Munich airport, Germany, as the squad returned from qualifying for a European Champions Cup semi-final against Real Madrid, drawing 3-3 with Red Star Belgrade. Reserve full back, Geoff Bent, England captain, and left back, Roger Byrne, right wing-half, midfielder Eddie Colman, left half, Duncan Edwards, who died 15 days later, center half, Mark Jones, left winger, David Pegg, center forward, Tommy Taylor, and Irish inside forward, Liam 'Billy' Whelan, all lost their lives, while right winger, Johnny Berry, and Northern Irish inside forward, Blanchflower, were too badly injured ever to play again.

 After the single outfield substitute was introduced in 1965-66, and additionally the substitute ‘keeper in 1987, the onus was upon the flexible utility of the player on the bench, whereas before the spotlight had been on those fielded, irrespective of injury, that is, the quality of the players selected had to allow for flexibility, epitomized by Blanchflower, and also Edwards, who could play at center half, as he did in the lost 1957 F.A. Cup Final, 1-2, to Aston Villa, when injury to ‘keeper Ray Wood resulted in Jackie’s taking over between the goalposts, as well as at center forward. (GK) Ray Wood, (RB) Bill Foulkes, (LB) Roger Byrne (c), (RH) Eddie Colman, (CH) Jackie Blanchflower, (LH) Duncan Edwards, (RW) Johnny Berry, (IR) Liam Whelan, (CF) Tommy Taylor, (IL) Bobby Charlton, (LW) David Pegg. Roger Byrne, left back, as a left winger in 1951-52, scored 7 times. 

What this meant for tactics and strategy was important, especially as what the Italians called sistema, that is, the English system, was changing from a half back line to twin central defenders, and a hard man in midfield. While the European teams adopted the libero, or 'free back', after the fashion of the Italian catenaccio, with the ‘sweeper’ playing behind the back four of twin center backs and two full backs, having freedom to move into midfield, or support the attack, soccer in England came to be based on a holding player in midfield, ahead of two central defenders, and the right and left full backs.

The role of sweeper was exemplified by Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, captain in their 1974 World Cup Final defeat of Holland, 2-1, with center forward, Gerd Müller, Bomber der Nation, the decisive goal, on 43 minutes, at Olympiastadion, Munich. Central midfielder, Rainer Bonhof, released by right winger, Jürgen Grabowski, pass right footed, close by the touchline, inside his own half. Bonhof racing down the right, past sweeper, Arie Haan, right footed cross-pass, right of the 18 yard box, to Müller at the right corner of the penalty area. Gerd knocking the ball behind him, while the Dutch defenders surge ahead of him, stepping back for the ball, swiveling, and left back, Ruud Krol, turning back also, stretching his left leg to block, but Gerd’s right boot, striking the ball low, along the ground, into the left corner of the net, in an otherwise game of clumsy defending and two penalties.

 What remained of the United squad, bolstered by Stan Crowther for £18,000, right half for Villa in the ‘57 F.A. Cup Final, and inside right from Blackpool, Ernie Taylor, for £6,000, lost the F.A. Cup Final of 1958 to Bolton Wanderers, 0-2, with a half back line of Goodwin, Cope, and Crowther, after defeat to Real Madrid in the semi-final of the European Cup, 1-3 away in the first leg and 2-2 at Old Trafford, 3-5 on aggregate; (GK) Harry Gregg, (RB) Bill Foulkes (c), (LB) Ian Greaves, (RH) Freddie Goodwin, (CH) Ron Cope, (LH) Stan Crowther, (RW) Alex Dawson, (IR) Ernie Taylor, (CF) Bobby Charlton, (IL) Dennis Viollet, (LW) Colin Webster.

 The inaugural F.A. Youth Cup was won in 1952-53 by United against Wolves, 7-1 at home and 2-2 in the second leg away, 9-3 on aggregate, with Cope at center half as captain, alongside right half Coleman and left half Edwards. The Youth Academy won again against West Ham in 1956-57, 3-2 at Upton Park, 5-0 at home, 8-2 on aggregate, giving the club the first five F.A. Youth Cups, and enough young talent to carry the club to the ’58 F.A. Cup Final and runners up in the 1958-59 championship; (GK) David Gaskell, (RB) Barry Smith, (LB) Ray Maddison, (RH) Bob English, (CH) Reg Holland, (LH) Harold Bratt, (RW) Kenny Morgans (1), (IR) Nobby Lawton (1), (CF) Alex Dawson (3), (IL) Mark Pearson (2), (LW) Reg Hunter (1).

 Wales’ Morgans, captain of the 1957 F.A. Youth Cup Final winning side, made 13 starts in 1957-58, and Pearson 8,  while Scot, Dawson, 5 goals in 12 starts was at outside right in the '58 F.A. Cup Final, and scored 4 times in 11 starts in '58-59, while Pearson would net 3 times in 10 starts in 59-60, to Dawson’s 15 in 22, who’d tally 16 in 28 to Pearson’s 7 in 27 in 1960-61. Lawton would notch 6 in 20 starts to Pearson’s 1 in 17 and Dawson’s 2 in 4 in 1961-62, and would make another 12 starts in 1962-63 as ‘the Busby Babes' continued to carry the torch for their fallen predecessors.

The club  wouldn’t win the F.A. Youth Cup again until 1964, with the first leg away, 1-1, at Swindon Town’s County Ground, followed by the home leg at ‘the Theater of Dreams’, 4-1, 5-2 on aggregate; (GK) Jimmy Rimmer, (RB) Alan Duff, (LB) Bobby Noble (c), (RH) Peter McBride, (CH) David Farrar, (LH) John Fitzpatrick, (RW) Willie Anderson, (IR) George Best (1), (CF) David Sadler (3), (IL) Albert Kinsey, (LW) John Aston (1).

 Wilf would go on to be part of Busby’s coaching staff in charge of the reserve team, after a career ending leg break, causing Maurice Setters’ transfer from West Brom in January 1960 for £30,000, who’d score 12 goals in 159 league appearances, before transferred to Stoke City for £30,000, with his final game against Villa at home, 7-0, on October 24th, 1964. By then the team were on their way to winning the league title of 1964-65, with Nobby Stiles at left half. Although the permanence of the half back line seemed unchallengeable, especially after a glance at the program sheet, where names and positions invariably indicated the full backs as wing backs, and left and right halves as wing halves, the winning of the 1966 World Cup at London’s national Wembley Stadium, by Alf Ramsey’s ‘wingless wonders’, 2-2, and 4-2 a.e.t., against Germany, with a 4-4-2 formation, clarified the issue; (GK) Gordon Banks, (RB) George Cohen, (LB) Ray Wilson, (DM) Nobby Stiles, (CB) Jack Charlton, (CB) Bobby Moore (c), (RM) Alan Ball, (CF) Roger Hunt, (AM) Bobby Charlton, (SS) Geoff Hurst (3), (LM) Martin Peters (1).

Before his demise at Munich, Duncan Edwards was widely held to be the greatest of his generation. At left half he was amongst the top 33% of 10% left sided people in the population as a whole. Of the 3000 eligible to be selected at left half, left back, or left wing, in every million, Duncan was viewed as the best in his position, that is, one of a thousand in a million, or one in a million. As left sided players are at a premium, it makes no sense to confine them to defensive duties, while psychological studies show the left sided use the right side of their brain, that is, the creative side, which underscores the value of the left half as a creative midfielder, rather than a stopper center back. The advent of the utility midfield player, as substitute from 1965-66, gave further impetus to the freeing of the left half into midfield, as coaches experimented, with an inside forward dropping back to make a midfield pair.

In United’s case Bobby Charlton, former left wing, categorized as a deep-lying center forward, behind twin strikers, renowned for his long-range shooting. Brother Jack at Leeds United, and captain, Bobby Moore of West Ham, were the center backs in England’s World Cup win, with Bobby Charlton in the same role he had with United, while myopic Nobby Stiles was the rugged tackling ball distributor in midfield, whose loss of a contact lens was often cited as the reason for some rather horrendous lunges at moving objects on the pitch identifiable by shirt color alone. Nobby would continue at left half for the 1966-67 league title success, and the 1968 European Cup Final defeat of Benfica, 1-1, and 4-1 a.e.t., at Wembley; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Shay Brennan, (LB) Tony Dunne, (RH) Pat Crerand, (CH) Bill Foulkes, (LH) Nobby Stiles, (RW) George Best (1), (CB) David Sadler, (AM) Bobby Charlton (2), (CF) Brian Kidd (1), (LW) John Aston.

The most telling observation is of David Sadler, who like Jackie Blanchflower could play center back, or center forward, as well as anywhere across the midfield, indicated on the program sheet as being a center back, tacitly accepting that Crerand and Stiles, as right half and left half, were central midfielders, rather than defenders alongside center back, Bill Foulkes, former right back, pressed into service there after the Munich aircrash. However, as Sadler could play in midfield, or at center forward, labels were misleading. United could play a half back line of Crerand, Foulkes and Stiles, or a center back pairing of Foulkes and Sadler, with Stiles in midfield, or Sadler and Stiles, or Sadler as a second striker (SS), or as a midfielder, even during a game, underlining the cleverness of manager, Sir Matt Busby, knighted by queen Elizabeth II after the European Cup win, as Sir Alf Ramsey was knighted, subsequent to his managing England to the World Cup, utilizing the players on the field fluidly, and without recourse to substitutions.

 If Sadler played in midfield, it’d be alongside Crerand, with center back duties devolving upon Stiles, presupposing the flexibility of the half back line, and similarly if David played as a second striker, Crerand and Charlton would be the midfield, or Crerand, Charlton and Stiles, if Foulkes wasn’t under any pressure. Busby’s formula made for a fluid pattern of play, owing a lot to his experience with Blanchflower and Edwards in the left half role, as either could play in central defence, run the midfield, and attack as a second striker. Busby retired after the 1968-69 term, which was disappointing in that the side failed to beat South America’s champions, Estudiantes de La Plata of Argentina, in the 1968 Intercontinental Cup Final, held between the winners of the Copa Libertadores and the European Cup, defeated in the first away leg, 0-1, and drawing the home leg, 1-1, despite a Crerand right footed free kick, on 90 minutes, right midfield, just inside the Estudiantes' half, finding right winger, Willie Morgan, edge of the left corner of the penalty area, right footed shot to ‘keeper, Alberto José Poletti’s left, bottom right corner of the net, losing, 1-2 on aggregate; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Shay Brennan, (LB) Tony Dunne, (RH) Pat Crerand, (CH) Bill Foulkes, (LH) David Sadler, (RW) Willie Morgan (1), (SS) Brian Kidd, (AM) Bobby Charlton (c), (CF) Denis Law (C. Sartori, 44 mins), (LW) George Best. Also failing to progress beyond the semi-final stage of that season’s European Cup, the team lost to Italian Serie A club A.C. Milan at the San Siro stadium, 0-2, before winning at home, 1-0; (GK) Jimmy Rimmer, (RB) Shay Brennan, (LB) Francis Burns, (RH) Pat Crerand, (CH) Bill Foulkes, (LH) Nobby Stiles, (RW) Willie Morgan, (SS) Denis Law, (AM) Bobby Charlton (1), (CF) Brian Kidd, (LW) George Best..

 Best, wriggling past two Milan defenders on the right of the ‘D’, edging the ball past them with the outside of his right boot, inside the 18 yard box, prodding it wider right and forward to Charlton, running in, elevating his shot, narrow angle, right of the penalty area, close to the goal line, back of the net, 70 minutes, followed by a Law goal, disallowed, a yard out, right of the goalmouth, turning in a similar low cross shot, from the right side of the 18 yard box, ball yards over the line, ‘keeper Fabio Cudicini beaten, back in play, back heeled, by Cudicini, French referee Machin turning, a blind eye, 1-2 on aggregate.

 Busby was replaced by Wilf McGuinness for 1969-70, and Scot, Ian Ure, arrived from Arsenal to replace Bill Foulkes as a partner for Sadler in central defence for £80,000, effectively signaling the end of the half back line, as more than a nominative concept, relating to right sided defensive midfielders, and left sided creative midfielders, in favor of twinned center halves. Foulkes appeared on only three occasions for Wilf, and his last before retirement, age 37, was in a defeat, 1-4, to Southampton at Old Trafford on August 16th, 1969. McGuinness, in fact, revolutionized the sistema at United, where wingers were henceforth understood to be midfield players, as distinct from defenders, that is, center backs and full backs, and forwards. 

 Success on the field didn’t transpire, with the team failing to progress beyond the semi-final stage in the League Cup, losing to Manchester City, 1-2 at Maine Road; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Paul Edwards, (LB) Tony Dunne, (RH) Francis Burns, (CH) Ian Ure, (LH) David Sadler, (RW) George Best, (CF) Brian Kidd, (AM) Bobby Charlton (1), (DM) Nobby Stiles, (LW) John Aston. Although Charlton leveled the score, after Kidd, wide and deep on the right, inside the City half, lofted a ball with his left boot that right back, Tony Book, center of the 18 yard box, tried to trap, but inadvertently played into the path of Bobby instead, running in right of the penalty area, left foot strike, 1-1, on 66 minutes, the team drew 2-2 at home; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Paul Edwards (1), (LB) Tony Dunne, (RH) Nobby Stiles, (CH) Ian Ure, (LH) David Sadler, (RW) Willie Morgan, (CM) Pat Crerand, (AM) Bobby Charlton (1), (CF) Denis Law (1), (LW) George Best.

Ure, inside his own half, center circle, left footed pass forward to Crerand, left of center midfield, outside of his right boot, between Alan Oakes, nearer, in a central position, relative to the ‘D’ of the City 18 yard box, and center back, Mike Doyle, further off, in positional terms, relative to the right edge of the 'D', finds Paul Edwards, nudges the ball past left back, Glyn Pardoe, runs on into the 18 yard box, right of the 'D', level with the right edge of the penalty area, ball struck, right footed, top right corner of the net, on 23 minutes, 1-1. Ure, again inside his own half, left of the center circle, left foot pass to Best, inside the center circle. Best surges forward into the City half, shrugs off pursuing striker, Ian Bowyer, wins the ball off his right boot in a tackle with midfielder, Alan Oakes, shoots right footed from outside the 18 yard box, left of its right corner, ‘keeper Joe Corrigan parries, can’t hold. Law, inside the penalty area, pounces on 60 minutes, left footed strike, 2-1, but 3-4 on aggregate. Similarly, in the F.A. cup semi-final, the team lost a third replay, 0-1, with ‘The King’, as goal scoring legend, Law, was known to the die hard terraced fans at the Stretford End, benched for the single goal affair; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Paul Edwards, (LB) Tony Dunne, (RH) Pat Crerand, (CH) David Sadler, (LH) Nobby Stiles, (RW) Willie Morgan, (CF) Brian Kidd, (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CM) Carlo Sartori (D. Law, 61 mins), (LW) George Best.

 There was a chance of silverware for the Old Trafford trophy cabinet straightaway in 1970-71, with the club reaching the Final of the Watney Mann Invitation Cup, contested four times from 1970-73, pre-season, before discontinued, sponsored by the brewery, and known as the Watney Cup, held for teams scoring most goals in each of the four divisions of the Football League the previous season, who had not been promoted, or admitted to a European competition.

 Two teams from each division took part, that is, eight participants, in a knockout format, each match a one-off, with no replays. The final took place at the home ground of one of the finalists, rather than a neutral venue. In the August 5th, 1970, semi-final, United defeated Second Division, Hull City, on penalties, 4-3, a.e.t., 1-1, the first ever penalty shoot out in English soccer, with Denis Law equalizing on 78 minutes an 11th minute headed opener from Chris Chilton, later substituted by Stuart Pearson, who’d be United’s center forward during their Second Division championship winning season of 1974-75, bought for £200,000 by then Scots’ manager, Tommy Docherty, after the club were relegated in 1973-74, and scoring 17 goals, as the team returned to the First Division; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Paul Edwards, (LB) Tony Dunne, (CM) Pat Crerand, (CB) Ian Ure, (CB) David Sadler, (RW) Willie Morgan, (SS) Denis Law (1), (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CF) Brian Kidd, (LW) George Best. City goalkeeper, Ian McKechnie, turned from hero to villain in front of Bunkers Hill at Boothferry Road, saving from fellow Scot, Law,  but hitting Stepney’s bar as ‘The Tigers’ outfield players bottled it and Ian was forced to step up. Best, Kidd, and Charlton completed their spot kicks successfully, 3-3, before Denis’ failure, but Hull striker, Ken Wagstaffe, also failed, leaving Morgan to ensure that McKechnie had no one to talk to in the dressing room afterwards.

 The Final took place on August 8th, 1970, at The Baseball Ground; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Paul Edwards, (LB) Tony Dunne, (CM) Pat Crerand, (CB) Ian Ure, (CB) David Sadler, (RW) Willie Morgan (N. Stiles, 57 mins), (SS) Denis Law (J. Fitzpatrick, 25 mins), (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CF) Brian Kidd, (LW) George Best (1). Fitzpatrick, winning a tackle, left footed, with Wales’ midfielder Alan Durban, edge of the ‘D’, center, ball breaks to Best, on 32 minutes, a yard or so in front of the penalty spot, left footed strike, despite left back John Robson’s attempt at a block, low into the bottom left corner of the net, 1-2, but not enough. Derby manager, Brian Clough, secured his first trophy, 4-1.

 The club 18th in the league, failed to beat Aston Villa in the 1970-71 League Cup semi-final at home, despite a 44th minute equalizer from Kidd, beginning the move on the right, a pass through the legs of Stonehouse referee, David Smith, to Stiles, Kidd runs on into the 18 yard box. Stiles to Sartori, right touchline, a high ball from Carlo, left footed, header at the edge of the 18 yard box, Scots' right back, Charlie Aitken, towards Brian, rather than cleared upfield, leapt at by the striker, right corner of the penalty area, struck off the ground, left footed scissors-kick, screamer, 1-1, far left corner of the net; (GK) Jimmy Rimmer, (RB) John Fitzpatrick, (LB) Tony Dunne, (RH) Pat Crerand, (CH) Ian Ure, (LH) David Sadler, (RW) Willie Morgan, (CF) Brian Kidd (1), (AM) Bobby Charlton, (SS) Denis Law, (LW) George Best.
It was 1-2 at Villa Park, despite taking a 14th minute lead through Kidd; (GK) Jimmy Rimmer, (RB) John Fitzpatrick, (LB) Tony Dunne, (RH) Pat Crerand, (CH) Ian Ure, (LH) David Sadler, (RW) Willie Morgan, (CF) Brian Kidd (1), (AM) Bobby Charlton, (SS) Denis Law, (LW) George Best.

 A long, hoofed ball, from the right full back position, by the United 18 yard box, bouncing ahead of Brian, deep inside the Villa half, between central defenders, Fred Turnbull and Brian Tiler. Kidd gets ahead of the ball, shielding it, back to the Villa goal. Tiler kicks at the ball, hits Kidd in the chest, appeals for a handball. Kidd shapes to go out wider on the right, ball on his right boot, instead turns inside Turnbull, ball on his left boot, right corner of the 18 yard box, easing the ball past Fred, with the outside of his left boot, allowing the ball to run on, then passing the ball back, with his right boot, again onto his left, pushing the ball ahead of him, past the lunging form of Tiler, racing on, nudges the ball, left of diving ‘keeper, John Dunn, by the penalty spot, left footed strike low, along the turf, left side of the net, 1-0. Losing 2-3 on aggregate meant a brief return to the manager’s reins for Busby from December 29th, 1970, before the appointment of Leicester City’s Frank O’ Farrell for 1971-72.

  McGuinness had begun the 1970-71 season’s campaign with a defeat, 0-1, to Leeds United, fielding a side containing seven defenders, including the ‘keeper, which was indication enough that there’d be problems ahead; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Paul Edwards, (LB) Tony Dunne (CM) Pat Crerand, (CB) Ian Ure, (CB) David Sadler, (DM) John Fitzpatrick, (DM) Nobby Stiles (A. Gowling, 46 mins), (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CF) Brian Kidd, (SS) George Best. Only Northern Ireland's Best, Charlton, and Kidd weren’t recognizably concerned with defence, and in the following 0-0 home draw with Chelsea, center forward Kidd was replaced by Scots’ right wing, Morgan, brought for £110,000 from Burnley for 1968-69, after John Aston, son of John Aston, left back in the ‘48 F.A. Cup Final winning team, was carried off before half time by coach, Wilf McGuinness, and trainer, Jack Crompton, in the course of a 0-0 draw at Manchester City’s Maine Road, on August 17th, 1968, suffering from a leg break; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Frank Kopel, (LB) Tony Dunne (RH) John Fitzpatrick, (CH) David Sadler, (LH) Nobby Stiles, (RW) George Best, (SS) Alan Gowling, (AM) Bobby Charlton (c), (CF) Brian Kidd (LW) John Aston (F. Burns, 45 mins.). 

 Crerand was initially replaced by Scot, Fitzpatrick, as invariably the first seven players on Wilf’s team sheet were defensive, while his disciplining of legendary contributors, Charlton, for example, made to do 10 press ups, and his inclusion of try outs, for example, Scots' right back Willie Watson, in preference to seasoned campaigners, didn’t serve his cause. Although Scot, Francis Burns, who’d featured in six of the European games, as the club progressed to the '68 Final, was restored to favor, defeat at St James’ Park, Newcastle, 0-1, on October 31st, 1970, suggested Wilf’s teams were too defensive to create anything for the forward line;  (GK) Jimmy Rimmer, (RB) Paul Edwards, (LB) Tony Dunne, (DM) John Fitzpatrick, (CB) Steve James, (CB) David Sadler, (RW) George Best, (DM) Francis Burns, (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CF) Brian Kidd, (LW) John Aston.

What seemed to have obsessively attracted McGuinness was the idea that the right back, for example, Paul, together with a defensive half back line, for example, Sadler, Foulkes, and Stiles, where Stiles, or whoever was selected at left half, in fact had the left back role, leaving Dunne, for example, or Fitzpatrick, nominally at left back, as sweeper. Whereas Busby had thought of it as an option, within the fluid interchangeability he’d conceived, for example, Sadler moving from center back to center forward, with Paul moving to center back, while Fitzpatrick, and/or Burns, in the side selected to play Newcastle, that is, moving to full back/sweeper, Wilf’s selecting of upwards of seven defensive outfield players suggested the libero as basic to his thinking as a coach.

For a while Watson replaced Paul Edwards at right back, while Italian inside forward, Carlo Sartori, and Gowling were given their chance. Crerand was restored to the team for the game on December 19th, 1970, at home to Arsenal; (GK) Jimmy Rimmer, (RB) Willie Watson, (LB) Tony Dunne, (CM) Pat Crerand, (CB) Steve James, (CB) John Fitzpatrick, (RW) Willie Morgan, (CM) Carlo Sartori, (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CF) Brian Kidd, (SS) George Best.

A crossfield move begun by Charlton, right, deep in his own half, long ball, right footed to Sartori, left wing, moving out of the United half up the left touchline, level with the left corner of the 18 yard box, cross right footed, Kidd back-heading the ball on, left edge of the penalty area, left winger George Armstrong trying to hoof the ball clear, rebounds to Best off the legs of center back, Peter Simpson. Best stabs the ball towards the goalmouth, stifled by the defenders, trying to control the ball again, kicked away by right back, Pat Rice, not far enough. Sartori, running in right of the penalty area, before left back, Bob McNab to Carlo's left can react; left foot, on 41 minutes, high into the right side of the net, 1-3.

 It was mene tekel upharsin for McGuinness, with the club 18th, following a draw, 4-4 against Derby County at their Baseball ground, on  December 26th, 1970; (GK) Jimmy Rimmer, (RB) John Fitzpatrick, (LB) Tony Dunne, (CM) Pat Crerand, (CB) Ian Ure, (CB) David Sadler, (RW) Willie Morgan, (SS) Denis Law (2), (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CF) Brian Kidd (1),  (LW) George Best (1).

.  At 0-2 Law headed a goal, on 55 minutes, into the top left corner of the net from a Morgan cross, to the right of the 18 yard box, and outside of it, that found Law, center of the 18 yard box, by the penalty spot, 1-2. Charlton, corner on the right, taken right footed, back-header by central defender, David Sadler, right corner of the penalty area, parried by ‘keeper, Les Green, falls to Best, a yard from the goal line, on 57 minutes, swept in right footed, 2-2. Charlton, corner on the left, taken right footed, diving header from Law, right of center of the penalty area, bottom of the net, 3-2 up on 59 minutes, and 4-3 down, Charlton corner on the right, taken right footed, Kidd header just outside the penalty area, left of center, top left corner of the net, 4-4, on 75 minutes, guaranteeing Busby’s return.

 Until the end of season 1970-71 the ghost of the half back line returned to haunt, beginning with a win at Chelsea, 2-1, on January 9th, 1971; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) John Fitzpatrick, (LB) Tony Dunne, (RH) Pat Crerand, (CH) Paul Edwards, (LH) Nobby Stiles, (RW) Willie Morgan (1), (SS) Alan Gowling (1), (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CF) Denis Law, (LW) John Aston. Although Paul Edwards had impressed as a full back, scoring from long range against City in the 1969-70 season's League Cup semi-final, in 1970-71 he was often deployed as a center back, while Gowling, in the team for Best against the Stamford Bridge club, and who’d later be second striker alongside Malcolm Macdonald at Newcastle, in the side for Aston against Southampton, netted four for Busby alongside Best, at The Dell, in a home defeat of ‘The Saints’, on February 20th, 1971, 5-1; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) John Fitzpatrick, (LB) Francis Burns, (CM) Pat Crerand, (CB) Paul Edwards, (CB) David Sadler, (RW) Willie Morgan (1), (SS) George Best, (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CF) Alan Gowling (4), (LW) John Aston. Stiles played what proved to be his last game away at Coventry, 1-2, on April 13th, 1971, with Sadler preferred thereafter, as Nobby was transferred to Middlesboro for £20,000; (GK) Alex Stepney, (RB) Tony Dunne, (LB) Francis Burns, (CM) Pat Crerand, (CB) Paul Edwards, (CB) Nobby Stiles, (RW) Willie Morgan, (SS) Alan Gowling, (AM) Bobby Charlton, (CF) Brian Kidd, (LW) George Best (1). Half backs to begin with, and center backs to the end, Foulkes and Stiles were gone, while Sir Matt had engineered a recovery to 8th primarily by limiting the number of defensive players to the back four.

28/05/2024 09:29
The Spear With No Point
 
Manchester United's Dutch manager, Erik ten Hag, was believed to be in danger of dismissal towards the end of the 2023-24 season's campaigning. but the team managed to get through to the F.A. Cup Final at London's Wembley stadium, where they defeated city rivals, Manchester City, league champions, 2-1, preventing the 'other' club from Manchester, with Spain's Pep Guardiola, manager of Spanish club FC Barcelona's 2008 treble, at the helm of the City ship, from again winning the coveted league and cup double, which they'd won the previous, 2022-23 season, beating United, 1-2, before going on to win the treble of European Cup, F.A. Cup, and English Premier League, by defeating Italy's Internazionale of Milan, 1-0, on June 10th, 2023, in the UCL Final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey. The defeat at Wembley for United was painful, as prior to that the club had been England's sole treble winner, having defeated Newcastle, 2-0, in the 1999 F.A. Cup Final, as league champions, before beating German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, 2-1, in the UCL Final at FC Barcelona’s Nou Camp, Spain. 
 United went on to win the Intercontinental Cup on November 30th, 1999, against Brazil's Palmeiras, 1-0, at National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan, that was later accepted by the world's governing soccer body, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), as a World Club Cup Final success, which effectively meant a quadruple triumph. Moreover, if they'd won the English Charity Shield, between the English champions and the F.A. Cup winners, although as United won the league, the game was played against runner-up, Arsenal, the club could have claimed a quintet, although the match was lost, 1-2, to 'The Gunners'. Moreover, defeat on August 27th, 1999, in the European Super Cup, 0-1, at Stade Louis II, Monaco to Italy's Serie A side, Lazio, winners of the 1999 Cup Winners Cup, prevented the squad from a clean sweep of the other major trophies winnable.
 Manchester City's 2023 success was more comprehensive, although they could never win the World Club Cup in the way United did, which in 2000 had replaced the Intercontinental Cup annually contested between the South American (CONMEBOL) winners of the Copa Libertadores and the winners of the European Cup, a competition for league champions, itself superseded by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League (UCL), with qualification extended to runners up in Europe's respective national leagues, while the World Club Cup competition offered similar opportunities for continental champions in Asia (AFC), Oceania (OFC), North, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and Africa (CAF), to contest the trophy. 
 City lost the Charity Shield, a.e.t., 1-1, on penalties, 1-4 to runners up in the title race, Arsenal, but beat the winners of the Europa Cup, Spain's Villareal, 1-1, a.e.t., 5-4 on penalties, to win the European Super Cup at Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece, on August 16th, 2023, while winning the World Club Cup, 4-0, against Brazil's Fluminense in the Final on December 22nd, 2023, at King Abdullah Sports City (KASC), ‘The Shining Jewel’, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after defeating Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, 3-0, in the semi-final on December 19th, 2023, at the KASC, which gave the club a clean sweep of all five of the major trophies.
 City lost to Spain’s Real Madrid in the 2024 UCL quarter final, after drawing, 3-3, away, and 1-1, a.e.t., at home, that is, 4-4 on aggregate, but 3-4 on penalties, while United finishing bottom of UCL Group A, didn't qualify for the Europa Cup, as third placed, which fell to Turkish club, S.K. Galatasaray, behind group winners, Bayern Munich, and runner-up, Denmark's Copenhagen. That left City with the task of qualifying for the 2024-25 UCL, which they did by virtue of winning the league by 91 points to Arsenal's 89, while ending the season 8th, but F.A. Cup winners, United qualified for the Europa League, with the possibility of progressing further at the knockout stage.
 Although the F.A. Cup was United's last chance of success in 2023-24, for City it was a chance at the double, and the path of the teams to the Final was necessarily unequal. City were consistent achievers, winning the league, while 'the red devils' from 'the theater of dreams', Old Trafford stadium, Manchester, were plagued by injury, inconsistency, and team selection issues, causing ten Hag problems, which the squad was able to weather, in order to survive the earlier rounds, and reach a semi-final against Coventry City that, 2-0, at half time, and 3-0 after 58 minutes, should have been won easily, but the eventual result, 3-3, a.e.t., and 4-2 on penalties, was met with huge sighs of relief from weather-beaten fans.
 Dutch left back, Tyrell Malacia, missed the entire season through injury, while England left back, Luke Shaw, only 12 league starts in 2023-24, missed the semi-final against Coventry, with Diogo Dalot, Portugal's right back, switching to left back, and England's Aaron Wan-Bissaka, in competition with Dalot for his right back berth, borne along with events, assumed the role, with some certainty of keeping it, should the team reach the Final. Injuries to center backs, Argentina’s Lisandro Martínez, France's Raphaël Varane, Harry Maguire, who played against Coventry, rising to head down a ball from a corner on the right, just in front of the penalty spot, into the bottom right corner of the net, on 45+ minutes, 2-0, and Sweden's Victor Lindelöf, meant a switch for Brazil's ball-attacking midfielder, Casemiro, switched to the heart of the defence, and further opportunities for Jon Evans, center back in three successful championship campaigns, 2008-09, 2010-11, and 2012-13, after making his league debut in 2008-09, under the managership of Scot, Alex Ferguson, before being let go by Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, for £6m to West Bromwich Albion for 2015-16.
 Released by Leicester City at the end of 2022-23, during which he'd been captain, Jon signed again for United, age 35, after winning the 2021 F.A. Cup, with 'The Foxes' from King Power Stadium, 1-0, against Chelsea. Because of injuries to the other center halves, Evans and Willy Kambwala, age 19, 3 starts and 5 appearances from the bench, born Kinshasa, DR Congo, raised in the southwestern suburbs of a Paris commune, in the new town of Les Ulis, within the Île-de-France, most populous of France’s eighteen regions, northwest Essonne department, played for Elan Chevilly Larue (2012-13), and Les Ulis (2013-18), captain of France U 16s, and signing from the Academy of French side, Sochaux-Montbéliard, ‘The Lions Cubs’, in October 2020, were paired before the Final, although neither started the match. Willy made his first start and league debut alongside Jon in a defeat, 0-2, at West Ham, on December 23rd, 2023, and his second start against Liverpool in a draw, 2-2, at Old Trafford, on April 7th, 2024, alongside England's Maguire.
 Both Kambwala and Evans were on the bench for the Final, with Evans, substituting for Martínez, 8 league starts, and 3 appearances from the substitutes' bench in 2023-24, on in the 73rd minute, with the score at 2-0, after goals on 30 minutes, from Argentine right wing, Alejandro Garnacho, and central midfielder, Kobbie Mainoo, on 39 minutes. Lindelöf replaced Garnacho on 90+3 minutes, with the score, 1-2, after City winger, 46th minute substitute for Croatian central midfielder, Mateo Kovačić, Belgium's Jérémy Doku, shot right footed, and United’s Cameroon 'keeper, André Onana, found he could only push the 87th minute fast and low grass cutter into the inside netting by his right hand post.
 Although Varane and Martínez were at center back, injuries to both meant that playing alongside each other had been a rare event throughout the campaign, and Casemiro wasn't even on the substitutes' bench, despite his starting in the center back position against Coventry in the semi-final, and featuring as an emergency stopper in the games up to the Final, which along with the absence of Maguire seemed overly empty from the hand of fate.
 Varane and Martínez, center back pairing in the 2023 EFL Final, which United won against Newcastle, 2-0, started 2023-24 as first choice central defenders, and while injuries to Malacia and Shaw first resulted in Lindelöf or Dalot at left back, or in central defence, when Varane and/or Martínez became unavailable, amid rumors of his having being available for transfer, after injury to Lindelöf, Maguire was the only center back available, while injured Shaw had also been doing emergency duty as a center half. Although left footed Martínez could have filled in at left back, injury to him left the squad without a recognized left back.
 Kobbie Mainoo’s emergence as a quality controller in central midfield, alongside Casemiro, was the big plus factor, while the preferring in the Final of on-loan Moroccan defensive midfielder from Italy's Serie A club, Fiorentina, Sofyan Amrabat, 10 league starts, and 11 substitute appearances, to Casemiro, 24 starts, and 1 appearance from the bench, raised some eyebrows, whereas the irreplaceability of attacking midfielder, Portugal’s playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, joint top scorer in the league to Denmark's center forward, Rasmus Højlund, with 10, remained as constant as Planck’s.
 The other major surprise to many was the inclusion of Scot, Scott McTominay, as center forward, in place of Højlund, giving the attack the look of a spear with sharp edges, as Garnacho and Rashford, right and left, played as inverted wingers, or inside forwards, but without any point to it, although a glance at the stats reveals what might have influenced ten Hag’s tactical thinking. While central midfield was always viewed as Scott’s most natural position, before becoming a member of the first team squad, he was moved into the attack, when there was a lack of an ‘out-and-out’ center forward in the reserves.
 Scott's instinct for the important goal was evident from the two he got at home to Chelsea, 2-1, on December 6th, 2023, in the 19th minute, controlling the ball with his right, at the penalty spot, before striking with his left, low, to Spanish ‘keeper Robert Sánchez’s right, 1-0, and the 69th, a powerful headed goal, inside the penalty area, right, from a right footed cross by Garnacho, left corner of the 18 yard box, 2-1, lifting the club from 7th to 6th position in the league table, and again on February 1st, 2024, at Wolves, heading powerfully down a corner on the right, at the edge of the penalty area, center, ball bouncing into the net, top right corner, in the 75th minute, 3-1, with the side finally running out winners, 4-3, primarily owing to the two-goal cushion McTominay had been instrumental in constructing, and which again lifted the club to 6th position, when they’d twice slipped to 8th, after losing away to West Ham on December 23rd, 0-2, and at Nottingham Forest on December 30th, 2023, 1-2. 
 On February 11th, 2024, McTominay got the 86th minute winner away to Aston Villa, 2-1, with a bullet-like header, just outside the penalty area, center, from a right footed Dalot cross, right outside of the 18 yard box, and the club didn’t slip further than 6th, a European qualifying position for 2024-25, until April 13th, 2024, after a draw, 2-2, at Bournemouth, with the next game the F.A. Cup semi-final against Coventry on April 21st, 2024, and a win guaranteeing the club an even chance of qualifying for the Europa League in the Final. McTominay had scored the first on 10 minutes, after Liverpool’s Republic of Ireland ‘keeper, Caoimhín Kelleher, stopped a shot from Garnacho, left corner of the penalty area, the ball falling to Scott on the goal line, center, right foot, high under the ball, into the net, 1-0, in the quarter final against Liverpool, 2-2, and 4-3, a.e.t., and the first in the semi-final against Coventry, right edge and center of the 18 yard box, cross from Dalot, goal line, center, off Scott’s left shin, 1-0, on 23 minutes. 
 Putting Scott into the firing line against City was strategically logical, given his big game performances, while Casemiro’s ‘schoolboy error’,  as reported, gifting Arsenal their win on May 12th, 2024, at Old Trafford, 0-1, by moving too slowly out of defence, playing Kai Havertz, German attacking midfielder, onside on the right. Kai’s right footed cross inside the 18 yard box, close to the touchline, turned in at the near post, with his right boot, by Belgian forward, Leandro Tossard, on 20 minutes, might explain Casemiro's exclusion from the Final squad, with fit again Varane and Martínez selected in central defence, and center half Lindelöf, also recovered, on the bench.
 United’s first goal was gifted to Garnacho by City left back, Joško Gvardiol, who failed to deal with a long crossfield ball forward from Dalot’s right boot, in the left back position, inside his own half, towards Alejandro, outside of the ‘D’, right, with German ‘keeper, Stefan Ortega, rushing out to the edge of the 18 yard box, Croatia’s Gvardiol leaping, heading the ball over ‘keeper Ortega’s despairing hands, as Garnacho ran through into the penalty area to drive the ball into the undefended net with his right boot on 30 minutes. Mainoo’s goal was similarly worked, Marcus Rashford on the left wing, inside his own half, long cross field ball from his right foot, forwards towards Alejandro on the right wing, running into the 18 yard box, right corner, passing the ball low, along the turf, back to Fernandes, edge of the 18 yard box, inside the ‘D’, center, Bruno side footing the ball, low, right instep, along the pitch towards Kobbie, outside the penalty area, left, placing the ball, lifting it off the ground, right boot, on 39 minutes, to Ortega’s right, 2-0.
 McTominay’s 55th minute goal against Galatasary of Istanbul, 3-1, away, in the penultimate Group A UCL game, would have been enough to give the club a place in the knockout stages of the Europa Cup, despite losing the last Group A game, 0-1 to Bayern at Old Trafford, but the game ended 3-3, with Maguire and Lindelöf starting at the center of defence, rather than the previous season’s first choice central defenders, Varane and Martínez, further illustrating the effort made by Scott to lift the reds out of the doldrums, and transcend injury concerns: man of the season. 
The Spear With No Point
 
Manchester United's Dutch manager, Erik ten Hag, was believed to be in danger of dismissal towards the end of the 2023-24 season's campaigning, but the team managed to get through to the F.A. Cup Final at London's Wembley stadium, where they defeated city rivals, Manchester City, league champions, 2-1, preventing the 'other' club from Manchester, with Spain's Pep Guardiola, manager of Spanish club FC Barcelona's 2008 treble, at the helm of the City ship, from again winning the coveted league and cup double, which they'd won the previous 2022-23 season, beating United, 1-2, before going on to win the treble of European Cup, F.A. Cup, and English Premier League, by defeating Italy's Internazionale of Milan, 1-0, on June 10th, 2023, in the UCL Final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey. The defeat at Wembley for United was painful, as prior to that the club had been England's sole treble winner, having defeated Newcastle, 2-0, in the 1999 F.A. Cup Final, as league champions, before beating German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, 2-1, in the UCL Final at FC Barcelona’s Nou Camp, Spain. 
 
 United went on to win the Intercontinental Cup on November 30th, 1999, against Brazil's Palmeiras, 1-0, at National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan, that was later accepted by the world's governing soccer body, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), as a World Club Cup Final success, which effectively meant a quadruple triumph. Moreover, if they'd won the English Charity Shield, between the English champions and the F.A. Cup winners, although as United won the league, the game was played against runner-up, Arsenal, the club could have claimed a quintet, but the match was lost, 1-2, to 'The Gunners'. Moreover, defeat on August 27th, 1999, in the European Super Cup, 0-1, at Stade Louis II, Monaco, to Italy's Serie A side, Lazio, winners of the 1999 Cup Winners Cup, prevented the squad from a clean sweep of the other major trophies winnable.
 
 Manchester City's 2023 success was more comprehensive, although they could never win the World Club Cup in the way United did, which in 2000 had replaced the Intercontinental Cup annually contested between the South American (CONMEBOL) winners of the Copa Libertadores and the winners of the European Cup, a competition for league champions, itself superseded by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League (UCL), with qualification extended to runners up in Europe's respective national leagues, while the World Club Cup competition offered similar opportunities for continental champions in Asia (AFC), Oceania (OFC), North, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and Africa (CAF), to contest the trophy. 
 
 City lost the Charity Shield, a.e.t., 1-1, on penalties, 1-4 to runners up in the title race, Arsenal, but beat the winners of the Europa Cup, Spain's Villareal, 1-1, a.e.t., 5-4 on penalties, to win the European Super Cup at Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece, on August 16th, 2023, while winning the World Club Cup, 4-0, against Brazil's Fluminense in the Final on December 22nd, 2023, at King Abdullah Sports City (KASC), ‘The Shining Jewel’, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after defeating Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, 3-0, in the semi-final on December 19th, 2023, at the KASC, which gave the club a clean sweep of all five of the major trophies.
 
 City lost to Spain’s Real Madrid in the 2024 UCL quarter final, after drawing, 3-3, away, and 1-1, a.e.t., at home, that is, 4-4 on aggregate, but 3-4 on penalties, while United finishing bottom of UCL Group A, didn't qualify for the Europa Cup, as third placed, which fell to Turkish club, S.K. Galatasaray, behind group winners, Bayern Munich, and runner-up, Denmark's Copenhagen. That left City with the task of qualifying for the 2024-25 UCL, which they did by virtue of winning the league by 91 points to Arsenal's 89, while ending the season 8th, but F.A. Cup winners, United qualified for the Europa League, with the possibility of progressing further at the knockout stage.
 
 Although the F.A. Cup was United's last chance of success in 2023-24, for City it was a chance at the double, and the path of the teams to the Final was necessarily unequal. City were consistent achievers, winning the league, while 'the red devils' from 'the theater of dreams', Old Trafford stadium, Manchester, were plagued by injury, inconsistency, and team selection issues, causing ten Hag problems, which the squad was able to weather, in order to survive the earlier rounds, and reach a semi-final against Coventry City that, 2-0, at half time, and 3-0 after 58 minutes, should have been won easily, but the eventual result, 3-3, a.e.t., and 4-2 on penalties, was met with huge sighs of relief from weather-beaten fans.
 
 Dutch left back, Tyrell Malacia, missed the entire season through injury, while England left back, Luke Shaw, only 12 league starts in 2023-24, missed the semi-final against Coventry, with Diogo Dalot, Portugal's right back, switching to left back, and England's Aaron Wan-Bissaka, in competition with Dalot for his right back berth, borne along with events, assumed the role, with some certainty of keeping it, should the team reach the Final. Injuries to center backs, Argentina’s Lisandro Martínez, France's Raphaël Varane, Harry Maguire, who played against Coventry, rising to head down a ball from a right footed outswinging Fernandes' corner on the right, just in front of the penalty spot, into the bottom right corner of the net, on 45+ minutes, 2-0, and Sweden's Victor Lindelöf, meant a switch for Brazil's ball-attacking midfielder, Casemiro, switched to the heart of the defence, and further opportunities for Jon Evans, center back in three successful championship campaigns, 2008-09, 2010-11, and 2012-13, after making his league debut in 2008-09, under the managership of Scot, Alex Ferguson, before being let go by Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, for £6m to West Bromwich Albion for 2015-16.
 
 Released by Leicester City at the end of 2022-23, during which he'd been captain, Jon signed again for United, age 35, after winning the 2021 F.A. Cup, with 'The Foxes' from King Power Stadium, 1-0, against Chelsea. Because of injuries to the other center halves, Evans and Willy Kambwala, age 19, 3 starts and 5 appearances from the bench, born Kinshasa, DR Congo, raised in the southwestern suburbs of a Paris commune, in the new town of Les Ulis, within the Île-de-France, most populous of France’s eighteen regions, northwest Essonne department, played for Elan Chevilly Larue (2012-13), and Les Ulis (2013-18), captain of France U 16s, and signing from the Academy of French side, Sochaux-Montbéliard, ‘The Lions Cubs’, in October 2020, were paired before the Final, although neither started the match. Willy made his first start and league debut alongside Jon in a defeat, 0-2, at West Ham, on December 23rd, 2023, and his second start against Liverpool in a draw, 2-2, at Old Trafford, on April 7th, 2024, alongside England's Maguire.
 
 Both Kambwala and Evans were on the bench for the Final, with Evans, substituting for Martínez, 8 league starts, and 3 appearances from the substitutes' bench in 2023-24, on in the 73rd minute, with the score at 2-0, after goals on 30 minutes, from Argentine right wing, Alejandro Garnacho, and central midfielder, Kobbie Mainoo, on 39 minutes. Lindelöf replaced Garnacho on 90+3 minutes, with the score, 1-2, after City winger, 46th minute substitute for Croatian central midfielder, Mateo Kovačić, Belgium's Jérémy Doku, left of the 18 yard box, faced Garnacho, standing in the left corner of the box, Wan-Bissaka behind Alejandro. Doku pushes the ball out wider, with the outside of his right boot, almost as far as the left edge of the ‘D’, shoots right footed, and United’s Cameroon 'keeper, André Onana, finds he can only push the 87th minute fast and low grass cutter into the inside netting by his right hand post.
 
 Although Varane and Martínez were at center back, injuries to both meant that playing alongside each other had been a rare event throughout the campaign, and Casemiro wasn't even on the substitutes' bench, despite his starting in the center back position against Coventry in the semi-final, and featuring as an emergency stopper in the games up to the Final, which along with the absence of Maguire seemed overly empty from the hand of fate.
 
 Varane and Martínez, center back pairing in the 2023 EFL Final, which United won against Newcastle, 2-0, started 2023-24 as first choice central defenders, and while injuries to Malacia and Shaw first resulted in Lindelöf or Dalot at left back, or in central defence, when Varane and/or Martínez became unavailable, amid rumors of his having being available for transfer, after injury to Lindelöf, Maguire was the only center back available, while injured Shaw had also been doing emergency duty as a center half. Although left footed Martínez could have filled in at left back, injury to him left the squad without a recognized left back.
 
 Kobbie Mainoo’s emergence as a quality controller in central midfield, alongside Casemiro, was the big plus factor, while the preferring in the Final of on-loan Moroccan defensive midfielder from Italy's Serie A club, Fiorentina, Sofyan Amrabat, 10 league starts, and 11 substitute appearances, to Casemiro, 24 starts, and 1 appearance from the bench, raised some eyebrows, whereas the irreplaceability of attacking midfielder, Portugal’s playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, joint top scorer in the league to Denmark's center forward, Rasmus Højlund, with 10, remained as constant as Planck’s.
 
 The other major surprise to many was the inclusion of Scot, Scott McTominay, as center forward, in place of Højlund, giving the attack the look of a spear with sharp edges, as Garnacho and Rashford, right and left, played as inverted wingers, or inside forwards, but without any point to it, although a glance at the stats reveals what might have influenced ten Hag’s tactical thinking. While central midfield was always viewed as Scott’s most natural position, before becoming a member of the first team squad, he was moved into the attack, when there was a lack of an ‘out-and-out’ center forward in the reserves.
 
 Scott's instinct for the important goal was evident from the two he got at home to Chelsea, 2-1, on December 6th, 2023, in the 19th minute, controlling the ball with his right, at the penalty spot, before striking with his left, low, to Spanish ‘keeper Robert Sánchez’s right, 1-0, and the 69th, a powerful headed goal, inside the penalty area, right, from a right footed cross by Garnacho, left corner of the 18 yard box, 2-1, lifting the club from 7th to 6th position in the league table, and again on February 1st, 2024, at Wolves, heading powerfully down a right footed outswinging Fernandes' corner on the right, at the edge of the penalty area, center, ball bouncing once, into the net, top right corner, in the 75th minute, 3-1, with the side finally running out winners, 4-3, primarily owing to the two-goal cushion McTominay had been instrumental in constructing, and which again lifted the club to 6th position, when they’d twice slipped to 8th, after losing away to West Ham on December 23rd, 0-2, and at Nottingham Forest on December 30th, 2023, 1-2. 
 
 On February 11th, 2024, McTominay got the 86th minute winner away to Aston Villa, 2-1, with a bullet-like header, just outside the penalty area, center, from a right footed Dalot cross, right outside of the 18 yard box, and the club didn’t slip further than 6th, a European qualifying position for 2024-25, until April 13th, 2024, after a draw, 2-2, at Bournemouth, with the next game the F.A. Cup semi-final against Coventry on April 21st, 2024, and a win guaranteeing the club an even chance of qualifying for the Europa League in the Final. McTominay had scored the first on 10 minutes, after Liverpool’s Republic of Ireland ‘keeper, Caoimhín Kelleher, stopped a shot from Garnacho, left corner of the penalty area, the ball falling to Scott on the goal line, center, right foot, high under the ball, into the net, 1-0, in the quarter final against Liverpool, 2-2, and 4-3, a.e.t., and the first in the semi-final against Coventry, right edge and center of the 18 yard box, cross from Dalot, goal line, center, off Scott’s left shin, 1-0, on 23 minutes. 
 
 Putting Scott into the firing line against City was strategically logical, given his big game performances, while Casemiro’s ‘schoolboy error’,  as reported, gifting Arsenal their win on May 12th, 2024, at Old Trafford, 0-1, by moving too slowly out of defence, playing Kai Havertz, German attacking midfielder, onside on the right. Kai’s right footed cross inside the 18 yard box, close to the touchline, turned in at the near post, with his right boot, by Belgian forward, Leandro Tossard, on 20 minutes, might explain Casemiro's exclusion from the Final squad, with fit again Varane and Martínez selected in central defence, and center half Lindelöf, also recovered, on the bench.
 
 
 United’s first goal was gifted to Garnacho by City left back, Joško Gvardiol, who failed to deal with a long crossfield ball forward from Dalot’s right boot, in the left back position, inside his own half, towards Alejandro, outside of the ‘D’, right, with German ‘keeper, Stefan Ortega, rushing out to the edge of the 18 yard box, right-to-left shoulder charge from Alejandro, disconcerting Croatia’s Gvardiol, leaps, heading the ball over ‘keeper Ortega’s despairing hands, as Garnacho runs through into the penalty area to drive the ball into the undefended net with his right boot on 30 minutes. Mainoo’s goal was similarly worked, Marcus Rashford on the left wing, inside his own half, long cross field ball from his right foot, forwards towards Alejandro on the right wing, running into the 18 yard box, right corner, passing the ball low, along the turf, back to Fernandes, edge of the 18 yard box, inside the ‘D’, center, Bruno side footing the ball, low, right instep, along the pitch towards Kobbie, outside the penalty area, left, placing the ball, lifting it off the ground, right boot, on 39 minutes, to Ortega’s right, 2-0.
 
 
 McTominay’s 55th minute goal against Galatasary of Istanbul, 3-1, away, in the penultimate Group A UCL game, would have been enough to give the club a place in the knockout stages of the Europa Cup, despite losing the last Group A game, 0-1 to Bayern at Old Trafford, but the game ended 3-3, with Maguire and Lindelöf starting at the center of defence, rather than the previous season’s first choice central defenders, Varane and Martínez, further illustrating the effort made by Scott to lift the reds out of the doldrums, and transcend injury concerns: man of the season. 

 

08/04/2024 10:04

 

 
Manchester United’s faith in utility players is demonstrably embodied in the rather slight and diminutive figure of Northern Irish central defensive midfielder, David McCreery, who was what was euphemistically called ‘the twelfth man’, before more than one substitute was permitted in soccer. During a game of 90 minutes, with 45 each half, there was the possibility of extra time, that is, 30 minutes, in cup competitions, where normal time hadn’t produced a winner. A manager in the early 21st century had a list of seven substitutes available to choose from. The options would have amazed 19th century teams, like the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club (LYR FC), founded by the Carriage and Wagon department in the area of Newton Heath in 1878, known as ‘The Heathens’, with games against other departments and rail companies at their North Road ground, Manchester, before they were ‘The Red Devils’ of Manchester United from 1902.
 Newton Heath won the Manchester and District Challenge Cup in 1886, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1893, and 1902, renamed as the Manchester FA Senior Cup, known as the Manchester Cup, contested annually within the Manchester Football Association of professional clubs, that is, Ardwick, which became Manchester City in 1894, Bolton Wanderers, Bury, Oldham Athletic, and Stockport County. By 1888 the club was a founding member of a regional football league, The Combination, for clubs across Northern England and the Midlands that weren’t accepted into the Football League, with Small Heath Alliance, Walsall Town Swifts, Derby Midland, Notts Rangers, Burslem Port Vale, Leek, Crewe Alexandra, Newton Heath LYR, Witton, Blackburn Olympic, Mitchell St George's, Halliwell, Derby Junction, Northwich Victoria, and Bootle as founder members. Dissolved before season’s end, with teams only completing fixtures they agreed to, Newton Heath LYR, along with Bootle, Crewe, Grimsby, and Small Heath, founded the Football Alliance, original title Northern Counties League, which continued for three seasons, until merger with The Football League for the 1892-93 First and Second Division campaigns. Independent of the rail company, ‘LYR’ was dropped and Newton Heath FC moved to Bank Street, in neighboring Clayton township.
 With an injured participant, or even reduced by numbers on the field of play, if the injured couldn’t continue, in the late 19th century, and before the 1965-66 single substitute rule, the club that moved to the borough of Trafford in 1910, containing the area, Old Trafford, from which the soccer ground takes its name, had to deal with the physically debilitating effects of intimidation, and a win at all costs attitude, as soccer trophies were approached in a fashion similar to that of prizes awarded to bare knuckle fighters.
 In 1902, under the new ownership of John Henry Davies, chairman of Walker and Homfray Brewery, the club name was changed to Manchester United. Their original green and gold harlequinade quartered strips, having undergone change to white shirts in 1896-97, the now legendarily familiar red and white strip was adopted, harmonizing the red and white roses of Lancashire and Yorkshire, symbolizing the resolved conflict between cadet branches of the royal houses of Lancaster and York, which had resulted in the English Civil War (1455-87), fought to determine the house that would have the throne, until both male lines were extinct.
 The terraced fans at the Stretford End of the Old Trafford Stadium, after his arrival from Italy’s Torino, Turin, for the 1962-63 season for £115,000, proclaimed their own king, former Manchester City striker, Denis Law, a Scot, despite the house of Tudor's Elizabeth I having executed Mary, ‘Queen of Scots’, on February 8th, 1587, as her rival. As the Tudors inherited the throne, after ‘The War of the Roses’, Law’s enthronement symbolized unity in difference, as the club rejected neither Lancashire nor Yorkshire, or ‘the flower of Scotland’, which was an epithet of the Scots’ fallen, after the battle of Flodden field, September 9th, 1513, as the English army of Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, defeated the army of James IV of Scotland, Mary’s father, there.
 Before the First World War (1914-18) Manchester United were league title holders by virtue of finishing 1st in the First Division in 1908 and 1911, with the F.A. Cup won in 1909, 1-0, against Bristol City, at Crystal Palace, London, despite left back Vince Hayes being injured and having to leave the field, before returning as a makeshift forward, after manager, Ernest Mangnall, had adjusted the team so that the defence remained strong. Captain and center half, Charlie Roberts, endorsed the inclusion of inside left, Sandy Turnbull, although he was struggling with a knee injury. As Turnbull was a renowned goal scorer, Roberts argued with Mangnall that the side could afford to ‘carry’ him. Sandy duly rewarded the team by netting the ball on 22 minutes, after inside right Harold Halse’s shot had rebounded to him off Bristol ‘keeper Harry Clay’s crossbar. 
 The peculiar ethos of forcing the injured off, or to continue, was a mind set that perhaps contributed to the outbreak of the First World War, and the Second World War (1939-45), as the fields of battle became a surrogate arena for those who could continue amidst the fallen, who were effectively carried off without the possibility of resumption. If soccer was conceived as a battle between two sides, it was hardly surprising if the mind set translated perfectly into injured and slain, that is, the period of play without substitutes was understandable as a psychosis. 
 After the First World War, ambitions in terms of success suitably declined, as it was evident that avoiding injury was more important to professionals, who’d witnessed what it was to be maimed. WWI began because Serbia wouldn’t apologize in the right way, after ‘freedom fighter’, Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip, shot dead the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie, in Sarajevo, capital city of Austrian-occupied Bosnia, on June 28th, 1914. In psychological terms, there wasn’t a substitute for the injured. Austria-Hungary declared war, while Russia was determined to defend Serbia. Britain and France sided with Russia, while Germany, aiming at establishing a greater Empire, sided with Austro-Hungary. The mind set was that there was no substitute for war.
 Before and after WWII emphasis shifted towards fitness and resilience. How to maintain the ability to perform replaced emphasis upon performance, which rapidly deteriorated, if the resources available to the physique were mismanaged in the immediate pursuit of goals, and at levels of sustained endeavor ultimately unattainable in the course of a demanding season. In psychological terms, the lack of trophy success in the period between the wars was a consequence of professional footballers taking care more of themselves, and as a consequence playing ability came more to the fore in the fans’ consideration when making the financially significant decision of supporting the club by going to the ground to watch a game. 
 As well as the First Division title, Manchester United won the Manchester Senior Cup in 1908, a feat repeated in 1910, and 1911, when the club again won the league, and once more before WWI in 1913, but after WWI ‘The Reds’ were ‘yo-yo', with periods in the Second Division, subsequent to relegation, which is where the club was for 1931-32, then bought by James W. Gibson, clothier, after the death in 1927 of previous owner, Davies, followed by periods in the First Division, which is where the club were at the commencement of hostilities against German territorial ambitions at the outset of WWII.
 Although the playing staff still won the Senior Cup on several occasions, that is, in 1920, 1924, 1926, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1939, the likely issue of unparalleled slaughter of youth in WWI was that young talent was nurtured to see what had been lost, which was a radical shift in emphasis away from competition and towards reverence for outstanding genius, attracting paying spectators through the turnstiles, regardless of the prize. 
 After WWII new talent was again seen as integral to mounting a future challenge, with the appointment of former Manchester City wing half, Matt Busby, as manager in October 1945, replacing Walter Crickmer, appointed club Secretary in 1927, and managing the team during the seven year period of the War League. As one of the German bombers over industrial Trafford Park on March 11th, 1941, dropped a bomb that hit the stadium, the team had to use Manchester City’s Maine Road ground until Old Trafford was rebuilt by 1949, which is often cited as the inspiration for their winning the North Regional League Second Championship in 1941-42. 
  On April 26th, 1941, Arthur Rowley, age 15, appeared on the wing against Liverpool at Anfield, alongside brother, center forward, Jack, who scored in a defeat, 1-2. Released, after just 7 games in 1944, Arthur became the highest scorer of league goals, 434 in 629 games, including 303 in 251 games for Second Division Leicester City, though Arthur’s goals got them promotion twice, 1953-54, 1956-57, and 152 in 236 games for Fourth Division Shrewsbury Town. Although Arthur seemed the young talent that got away, many of his goals weren’t in the top flight, which suggested that he wasn’t. Crickmer was responsible for instituting the club’s Youth Academy development program, along with owner Gibson, and Busby would become famous for the ‘Busby Babes’,  dominant in the early years of the F.A. Youth Cup, winning the first five (1952-57) and bringing that same quality to consecutive league championship triumphs in 1955-56 and 1956-57.
 While in Italy the introduction of the libero, ‘sweeper’, resulted in more protection for the continent of Europe’s young players, in England the half-back line, that is, left half, center-half, and right-half, would morph into twin center backs and a midfield, with the center back becoming a central midfield playmaker between wing half backs, who’d been inside left and inside right forwards, or two in midfield, with twin strikers and a left and right wing, which is how Manchester United won their next national trophy, the 1948 F.A. Cup Final, 4-2 against Blackpool.
 Allenby Chilton, on 15 minutes, brought down, right leg, hooking around his ankles, Blackpool center forward, Stan Mortensen, with a tackle from behind, ‘which endangers the safety of an opponent’, that would have got him sent off, in the period following its outlawing for the 1998 World Cup in France. Stan, through on goal, inside the 18 yard box, with only the ‘keeper, Jack Crompton, to beat, Blackpool were awarded a penalty, while Chilton wasn’t even booked, although yellow warning cards, red for a second offence, and sending off, weren’t introduced until the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Eddie Shimwell, right back, managed to squeeze the ball under Crompton, diving to his right, 0-1, on 15 minutes. Jack Rowley, nicking the ball away from ‘keeper Joe Robinson’s grasp, right boot, outstretched, past Joe, right, sidefoot, goal, on 20 minutes, 1-1, but Blackpool captain, and right half, Harry Johnston, from a free kick on the right, passes back and left; center field, an attempted shot, half charged down, still finds Mortensen, right edge of the penalty area, level with the right upright, right footed, on 35 minutes, into the left corner of the  net, 1-2. A cross from inside right, Johnny Morris, out on the right, on 70 minutes, level with the right corner of the 18 yard box, Jack leaps, left side of the penalty area, level with the left upright, a header, 2-2, top right corner of the net. Stan Pearson, inside left, right side of the penalty area, right footed, in off the left post, on 80 minutes, 3-2. From well outside the 18 yard box, right side of the ‘D’, John Anderson, right half, top left corner, on 82 minutes, 4-2.
 Width was important, as it represented an opportunity for left and right full backs, and wingers, to get off the field under physically intimidating challenge, while sustaining brutality off the pitch was likely to merit the referee’s booking, and sending off for persistent assault, the perpetrator of an attack, seen as criminally illegal, if continued beyond the touchline. As before WWII is conceivable in terms of a developing youth system, with the focus on entertainment, rather than trophy glory, the period after WWII is conceivable as Manchester United’s developing a strategy of left and right sided play to counter aggression and injury. 
 Blackpool were beaten by a United side that had John Aston at left back, often called upon as a somewhat prolific center forward, 15 goals in 1950-51, Eire captain Johnny Carey at right back, an inside left before WWII, Scot, Jimmy Delaney on the right wing, credited with an ‘assist’ for Rowley’s second, and Charlie Mitten on the left wing. Widening the pitch afforded respite from biting tackles, as the players running off the turf beyond the touchline, after making a pass infield, crossing the ball, or putting it out of touch, were less likely to incur injury from vengeful opponents looking to deter the skillful from utilizing their know-how.
 The effects upon the public consciousness of the meaningless loss of life, during the war years, resulted in more concern for the playing staff, than success, in terms of silverware for the boardroom, reflected in the number of times the club finished runner-up in the league title race, before becoming champions in the 1951-52 season. Finishing second in 1947-48, 1948-49, and 1950-51, indicated the value of playing the game, well, for the club’s supporters, more than the rewards from competing, which became traditional with the coaches and the team. 
 In the 1957 F.A. Cup Final, Aston Villa left wing, Peter McParland, who went on to score from a header inside the penalty area on 68 minutes, after inside left and captain Johnny Dixon’s center, 0-1, and on 73 minutes from the rebound, when Dixon’s shot hit the bar, 0-2, had collided with United’s England 'keeper, Ray Wood, after 6 minutes, leaving Ray unconscious, with a broken cheekbone, while Irish center half, Jackie Blanchflower, kept goal. Wood returned to play on the wing after half time, demonstrating the appalling need driving soccer in those days, when the eleven on the pitch risked life and limb in the absence of replacements. In the last seven minutes, Wood even returned in goal for the champions of that 1956-57 season, going for the ‘double’ of cup and league, as England center forward, Tommy Taylor, heading over Villa ‘keeper Nigel Sims, and into the net on 83 minutes, from a corner by England left half, though then switched to center half, Duncan Edwards, gave the side a lifeline, 1-2, which was how it stayed.
 WWI’s stately walks towards the German machine guns, which is how the supposedly English officer classes martialed the young boys, volunteering to defend France from the towns and villages of a green and pleasant land they didn’t own, as if they were still the lords of feudal serfdom, taught the professional football players at the club that comradery was of more value than conflict over prizes, masquerading as decency in competition, while the real truth was that the combatants were being prepared for injurious maimings, entertaining to the sadists that bred them, as the beasts of the fields of Flanders, Ypres, and Verdun, to be slaughtered there like pigs for Bacon, as by Elizabeth I plays were legally devoid of references to oik's expensiveness, 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; or close the wall up with our English dead.’ (Henry V, III, I,  l. 1-2) Between the wars, enjoyment surpassed victory in the companionship of play, as a human response to the baying for more blood that was evidently behind the refusal to allow anything but a stretcher on the field for the wounded.
 With European soccer looming like a specter, after WWII’s Jews from the plates of meat to the ovens of Belsen, Dachau, and Auschwitz, the spirit of battle and camaraderie were ambivalently mingled, as a game against a brutal Albion ranked less favorably to a match with a side of cultivated Hungarians, defeating at Wembley on November 25th, 1953, an English team that had never been beaten before at home, 3-6, by legendarily skillful and prolific, Real Madrid striker, Ferenc Puskás, and the ten other ‘mighty Magyar’ bereft of adequate medical concern.
 Aroused by the desire to compete for human pride and self-worth, with the like-minded, Manchester United, with a new Chairman from 1951, Harold Hardman, outside left for Manchester United, 1908-09, and England, after Gibson’s demise, prepared for Europe, where club competition began with the Challenge Cup (1897-1911), as a respected aspect of culture in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1914), won, 2-1, against Wiener Sport-Club, by Hungary’s Ferencváros in 1909, and succeeded by the Mitropa Cup (1927-92), as an international trophy, contested by clubs in the Middle European region, assuming nationhood, following upon the defeat of the German Empire and that of Austria-Hungary in WWI.
 Ferencváros, a Nemzeti Bajnokság I club from the capital, Budapest, beat Italy’s Juventus, 1-0, in the Final of the 1964-65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1955-71), organized with the approval of business interests, centered around Trade Fairs, held in Europe, giving clubs a Europe-wide trophy to compete for, along with UEFA’s European Cup Winners Cup (1960-99), and the European Champions’ Club Cup (1956-) for league title winners. Ferencváros, after defeating United in the 2nd leg of the semi-final away, 0-1, as ‘The Red Devils’, having won, 3-2 at home, before the ruling that away goals should count double, in the event of an aggregate draw, 3-3, forced a third match in which the Manchester outfit lost, 1-2, 4-5 on aggregate.
 English clubs, believing their own national competitions were more important, boycotted the formative years of European competition. Apart from Manchester United, as Hardman, and manager Busby, believed in the growth, and success of Europe, as peace through friendship. A philosophy later applied by the club to South America, where the national clubs competed for the Copa Librtadores (1960-), and the rest of the world, witnessing similar revolutions, although the winners of the Intercontinental Cup (1960-2004), contested between the champions of South America and Europe, before the inaugural World Club Cup (2000-), were tacitly understood to be world champions. 
 Devastated by Munich, the players and coaching staff nevertheless persevered with Jimmy Murphy, assistant manager, not on the plane, but in charge of Wales for a World Cup match against Israel at Cardiff’s Ninian Park, 2-0, qualifying for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, which England had expected to win, but didn’t qualify for the knockout stage from Group 4, taking charge of team affairs until Busby had recovered from his own injuries to take the helm again for 1958-59. On a wave of national sympathy, an almost entirely home grown team, made up of Academy players, and reserve team members of the depleted squad, apart from Stan Crowther, reluctantly agreeing to leave Aston Villa for £18,000, as a humanitarian act, and inside right, Ernie Taylor, 32 years old from Aston Villa for £8,000, reached the 1958 F.A. Cup Final, losing, 0-2, to center-forward inspired Bolton Wanderers. Bryan Edwards, left half, a low ball to captain, Nat Lofthouse, inside the penalty area, center, on 3 minutes, left footed, from just outside the 18 yard box, left, struck low into the bottom left corner of the net by Nat, past ‘keeper, Harry Gregg, with his right boot. On 50 minutes, Nat was awarded a second, unceremoniously dumping ‘keeper, Harry Gregg, onto his arse in his own goalmouth, illustrating the English tolerance for bullies, perpetrating attacks upon the unarmed, under the spurious guise of training a civil defence force; Gregg, Foulkes (c), Greaves, Goodwin, Cope, Crowther, Dawson, E. Taylor, Charlton, Viollet, Webster.
 Although the club finished 2nd in the league in 1958-59 on 55 points to Wolverhampton Wanderers 61, when 42 games were played, as there were 22 clubs, 2 points for a win, and 1 for a draw, then only champions entered the European Champions Cup, before the reduction of the English First Division to 19 clubs, renamed the Premier League for 1992-93, and runner-ups permitted to enter. Top scorers were Bobby Charlton, 29, Dennis Viollet, 21, left winger, Albert Scanlon, 16, and Warren Bradley, 12, an England amateur international, signed by Busby, after being loaned from Bishop Auckland in the wake of Munich.
 Transferred from Sheffield Wednesday for £45,000 from 1958-59, 'Golden Boy’, Albert Quixall, was the cornerstone of Busby’s rebuilding, credited by center forward, Charlton, with most of the ‘assists’ for his goals, after Matt converted him to the central striker’s role from the left wing. Scot, David Herd, was signed from Arsenal for £35,000 for 1961-62, as Bobby, dropped deeper into midfield, adjusted his shooting boots, and got used to his deep-lying center forward role.
 The Final of the 1963 F.A. Cup was won in 1963, with a mix of familiar and fresh faces, 3-1, against Leicester City, with Herd, 19 goals, and newly repatriated Scot, Law, 23 goals, after signing from Italy’s Torino, only just keeping the club from being relegated, finishing 19th; Gaskell, Dunne, Cantwell (c), Crerand, Foulkes, Setters, Giles, Quixall, Herd, Law, Charlton.
 United took the lead on 30 minutes, after a Charlton effort, saved comfortably by Gordon Banks, then bowling the ball towards Scots’ inside left, David Gibson. Scots' hard-tackling right half, Pat ‘Paddy’ Crerand, a £56,000 signing from Glasgow Celtic on February 6th, 1963, the 5th Munich anniversary, intercepts, 25 yards distant, lifting the ball past the outstretched leg of an onrushing defender, left of the ‘D’, running with the ball into the 18 yard box, passing to Law, right, outside of the right boot. Deceiving the defenders, Law feints, as if to accept the pass, instead allowing the ball to run on behind him, stops the ball with his left foot, spins right to left, on the penalty spot, striking the ball with his right foot, left corner of the net, 1-0. 
 After 57 minutes, a cross field ball from Eire’s  right wing, Johnny Giles, bursting through on the right from inside his own half, and sold for £33,000 to Leeds for 1963-63, inexplicably to many, where he was ‘midfield general' in their European Cup Final defeat, 0-2, to Bayern in 1975, finding an unmarked Charlton, far left of the pitch, hurtling on into the left corner of the 18 yard box, on a ‘run and shoot’. Banks parries into the path of Herd, a tap in, 2-0.
 In the 85th minute, Banks coming for a Giles cross, floated from just outside the right corner of the 18 yard box, the jumping defender, trying to head the ball away, instead impeding Banks, attempting to catch the ball in the air, looking to put it under his arm in one sweeping movement, but fumbles, making it look as if he’s punched the ball down onto the ground, where Herd, one bounce, turns and strikes, right footed, low, 3-1, past defenders on the goal line. 
 Victory qualified the side to contest the European Cup Winners Cup, reaching the quarter finals, beating Sporting CP of Portugal, Lisbon, 4-1, at Old Trafford, before losing astonishingly, 0-5, in the away leg, aggregate, 4-6. Northern Irish, George Best, irrepressibly dribbling everywhere, made his debut on September 14th, 1963, at home to West Bromwich Albion, 1-0, making 17 appearances for 4 goals that season, while Law, 30, and Herd, 20, scored enough to place the club 2nd to Liverpool at the finish, 57 to 53 points. 
 Louis Edwards, a lifetime supporter, inheriting the family’s meat packaging and processing business, upon the passing of his father, Louis Snr, on February 13th, 1943, while he was a desert rat in Egypt, during WWII, joined the board after Munich, after becoming vice-Chairman in December, 1964, and Chairman, upon the passing of Harold Hardman, on June 9th, 1965, began to oversee the club’s re-emergence. 
 Champions in 1964-65, the single substitute rule, from 1965-66, seemed to buoy United up. After finishing runner-up in the league that season, while reaching the semi-final of the European Cup, losing on aggregate, 1-2 to Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade, 0-2 away, and 1-0 at home, the squad won the title again in 1966-67, and finishing runner-up to Manchester City in the 1967-68 league championship, finally secured the European Cup in 1968, against Portugal’s Benfica, 1-1, a. e. t., 4-1, at London’s national Wembley Stadium. 
 At half-time, 0-0, on 53 minutes of the second half, Academy graduate David Sadler, in the injured Law’s position, though he also played at center back, found Crerand, with a throw-in from the left touchline. Receiving the ball back from Crerand, right footed, passing the ball, forward, along the left wing, Sadler moving inside, left corner of the 18 yard box, right footed cross to Charlton, glancing header, directing the speed of the ball’s power, settling into the inside side netting near post, 1-0. José Augusto, winger, wide on the right, high ball, center forward José Torres’ header, over the heads of Academy alumni, Nobby Stiles and Sadler, center of the 18 yard box, right midfielder Jaime Graça, running in, powerful shot, right boot, right corner of the penalty area, left corner of the goal, 1-1.
 In extra time, 15 minutes each half, right footed punt by ‘keeper, Alex Stepney, signed from Chelsea for £55,000 for 1966-67, back header by Sadler inside Benfica’s half, halfway between center circle and ‘D’, Jacinto Santos, center back, aims to swing a kick at ball or George Best, second striker, on the outside of his right heel, flips the ball over Santos’ leg, races on into the 18 yard box, the ball on his right foot, cuts inside, around ‘keeper, José Henrique, who’s come out beyond the penalty spot, left footed, on 92 minutes, side footed, on the edge of the penalty area, level with the left upright, goal, center, 2-1. 
 From a corner on the left, high, Sadler, right of the penalty spot, heads the ball towards the left corner of the net. Brian Kidd, without the ball bouncing, anticipating it doesn’t have enough pace, heads it towards goal, center. Henrique, as if he’s protecting his face, blocks with his hands, no bounce, on 94 minutes, Kidd moves right, leaps, heads in over Henrique, top right corner, 3-1. 
 Kidd, center forward, most recent graduate of the Academy, right of the center circle, inside Benfica’s half, back to goal, finds Charlton, moving up, right of the center circle in the United half, crossing the halfway line, plays the ball back to Kidd, moving out to the right, takes the ball, along the right wing, pushes the ball forward, right footed, skips over the outstretched leg of left back, Fernando Cruz, cuts inside, right and center outside the 18 yard box, low, ball, driven along the ground, left footed. Charlton, on 99 minutes, right corner of the penalty area, gives lift to the ball, right footed, 4-1, top left corner of the net; Stepney, Brennan, Dunne, Crerand, Foulkes, Stiles, Best, Kidd, Charlton, Sadler, Aston.
 The substitute wasn’t then seen as strategic or tactical, but necessary in case of injury. United made only 4 substitutions in the 1965-66 league campaign, and 7 in 1966-67, most notably left wing John Aston Jnr (4), his father being at left back in the club’s 1948 F.A. Cup Final win. There were 10 in 1967-68, with tigrish defender and utility midfielder, John Fitzpatrick (3), figuring as a fresh pair of legs in an ageing squad, and 14 in the 1968-69 season, losing the Intercontinental Cup Final, held annually between the winners of the European Cup and South America’s Copa Libertadores, ‘the cup of the liberators’, to Estudiantes de La Plata of Argentina, 1-2 on aggregate, 0-1 away at Estadio Boca Juniors, Buenos Aires, as Estadio Uno, in the provincial capital, La Plata, was deemed unsuitable, and 1-1 at home, with winger, Juan Ramón Verón, La Bruja, ‘The Witch’, father of right midfielder, Juan Sebastián Verón, La Brujita, ‘The Little Witch’, winner of the 2002-03 title with United, heading a goal from a free kick by defender, Raúl Horacio Madero, past England ‘keeper, Stepney, on 6 minutes, 0-1, while the side also lost to Italy’s Serie A club, AC Milan, in the semi-final of the European Champions Cup, 1-2 on aggregate, 0-2 away at the San Siro Stadium, and 1-0 at home. With the club finishing 11th in the title race, Scot, Sir Matt Busby, knighted after the '68 triumph, decided to retire as manager, leaving the coaching staff of the future to select the twelve.
 Former F.A. Youth Cup winner, 1953-54, ’54-55, and ‘55-56, captain of the U-18s, and later reserve team coach, Wilf McGuinness, was appointed manager to succeed Busby for 1969-70. Wilf, a left wing-half, had been amongst those players who’d filled the gaps after the February 6th, 1958, Munich air crash, when reserve full back, Geoff Bent, England captain, and left back, Roger Byrne, right wing-half, midfielder Eddie Colman, left half, Duncan Edwards, who died 15 days later, center half, Mark Jones, left winger, David Pegg, center forward, Tommy Taylor, and Irish inside forward, Liam Whelan, all lost their lives, returning from what was then Yugoslavia, after a 3-3 draw, with Serbia's Red Star Belgrade, which meant the club reached the semi-final of the European Cup that term, while right winger, Johnny Berry, and Northern Irish inside forward, Jackie Blanchflower, never played again, because of their injuries.
 Wilf, thought to have the ‘right stuff’, acted quickly to strengthen an ageing defence, bringing center half, Ian Ure, from Arsenal for £80,000, although keeping legendary Scots' goal scorer, Denis Law, on the bench, for successive draws, on March 14th, 1970, 0-0, at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough ground, and March 23rd, 1970, 0-0, a.e.t., at Villa Park, with Leeds United, before losing the second F.A. Cup semi-final replay, 0-1, on March 26th, 1970, at Bolton Wanderers’ Burnden Park, in season 1969-70, together with League Cup semi-final defeats on aggregate, 3-4, to Manchester City, 1-2 away at Maine Road, on December 3rd, 1969, and 2-2 at home, on December 17th, 1969, and against Aston Villa in 1970-71, 1-1 at home, on December 16th, 1970, and 1-2 away, on December 23rd, 1970, at Villa Park.
 Wilf did use Eire's Don Givens as a striking substitute, and Don would later top score with 13 for Queens Park Rangers, runner-up in the 1975-76 league title race. In 1969-70, Givens made 4 starts for McGuinness and 4 appearances for 1 goal, out of a total of 17 substitutions made that term, while striker, Alan Gowling, who'd later top score for First Division Newcastle with 30 goals in 1975-76, made 17 starts for Wilf and 3 further appearances from the subs’ bench for 8 goals out of a total of 16 substitutions overall during 1970-71’s league campaign.
 Although Sir Matt agreed to resume as manager from December 29th, 1970, until season’s end, Givens being allowed by Wilf to leave for the 1970-71 term at Luton Town, where he forged a successful strike partnership with Malcolm Macdonald, 11 goals to ‘Super Mac’s’ 24, before top scoring in QPR’s 1975-76 runner-up season in the First Division, 13 goals, playing alongside Stan Bowles, both 19 goals in 1976-77, left fans with almost permanently raised eyebrows. 
 Gowling’s own successful combining with Malcolm Macdonald at Newcastle United, after going there from Huddersfield Town for £70,000, where he’d signed from Old Trafford for 1972-73 for £65,000, 17 goals, though relegated from Division Two, resulted in his top scoring at St James’ Park, with 32 goals in 1974-75. If the club let Givens and Gowling go, fans might be excused for observing, they didn’t bring players like Bowles and Macdonald in, which didn’t sit well with paying spectators, who then, still, had to stand. 
 Impressions can be false, and Denis Law’s replacement in the McGuinness side, midfielder Carlo Sartori, born Caderzone municipality, Trentino province, Italy, whose post-war émigré family, moving in 1948 to the Italian ghetto in the Ancoats area, before opening a knife-sharpening business in the Colleyhurst area, didn’t last, and neither did Wilf. With 13 starts, and 4 appearances for 2 goals in 1969-70, and 2 starts, and 5 appearances, for 2 goals in 1970-71, while Denis made 10 starts, and 1 appearance, for 1 goal in 1969-70, largely due to a knee injury, and 28 starts for 15 goals in 1970-71, 8 of those after ‘the night of the long knives’ and Busby’s return, including a hat-trick (3) at Crystal Palace, 5-3, on April 17th, 1971, selecting inside forward Sartori ahead of a fit Law, who was outrageously transfer listed without offers in April 1970 at £60,000, was a mistake.
 Irish Leicester City manager, Frank O’ Farrell, took over for 1971-72, finally buying left wing, Ian Storey-Moore from Nottingham Forest in March 1972 for £200,000, 11 starts for 5 goals, to bolster a coaching and playing staff that was essentially failing to support home grown talent. Despite some astute usage of substitutes. Out of Frank’s 24 substitutions, 17 years Northern Irish striker, Sammy McIlroy, ‘the last of the Busby Babes’, as he was Matt’s last signing, would play for ten years at ‘the theater of Dreams’, making 8 starts, and 8 substitute appearances, for 4 goals in 1971-72. Including the first on 39 minutes, on his November 6th, 1971, full debut at Manchester City, 3-3, after Best, with his back to goal, in the 18 yard box, trapping the loose ball, from a cross on the right, leaving it for McIlroy, running on, to strike it, left footed, inside the right upright, 1-0. Injections of youth from the bench, however, masked the fact that the squad was old and stale. 
 Top of the table at Christmas 1971, injury to 21 years center back, Steve James, was followed by seven consecutive defeats. The club finished 8th, despite the mercurial maverick brilliance of Northern Irish striker Best’s 18 goals, Law’s 13, and Kidd’s 10. United barely escaped relegation in 1972-73, finishing 18th, and O’ Farrell, dismissed on December 19th, 1972, after a defeat, 0-5, away at Crystal Palace, leaving the club 21st out of 22, was replaced from December 22nd, 1972, by Scotland team manager, Scot, Tommy Docherty.
 In search of a good permutation, the substitute option was used 27 times, with McIlroy (6) most called upon. Nevertheless, deep-lying center forward, Bobby Charlton, 1966 World Cup Winner with England against Germany, 4-2, at Wembley, and in his retirement season, was top scorer in the league, with only 6, and the following 1973-74 campaign saw United relegated to Division Two, after finishing 21st of the 22 First Division clubs, with McIlroy top scoring, with 6, and United’s ability to appropriately deploy resources, called seriously into question. Again Mcilroy (5) was the most used substitute, although he also made 24 starts, and the concept of the ‘supersub’, as the striker called upon to get the needed goals in the last 20 minutes, clearly hadn’t penetrated the consciousness, inside the thick skulls of the coaching staff; reserve striker Paul Fletcher, transferred to Hull City, in part exchange to the club at Boothferry Park for center forward, Stuart Pearson, for the 1974-75 term, called on only 3 times.
 Pearson got 17 league goals, as United returned to the First Division for the 1975-76 campaign, Second Division champions, and the fact that former Welsh Southampton striker, Ron Davies, 37 goals in 1966-67, and used 8 times, out of 33 substitutions made by Docherty, suggested that the idea of a goal getter as sub was beginning to register on atrophied soccer imaginations as usable. However, received wisdom was the utility player, and defensive midfielder, David McCreery, making 12 starts, out of the 27 substitutions made that term, was utilized 16 times, and the following season, McCreery again, 9 starts and 16 appearances, out of 31 substitutions made, was preferred to a recognizable goal poacher. 
 David, a Northern Ireland international, came on as substitute for Gordon Hill, in both the losing F.A. Cup Final of 1976, which United lost to Southampton, 0-1, and the winning F.A. Cup Final of 1977, 2-1, against Liverpool. Gordon was a left winger, 7 league goals in 1975-76, who top scored for the team in successive seasons, 1976-77 (15), tying with Pearson, and 1977-78 (17), after Queens Park Rangers’ manager, Dave Sexton, replaced Tommy, who despite guiding the club out of the Second Division, overseeing relegation, and coaching the side to successive F.A. Cup Finals, was unable to bring the then coveted First Division title to Old Trafford, which led to the appointment of Dave.
 Northern Irish, Chris McGrath, right winger, bought from Tottenham Hotspur by Docherty for £30,000 in October 1976, 9 starts, and 9 substitute appearances in 1977-78, was the most used sub in the season’s total of 21, illustrating Sexton’s supposedly more forward thinking, while McCreery, 13 starts and 4 appearances, remained a valuable squad member, because he could fill in at full back, as well as in midfield.
 Sexton sold Gordon to Derby County for the 1978-79 season for £250,000, preferring to buy the industrious talents of left sided Welsh midfielder, Mickey Thomas, from Wrexham for £300,000. For Northern Ireland, David was regularly detailed to man mark whoever represented the main danger to the nation's progress in European and World competition. Most notably, before the Group 4, World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park, Belfast, on October 12th, 1977, when 'Dee' was instructed by manager, Danny Blanchflower, brother of United’s Jackie, to stay close to the Netherlands' center forward, Johann Cruyff, although the Northern Irish team lost, 0-1.
 Cruyff won three European Cups at center forward with Eredivisie Ajax of Amsterdam in 1971, 2-0 against Greece's Alpha Ethniki club Panathinaikos, at Wembley, London; 1972, 2-0 against Italian Serie A club Internazionale of Milan, with Johann scoring twice, on 47 minutes, side foot, after a cross from right back, Wim Suurbier, on the right wing, over colliding Nerazzurri 'keeper, Ivano Bordon, and sweeper, Tarcisio Burgnich, fell to him, and on 78 minutes, a header past Bordon, stranded on his goal line, from left wing Piet Keizer's free kick, despite Tarcisio and left back, Giacinto Facchetti, tight marking, at De Kuip, Rotterdam, Holland; and 1973, 1-0 against Juventus, at Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia. Captaining the Dutch side that narrowly lost to Germany, 1-2, in the Final of the 1974 World Cup, held in Germany, Johann Cruyff was widely regarded as the best creative striker-playmaker in the world at that time.
 Substitutions were permitted for injured players only from 1965-66, but when it became apparent that players were feigning injury for the manager to make tactical changes, from 1967-68 a single substitute was possible, at any stage of the game, and for any reason, which was where United found themselves with Hill and McCreery, who invariably came on, after Hill had scored the goals that made the team successful, to shore up the defence, against opposing sides, looking to reduce the deficit.
 Relegation in 1973-74 was a sign that the coaching staff at the club hadn't got to grips with the possibilities afforded the team from tactical substitutions. After the 1968 European Cup Final triumph, against Portugal's Benfica, the club's ineptitude, when it came to the use of a ‘game-changer’, was palpable, and painful to watch. Law, 'The King', was a goal scoring machine to the terraced ranks of the Stretford End, who'd watched in bleak horror as McGuinness kept Law on the substitutes' bench for the 1970 F.A. Cup semi-final, until the team finally lost that second replay, 0-1, after successive 0-0 draws.
 The number of substitutes allowed increased to two in 1994-95, apart from a goalkeeper, who was also permitted, and from 1995-96 three from seven substitutes on the bench were permissible, which afforded Scot, Alex Ferguson, appointed manager of United in November 1986, replacing two times F.A. Cup winner, but titleless Ron Atkinson, 1983 and 1985, an opportunity his tactical genius seized upon as a gift of God. Atkinson had replaced Sexton, who lacking a second striker of Hill’s caliber, failed to win the league, or the F.A. Cup Final of 1978-79, 2-3, against Arsenal, while Eire's Ashley Grimes, left sided midfield utility player, 5 starts and 11 appearances out of the 24 substitutions made, took on the mantle of 'regular sub' at United, vacated by McCreery, transferred by Sexton to QPR for 1979-80 for £200,000.
 It was probably Sexton’s preferring to spend £350,000 on Leeds United’s ‘target man', Joe Jordan, who’d head the ball down, or hold the ball up, for striker, Jimmy Greenhoff, bought by Docherty in November 1976 from Stoke City for £120,000, that was his downfall. Joe got 13 for Sexton in 1979-80, his second highest, and 15, his highest ever, in 1980-81, but it was so labored a strike rate Atkinson sold him to AC Milan for £300,000 for 1981-82, while Grimes, 20 starts and 6 appearances, out of the 19 substitutions made in 1979-80, suggested United’s focus was awry.
 Andy Ritchie, second top scorer, with 10, in 1978-79, from 16 starts and 1 appearance, made 3 starts and 5 appearances for 3 goals in 1979-80, while Sexton, who'd preferred Grimes' utility play to Andy’s goal potential, made right back, Mike Duxbury, his most used substitute, 6 and 27 starts, with Ritchie, making 3 starts and 1 appearance for 0 goals out of 19 substitutions made in 1980-81, indicative of the need for a forward on the bench who could be deployed to effect a surgical strike if necessary. 
 Upon the passing of his father Louis, on February 25th, 1980, Martin Edwards became Chairman, and CEO on January 5th, 1982. Although United finished runner-up in the league to Liverpool in 1979-80, 58 points to 60, the writing was on the wall for Sexton, long before the defeat to Leeds, 0-2 at Elland Road on May 3rd, 1980, last game of the season, as the side lost 0-6 away at Ipswich Town on March 1st. While Dave bought from Nottingham for £1m, Gary Birtles, 14 league goals at the City ground in season 1978-79, center forward in Forest’s defeat of Swedish club, Malmo, 1-0, in the 1979 European Cup Final, Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany, and 12 league goals in season 1979-80, with German club Hamburg SV beaten in the 1980 Final, 1-0, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain, 25 starts for United without a goal in 1980-81 only added emphasis to the issue. Joe Jordan’s exit to Milan heralded the arrival from Arsenal of center forward, Frank Stapleton, good in the air, and balletic on his turf, who netted 13 goals in 1981-82, while Birtles got 11.
 Sexton, replaced by Chairman Edwards for 1981-82 with flamboyant West Bromwich Albion manager, Ron Atkinson, lampooned as a ‘Big Time Charlie’, he lasted only so long as he recognized the preciousness of his young striker, Wales’ Mark Hughes, top scorer, age 20 in 1984-85, 16 goals, and 1985-86, 17 goals, but sold insanely to Spain’s FC Barcelona for £2m, before replacement for ‘Big Ron’, Ferguson, bought him back for 1987-88. 
 Ron bought Stapleton for £950,000, while 10 starts for 2 goals and the most used substitute, with 6 appearances from a total of 19 substitutions made that term, suggested Ron’s use of 19 years Scots’ center forward, Scott McGarvey, meant he was becoming tactically awakened. An unused # 12 for Atkinson in the F.A. Cup Final of 1983 against Brighton, 2-2, a.e.t., and the replay, 4-0, Ashley Grimes was sold to Coventry City for the 1983-84 season for £200,000, but his role indicated the continued importance of the utility player, as either a bolster for the defence, or as an impetus to the attack. It was Grimes, after coming on for Luton Town, who crossed left footed from the far right near the goal line for right wing, Danny Wilson, to slide the ball in ahead of a challenge from Arsenal right back, Nigel Winterburn, 3-2, in the dying seconds of the 1988 League Cup Final.
 Before the advent of destroyer-creator Bryan Robson, it was West Brom's central defensive midfielder, Remi Moses, who first went to Old Trafford for £500,000, and rapidly became the club’s indispensable utility player, wearing the number eleven shirt in the enforced absence of Laurie Cunningham, arriving crocked, on loan from Real Madrid as a left winger in 1982-83, although Remi's injuries, which meant his missing the 1983 F.A. Cup Final, and suspensions, causing his absence from the 1985 F.A. Cup Final, though contributing to Whiteside’s successful conversion to midfield from his striker’s role, after Ray Wilkins’ departure to Milan, Remi’d had his chance.
 Steve Coppell, right wing since Docherty bought him from Third Division Tranmere Rovers, relegated that season, for £60,000 in February 1974-75, to replace captain Willie Morgan, right wing since his departing Burnley for £117,000 for the 1968-69 term, after 1968’s European Cup Final winger John Aston’s Jnr’s leg was broken, was crocked by a brutal challenge from Hungary’s left back, József Tóth, at Wembley on November 18th, 1981, in a Group 4, 1982 World Cup qualifier. Injury plagued before the 1983 F.A. Cup Final, Coppell was replaced by Welsh winger, Alan Davies, for the sake of the balance of the team.
 In central midfield Remi also filled the gaps left on the wings, as Grimes and McCreery had before him, until the arrival of Denmark’s Jesper Olsen, Ajax left wing, for £350,000, after persevering with Scot, Arthur Graham, the previous 1983-84 season, £45,000 from relegated to Division Two, Leeds United, and right wing, Scot, Gordon Strachan, £500,000 for 1984-85 from Scotland’s Aberdeen, where Alex Ferguson was still boss. 
 As a twelfth man Grimes provided cover for half the team. A left sided midfielder, who could also fill in as a left winger or left back, or an inverted right winger, that is, as a left footed inside right, which became de rigeur in the early 21st century, largely due to Dutch national team manager, following the Netherlands’ third position overall in the 2014 World Cup, Louis van Gaal, replacement for David Moyes, sacked on April 22nd, 2014. David’d arrived from Everton to take over for 2013-14 upon Ferguson’s retirement at the end of 2012-13, another championship winning season, duly making Guillermo Varela, Uruguayan right back, £1m from Peñarol, his first signing, as Alex had been finalizing the deal, but defeat to Sunderland in the two leg home and away format of the League Cup semi-final, 1-2 on penalties, in front of an incredulous Stretford End, after the game ended, 2-1 to ‘The Reds’, but 3-3 on aggregate, as the side had lost, 1-2, to ‘The Black Cats' at the Stadium of Light, meant that the brown-nosing days of Moyes, whose qualifications for the job seemed to have been keeping Everton out of the relegation zone, were numbered.
 Moyes was dismissed after the side lost, 1-3 away to German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, on April 9th, 2014, having drawn, 1-1, on April 1st at Old Trafford, 2-4 on aggregate, in the quarter final of the European Champions League, and with the club in 7th position in the league, after defeat, 0-2, to ‘The Toffees’ of Everton at Goodison Park on April 20th, 2014. Appointed for 2014-15, with player coach, Ryan Giggs, caretaker manager for four games at 2013-14 season’s end, van Gaal, manager of the Dutch team to third place at the 2014 World Cup, experimented at United with a three man half-back line, after the fashion of the pre-WWI side with Charlie Roberts at left half, Dick Duckworth at center half, and Scot, Alex Bell at right half, and wing backs in support of the strikers, that is, stronger, with five at the back, and narrower, with three, including a single central striker, alongside left and right inverted wingers, as inside forwards, at the front.
 It was Ron Atkinson’s wheeling and dealing in the transfer market that contributed to his downfall. Inheriting Ray Wilkins, the Chelsea playmaker from Sexton, who’d brought him for £825,000 for 1979-80, having repaid some of the faith in his vision, and ball distributing skills, right, and well outside the 18 yard box, turning inside to curl a shot left footed into the top right corner of the net to put the side ahead in the first 1983 F.A. Cup Final, 2-1, Atkinson with a haste indecent, the club being then the proud owner of England’s midfield, as they had Robson too, sold Ray to AC Milan for £1.5m for the 1984-85 season, after the team, losing narrowly to Italian Serie A club Juventus of Turin in the semi-final of the 1983-84 European Cup Winners Cup, 2-3, attracted the Milan giants to Ray’s ability. 
 In the quarter final the side had lost, 0-2 to Barca at the Nou Camp, but went through, on aggregate, 3-2, after winning the return leg at Old Trafford, 3-0. Ron thought he couldn’t refuse to sell Ray, while Juvé, after Robson’s two goals against Barca, the first a diving header at the far post on 21 minutes, after a corner on the left into the penalty area, center, back-headed by Scots’ center back, Graeme Hogg, and the second squeezed in by the right post after ‘keeper, Javier ‘Urruti’ Urruticoechea, spilled a low driven shot from Ray, right, outside the penalty area, made a similar offer for Bryan, but Atkinson, correctly feeling that the fans wouldn’t lightly tolerate the complete loss of England’s footballing heart, decided he could refuse that. 
 Doubtless the utility player also had a positive influence on team organization too. United were able to recover from the loss of center back, Kevin Moran, sent off on 78 minutes, bringing down England midfielder, Peter Reid, when he was clear through with a chance to strike for goal, to win the 1985 F.A. Cup Final against Everton, 1-0, a.e.t., through converted striker in center midfield, Norman Whiteside, cutting in from the right on 110 minutes to curl a ball in left footed from the right corner of the 18 yard box, around Welsh left back, Pat van den Hauwe, and inside Welsh ‘keeper Neville Southall’s far left post.
 Atkinson’s self-blighted reign was terminated on November 6th, 1986, with the appointment of Ferguson, winner of the European Cup Winners Cup with Aberdeen in 1983, 2-1 against Real Madrid, a.e.t., 1-1, and the only Scots’ manager to seriously threaten the hegemony of ‘the Old Firm', Rangers and Celtic, winning the Scots’ Premier League in 1979-80, 1883-84 and 1984-85. Atkinson’s squad had still led the league table on January 18th, 1986, after opening the 1985-86 campaign with 10 straight wins, but they lost at home to Nottingham Forest, 2-3, and slipped to fourth place by season’s end, 12 points behind champions, Liverpool.
 Together with Ron’s decision to offload Hughes to Barcelona for £2m the auguries didn’t favor his continuing. The club lost the first three games of the season to London clubs, failing to score in the away fixture at Arsenal, Highbury, 0-1, before losing, 2-3, at home to West Ham, and failing to score again at home to Charlton Athletic, 0-1. The writing was on the wall, mene tekel upharsin, with the club in 21st position in the league on November 15th, in real danger of relegation, although finishing 11th by season’s end. Peter Davenport, signed as Hughes’ replacement in March 1986 for £750,000 from Nottingham Forest, netted 4, and a penalty, before Ferguson’s advent, reaching 14, 5 penalties, overall, which didn’t leave spectators sanguine about the team’s future success on their way out. 
 Needing a goal scorer, Ferguson turned to Celtic’s Brian McClair, arriving for £850,000, and netting 24 before the close of the 1987-88 term. Strengthening the defence cost £900,000, paid for the services of Norwich City center back, Steve Bruce, while the club finished runner-up to Liverpool, although they led the table only on August 31st, 1987, after defeating Chelsea, 3-1, at home. In the close season Alex secured the return of Hughes from Barcelona for £1.8m and the fans hearts. Defeated in the Final of the F.A. Centenary Trophy on October 9th, 1988, 1-2 to Arsenal, the team lost 13 of their 38 league games in 1988-89, finishing 11th, which effectively put Ferguson’s job on the line for 1989-90.
 Dismal in the league, the club were 16th placed on May 2nd, 1990, after the season’s penultimate game, 0-4 at the City ground, Nottingham, although Alex’s canny use of striker, Robins, as a substitute, 10 starts and 7 appearances for 7 goals in the league, steered the side to the F.A. Cup Final. After a draw, 3-3, in the semi-final against Oldham, it was Robins, 100th minute ‘supersub’ for left back, Lee Martin, that got the semi-final replay winner in the 114th minute of extra time, after a long ball forward from Hughes, deep in his own right half, for right midfielder, Mike Phelan, £750,000 from Norwich at the beginning of 1989-90, to chase, outpacing left winger, Rick Holden, with center half, Earl Barrett, coming across to close him down. A few yards in front of the 18 yard box, right, Phelan passes the ball, low, along the grass, right footed to Robins, ahead of the right side of the ‘D’, inside the box, Barrett chasing, ball swept inside the left post, low, past ‘keeper, Jon Hallworth, as Irwin comes across too late to block it, 2-1. However, for many neutral observers it was Robins 56th minute goal as a starter on January 7th, 1990, against Forest in the 3rd Round, 1-0, with the club 15th in the table, that saved Alex from being sacked. Hughes, accepting a pass infield, well outside the 18 yard box, left, from left back, Martin, who’d dispossessed Icelandic midfielder, Þorvaldur ‘Toddy' Örlygsson, at the left touchline, curled an outswinging ball, with the outside of his right boot, finding Robins, running in to head the ball, on the bounce, down and inside the left post, past ‘keeper Steve Sutton.
 Ferguson demonstrated his tactical savvy in winning the 1990 F.A Cup, 1-0, in the Final against Crystal Palace, with a goal on 59 minutes from left back, Martin, accepting to his feet a long ball, left of the penalty area, from Neil Webb, center midfield, Lee struck right footed, high into the net, past ‘keeper Nigel Martyn, in a replay after a draw, 3-3, with reserve 'keeper, Les Sealey, on loan from Luton Town, replacing Scot, Jim Leighton, brought from Ferguson’s former club, Aberdeen, for £750,000, having a nightmare encounter.
 In two minds, as to whether to go and deal with a high ball, or remain on his goal line, from a direct inswinging free kick on the right from Palace right midfielder, Phil Barber, a header on 18 minutes from center back, Gary O’ Reilly, looped the ball over Jim’s head, and into the net, 0-1. England’s ‘Captain Marvel’, brought from WBA by Atkinson for £1.5m for the 1981-82 season, looking for his third F.A. Cup winners’ medal, headed goalwards a floated cross to the back post, after McClair’s run down the right wing, deflecting into the net on 35 minutes, off right back John Pemberton’s shin, low, and inside the post, 1-1, before Hughes’ clever angling of a ball, bouncing to him, outside and left of the penalty area, after Webb got his right boot onto an attempted clearance by center back, Andy Thorn, on 62 minutes, angling the ball into Robson’s path, who volleyed, left footed, into the top right corner of the net, 2-1. However, Palace center forward, Ian Wright, on as a 69th minute substitute for Barber, controlling the ball with his left foot, turned inside United’s right midfielder, Neil Webb, inside the 18 yard box, left, on 72 minutes, drilling a low, right footed shot, Leighton somehow allowed under him, and inside the post, far right, 2-2.
 In the 92nd minute of extra time, seemingly watching, instead of catching, a right footed cross from John Salako, turning inside right back, Phelan, out on the left wing, the ball went over Jim's head to Wright, who ran in to strike the ball with the inside of his right boot, leg outstretched, high into the roof of the net, at the far post, 2-3. Ferguson used both his substitutes late on, Welsh left back/winger, Clayton Blackmore, coming on for left back, Martin, on 88 minutes, before Wright’s second goal in extra time, and Robins, coming on in the Final replay for center back, Gary Pallister, on 93 minutes, designed to increase the pressure on Palace's defence. Left winger, Danny Wallace, center midfield, duly obliged, setting Hughes to chase a through ball he latched onto in the 113th minute, at the right of the ‘D’, on the edge of the 18 yard box, Mark calmly angling the ball low, past outrushing ‘keeper Martyn, into the bottom left corner of the net, 3-3. 
 Victory in the F.A. Cup of 1990 was followed by victory in the 1991 European Cup Winners Cup Final, 2-1, against Spanish giants FC Barcelona, with a goal from Hughes, after a free kick, left footed from Robson, center of the Barca half, found Bruce’s head, outside the penalty area, right, whose header down, towards the left upright, was struck home on 67 minutes, left footed, inside the post by Mark, 1-0. His second came on 74 minutes after, rounding ‘keeper, Carles Busquets, right, at the edge of the 18 yard box, Mark drove the ball into the left corner of the net from an acute angle, 2-0, with Dutch defensive midfielder, Ronald Koeman, driving a long-range, low free kick, around the United wall, right, that Sealey could only push onto the left post and in, as a late consolation for Barca, at Stadion Feijenoord, Rotterdam, Holland.
 Of the 60 substitutions in the league that 1990-91 season, 12 were Mark Robins, who also made 7 starts for 4 goals, as supersub made good, while left wing Wallace, 13 starts and 6 appearances for 3 goals, was the other much-used striking substitute, although Ferguson’s use of left backs, Martin, 7 starts and 7 appearances, and from Luton Town for £650,000 for 1988-89, Mal Donaghy, 17 starts and 8 appearances, was an indication that the psychology of competing for places in the team was a well-honed aspect of the manager’s thinking, as Clayton Blackmore, left back in the 1991 European Cup Winners Cup Final, started 35 games for 4 goals, either at full back, or as a midfielder, while Lee Sharpe, 20 starts and 3 appearances for 2 goals, left winger in the 1991 League Cup Final, lost 0-1 to Sheffield Wednesday, was on his way to Alex's converting him to left back, before his transfer to Leeds United for £4.5m for the 1996-97 campaign.
 The club, floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, permitted the possibility of private investors wresting control from ‘the butchers of Manchester’, as Edwards’ family were known. The 1991-92 season began with triumph at Old Trafford in the Final of the European Super Cup, 1-0, played as a single game, because of the division through internecine war of the Yugoslavia ‘superstate’ into ethnically homogeneous cuts, with Martin at left back and Blackmore on the left wing against Red Star Belgrade, and a goal on 67 minutes from McClair, after Webb hit the right post from inside the ‘D’ center, and the ball rebounded left to where Brian struck the ball, right footed, inside ‘keeper Zvonko Milojević’s  left upright. The match was noteworthy for the appearance of Ryan Giggs, substituting for Martin on 71 minutes, as the first senior winners medal for the legendary Welsh left wing, age 17, while Blackmore, switching to left back, would discover his chances of selection lessened with the signing of right back, Paul Parker, for 1991-92 for £2m from QPR, as Denis Irwin would then make the transition from right to left back
 The team led the way, until three consecutive defeats, on April 22nd, 1-2 at home to Forest, on April 26th, 0-1 at West Ham, and on April 29th, 1992, 0-2 to Liverpool in the penultimate game at Anfield, handed the title to Leeds, although the club won their first League Cup ever in the 1992 Final, 1-0, against Forest, after a long ball from center back, Gary Pallister, £2.3m from Middlesboro for 1989-90, found McClair with his back to goal, who passed to his right. Giggs, inside left position, taking the ball forward, returning the pass inside to Brian, center, on 14 minutes, left footed, between two Forest defenders closing in, shooting low, past outrushing Welsh ‘keeper, Andy Marriott, into the bottom right corner of the net.
 Andrei Kanchelskis, Ukrainian right winger, transferred from Borussia Dortmund in March 1991 for £650,000, was the fast, tricky winger the right side had needed, making 28 starts and 6 appearances for 5 goals, and midfielder Blackmore, chances of selection already slim, found a new niche only briefly as right back in place of injured Parker, although of 57 substitutions, Clayton’s being the highest number at 14, together with 19 starts for 3 goals, confirmed him as the squad’s exceptional utility player. 
 After losing the last fought for First Division title to Leeds in 1991-92, the club won the inaugural Premier League, as compensation for the fans, with French striker, le god, Eric Cantona, 9 goals, and 21 starts, after his introduction as a substitute on December 6th, 1992, in a home defeat of Manchester City, 2-1, brought from Leeds for £1m on November 26th, 1992, adding style and finesse to the championship run in. The club's first title success, since the First Division of 1966-67, revamped as the Premier League for 1992-93, after a gap of twenty-six years, witnessing what Alex did with 13 players to choose from, and permutate on match days, was going to be mouth watering. 
 With two substitutes, as well as a 'keeper, available from 1993-94, whereas one substitute and a ‘keeper had been the less effective rule since 1987-88, a soccer manager could dispense with utility players, and become more specialized in terms of substitute selection. Only Mark Hughes made it into double figures in 1992-93, with a goal tally of 15, which was the sign of a very mean defence, conceding just 31 goals, leaving the side with a goal difference of +36, with McClair and Giggs also contributing 9 each, clear of Aston Villa by 10 points at season’s end. 
 Out of 41 substitutions made, 13 from Kanchelskis was easily the highest, and his 14 starts for 3 goals indicative of his role as a shock tactic to be inserted in the face of full back complacency, as focus shifted more towards tactics and strategic alterations in the mode of play to accommodate what the coaches could see happening on the field during the match. Forethought was required in order to plan for eventuality, though it was logical to keep in reserve a strong defensive component, as well as a powerful attacking option, while bearing in mind that opposing team's alterations on the field had to be met with what was available on the bench, if the starting eleven lacked sufficient effectiveness.
 The team secured the club’s first league and F.A. Cup double in 1993-94, and it would have been the domestic treble, if the side hadn’t lost the League Cup Final, 1-3 to Villa. Relentlessly energetic, and enthusiastic midfield ball winner, and finisher, Roy Keane, was transferred from Forest for £3.75m to replace the ageing ‘Captain Marvel’, Robson, alongside the volatile explosiveness of Paul Ince, bought for the 1990-91 campaign for £1m from West Ham, and Cantona top scored with 18 goals, while Giggs, weighing in with 13, and Hughes 12, were enough. Out of 46 substitutions made, McClair’s tally of 14 was the highest, together with 12 starts, suggesting Ferguson had chosen him as the utility player for the midfield to striker’s role ahead of Blackmore, released to join player-manager at Ayresome Park, Middlesboro, Bryan Robson, gaining promotion as Second Division champions from Teesside in 1994-95, while Sharpe, in the advent of wonder-kid, Welsh wizard Giggs, would provide sufficient cover for the left flank.
 Chelsea, beaten in the 1994 F.A. Cup Final, 4-0, were 0-2 after two penalties, both side footed, right footed, driven low, right of Russian ‘keeper, Dmitri Kharine, going the wrong way, with first Irwin brought down, left of the 18 yard box, upended recklessly on 64 minutes by defensive midfielder, Eddie Newton, then Kanchelskis, through on goal, right of the 18 yard box, level with the right edge of the penalty area, knocked down, unceremoniously on 67 minutes by left back, Frank Sinclair, and the contest was virtually over two minutes later, Sinclair attempting to collect an innocuous ball, with Hughes in attendance, succeeding only in playing the ball into the path of the striker, coolly running on to place a low shot, right footed, into the left corner of the net, 3-0. It was academic when, after Cantona, wide on the right, right footed, passed infield to where Hughes' right boot sent a ball, right, upfield for Ince to chase. Rounding the onrushing ‘keeper, left, at the edge of the 18 yard box, with only Scots’ right back, Steve Clarke, then standing in his way, Ince selflessly passed the ball inside, right, to McClair, substitute on 90+3 minutes for Kanchelskis, for an easier strike, left footed, center, open goal, 4-0.
 Great things were expected in 1994-95 but Hughes was allowed to leave, after netting only 8 league goals, as the team finished runner-up by a single point to Blackburn Rovers, 89, after a draw, 1-1, in the last match at Old Trafford, when a win would have given them three points, replacing the less exciting two points for a win system that persisted until 1980-81. Financed by steel magnate, Jack Walker, from 1991-92, Rovers were promoted from the Second Division for 1992-93, and ironically Ferguson bought center back, David May, as a long-term replacement for Bruce, from Blackburn manager, and former Celtic and Liverpool striking legend, Scotland's Kenny Dalglish, for £1.2m for the 1994-95 term, as well as center forward, Andy Cole, from Newcastle for £6m + winger, Keith Gillespie. Southampton had been persuaded to allow center forward, Alan Shearer, to leave The Dell for £3.6m, despite Ferguson’s attempts to sign him for the glamor of United, and Alan scored 34 league goals in the Ewood Park club’s championship winning season. 
 United lost the 1995 F.A. Cup Final, 0-1 to Everton, although signs of future glory were the appearances of the teenagers and early tweens, known as ‘Fergie’s Fledglings’. Gary Neville at right back, hard-tackling ball distributor, Nicky Butt, in center midfield, and playmaker/second striker, Paul Scholes, on as a 72nd minute substitute for Sharpe, while most neutral observers thought Giggs, on as a 45th minute substitute for Bruce, after center forward Paul Rideout’s 30th minute headed opener, from central midfielder Graham Stuart’s shot that rebounded off the bar, ought to have started, though left footed Sharpe had proven versatility, keeping right wing, Kanchelskis, out of the side as Ferguson’s preferred, though inverted, right winger. 
 The absence of Cantona, suspended for launching a Kung Fu style kick at a fan in the crowd, near the touchline, on January 25th, 1995, during a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Road ground, with Andrei injured, and Cole, unable to play because, ‘cuptied’, he’d played for Newcastle in a previous round, Alex’s preferring an extra midfielder, Butt, to Giggs, seemed over-cautious. Of 58 substitutions made, Butt tied with Scholes, 11, as the highest tally, making 11 starts to Scholes 6, while Paul’s 5 goals to Nicky’s 1 might realistically have encouraged him to expect to start against Everton also. 
 Youth had won out by the end of the 1995-96 campaign with right wing, David Beckham, and Gary’s brother Phil Neville, also a full back, who’d become the squad’s indispensable utility player, joining Butt and Scholes as the new young gods of Stretford End adulation. Cantona returned on October 1st, 1995, scoring from the penalty spot against Liverpool in a home draw, 2-2, and finished top scorer with 19 goals, as the club again won the double, with Eric getting the winner in the 1996 F.A. Cup Final, after a corner on the right from Scholes, on as a substitute for Cole on 64 minutes, the ball punched away as far as Wales’ center forward, Ian Rush, on as a substitute for Stan Colleymore on 74 minutes, who chested it further on, but only as far as Cantona inside the ‘D’, volleying right footed through a crowd of players in the 86th minute. Of the 64 substitutions made in the league that term, forwards were predominant, with Scholes, 16 starts and 10 appearances for 10 goals, Beckham, 26 starts and 7 appearances for 7 goals, Sharpe, 21 starts and 10 appearances for 4 goals, and McClair, 12 starts and 10 appearances for 3 goals, indicating the shift in coaching emphasis after the implementation of the two substitutes per game allowance.
 Aged 30, Cantona retired at the end of 1996-97, with the club champions again, Eric finishing second, on 11 in the scoring, to Norway’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, 25 starts, and 8 appearances for 18 goals, brought from Molde for £1.5m, although German Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, proved too strong in the European Champions League, United losing, 0-1, first away, and again in the home leg. Of the 75 substitutions made, strikers were again to the fore, with Andy Cole, easing his way through a spell of injury, 10 starts, and 10 appearances for 6 goals, indicating the use of defenders only in emergencies to avoid upsetting the stability of the team at the back, while changes upfront in search of a goal were usual and mandated.
 McClair had the highest tally of substitutions, 15, and 4 starts, but 0 goals as the old warhorse came towards career’s end in midfield, while Czech right winger, Karel Poborský, signed from SK Slavia Prague for €4m as cover for Beckham, with 15 starts and 7 appearances for 3 goals, Scholes, 16 starts and 8 appearances for 3 goals, and Jordi, Johann Cruyff’s son, brought from Barca for £1.4m, 11 starts and 5 appearances for 3 goals, were the other main contributors from the bench.
 Arsenal won the title in 1997-98 with 78 points to United’s 77, with Cole netting 15. With Solskjaer 15 starts and 7 appearances for 6 goals, and Teddy Sheringham, brought from Tottenham Hotspur for £3.5m, 28 starts and 3 appearances, yet to find his scoring boots, 9 goals, the same total as Beckham, and with Giggs and Scholes on 8, United’s losing at home to Arsenal, 0-1, on March 14th, 1998, shouldn’t have been the difference, but it was. Despite the transfer of Norwegian central defender, Henning Berg, from Blackburn for £5m. Of the 76 substitutions made, McClair was easily the most, with 11, but only 2 starts for 0 goals, still qualifying for a runner-up medal, with 10 appearances in the 38 possible league fixtures being the target for competitive playing staff.
 That Ferguson mastered the substitution option is evident from the thirteen league titles won before his retirement at the end of the 2012-13 season, replaced by Everton's David Moyes, who was dismissed after losing the League Cup semi-final, 1-2 on penalties, with van Gaal appointed for 2014-15, after then 40 years old player coach Ryan Giggs' caretaker spell at 2014-15 season's end. Most notably in the European Cup Final of 1999 at Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium, against Germany's Bayern Munich, substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were the strikers that came off the bench to score both goals in the last three minutes of the game to win the trophy, 2-1. 
 Moreover, able to act as a sweeper in defence, as well as a center forward in attack in extremis, goalkeeping 'Great Dane', Denmark's Peter Schmeichel, illustrated the influence that the importance of utility players had at Old Trafford. Peter, who’d actually scored with a header in the 89th minute to give the team a 2-2 draw against Russia’s Rotor Volgograd in the 1st Round second leg of the 1995-96 UEFA Cup at Old Trafford, with the team, 0-1, to Bayern, was inside the German penalty area, as an auxiliary forward, when Sheringham steered Welsh left wing Ryan Giggs' shot inside the left post, 1-1, on 90+1 minutes, again demonstrating the successful aligning of the utility player strategy with the tactic of keeping fresh strikers back to insert them with dramatic effect.
 The 1998-99 season ended with the club winning the treble of league, F.A. Cup, and European Cup, after Solskjaer’s gleeful sticking out of his outstretched right leg, the ball headed on towards the far post by Sheringham, following a Beckham corner, booting it into the Bayern net at the far post on 90+3 minutes. Trinidad and Tobago's Dwight Yorke, bought from Villa for the campaign for £12.6 m, top scored with 18 goals, alongside Cole, 17, with Solskjaer finishing on 12, in just 9 starts and 10 appearances. Jaap Stam, Dutch central defender, came from PSV Eindhoven for £10.6m, 30 starts and 1 goal, sidefooting into an empty goalmouth a cross from Beckham, on 90 minutes, the last in a 6-2 victory at Leicester City’s Filbert Street on January 16th, 1999.
 Of the 92 substitutions made, Solskjaer and Sheringham, 7 starts and 10 appearances for 2 goals, tallied highest, with utility player, Phil Neville, 19 starts and 9 appearances, and Butt, 22 starts and 9 appearances for 2 goals, indicating the value of the defender/midfield strong man in holding a lead, or defending a needed result, as is the case in European competition, where the objective need not necessarily be a win, as away goals count double, and a draw at the group stage is better, given the position of the team’s rivals, in the home and away league table.
 Stam was justifiably renowned for being at the heart of United’s defence for three consecutive championship seasons. 1999-2000 began with defeat, 0-1, to Italy’s Serie A club, Lazio, in the Super Cup Final at Stade Louis II, Monaco, although Stam impressed, as he was transferred to Lazio for 2001-02 for £15.3m, with Ferguson bringing a center half he’d much admired to the club, despite raised eyebrows at Laurent Blanc’s age, 35, France’s ‘Le Président’, signed for £2.5m from Italy’s Serie A club Inter Milan. The club competed successfully in the 1999 Intercontinental Cup Final at Japan’s National Stadium, Tokyo, against Brazil’s Palmeiras of São Paolo, with Roy Keane running in to stretch out his right boot at the far post and divert a cross from Giggs out on the left wing, near the corner flag, into the net, on 35 minutes, 1-0. 
 Third in their Group B matches at Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the World Club Cup, held January 5th-14th, 2000, and the club declining to compete in the F.A. Cup that term to avoid fixture congestion, the team didn’t place, behind Brazil’s Vasco da Gama, qualifying for the Final, losing to Corinthians of Brazil, 0-0, a.e.t., 4-3 on penalties, and Mexico’s Necaxa, who beat Real Madrid, 1-1, a.e.t., 4-3 on penalties, for third place overall. United, drawing 1-1 with Necaxa, losing 1-3 to Vasco da Gama, beat Australia’s South Melbourne, 2-0.
 With their own Australian, 'keeper, Mark Bosnich, signed on a free from Villa as successor to Schmeichel, retired after the treble season, South Melbourne fell to left winger, Quinton Fortune, signed from Spain’s Atlético Madrid for £1.5m, after a long ball, left footed, down the right flank, headed on for Solskjaer to run into the 18 yard box, passing to Andy Cole on the penalty spot, back heeling the ball, left, the South African ran up on 8 minutes to strike the ball, left footed, up into the top left corner, 1-0. On 20 minutes Cole, central midfield position, right instep directing the ball forward into the path of Fortune, left, and halfway into the 18 yard box, chipping left footed over outrushing ‘keeper Chris Jones, into the net, 2-0, for a points total of 4, but with Necaxa finishing second in the group, having a goal difference of +1.
 When the squad left Manchester, the club were second in the league table, after a draw, 2-2 at Sunderland on December 28th, 1999, and another draw followed, 1-1, at home to Arsenal upon resumption on January 24th, 2000, with ‘black pearls’, Cole and Yorke, on 13 and 11 goals respectively. Cole would finish on 20, from 23 starts and 5 appearances, and Yorke 19, from 29 starts and 3 appearances, with Solskjaer on 12, Scholes on 9, and Giggs and Beckham on 6 goals, as the club took the title, 18 points clear of Arsenal with 81. Of the 90 substitutions made, Solskjaer and Sheringham, 15 starts each, and 13 and 12 appearances, for 12 and 5 goals respectively, tallied highest, with Jordi Cruyff, 1 start and 7 appearances for 3 goals, again illustrating the shift to ever more penetrating substitutes in pursuit of attacking open play and a win.
 The 2000-01 title was won with 80 points, 10 clear of Arsenal, with Teddy Sheringham, 23 starts and 6 appearances, top scoring with 15, Solskjaer, 19 starts and 12 appearances for 10, Cole 15 starts and 4 appearances for 9, Yorke, 15 starts and 7 appearances for 9, and Beckham, 29 starts and 2 appearances for 9, the main contributors. Of the 92 substitutions made, after Solskjaer the highest tally was right midfielder, 20 years Luke Chadwick, 6 starts and 10 substitute appearances for 2 goals, including the first on 64 minutes in a 1-1 draw at Leeds on March 3rd, 2001. Scholes, playing a one-two at his right, moving forward from the halfway line, right footed, center midfield, passing forward, right, to Solskjaer, shooting right edge of the 18 yard box, spilling out of ‘keeper Nigel Martyn’s grasp, left, presenting substitute Luke, running in, with a simple tap in for his right boot, sidefoot, 1-0.
 Stam’s departure, the arrival of Blanc, and flamboyant, but volatilely unpredictable, France ‘keeper, Fabien Barthez, replacing Bosnich for 2000-01, for £7.8m from AS Monaco, resulted in a defensive hiatus that left the side titleless in 2001-02, after a run of five defeats in seven games from October 20th to December 8th, dropping from third to ninth in the table, and finally finishing third, 10 points behind Arsenal, after that run of one win in seven, dropping 16 points. The bright patch in a cloudy sky was the arrival of classic run and shoot center forward, Ruud van Nistelrooy, from Dutch Eredevisie club, PSV Eindhoven, for £19m, 29 starts and 3 appearances, top scoring with 23 goals, although similarly anticipated right midfielder, Argentina’s Juan Sebastián Verón, £28.1m from Lazio, 24 starts and 2 appearances for 5 goals, scored with knowledgeable supporters, but not with the critics. Ole, 23 starts and 7 appearances for 17 goals, and ‘Becks’, 23 starts and 5 appearances for 11 goals, were Nistelrooy’s main support in attack, although Scholes, 30 starts and 5 appearances for 8 goals, and Giggs, after ten years awarded a testimonial against Celtic, which took place on August 1st, 2001, with Ruud and Séba making their debuts, weighed in with 7 goals from 18 starts and 7 appearances.
 In the European Champions League, the club went out, 3-3 on aggregate to German Bundesliga club, Bayer Leverkusen, in the semi-final, after a draw, 2-2, at Old Trafford, followed by a draw, 1-1, away, as away goals counted double. It was the final season at Old Trafford for full back, Irwin, and Norway’s Ronny Johnsen, defensive midfielder, or center back, as he was in the European triumph over Bayern, brought from Turkish club, Beşiktaş, for £1.2m for 1996-97. Swedish left winger, Jesper Blomqvist, bought from Italy’s Serie A club, Parma, for £4.4m for 1998-99, as cover for Giggs, was in for Scholes that night, booked in the Juvé semi-final and suspended, and he received a free to go to Everton. Cole signed for Blackburn on December 29th, 2001, 7 starts and 4 appearances for 4 goals, and Yorke, 4 starts and 6 appearances for 1 goal, would join him there for 2002-03 and £2.6m.
 Out with the old, in with the new. Leeds central defender, Rio Ferdinand, arrived for 2002-03 for £29.1m, with several options as to who would share central defensive duties. Mikaël Silvestre, French left back, and sometime central defender, bought from Inter Milan for £4m for 1999-2000, Wes Brown, academy graduate and mainstay of the treble, Blanc, or Eire’s John O’Shea, midfield utility player, who could play center of defence, and either full back position, 5 starts and 4 appearances the previous campaign. Ferguson’s solution, as had become his wont, was permutation, having the effect of maintaining competition for places on match days. 
 Malcolm Glazer, owner of American Football franchise, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa, Florida state, Super Bowl XXXVII and LV champions, and a TV mogul, was becoming owner of Manchester United through private share purchase, while Martin Edwards would receive the title, ‘Honorary President for Life’. Resembling the implementation of a coaching program, approximating to Dutch ‘total football’, as advocated by three-times consecutive winners of the European Cup, Ajax of Amsterdam, the flexibility of Alex’s team was evidently going to be an important aspect of their longevity. Nistelrooy, 33 starts and 1 appearance for 25 goals, received the mainstay of striking support from Scholes, enjoying a new lease of life as a second striker, 31 starts and 2 appearances for 14 goals, although Ferguson used Uruguayan striker, Diego Forlán, signed from Argentina's Independiente, on January 22nd, 2002, for £6.9m, making 6 starts and 7 appearances in 2001-02, like a bullet, making 7 starts and 18 substitute appearances for 6 goals in 2002-03, as the club took the title, with 83 points, from Arsenal on 78. A very strong team lost the League Cup Final, 0-2 to Liverpool; Barthez, G. Neville, Brown (Solskjaer 74’), Ferdinand, Silvestre, Beckham, Keane (c), Verón, Giggs, Scholes, Nistelrooy. Of the 85 substitutions made, apart from Forlán, Solskjaer’s 8 substitute appearances, and 29 starts for 9 goals, were the most significant statistically, indicating the importance of loading the gun to hit the target, while Beckham weighed in with 27 starts    and 4 appearances for 6 goals. 
 Before 2003-04, David left for Real Madrid for £17.25m, Verón for Chelsea at £15m, Blanc retired age 37, and May, released, signed for second tier club, Burnley. Of the transfers in, the most significant were right winger, Cristiano Ronaldo, signing from CP Sporting of Lisbon for £12.24m, France’s center forward, Louis Saha, on January 23rd, 2004, from Fulham for 12.82m, and ‘keeper Tim Howard from MetroStars, New York metropolitan area, competing in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States of America, for £3.5m, as Barthez’s eccentric showmanship came to seem unreliability. 
 Nistelrooy, 31 starts and 1 appearance for 20 goals, was again supported in his second striker’s role by Scholes, 24 starts and 4 appearances for 9 goals, although Saha, cuptied for the F.A. Cup, but 9 starts and 3 appearances for 7 league goals, weighed in welcomely. Of 91 substitutions made, apart from Cristiano, Diego tallied highest, 10 starts and 14 appearances for 4 goals, with France’s center forward, David Bellion, £2m from Sunderland, 4 starts and 10 appearances for 2 goals, illustrative of the highly prized bullets from the bench.
 The club finished third in the league, 15 points behind Arsenal’s championship winning 90, probably because of an eight month ban for Ferdinand for missing a mandatory drug test at the Carrington training ground on September 23rd, 2003, for illegal performance enhancing substances, although Solskjaer’s absence with a knee injury, from September through to February, 2004, didn’t help, 7 starts and 6 appearances, 0 goals. The squad bore Rio's absence to win the 2004 F.A. Cup Final, 3-0, against Millwall; Howard (Roy Carroll 84’), G. Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O'Shea, Ronaldo (Solskjaer 84’), Fletcher (Butt 84’), Keane, Giggs, Scholes, Nistelrooy. Tipped to take over from Beckham, Darren Fletcher, 17 starts and 5 appearances, began to emerge as a central midfielder, rather than a right winger, although Ronaldo, 15 starts and 14 appearances for 4 goals, wasn’t yet seen as the irreplaceable and magisterial, goal-getting powerhouse, he’d be famed as.
 Cristiano headed in at the far post on 44 minutes, after a floated cross, from halfway along the right edge of the 18 yard box by Gary Neville, 1-0, and a penalty kick, right footed, high into the top left corner, from Nistelrooy on 65 minutes, 2-0, was Giggs’ reward, after he cut inside from the right wing into the penalty area, right, through the 18 yard box, brought down from behind by central midfielder, David Livermore. Scholes, left midfield position, right foot, lobbed low, forward to Giggs, trapping the ball, stranding right back, Marvin Elliott, edge of the 18 yard box, unable to follow the bounce, Giggs runs on, a cross-shot, left foot, viciously into the penalty area, and Nistelrooy gratefully turns the ball in, with the side of his right boot, almost on ‘keeper Andy Marshall's goal line, for his second on 81 minutes, 3-0. 
 Alan Smith, center forward, signed from Leeds for £7m on May 26th, 2004, for the 2004-05 term, and Argentine left back, or center back, Gabriel Heinze, from French Ligue 1 club, Paris Saint-Germain, for £6.9m, signed on June 11th, 2004, positively indicated the coaching staff’s intention in cultivating the left side with ‘lefties’, unplayable to those unable to afford them, as well as an arsenal of shooting stars, deployable from the bench, or off it. Wayne Rooney, 18 years, transferred from Everton for £27m, making his league debut at center forward against Middlesboro on October 3rd, 2004, though Alan Smith came off the bench on 69 minutes for O'Shea to head in a Ronaldo cross from the right, near the goal line, in front of the corner flag, down into the left corner, past the grasp of Aussie ‘keeper, Mark Schwarzer, at full stretch, for an equalizer on 81 minutes, 1-1.  
 Rooney ended the season top scorer on 11 goals, after 24 starts and 5 appearances, and Scholes contributed 9 as second striker, 29 appearances and 4 starts, but Nistelrooy returned just 6 goals, 3 of them penalties, which wasn’t enough to get the club a higher final league position than third, 19 points behind Chelsea’s title-winning 95. Smith, 22 starts and 9 appearances for 6 goals, was disappointing, as Nistelrooy’s tally, from 16 starts, and a single appearance as sub, was due to injury curtailing his opportunities, which suggested Smith’s chance in the side was forced and prolonged disadvantageously. Saha, nursing a knee injury, was out for September, and from November to January, 2004, and from February to April, 2005, 7 starts and 7 appearances for 1 goal. Although Bellion got the idea, 1 start and 9 appearances for 2 goals, as a bullet from the bench, he wasn’t successful enough, and if he didn’t start more games, it was for the same reason. 
 Ronaldo, who’d score 48 goals for Real Madrid in 2014-15, after his transfer there for 2009-10 and £80m, made 25 starts and 8 appearances for 5 goals, as a future master learning his trade. As a provider of striking opportunities on the left, more accuracy had been demanded of winger, Giggs, 26 starts and 6 appearances for 6 goals, and Cristiano's involvement in the making and taking of chances would improve, although Giggs’ role was as a danger, rather than a striker. Of the 89 substitutions made, 7 were Phil Neville, who made 12 starts in his tenth season of playing in enough games to qualify for a title medal, 1995-96, 1996-67, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, and 2002-03, indicating how consistently great the achievement of the powerful contributor is.
 Also winner of the double in '96 and the treble in '99, as well as the F.A. Cup in 2004, at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, while Wembley was undergoing renovation, P. Neville’s final chance at glory, before transferred to Everton for £3m for 2005-06, was the F.A. Cup Final of 2005, against Arsenal, 0-0, a.e.t., and defeat, 4-5 on penalties; Carroll, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, O’Shea (Fortune 77’), Fletcher (Giggs 91’), Keane, Scholes, Ronaldo, Nistelrooy, Rooney. Phil wasn’t selected and Gary was on the bench.
 Scholes missed the team’s second, German ‘keeper, Jens Lehmann, saving to his right a waist high shot that ought to have been lower, and closer to the left upright, which would have kept up the pressure on Arsenal, 2-1, rather than 1-1, with Arsenal given an opportunity to take the lead, with a goal in hand, as it were, which is what happened, as Swedish midfielder, Freddie Ljungberg, on as a 65th minute substitute for Dutch striker, Dennis Bergkamp, stepped up to make it, 2-1, at the expense of Northern Irish ‘keeper, Roy Carroll, signed for £2.5m from fourth tier club, League Two's Wigan Athletic, for 2001-02, initially competing with Barthez for a place between the sticks. Roy, missing his guess, going the wrong way, Ljungberg struck low into the left corner of the net. 
 The Glazer family, with Joel and Avram, Malcolm’s sons, appointed to the board, became the new owners. The 2005-06 term was better in that the team won the 2006 League Cup Final against Premier League Wigan, 4-0, with goals from Rooney (2), Saha, and Ronaldo. Nistelrooy top scored, 28 starts and 7 appearances for 21 goals, with Rooney on 16 goals, 34 starts and 2 appearances, and Ronaldo the only other forward to approach double figures, 24 starts and 9 appearances for 9 goals, while Saha’s stats, 12 starts and 7 appearances for 7 goals, though ruled out of the first three months of the season by a hamstring injury, were the reason Nistelrooy, benched for the League Cup Final, would be transferred to Real Madrid for 2006-07. That, and the €14m fee. Of the 94 substitutions made, the most significant statistic was left winger, Kieran Richardson’s, whose 12 starts, and 10 substitute appearances for 1 goal, indicated the use of the provider as well as the scorer, although the most welcome statistic was Solskjaer’s appearance from the subs’ bench for Ronaldo on December 28th, 2005, in the 83rd minute of a draw, 2-2, at Birmingham City, St Andrew’s, 0 starts but 3 appearances, as the Norwegian was nursed back through injury by the physiotherapy and coaching staff. 
 A long punt, right foot, straight upfield from the center, edge of his 18 yard box, from Dutch ‘keeper, Edwin van der Sar, £2m from Fulham, back headed by Saha, collected by Rooney on his right foot, saw Wigan captain and Dutch center back, Arjan de Zeeuw, nutmegged by Rooney, left footed, collide with French right back, Pascal Chimbonda, as Wayne burst through to shoot, right footed, center, edge of the ‘D’, into the right corner of the net, past Australia’s John Filan, substitute ‘keeper, on for Mike Pollitt in the 14th minute, 1-0, in the 2006 League Cup Final on 33 minutes. Gary Neville’s cross from the right edge of the 18 yard box, on 55 minutes, found Saha, his strike at the far post, rebounding off the ‘keeper, he then appeared to chest the ball over the line, 2-0. Swiss center back, Stéphane Henchoz, edge of the 18 yard box, center, attempting a low clearance, instead found Saha, right footed pass, low, along the ground to Ronaldo, inside the 18 yard box, right, striking the ball, low, right footed, left corner of the net, 3-0, on 61 minutes. Giggs’ left footed free kick on the right, the ball won in the air by Saha’s header, center of the 18 yard box, dropping for Ferdinand, edge of the penalty area, right, heading the ball towards the left post, Rooney turned quickly, anti-clockwise, directing the ball into the net, 4-0, on 61 minutes. 
 The arrival of Serbian center back, Nemanja Vidić, from Spartak Moscow on January 5th, 2006, for £7m, and French left back, Patrice Evra, on January 10th from AS Monaco for £5.5m, during the winter transfer window, kept the club in the running for the league title, eventually runner-up, 8 points behind Chelsea on 91, but never below second place, after the arrival of Evra and Vidić. Keane, 4 starts and 1 further appearance, was released on November 18th, 2005, to join Scotland’s Celtic, where he won the double of league and League Cup, 3-0, against Dunfermline Athletic, with center forward, Dion Dublin, coming on for Roy in the 61st minute, directing a cross from right back, Paul Telfer, right footed, center, edge of the penalty area, behind him, into the bottom left corner, for Celtic’s third in the 90th minute.
 Signed from Cambridge United of the Second Division, which in 2004-05 was relabeled the Championship, England’s second tier competitive league, for £1m, Dion was United’s emergency center forward at the beginning of the 1992-93 season, 3 starts and 4 appearances for 1 goal away at Southampton in the 88th minute, right footed, right side of the penalty area, after a free kick on the right. McClair rose to head the ball down towards the goal, left, where the S’ton center back could only watch in horror, as the ball hit him, before rolling over to where Dublin could pounce. With the side having lost their opening two games, on August 15th, 1-2, 1992, at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane, and on August 19th, 0-3, 1992, to Everton at Old Trafford, before drawing the third, at home to Ipswich, 1-1, they beat ‘The Saints’ at The Dell, 1-0, to record their first win of the campaign. Though the squad went on to win the title, and Hughes scored in the 88th minute for a win, 1-0, Welsh defender, Eric Young, broke Dublin’s leg in a tackle away at Crystal Palace on September 2nd, 1992, and the arrival of Cantona so limited his chances of starting he accepted a transfer to Coventry City for 1994-95 at £2m.
 The club finished 2006-07 as champions, 6 points clear of Chelsea with 89. Ronaldo top scored with 17 goals, 31 starts and 3 appearances, with Rooney on 14, 33 starts and 2 appearances, but hamstring and groin injury largely sidelined Saha after Christmas, 2006, 18 starts and 6 appearances for 8 goals. Ferguson’s response was to court Swedish striker, Henrik Larsson, age 35, at the end of his Barca contract, returning to Sweden’s Allsvenskan, where he began, and a former club, Helsingborg, loaned Henrik to Ferguson from January 1st to March 12th, 2007, 5 starts and 2 appearances for 1 goal.
 In the Final of the 2006 UEFA Champions League, which Barca won, 2-1 against Arsenal, Larsson came on for Dutch central midfielder, Mark von Bommel, on 61 minutes, providing assists for Cameroon center forward, Samuel Eto’o, and Brazilian, Juliano Belletti, on for Spanish right back, Oleguer, on 71 minutes. Andrés Iniesta, on for Brazilian defensive midfielder, Edmilson, on 46 minutes, in the inside left channel found Larsson, on 76 minutes, left corner of the 18 yard box, whose one-touch, right-footed lay-off released Eto’o, running on, with the ball, right footed strike, right corner of the net, 1-1, Barca having conceded a goal to center half, Sol Cambell, on 37 minutes, near the penalty spot, heading French center forward, Thierry Henry’s free kick, from the right, outside the 18 yard box, into the top left corner of Spanish ‘keeper Víctor Valdés’ net. Larsson, right, outside the 18 yard box, close to the goal line, left footed, along the turf to Belletti, on 80 minutes, right corner of the penalty area, angle narrowing as the ball runs on, Juliano, right footed, Spanish ‘keeper Manuel Almunia, on for Jens Lehmann on 18 minutes, sent off for bringing down Eto’o outside his area, his legs, shot through, near post, 2-1.
 Alan Smith, being tried as Keane’s replacement, during a defeat to Liverpool, 0-1, in the F.A. Cup 5th Round, on February 18th, 2006, attempting to block a free kick by Norwegian left back, John Arne Riise, broke his leg, 6 starts and 3 appearances, 0 goals in 2006-07, before being transferred to Newcastle for £7m for 2007-08. Of the 94 substitutions made, the most significant were Solskjaer’s 10, 9 starts for 7 goals, after a knee injury caused him to miss 2005-06, while further surgery in late February caused him to miss a month, until the defeat of Blackburn on March 31st , 2007, 4-1, with Ole, on for Cristiano in the 84th minute, getting the fourth goal in the 89th.
 Park Ji Sung, a Republic of Korea right winger, signed from PSV Eindhoven for £4m for 2005-06, making 23 starts and 11 appearances for 1 goal, nicknamed ‘Park bench’ initially, as fans expected another expensive bench warmer, incurring an ankle injury in a defeat of Spurs, 1-0, at Old Trafford on September 9th, 2006, after coming on for Richardson on 70 minutes, that kept him out for six months, completed knee surgery by Dr Richard Steadman at the Steadman Clinic, Vail, Colorado, United States, on April 28th, 2007, after incurring an injury at home to Blackburn, 4-1, on March 31st, 2007, during which he scored the team’s third goal in the 83rd minute, sliding it in, right footed, after US' ‘keeper,  Brad Friedel, couldn’t hold on to Ronaldo’s powerfully struck, right footed, direct free-kick, making Park, 8 starts and 6 appearances for 5 goals, unavailable for selection until 2007-08, but known in his native Korea as ‘Three-Lungs Park’ for his seemingly inexhaustible desire and capacity to assist, did return.
 A narrow defeat of Italy’s Serie A team, AC Milan, 3-2, in the European Champions League semi-final first leg at home, was overturned at the San Siro, 0-3, 5-3 on aggregate, with Rooney’s second goal in the 90+1 minute at Old Trafford, after Giggs outside the ‘D’, in the inside right position, passed left footed, right, to Wayne, edge of the ‘D’, who struck the ball, low, beyond diving Brazilian ‘keeper, Dida, inside the right upright, 2-3, indicative of the difficulty posed by I Rossoneri.
 Disappointment was doubled, as the team lost to Everton in the 2007 F.A. Cup Final, 0-0, with 30 minutes of extra time to come; van der Sar, Brown, Vidic, Ferdinand, Heinze, Carrick (O’ Shea 112’), Scholes, Fletcher (Smith 92’), Giggs (Solskjaer 112’), Ronaldo, Rooney. Ivory Coast center forward, Didier Drogba, in the 116th minute, edge of the 18 yard box, center, back to goal, inside of his raised right boot to a ball, right foot, from Nigeria’s Mikel John Obi, center midfield, found Lampard, to his left. Drogba, turning, running towards the penalty spot, Frank, first touch, right footed, dinking the ball over to him there, Didier strikes the ball into the left corner of the net, beyond ‘keeper, van der Sar, 1-0, in the first F.A. Cup Final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium. 
  In 2007-08 the club won the double of European Champions and Premier League, 87 points from Chelsea’s 85, although it was nearly Chelsea, as the team beat them in the UCL Final, 1-1, a.e.t., 6-5 on penalties, after defeating Barca, on aggregate, 1-0, following a Scholes strike, right footed, from left of the ‘D’, after an attempted clearance by Barca’s Italian right midfielder, Gianluca Zambrotta, left corner of the 18 yard box, resembling an inch perfect pass, lashed from the bridge of Paul’s right boot, into the top right corner of ‘keeper Valdés’ net, on 14 minutes, in the second leg at Old Trafford. ‘CR7’, as he came to be famed for his # 7 shirt, Cristiano Ronaldo, top scored with 31 goals, from 31 starts and 3 appearances, with Argentine, Carlos Tevez, on loan from Media Sports Investments (MSI), on 14 goals, from 31 starts and 3 appearances, while Rooney weighed in with 12, 25 starts and 2 appearances.
 Of 104 substitutions, the most significant were Saha’s 11, 6 starts for 5 goals, injured for a month in early January, and out for almost the rest of the season, following a hamstring injury against Bolton, 2-0, at Old Trafford on March 19th, 2008, before being transferred to Everton for 2008-09, and Owen Hargreaves', right midfielder, transferred from Bayern for £17m for 2007-08, 16 starts and 7 appearances for 2 goals, before patellar tendonitis ruined his career, while Portuguese right winger, Nani, 16 starts and 10 appearances for 3 goals, transferred from Sporting CP Lisbon for €25.5m, represented the coaching ideal of a game killer, who could come off the bench.
 Wes Brown, right back, on the right wing, a  throw-in from Brown to Scholes, shadowed by French left wing, Florent Malouda, one-two, Scholes, outside of his right boot, back to Brown, tight on the touchline, unable to move past Frank Lampard, one-two, outside of his right boot, back to Paul, around Frank, Brown gets the ball back, ‘magic triangle', outside of Paul's right boot, carrying the ball to the right corner of the 18 yard box, left footed cross, finds the head of Ronaldo, leaping, center, outside the penalty area, bottom left corner of the net, 1-0, cancelled out by central midfielder, Lampard, following a long-range shot by Ghanaian right back, Michael Essien, deflecting first off Vidić, and then Ferdinand by the penalty spot, causing van der Sar to lose track of the ball, Frank running in, left of the penalty spot, left boot, goal, center, 1-1, on 45 minutes.
 Extra time producing no result, Ronaldo's was the first missed penalty, with Lampard making it, 2-3, but Chelsea center back and captain, John Terry, slipped and fell on his arse in the Moscow rain at the Luzhniki Stadium, and the ball hit the right post. All square and ‘sudden death'. French center forward, Nicholas Anelka, on for right midfielder, Joe Cole, on 99 minutes, was next to miss, which meant  Giggs’ previous successful kick from the spot was the winning goal; van der Sar, Brown (Anderson 120+5)', Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra, Hargreaves, Scholes (Giggs 87’), Carrick, Ronaldo, Rooney (Nani 101’), Tevez.
 The team lost the Final of the 2008 Super Cup on August 29th to Russia's Zenit Saint Petersburg, 1-2, at Stade Louis II, Monaco, with Vidić replying on 73 minutes, ball struck hard with the bridge of the left boot, into the net, after Tevez, corner of the penalty area, left, by the goal line, right footed, passed to him, unobstructed, inside the area, level with the left post; van der Sar, G. Neville (c) (Brown 76’), Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra, Fletcher (Park Ji Sung 60’), Scholes, Anderson (O’Shea 60’), Nani, Rooney, Tevez.
 When center back Vidić was sent off on 49 minutes, elbowing Argentine striker, Claudio Beiler, during the 2008 World Club Cup Final on December 21st, 2008, at International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan, against Ecuador's LDU Quito, the side was again successful after reorganization, owing much to the spectrum of substitutes to choose from, with Northern Ireland's center back, Jonny Evans, on 51 minutes, coming on for Argentine center forward, Tevez. Rooney, collecting a pass on the left edge of the 18 yard box from right wing, Cristiano, before striking on 73 minutes past 'keeper, Jose Francisco Cevallos, 1-0.
 The title was won with 90 points, 4 ahead of Liverpool. Bulgarian striker, Dimitar Berbatov, signed for £30.75m from Spurs, 29 starts and 2 appearances for 9 goals, would improve. Cristiano top scored, 31 starts, 2 appearances, 18 goals, while Wayne weighed in with 12, 25 starts and 5 appearances, and Carlos, 18 starts, 11 appearances, 5 goals, looked less than it was, as he scored 6 goals on the way to the club’s winning the 2009 League Cup, and 4 on the F.A. Cup run that saw the side lose to Everton in the semi-final, 0-0, a.e.t., 2-4 on penalties. 
 Of the 98 substitutions made, Italian Frederico Macheda, 2 starts and 2 appearances for 2 goals, stands out. United won the title by 4 points and 17 years Frederico won 4 points. On for Nani on 61 minutes, netting the 90+3 minute winner, 3-2, against Villa at Old Trafford on April 5th, 2009. Giggs, in the inside left position, midfield, left footed, along the ground, Macheda, inside the 18 yard box, back heels, loses right back, Luke Young, turns and strikes, right footed, past ‘keeper Friedel, the ball curling deliciously into the right side netting, and again, 2-1, on for Berbatov on 75 minutes in the following league game at S'land's Stadium of Light on April 11th, inside the 18 yard box left of the ‘D’,  Carrick’s shot, outside of the ‘D’, center midfield, Frederico left footed, 75th minute, flicking it past Scots’ ‘keeper, Craig Gordon, low, right corner of the net. 
 The League Cup Final of 2009, as had become traditional, saw the younger Academy players, and squad members, defeat Spurs, 0-0, a.e.t., 4-1 on penalties, with Giggs, Tevez, Ronaldo, and Brazilian midfielder, Anderson, transferred from Portugal’s Porto for 2007-08 and €30m, converting the spot kicks; Foster, O'Shea (Vidić 76’), Ferdinand (c), Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Gibson (Giggs 91’), Scholes, Nani, Welbeck (Anderson 56’), Tevez. Industrious Eire midfielder, Darren Gibson, made 1 start and 2 appearances in the league, while future England ‘keeper, Ben Foster, made 2 starts, and Danny Welbeck, who’d play center forward for England, made 1 start and 2 appearances for 1 goal. 
 The club again reached the UCL Final, losing, 0-2, to Barca at Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy, with eyebrows raised at the benching of Scholes; van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra, Anderson (Tevez 46’), Carrick, Giggs (c) (Scholes 75’), Park Ji-sung (Berbatov 66’), Rooney, Ronaldo. Eto’o, on 10 minutes, central midfielder, Andrés Iniesta, a one-two with midfield partner, Xavi, bursting through from inside his own half, between Anderson, right, and Carrick, left, finding Samuel, right side of the 18 yard box, cutting inside, on his right foot, leaving Vidić stranded, right footing the ball to van der Sar’s left, 1-0, and Argentina’s attacker-playmaker, Lionel Messi, on 70 minutes, regarded as the world’s best, a flying header, left corner of the penalty area, ball crossed by Xavi, well outside the 18 yard box, right corner, over van der Sar, and to his left, dropping luxuriously into the bottom right corner of the net, 2-0. 
 Ronaldo duly left for Real Madrid, while Antonio Valencia, Ecuador right wing, was signed from Wigan for £16m, 29 starts, 5 appearances for 5 goals, that 2009-10 season. Rooney was top scorer with 26 goals from 32 starts, with Berbatov on 12 from 24 starts and 9 appearances. The title was lost by 1 point to Chelsea on 86. Of the 102 substitutions made, former Liverpool striker, Michael Owen’s, freed by Newcastle, were most illuminating, 5 starts, and 4 appearances for 3 goals, had the look of the bench assassin.
 The team made it through to the 2010 League Cup Final, defeating Villa, 2-1, after falling behind to a penalty, taken by central midfielder, James Milner, side footed finish to the bottom right corner, on 5 minutes, United’s # 2 ‘keeper, Pole, Tomasz Kuszczak, £2.125m from WBA for 2007-08, going the wrong way, after Vidić dragged center forward, Gabriel Agbonlahor, down by his shirt, left of the eighteen yard box, level with the left corner of the penalty area, 0-1. Berbatov, dispossessing Eire center back, Richard Dunne, by the right touchline, just inside the Villa half, roared down the wing, cutting inside, brought down at the right corner of the 18 yard box, the ball spilling left, into the path of Owen, running in, striking right footed, low, left corner of the net, 1-1, on 14 minutes. Park Ji Sung, right corner of the 18 yard box, cross right footed, Rooney header, at about the penalty spot, over ‘keeper, Friedel, dropping implacably, bottom right corner of the net, 2-1, on 74 minutes; Kuszczak, Rafael (G. Neville 66’), Vidić, Evans, Evra (c), Valencia, Carrick, Fletcher, Park Ji-sung (Gibson 85’), Berbatov, Owen (Rooney 42’).
 The 2010-11 Premier League was won with 80 points, 9 more than Chelsea. Gary Neville retired, and no-nonsense center back, Chris Smallng, was signed from Fulham, 11 starts and 5 appearances. The club never lost 1st position in the table after November 27th, 2010, when Blackburn were beaten at Old Trafford, 7-1, with Berbatov’s 5 an indication of the success of three points for a win, and the shift away from utility players towards strikers, as the three substitute allowance afforded the selection of more specialized skills. Berbatov top scored with 20, 24 starts and 8 appearances, while Rooney weighed in with 11 goals, from 25 starts and 3 appearances.
 Strikers, like Mexico's Javier Chicharito ‘little pea’ Hernández, as his green-eyed father, Javier Hernández Gutiérrez, was Chicharo, ‘pea’, a player with ‘Tecos’, Guadalajara, winner of the 1993-94 Primera División, remain at a premium. Chicharito, signed by Ferguson from Chivas Guadalajara for €7.5m, 15 starts, 12 appearances for 13 goals, was hungry for success. The Maracanã, largest stadium in Brazil has a smaller stadium close by, Maracanãzinho, ‘little’ Maracanã, while the big stadium looks like an eye from the air; the monster, jealousy, where the green-eyed god is worshipped. Javier’s grandfather, Tomás Balcázar González, a forward with the Guadalajara campeonísimo, 8 titles in 10 years, scored Mexico’s second on 85 minutes in the 1954 World Cup against France, 2-3, Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland, although Mexico finished last in Group 1.
 Of the 99 substitutions made, apart from Chicharito, Owen's, 1 start and off the bench on 10 occasions for 2 goals, exemplified expectations. Expected to be able to play full back and center back also, an echo of the total football advocated by the Dutch, in the halcyon days of Cruyff at Ajax, the epitome of the new breed were players like Ronny Johnsen, who could play center back, midfield, on the wing, or at center forward, and Valencia, right wing, right midfield, or right full back, while two-footed Nani could play in any of the five positions across the front line; outside right, inside right, center forward, outside left and inside left, as well as left midfield or right, inverted or otherwise, and either full back role, although his value elsewhere to the side made that option an unforeseen rarity, occurring in the case of injury, or a sending off.
 Although the UCL Final was reached, the side lost 1-3 at Wembley to Barca, despite Rooney’s goal from the inside right position, cutting in from the right wing, looking to Nani, inside the 18 yard box, corner, right, flicked with the outside of his right boot, hitting Nani’s right hip, the ball dropping to the Portuguese winger’s right foot, one-two, Rooney receiving the ball back, on the run, right footed, center of the 18 yard box, 1-1, on 34 minutes, ball curling right to left, into the top corner of ‘keeper Valdés‘ net; van der Sar, Fábio (Nani 69’), Ferdinand, Vidić (c), Evra, Valencia, Carrick (Scholes 77’), Giggs, Park Ji-sung, Rooney, Hernández.
 Ferguson had signed Brazil’s da Silva twins, as (right) full backs, cover for Gary Neville, though Rafael began as a striker, and Fábio, a defensive midfielder, from Brazil’s Fluminense, age 17, in January 2007, although the twins, and such are often thought telepathic, wouldn’t be eligible to play until 2007-08, when 18 years. While Rafael, 15 starts and 1 appearance in 2010-11, was an unused attacking right back amongst the substitutes for the 2009 UCL Final, lost 0-2 to Barca, Fábio, 5 starts and 6 appearances for 1 goal, made the 2011 UCL Final, lost 1-3 to Barca, as a right back, for his defensive expertise, demonstrating the highly specialized nature of substitutions.
  The title in 2011-12 was won by Manchester City, on a goal difference of +64 to Manchester United’s  +54, with the same number of points, 89, for a number of interesting reasons. Ferguson brought Spain’s  ‘keeper, David de Gea, from Atlético Madrid for £18.9m, Phil Jones, center back, from Blackburn for £16.5m, who took some time to reach a defensive understanding and partnership, left winger Ashley Young from Villa for £17m, and dynamic Japanese midfielder, Shinji Kagawa, 17 starts, 3 appearances, for 6 goals, including a hat-trick on March 2nd, 2013, against Norwich, 4-0, at Old Trafford, transferred for £12m from German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. Berbatov, 5 starts and 7 appearances for 7 goals, had an excellent strike rate, which suggested he’d score more if picked, but Ferguson persisted with Welbeck, 23 starts and 7 appearances for 9 goals. Rooney top scored, 32 starts, 2 appearances, 27 goals, while Hernández exemplified the role of the striker as substitute, 18 starts and 10 appearances for 10 goals.
 Having retired at the end of 2010-11, being given a testimonial against New York Cosmos, latter day champions of the North American Soccer League, with Brazil’s glittering center forward, Pelé, and cool German sweeper, Franz Beckenbauer, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, Scholes agreed to return as player coach, 14 starts, 3 appearances, 4 goals, after consecutive defeats, with the club placed 2nd, 2-3 against Blackburn, on 31st December, 2011, at Old Trafford, though Berbatov headed in, after a shot from Rafael, 1-2, before Valencia, on the right, played him in to sweep in a shot from 10 yards out, 2-2, and 0-3 to Newcastle on January 4th, 2012, at St James’s, but the terrace chant, ‘Paul Scholes, he scores goals’, wasn’t enough to get them. 
 Of the 100 substitutions made, most significant were French left central midfielder Paul Pogba’s 3, an Academy graduate, whose limited opportunities persuaded him to leave from 2012-13 for Serie A giants Juventus, costing van Gaal’s Portuguese successor, José Mourinho, £89.3m to secure his return for 2016-17. Making 5 starts and 5 appearances, Tom Cleverley, highly regarded by Ferguson, would play a significant role as a midfield ball-player, potent in attack, the following season, 2012-13, 18 starts and 4 appearances for 2 goals, when Alex brought Robin van Persie from Arsenal for £24m to supply the goals the side lacked, 35 starts, 3 appearances, and 26 goals, before Alex retired.
 The club finished 11 points ahead of Manchester City on 89. Rooney, 22 starts and 5 appearances for 12 goals, and Hernández’ 9 starts, 13 appearances, and 10 goals, neatly exemplified the paradox of the ageing reliable striker, and ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’, as Solskjaer was called, coming onto the field off the bench when a goal was of paramount necessity. Welbeck had gotten the idea, 15 starts and 10 appearances for 9 goals. 
 Although Moyes’ short-lived sojourn in the manager’s seat for 2013-14 was characterized by players, who’d been used to contributing, left to wither away, added to the squad were, Spain’s Juan Mata from Chelsea for £37.1m, a left-footed replacement for Giggs, 6 starts and 6 appearances in his retirement season, age 40. Mata, who’d also serve as an inverted right wing, or inside right, 14 starts, 1 appearance and 6 goals. Belgium's tireless midfielder, up-and-down the pitch ceaselessly, using his aerial advantage, 6’ 4” (1.94m) in support of the attack, Marouane Fellaini, £27.5m from Moyes’ former club, Everton, 12 starts and 4 appearances, and Belgian Adnan Januzaj, an Academy graduate, left footed, playmaker, who just didn’t have the bigness of body to go with his skill, 15 starts, 12 appearances, for 4 goals. Of the 106 substitutions made, the most significant stats were Hernández, 6 starts and 18 appearances for 4 goals, indicating Moyes didn’t believe he should start, and that he didn’t get enough goals as the super sub he’d demoted him to be. Rooney top scored with 17 from 27 starts and 2 appearances, while van Persie weighed in with 12 from 18 starts and 3 appearances, but the club finished 7th and Moyes was replaced by van Gaal for 2014-15.
 Upon Malcolm’s passing, on May 8th, 2014, Joel and Avram Glazer remained co-chairmen. Though largely despised, as a meaningless series of ‘friendlies’, the pre-season International Champions Cup, organized in the United States for clubs with a global standing, had some significance. United’s Group A contained Inter, Roma, and Real, while Group B contained Liverpool, Olympiacos of Greece, Manchester City and Milan. After a round robin, United and Liverpool topped their groups, and the Manchester club won the final at Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, 3-1, with goals from Mata, Rooney, and Jesse Lingard, an inverted left winger, or inside forward, who also played on the right, as he was right footed, on as a substitute; de Gea; Jones, Smalling, Evans (Blackett 46’); Valencia (Shaw 8’), Fletcher (Cleverley 46’), Herrera (Lingard 78’), Young; Mata (Kagawa 69’); Rooney (c), Hernández (Nani 69’).
 Hernández’ deep cross from out by the right corner of the 18 yard box found Rooney, running in, left corner of the penalty area, left foot, instep, on 55 minutes, directing the ball back across the mouth of the goal, inside the side netting by the far post, right, 1-1, Luke Shaw, brought from S’ton for £30m, left back, his position, on for injured right back, Valencia, crossing, outside the corner of the 18 yard box, finding Mata, left edge of the ‘D’, turning to strike, left footed, goal, center, on 57 minutes, 2-1. Cross from the right, Nani, outside the 18 yard box, midway along it, back towards Kagawa, traps the ball, right of the ‘D’, inside, sets up the ball for Lingard, strikes, on 88 minutes, right footed, low, inside the right upright, 3-1.
 Rooney, 33 starts for 12 goals, and van Persie, 25 starts and 2 appearances for 10, found support in Mata, 27 starts and 6 appearances for 9 goals. Argentina’s center back/left back, Marcos Rojo, £16m from Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon, right winger, Ángel Di María, £59.7m from Real Madrid, were added by van Gaal. Spain’s playmaker, Ander Herrera, from Athletic Bilbao for €36m, and Daley Blind from Ajax for £13.8m, a utility player capable of defensive midfield duties, left back, or center back roles, and who was probably the most useful buy of all. Blind started 25 games for 2 goals, and because of his solidity, van Gaal was able to look at his options in several positions. 
 Of the 108 substitutions made, Radamel Falcao’s, a Columbian striker, El Tigre, ‘The Tiger’, on loan from AS Monaco, 14 starts and 12 appearances for 4 goals, indicated the direction of coaches’ thinking. The hungry for goals striker, on the bench like a caged tiger, waiting to spring. The club finished 4th in the table, qualifying for the UCL, while the list of those shown the door was extensive. Ferdinand was released, Vidić left on a free to Inter, Evra was transferred to Juvé for £1.2m, Kagawa returned to Dortmund for £6.3m, Welbeck was transferred to Arsenal for £16m, Fletcher left on a free to West Ham, and Anderson left on a free to Brazil’s Internacionale, while Nani, loaned to Sporting CP, Hernández, loaned to Real Madrid, and Cleverley, loaned to Aston Villa, wouldn’t return to ‘the theater of Dreams’, as van Gaal shaped his own squad. 
 Anthony Martial, French center forward, brought from AS Monaco for £36m, 18 years, top scored with 11 goals, from 29 starts and 2 appearances, which didn’t look good, as Rooney was second with 8, from 27 starts and 1 appearance. A low goals total meant the club finished 5th in the 2015-16 term, qualifying for Europe’s second tier Europa League, successor to the Fairs Cup, integrated within the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in 1971, as the UEFA Cup, and retaining the same trophy, the ‘U Cup’ of the Europa League from 1999.
 Memphis Depay, an inverted left winger, right footed, from PSV for £25m, and right winger, Bastian Schweinsteiger, from Bayern Munich for £6.5m, were van Gaal’s flexi-wings. France’s Morgan Schneiderlin, defensive midfielder, signed from S’ton for £25m, and Italian Matteo Darmian, full back or center back, for £12.7m from Milan, represented van Gaal’s defensive thinking, with an eye on three at the back with wing halves, corresponding to Valencia and Young, but also the sweeper system, catenaccio in Italy1 requiring the astuteness of full back, Matteo, terzino volante, free to bolt, while the other defenders man-mark.
 Van Persie was transferred for £4.5m to Turkey’s Süper Lig club, Fenerbahçe, joining Nani, transferred there for £4.25m, Rafael to French Ligue 1 club, Lyon, for £2.5m, Di María to PSG for £44m, Hernández to German Bundesliga club, Bayer Leverkusen, for £8.75m, and Evans to WBA for £6m. As ‘a new broom sweeps clean’, van Gaal bolted the door behind his swept. The team for the 2016 F.A. Cup Final was sophisticated, as analysis of the list of substitutes reveals; de Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Rojo (Darmian 66’), Carrick, Rooney (c), Mata (Lingard 90’), Fellaini, Martial, Rashford (Young 72’). 
 The unused substitutes were, apart from Argentine ‘keeper, Sergio Romero, Jones, Herrera, and Schneiderlin. As Young could play left back, Darmian could be free, if it became necessary to defend a lead. Unfortunately, center back, Smalling, was sent off in the 105th minute of extra time, the game having ended, 0-0, after 90 minutes, for holding onto the leg of Crystal Palace's Democratic Republic of the Congo left winger, Yannick Bolasie, although van Gaal’s plan remained sufficiently organizational. With Smalling, sent off, and all of the three substitutes permissible used, Jones, the center back on the bench, couldn’t fill in.
 Young was switched to left back, although the side could have played three at the back, as they’d been coached to do. With Carrick dropping back from midfield, alongside Blind, and ‘door bolt’ Darmian, Valencia, a former right winger, converted to right back, and Young, similarly, could have deployed as wing backs, without losing any defensive capability, or midfield creativity, as Carrick would be the door to Darmian’s bolt.
 Van Gaal opted to leave the midfield unchanged, with Lingard as a striker, on as a 90th minute substitute for Spain's left footed inverted right winger, Mata, alongside rising star, Marcus Rashford, 18 years, 11 starts for 5 goals, since his Premier League debut on February 28th, 2016, in the home win against Arsenal, 3-2, striking right footed a crossed ball from right back, Varela, wide on the right, on 29 minutes, outside the penalty area, level with the left upright, top right corner of the net, 1-0, and on 32 minutes, just outside the penalty area, center, heading down a Lingard lobbed ball, right footed from inside the right corner of the 18 yard box, one bounce, inside the left post, 2-0, although Jesse would drop back into midfield when Palace had possession. On 110 minutes, Jesse volleyed right footed from the right of the 'D', edge of the 18 yard box, scoring top left corner of the goal, past 'keeper, Wales' Wayne Hennessy, 2-1. 
 Palace, a throw-in, left, parallel with the 18 yard box, Senegal’s left back, Pape Souaré, to take, the ball with Bolasie, left winger, just inside the box, Darmian, tapping his ankle as he turns, left, looking to deliver a cross-shot, surprised by the quick, sharp pain, Bolasie gasps, stumbles, loses control. The defenders converge on the loosed, rolling, ball.
 What the English call ‘the flaw in the Italian character’ is the defence of a place in the team, rather than be blamed, which is the downside of catenaccio, as the onus is on self-protection, rather than the team. Although the use of three substitutes diluted this selfishness, as squad rotation came to the fore, a sending off, equivalent to incapacitating injury, before a sub was allowed in 1965, naturally stimulates the desire to avoid more blame, which is why Matteo’s defending was dangerously Latin.
 Blind, 21 starts and 3 appearances for 1 goal, was just as useful to new boss, José Mourinho, UCL 2003-04 winner with Porto, UCL 2099-10 winner with Milan, and soon to be Europa Cup winner with Manchester United. The best was yet to come from Rashford, 16 starts and 16 appearances for 5 goals, but José brought on a free from PSG an old striking head, 35 years, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Sweden’s center forward, 27 starts and 1 appearance for 17 goals, to ease the pressure on Marcus’ development, as well as Pogba, Armenia’s captain and right wing, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, from Borussia Dortmund, for £30m, 14 starts and 9 appearances for 4 goals, and Ivory Coast center back, Eric Bailly, £30m from Spain’s Villarreal, 24 starts and 1 appearance. Of the substitutions made, apart from Rashford’s 16, indicating he wasn’t a super sub, with only 5 goals and 16 starts, Rooney’s 10 and 5 goals from 15 starts was a sign of an old warrior needing to be rested, though better stats than Martial, 18 starts, 7 appearances, 4 goals, junior to Wayne by a decade.
 The club finished 6th but won the 2016-2017 season’s League Cup Final, 3-2, against Southampton, with Ibrahimović’s 25 yard direct free kick, in the 19th minute, left side of the ‘D’, bent, curling around and over the S’ton wall, to ‘keeper Fraser Foster’s right, bottom left corner of the goal, 1-0. On 38 minutes, left back, Rojo, outside the 18 yard box, left corner, left footed pass to Lingard, right of the ‘D’, struck low, right footed, right corner of the net, 2-0. Although Italian center forward, Manolo Gabbiadini, levelled, on 45+1 and 48 minutes, each side of half-time, after a low cross from right wing, James Ward-Prowse, outside the 18 yard box by the goal line, striking inside the penalty area, right near post, right footed, in front of ‘keeper de Gea, 2-1, and again, just outside the area, center goal, the ball bouncing on the penalty spot, after a header, coming down, high, from right edge of the ‘D’, Gabbiadini spinning, right to left, right boot, waist high, lashing shot, to de Gea‘s right, 2-2. Herrera, central right midfielder, inside left corner of the 18 yard box, cross to Ibrahimović, just outside the penalty area, level with the left upright, powerful header, on 87 minutes, goal, center, 3-2, bulging net; de Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Smalling (c), Rojo, Herrera, Pogba, Mata (Carrick 46’), Lingard (Rashford 77’), Martial (Fellaini 90’), Ibrahimović.
 The Europa Cup Final against Ajax, at Friends Arena, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden, won, 2-0, a low shot from Pogba, inside the ‘D’, right, deflected over surprised Cameroon ‘keeper André Onana’s head by Columbian central defender, Davinson Sánchez, center of the 18 yard box, on 18 minutes. A corner on the right, Smalling, center of the goal, just outside the penalty area, heading the ball, onto the white line, marking its boundary, bounces, high, and an overhead kick from Mkhitaryan (Lingard 74’), inside the area, looking over his head, right boot high, outstretched, contact, 2-0, on 48 minutes; Romero, Valencia (c), Smalling, Blind, Darmian, Herrera, Mata (Rooney 90’), Fellaini, Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Rashford (Martial 84’).
 The team lost the Final of the European Super Cup, 1-2, to Real Madrid, at the Philip II Arena in Skopje, Macedonia, although Belgian center forward, Romelu Lukaku, bought for £75m from Everton, after Costa Rican ‘keeper, Keylor Navas, spilled a shot, left footed, outside the ‘D’, left, from Nemanja Matić, Serbian defensive midfielder, bought from Chelsea for £40m for 2017-18, outside the penalty area, right, right footed strike, low, left corner of the net, 1-2, on 84 minutes, began to justify the money spent, with 33 starts, 1 appearance and 16 goals. No other United player came close to double figures in 2017-18; de Gea; Valencia, Lindelof, Smalling, Darmian, Matić, Herrera (Fellaini 56’), Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Lingard (Rashford 46’), Lukaku.
 Daley Blind was amongst the unused substitutes, 4 starts and 3 appearances, before returning to Ajax for €16m for 2018-19. With the money available to the big clubs, the utility player had become a luxury that the desire for instantaneous recognition couldn’t afford. Fans, coaching staff, and the club board, want recognizable excellence, resulting in the productivity of the best mechanisms for each specialized task, as a business, making redundant the ‘jack-of-all trades and master of none’, ignoring the fact that utility is masterful. As complexity demands slavery, making the brain too tired to recognize that the right back can switch to left midfield, the utility player appears as viral to the damage, although it’d be more sensitive to observe that the human replacement for the machine part is replaceable until the replacer is able to perceive it’s a perfectly functioning hole. 
 
1 Martin, Jay The Best of Soccer Journal: An NSCAA Guide to Soccer Coaching Excellence, London: Maidenhead: Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2012, pp. 69–71. 
 
 Manchester United's Nearly Men

Manchester United’s faith in utility players is demonstrably embodied in the rather slight and diminutive figure of Northern Irish central defensive midfielder, David McCreery, who was what was euphemistically called ‘the twelfth man’, before more than one substitute was permitted in soccer. During a game of 90 minutes, with 45 each half, there was the possibility of extra time, that is, 30 minutes, in cup competitions, where normal time hadn’t produced a winner. A manager in the early 21st century had a list of seven substitutes available to choose from. The options would have amazed 19th century teams, like the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club (LYR FC), founded by the Carriage and Wagon department in the area of Newton Heath in 1878, known as ‘The Heathens’, with games against other departments and rail companies at their North Road ground, Manchester, before they were ‘The Red Devils’ of Manchester United from 1902.

 Newton Heath won the Manchester and District Challenge Cup in 1886, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1893, and 1902, renamed as the Manchester FA Senior Cup, known as the Manchester Cup, contested annually within the Manchester Football Association of professional clubs, that is, Ardwick, which became Manchester City in 1894, Bolton Wanderers, Bury, Oldham Athletic, and Stockport County. By 1888 the club was a founding member of a regional football league, The Combination, for clubs across Northern England and the Midlands that weren’t accepted into the Football League, with Small Heath Alliance, Walsall Town Swifts, Derby Midland, Notts Rangers, Burslem Port Vale, Leek, Crewe Alexandra, Newton Heath LYR, Witton, Blackburn Olympic, Mitchell St George's, Halliwell, Derby Junction, Northwich Victoria, and Bootle as founder members. Dissolved before season’s end, with teams only completing fixtures they agreed to, Newton Heath LYR, along with Bootle, Crewe, Grimsby, and Small Heath, founded the Football Alliance, original title Northern Counties League, which continued for three seasons, until merger with The Football League for the 1892-93 First and Second Division campaigns. Independent of the rail company, ‘LYR’ was dropped and Newton Heath FC moved to Bank Street, in neighboring Clayton township.

 With an injured participant, or even reduced by numbers on the field of play, if the injured couldn’t continue, in the late 19th century, and before the 1965-66 single substitute rule, the club that moved to the borough of Trafford in 1910, containing the area, Old Trafford, from which the soccer ground takes its name, had to deal with the physically debilitating effects of intimidation, and a win at all costs attitude, as soccer trophies were approached in a fashion similar to that of prizes awarded to bare knuckle fighters.

 In 1902, under the new ownership of John Henry Davies, chairman of Walker and Homfray Brewery, the club name was changed to Manchester United. Their original green and gold harlequinade quartered strips, having undergone change to white shirts in 1896-97, the now legendarily familiar red and white strip was adopted, harmonizing the red and white roses of Lancashire and Yorkshire, symbolizing the resolved conflict between cadet branches of the royal houses of Lancaster and York, which had resulted in the English Civil War (1455-87), fought to determine the house that would have the throne, until both male lines were extinct.

 The terraced fans at the Stretford End of the Old Trafford Stadium, after his arrival from Italy’s Torino, Turin, for the 1962-63 season for £115,000, proclaimed their own king, former Manchester City striker, Denis Law, a Scot, despite the house of Tudor's Elizabeth I having executed Mary, ‘Queen of Scots’, on February 8th, 1587, as her rival. As the Tudors inherited the throne, after ‘The War of the Roses’, Law’s enthronement symbolized unity in difference, as the club rejected neither Lancashire nor Yorkshire, or ‘the flower of Scotland’, which was an epithet of the Scots’ fallen, after the battle of Flodden field, September 9th, 1513, as the English army of Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, defeated the army of James IV of Scotland, Mary’s father, there.

 Before the First World War (1914-18) Manchester United were league title holders by virtue of finishing 1st in the First Division in 1908 and 1911, with the F.A. Cup won in 1909, 1-0, against Bristol City, at Crystal Palace, London, despite left back Vince Hayes being injured and having to leave the field, before returning as a makeshift forward, after manager, Ernest Mangnall, had adjusted the team so that the defence remained strong; Moger, Stacey, Hayes, Duckworth, Roberts, Bell, Meredith, Halse, S. Turnbull, J. Turnbull, Wall. Captain and center half, Charlie Roberts, endorsed the inclusion of inside left, Sandy Turnbull, although he was struggling with a knee injury. As Turnbull was a renowned goal scorer, Roberts argued with Mangnall that the side could afford to ‘carry’ him. Sandy duly rewarded the team by netting the ball on 22 minutes, after inside right Harold Halse’s shot had rebounded to him off Bristol ‘keeper Harry Clay’s crossbar.

 The peculiar ethos of forcing the injured off, or to continue, was a mind set that perhaps contributed to the outbreak of the First World War, and the Second World War (1939-45), as the fields of battle became a surrogate arena for those who could continue amidst the fallen, who were effectively carried off without the possibility of resumption. If soccer was conceived as a battle between two sides, it was hardly surprising if the mind set translated perfectly into injured and slain, that is, the period of play without substitutes was understandable as a psychosis.

 After the First World War, ambitions in terms of success suitably declined, as it was evident that avoiding injury was more important to professionals, who’d witnessed what it was to be maimed. WWI began because Serbia wouldn’t apologize in the right way, after ‘freedom fighter’, Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip, shot dead the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie, in Sarajevo, capital city of Austrian-occupied Bosnia, on June 28th, 1914. In psychological terms, there wasn’t a substitute for the injured. Austria-Hungary declared war, while Russia was determined to defend Serbia. Britain and France sided with Russia, while Germany, aiming at establishing a greater Empire, sided with Austro-Hungary. The mind set was that there was no substitute for war.

 Before and after WWII emphasis shifted towards fitness and resilience. How to maintain the ability to perform replaced emphasis upon performance, which rapidly deteriorated, if the resources available to the physique were mismanaged in the immediate pursuit of goals, and at levels of sustained endeavor ultimately unattainable in the course of a demanding season. In psychological terms, the lack of trophy success in the period between the wars was a consequence of professional footballers taking care more of themselves, and as a consequence playing ability came more to the fore in the fans’ consideration when making the financially significant decision of supporting the club by going to the ground to watch a game.

 As well as the First Division title, Manchester United won the Manchester Senior Cup in 1908, a feat repeated in 1910, and 1911, when the club again won the league, and once more before WWI in 1913, but after WWI ‘The Reds’ were ‘yo-yo', with periods in the Second Division, subsequent to relegation, which is where the club was for 1931-32, then bought by James W. Gibson, clothier, after the death in 1927 of previous owner, Davies, followed by periods in the First Division, which is where the club were at the commencement of hostilities against German territorial ambitions at the outset of WWII.

 Although the playing staff still won the Senior Cup on several occasions, that is, in 1920, 1924, 1926, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1939, the likely issue of unparalleled slaughter of youth in WWI was that young talent was nurtured to see what had been lost, which was a radical shift in emphasis away from competition and towards reverence for outstanding genius, attracting paying spectators through the turnstiles, regardless of the prize.

 After WWII new talent was again seen as integral to mounting a future challenge, with the appointment of former Manchester City wing half, Matt Busby, as manager in October 1945, replacing Walter Crickmer, appointed club Secretary in 1927, and managing the team during the seven year period of the War League. As one of the German bombers over industrial Trafford Park on March 11th, 1941, dropped a bomb that hit the stadium, the team had to use Manchester City’s Maine Road ground until Old Trafford was rebuilt by 1949, which is often cited as the inspiration for their winning the North Regional League Second Championship in 1941-42.

 On April 26th, 1941, Arthur Rowley, age 15, appeared on the wing against Liverpool at Anfield, alongside brother, center forward, Jack, who scored in a defeat, 1-2. Released, after just 7 games in 1944, Arthur became the highest scorer of league goals, 434 in 629 games, including 303 in 251 games for Second Division Leicester City, though Arthur’s goals got them promotion twice, 1953-54, 1956-57, and 152 in 236 games for Fourth Division Shrewsbury Town. Although Arthur seemed the young talent that got away, many of his goals weren’t in the top flight, which suggested that he wasn’t. Crickmer was responsible for instituting the club’s Youth Academy development program, along with owner Gibson, and Busby would become famous for the ‘Busby Babes’,  dominant in the early years of the F.A. Youth Cup, winning the first five (1952-57) and bringing that same quality to consecutive league championship triumphs in 1955-56 and 1956-57.

 While in Italy the introduction of the libero, ‘sweeper’, resulted in more protection for the continent of Europe’s young players, in England the half-back line, that is, left half, center-half, and right-half, would morph into twin center backs and a midfield, with the center back becoming a central midfield playmaker between wing half backs, who’d been inside left and inside right forwards, or two in midfield, with twin strikers and a left and right wing, which is how Manchester United won their next national trophy, the 1948 F.A. Cup Final, 4-2 against Blackpool.

 Allenby Chilton, on 15 minutes, brought down, right leg, hooking around his ankles, Blackpool center forward, Stan Mortensen, with a tackle from behind, ‘which endangers the safety of an opponent’, that would have got him sent off, in the period following its outlawing for the 1998 World Cup in France. Stan, through on goal, inside the 18 yard box, with only the ‘keeper, Jack Crompton, to beat, Blackpool were awarded a penalty, while Chilton wasn’t even booked, although yellow warning cards, red for a second offence, and sending off, weren’t introduced until the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Eddie Shimwell, right back, managed to squeeze the ball under Crompton, diving to his right, 0-1, on 15 minutes. Jack Rowley, nicking the ball away from ‘keeper Joe Robinson’s grasp, right boot, outstretched, past Joe, right, sidefoot, goal, on 20 minutes, 1-1, but Blackpool captain, and right half, Harry Johnston, from a free kick on the right, passes back and left; center field, an attempted shot, half charged down, still finds Mortensen, right edge of the penalty area, level with the right upright, right footed, on 35 minutes, into the left corner of the  net, 1-2. A cross from inside right, Johnny Morris, out on the right, on 70 minutes, level with the right corner of the 18 yard box, Jack leaps, left side of the penalty area, level with the left upright, a header, 2-2, top right corner of the net. Stan Pearson, inside left, right side of the penalty area, right footed, in off the left post, on 80 minutes, 3-2. From well outside the 18 yard box, right side of the ‘D’, John Anderson, right half, top left corner, on 82 minutes, 4-2.

 Width was important, as it represented an opportunity for left and right full backs, and wingers, to get off the field under physically intimidating challenge, while sustaining brutality off the pitch was likely to merit the referee’s booking, and sending off for persistent assault, the perpetrator of an attack, seen as criminally illegal, if continued beyond the touchline. As before WWII is conceivable in terms of a developing youth system, with the focus on entertainment, rather than trophy glory, the period after WWII is conceivable as Manchester United’s developing a strategy of left and right sided play to counter aggression and injury.

 Blackpool were beaten by a United side that had John Aston at left back, often called upon as a somewhat prolific center forward, 15 goals in 1950-51, Eire captain Johnny Carey at right back, an inside left before WWII, Scot, Jimmy Delaney on the right wing, credited with an ‘assist’ for Rowley’s second, and Charlie Mitten on the left wing. Widening the pitch afforded respite from biting tackles, as the players running off the turf beyond the touchline, after making a pass infield, crossing the ball, or putting it out of touch, were less likely to incur injury from vengeful opponents looking to deter the skillful from utilizing their know-how.

 The effects upon the public consciousness of the meaningless loss of life, during the war years, resulted in more concern for the playing staff, than success, in terms of silverware for the boardroom, reflected in the number of times the club finished runner-up in the league title race, before becoming champions in the 1951-52 season. Finishing second in 1947-48, 1948-49, and 1950-51, indicated the value of playing the game, well, for the club’s supporters, more than the rewards from competing, which became traditional with the coaches and the team.

 In the 1957 F.A. Cup Final, Aston Villa left wing, Peter McParland, who went on to score from a header inside the penalty area on 68 minutes, after inside left and captain Johnny Dixon’s center, 0-1, and on 73 minutes from the rebound, when Dixon’s shot hit the bar, 0-2, had collided with United’s England 'keeper, Ray Wood, after 6 minutes, leaving Ray unconscious, with a broken cheekbone, while Irish center half, Jackie Blanchflower, kept goal. Wood returned to play on the wing after half time, demonstrating the appalling need driving soccer in those days, when the eleven on the pitch risked life and limb in the absence of replacements. In the last seven minutes, Wood even returned in goal for the champions of that 1956-57 season, going for the ‘double’ of cup and league, as England center forward, Tommy Taylor, heading over Villa ‘keeper Nigel Sims, and into the net on 83 minutes, from a corner by England left half, though then switched to center half, Duncan Edwards, gave the side a lifeline, 1-2, which was how it stayed.

 WWI’s stately walks towards the German machine guns, which is how the supposedly English officer classes martialed the young boys, volunteering to defend France from the towns and villages of a green and pleasant land they didn’t own, as if they were still the lords of feudal serfdom, taught the professional football players at the club that comradery was of more value than conflict over prizes, masquerading as decency in competition, while the real truth was that the combatants were being prepared for injurious maimings, entertaining to the sadists that bred them, as the beasts of the fields of Flanders, Ypres, and Verdun, to be slaughtered there like pigs for Bacon, as by Elizabeth I plays were legally devoid of references to oik's expensiveness, 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; or close the wall up with our English dead.’ (Henry V, III, I,  l. 1-2) Between the wars, enjoyment surpassed victory in the companionship of play, as a human response to the baying for more blood that was evidently behind the refusal to allow anything but a stretcher on the field for the wounded.

 With European soccer looming like a specter, after WWII’s Jews from the plates of meat to the ovens of Belsen, Dachau, and Auschwitz, the spirit of battle and camaraderie were ambivalently mingled, as a game against a brutal Albion ranked less favorably to a match with a side of cultivated Hungarians, defeating at Wembley on November 25th, 1953, an English team that had never been beaten before at home, 3-6, by legendarily skillful and prolific, Real Madrid striker, Ferenc Puskás, and the ten other ‘mighty Magyar’ bereft of adequate medical concern.

 Aroused by the desire to compete for human pride and self-worth, with the like-minded, Manchester United, with a new Chairman from 1951, Harold Hardman, outside left for Manchester United, 1908-09, and England, after Gibson’s demise, prepared for Europe, where club competition began with the Challenge Cup (1897-1911), as a respected aspect of culture in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1914), won, 2-1, against Wiener Sport-Club, by Hungary’s Ferencváros in 1909, and succeeded by the Mitropa Cup (1927-92), as an international trophy, contested by clubs in the Middle European region, assuming nationhood, following upon the defeat of the German Empire and that of Austria-Hungary in WWI.

 Ferencváros, a Nemzeti Bajnokság I club from the capital, Budapest, beat Italy’s Juventus, 1-0, in the Final of the 1964-65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1955-71), organized with the approval of business interests, centered around Trade Fairs, held in Europe, giving clubs a Europe-wide trophy to compete for, along with UEFA’s European Cup Winners Cup (1960-99), and the European Champions’ Club Cup (1956-) for league title winners. Ferencváros, after defeating United in the 2nd leg of the semi-final away, 0-1, as ‘The Red Devils’, having won, 3-2 at home, before the ruling that away goals should count double, in the event of an aggregate draw, 3-3, forced a third match in which the Manchester outfit lost, 1-2, 4-5 on aggregate.

 English clubs, believing their own national competitions were more important, boycotted the formative years of European competition. Apart from Manchester United, as Hardman, and manager Busby, believed in the growth, and success of Europe, as peace through friendship. A philosophy later applied by the club to South America, where the national clubs competed for the Copa Librtadores (1960-), and the rest of the world, witnessing similar revolutions, although the winners of the Intercontinental Cup (1960-2004), contested between the champions of South America and Europe, before the inaugural World Club Cup (2000-), were tacitly understood to be world champions.

 Devastated by Munich, the players and coaching staff nevertheless persevered with Jimmy Murphy, assistant manager, not on the plane, but in charge of Wales for a World Cup match against Israel at Cardiff’s Ninian Park, 2-0, qualifying for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, which England had expected to win, but didn’t qualify for the knockout stage from Group 4, taking charge of team affairs until Busby had recovered from his own injuries to take the helm again for 1958-59. On a wave of national sympathy, an almost entirely home grown team, made up of Academy players, and reserve team members of the depleted squad, apart from Stan Crowther, reluctantly agreeing to leave Aston Villa for £18,000, as a humanitarian act, and inside right, Ernie Taylor, 32 years old from Blackpool for £6,000, reached the 1958 F.A. Cup Final, losing, 0-2, to center-forward inspired Bolton Wanderers. Bryan Edwards, left half, a low ball to captain, Nat Lofthouse, inside the penalty area, center, on 3 minutes, left footed, from just outside the 18 yard box, left, struck low into the bottom left corner of the net by Nat, past ‘keeper, Harry Gregg, with his right boot. On 50 minutes, Nat was awarded a second, unceremoniously dumping ‘keeper, Harry Gregg, onto his arse in his own goalmouth, illustrating the English tolerance for bullies, perpetrating attacks upon the unarmed, under the spurious guise of training a civil defence force; Gregg, Foulkes (c), Greaves, Goodwin, Cope, Crowther, Dawson, E. Taylor, Charlton, Viollet, Webster.

 Although the club finished 2nd in the league in 1958-59 on 55 points to Wolverhampton Wanderers 61, when 42 games were played, as there were 22 clubs, 2 points for a win, and 1 for a draw, then only champions entered the European Champions Cup, before the reduction of the English First Division to 19 clubs, renamed the Premier League for 1992-93, and runner-ups permitted to enter. Top scorers were Bobby Charlton, 29, Dennis Viollet, 21, left winger, Albert Scanlon, 16, and Warren Bradley, 12, an England amateur international, signed by Busby, after being loaned from Bishop Auckland in the wake of Munich.

 Transferred from Sheffield Wednesday for £45,000 from 1958-59, 'Golden Boy’, Albert Quixall, was the cornerstone of Busby’s rebuilding, credited by center forward, Charlton, with most of the ‘assists’ for his goals, after Matt converted him to the central striker’s role from the left wing. Scot, David Herd, was signed from Arsenal for £35,000 for 1961-62, as Bobby, dropped deeper into midfield, adjusted his shooting boots, and got used to his deep-lying center forward role.

 The Final of the 1963 F.A. Cup was won in 1963, with a mix of familiar and fresh faces, 3-1, against Leicester City, with Herd, 19 goals, and newly repatriated Scot, Law, 23 goals, after signing from Italy’s Torino, only just keeping the club from being relegated, finishing 19th; Gaskell, Dunne, Cantwell (c), Crerand, Foulkes, Setters, Giles, Quixall, Herd, Law, Charlton.

 United took the lead on 30 minutes, after a Charlton effort, saved comfortably by Gordon Banks, then bowling the ball towards Scots’ inside left, David Gibson. Scots' hard-tackling right half, Pat ‘Paddy’ Crerand, a £56,000 signing from Glasgow Celtic on February 6th, 1963, the 5th Munich anniversary, intercepts, 25 yards distant, lifting the ball past the outstretched leg of an onrushing defender, left of the ‘D’, running with the ball into the 18 yard box, passing to Law, right, outside of the right boot. Deceiving the defenders, Law feints, as if to accept the pass, instead allowing the ball to run on behind him, stops the ball with his left foot, spins right to left, on the penalty spot, striking the ball with his right foot, left corner of the net, 1-0.

 After 57 minutes, a cross field ball from Eire’s  right wing, Johnny Giles, bursting through on the right from inside his own half, and sold for £33,000 to Leeds for 1963-63, inexplicably to many, where he was ‘midfield general' in their European Cup Final defeat, 0-2, to Bayern in 1975, finding an unmarked Charlton, far left of the pitch, hurtling on into the left corner of the 18 yard box, on a ‘run and shoot’. Banks parries into the path of Herd, a tap in, 2-0.

 In the 85th minute, Banks coming for a Giles cross, floated from just outside the right corner of the 18 yard box, the jumping defender, trying to head the ball away, instead impeding Banks, attempting to catch the ball in the air, looking to put it under his arm in one sweeping movement, but fumbles, making it look as if he’s punched the ball down onto the ground, where Herd, one bounce, turns and strikes, right footed, low, 3-1, past defenders on the goal line.

 Victory qualified the side to contest the European Cup Winners Cup, reaching the quarter finals, beating Sporting CP of Portugal, Lisbon, 4-1, at Old Trafford, before losing astonishingly, 0-5, in the away leg, aggregate, 4-6. Northern Irish, George Best, irrepressibly dribbling everywhere, made his debut on September 14th, 1963, at home to West Bromwich Albion, 1-0, making 17 appearances for 4 goals that season, while Law, 30, and Herd, 20, scored enough to place the club 2nd to Liverpool at the finish, 57 to 53 points.

 Louis Edwards, a lifetime supporter, inheriting the family’s meat packaging and processing business, upon the passing of his father, Louis Snr, on February 13th, 1943, while he was a desert rat in Egypt, during WWII, joined the board after Munich, after becoming vice-Chairman in December, 1964, and Chairman, upon the passing of Harold Hardman, on June 9th, 1965, began to oversee the club’s re-emergence.

 Champions in 1964-65, the single substitute rule, from 1965-66, seemed to buoy United up. After finishing runner-up in the league that season, while reaching the semi-final of the European Cup, losing on aggregate, 1-2 to Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade, 0-2 away, and 1-0 at home, the squad won the title again in 1966-67, and finishing runner-up to Manchester City in the 1967-68 league championship, finally secured the European Cup in 1968, against Portugal’s Benfica, 1-1, a. e. t., 4-1, at London’s national Wembley Stadium.

 At half-time, 0-0, on 53 minutes of the second half, Academy graduate David Sadler, in the injured Law’s position, though he also played at center back, found Crerand, with a throw-in from the left touchline. Receiving the ball back from Crerand, right footed, passing the ball, forward, along the left wing, Sadler moving inside, left corner of the 18 yard box, right footed cross to Charlton, glancing header, directing the speed of the ball’s power, settling into the inside side netting near post, 1-0. José Augusto, winger, wide on the right, high ball, center forward José Torres’ header, over the heads of Academy alumni, Nobby Stiles and Sadler, center of the 18 yard box, right midfielder Jaime Graça, running in, powerful shot, right boot, right corner of the penalty area, left corner of the goal, 1-1.

 In extra time, 15 minutes each half, right footed punt by ‘keeper, Alex Stepney, signed from Chelsea for £55,000 for 1966-67, back header by Sadler inside Benfica’s half, halfway between center circle and ‘D’, Jacinto Santos, center back, aims to swing a kick at ball or George Best, second striker, on the outside of his right heel, flips the ball over Santos’ leg, races on into the 18 yard box, the ball on his right foot, cuts inside, around ‘keeper, José Henrique, who’s come out beyond the penalty spot, left footed, on 92 minutes, side footed, on the edge of the penalty area, level with the left upright, goal, center, 2-1.

 From a corner on the left, high, Sadler, right of the penalty spot, heads the ball towards the left corner of the net. Brian Kidd, without the ball bouncing, anticipating it doesn’t have enough pace, heads it towards goal, center. Henrique, as if he’s protecting his face, blocks with his hands, no bounce, on 94 minutes, Kidd moves right, leaps, heads in over Henrique, top right corner, 3-1.

 Kidd, center forward, most recent graduate of the Academy, right of the center circle, inside Benfica’s half, back to goal, finds Charlton, moving up, right of the center circle in the United half, crossing the halfway line, plays the ball back to Kidd, moving out to the right, takes the ball, along the right wing, pushes the ball forward, right footed, skips over the outstretched leg of left back, Fernando Cruz, cuts inside, right and center outside the 18 yard box, low, ball, driven along the ground, left footed. Charlton, on 99 minutes, right corner of the penalty area, gives lift to the ball, right footed, 4-1, top left corner of the net; Stepney, Brennan, Dunne, Crerand, Foulkes, Stiles, Best, Kidd, Charlton, Sadler, Aston.

  The substitute wasn’t then seen as strategic or tactical, but necessary in case of injury. United made only 4 substitutions in the 1965-66 league campaign, and 7 in 1966-67, most notably left wing John Aston Jnr (4), his father being at left back in the club’s 1948 F.A. Cup Final win. There were 10 in 1967-68, with tigrish defender and utility midfielder, John Fitzpatrick (3), figuring as a fresh pair of legs in an ageing squad, and 14 in the 1968-69 season, losing the Intercontinental Cup Final, held annually between the winners of the European Cup and South America’s Copa Libertadores, ‘the cup of the liberators’, to Estudiantes de La Plata of Argentina, 1-2 on aggregate, 0-1 away at Estadio Boca Juniors, Buenos Aires, as Estadio Uno, in the provincial capital, La Plata, was deemed unsuitable, and 1-1 at home, with winger, Juan Ramón Verón, La Bruja, ‘The Witch’, father of right midfielder, Juan Sebastián Verón, La Brujita, ‘The Little Witch’, winner of the 2002-03 title with United, heading a goal from a free kick by defender, Raúl Horacio Madero, past England ‘keeper, Stepney, on 6 minutes, 0-1, while the side also lost to Italy’s Serie A club, AC Milan, in the semi-final of the European Champions Cup, 1-2 on aggregate, 0-2 away at the San Siro Stadium, and 1-0 at home. With the club finishing 11th in the title race, Scot, Sir Matt Busby, knighted after the '68 triumph, decided to retire as manager, leaving the coaching staff of the future to select the twelve.

 Former F.A. Youth Cup winner, 1953-54, ’54-55, and ‘55-56, captain of the U-18s, and later reserve team coach, Wilf McGuinness, was appointed manager to succeed Busby for 1969-70. Wilf, a left wing-half, had been amongst those players who’d filled the gaps after the February 6th, 1958, Munich air crash, when reserve full back, Geoff Bent, England captain, and left back, Roger Byrne, right wing-half, midfielder Eddie Colman, left half, Duncan Edwards, who died 15 days later, center half, Mark Jones, left winger, David Pegg, center forward, Tommy Taylor, and Irish inside forward, Liam Whelan, all lost their lives, returning from what was then Yugoslavia, after a 3-3 draw, with Serbia's Red Star Belgrade, which meant the club reached the semi-final of the European Cup that term, while right winger, Johnny Berry, and Northern Irish inside forward, Jackie Blanchflower, never played again, because of their injuries.

 Wilf, thought to have the ‘right stuff’, acted quickly to strengthen an ageing defence, bringing center half, Ian Ure, from Arsenal for £80,000, although keeping legendary Scots' goal scorer, Denis Law, on the bench, for successive draws, on March 14th, 1970, 0-0, at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough ground, and March 23rd, 1970, 0-0, a.e.t., at Villa Park, with Leeds United, before losing the second F.A. Cup semi-final replay, 0-1, on March 26th, 1970, at Bolton Wanderers’ Burnden Park, in season 1969-70, together with League Cup semi-final defeats on aggregate, 3-4, to Manchester City, 1-2 away at Maine Road, on December 3rd, 1969, and 2-2 at home, on December 17th, 1969, and against Aston Villa in 1970-71, 1-1 at home, on December 16th, 1970, and 1-2 away, on December 23rd, 1970, at Villa Park.

 Wilf did use Eire's Don Givens as a striking substitute, and Don would later top score with 13 for Queens Park Rangers, runner-up in the 1975-76 league title race. In 1969-70, Givens made 4 starts for McGuinness and 4 appearances for 1 goal, out of a total of 17 substitutions made that term, while striker, Alan Gowling, who'd later top score for First Division Newcastle with 30 goals in 1975-76, made 17 starts for Wilf and 3 further appearances from the subs’ bench for 8 goals out of a total of 16 substitutions overall during 1970-71’s league campaign.

 Although Sir Matt agreed to resume as manager from December 29th, 1970, until season’s end, Givens being allowed by Wilf to leave for the 1970-71 term at Luton Town, where he forged a successful strike partnership with Malcolm Macdonald, 11 goals to ‘Super Mac’s’ 24, before top scoring in QPR’s 1975-76 runner-up season in the First Division, 13 goals, playing alongside Stan Bowles, both 19 goals in 1976-77, left fans with almost permanently raised eyebrows.

 Gowling’s own successful combining with Malcolm Macdonald at Newcastle United, after going there from Huddersfield Town for £70,000, where he’d signed from Old Trafford for 1972-73 for £65,000, 17 goals, though relegated from Division Two, resulted in his top scoring at St James’ Park, with 32 goals in 1974-75. If the club let Givens and Gowling go, fans might be excused for observing, they didn’t bring players like Bowles and Macdonald in, which didn’t sit well with paying spectators, who then, still, had to stand.

 Impressions can be false, and Denis Law’s replacement in the McGuinness side, midfielder Carlo Sartori, born Caderzone municipality, Trentino province, Italy, whose post-war émigré family, moving in 1948 to the Italian ghetto in the Ancoats area, before opening a knife-sharpening business in the Colleyhurst area, didn’t last, and neither did Wilf. With 13 starts, and 4 appearances for 2 goals in 1969-70, and 2 starts, and 5 appearances, for 2 goals in 1970-71, while Denis made 10 starts, and 1 appearance, for 1 goal in 1969-70, largely due to a knee injury, and 28 starts for 15 goals in 1970-71, 8 of those after ‘the night of the long knives’ and Busby’s return, including a hat-trick (3) at Crystal Palace, 5-3, on April 17th, 1971, selecting inside forward Sartori ahead of a fit Law, who was outrageously transfer listed without offers in April 1970 at £60,000, was a mistake.

 Irish Leicester City manager, Frank O’ Farrell, took over for 1971-72, finally buying left wing, Ian Storey-Moore from Nottingham Forest in March 1972 for £200,000, 11 starts for 5 goals, to bolster a coaching and playing staff that was essentially failing to support home grown talent. Despite some astute usage of substitutes. Out of Frank’s 24 substitutions, 17 years Northern Irish striker, Sammy McIlroy, ‘the last of the Busby Babes’, as he was Matt’s last signing, would play for ten years at ‘the theater of Dreams’, making 8 starts, and 8 substitute appearances, for 4 goals in 1971-72. Including the first on 39 minutes, on his November 6th, 1971, full debut at Manchester City, 3-3, after Best, with his back to goal, in the 18 yard box, trapping the loose ball, from a cross on the right, leaving it for McIlroy, running on, to strike it, left footed, inside the right upright, 1-0. Injections of youth from the bench, however, masked the fact that the squad was old and stale.

 Top of the table at Christmas 1971, injury to 21 years center back, Steve James, was followed by seven consecutive defeats. The club finished 8th, despite the mercurial maverick brilliance of Northern Irish striker Best’s 18 goals, Law’s 13, and Kidd’s 10. United barely escaped relegation in 1972-73, finishing 18th, and O’ Farrell, dismissed on December 19th, 1972, after a defeat, 0-5, away at Crystal Palace, leaving the club 21st out of 22, was replaced from December 22nd, 1972, by Scotland team manager, Scot, Tommy Docherty.

 In search of a good permutation, the substitute option was used 27 times, with McIlroy (6) most called upon. Nevertheless, deep-lying center forward, Bobby Charlton, 1966 World Cup Winner with England against Germany, 4-2, at Wembley, and in his retirement season, was top scorer in the league, with only 6, and the following 1973-74 campaign saw United relegated to Division Two, after finishing 21st of the 22 First Division clubs, with McIlroy top scoring, with 6, and United’s ability to appropriately deploy resources, called seriously into question. Again Mcilroy (5) was the most used substitute, although he also made 24 starts, and the concept of the ‘supersub’, as the striker called upon to get the needed goals in the last 20 minutes, clearly hadn’t penetrated the consciousness, inside the thick skulls of the coaching staff; reserve striker Paul Fletcher, transferred to Hull City, in part exchange to the club at Boothferry Park for center forward, Stuart Pearson, for the 1974-75 term, called on only 3 times.

 Pearson got 17 league goals, as United returned to the First Division for the 1975-76 campaign, Second Division champions, and the fact that former Welsh Southampton striker, Ron Davies, 37 goals in 1966-67, and used 8 times, out of 33 substitutions made by Docherty, suggested that the idea of a goal getter as sub was beginning to register on atrophied soccer imaginations as usable. However, received wisdom was the utility player, and defensive midfielder, David McCreery, making 12 starts, out of the 27 substitutions made that term, was utilized 16 times, and the following season, McCreery again, 9 starts and 16 appearances, out of 31 substitutions made, was preferred to a recognizable goal poacher.

 David, a Northern Ireland international, came on as substitute for Gordon Hill, in both the losing F.A. Cup Final of 1976, which United lost to Southampton, 0-1, and the winning F.A. Cup Final of 1977, 2-1, against Liverpool. Gordon was a left winger, 7 league goals in 1975-76, who top scored for the team in successive seasons, 1976-77 (15), tying with Pearson, and 1977-78 (17), after Queens Park Rangers’ manager, Dave Sexton, replaced Tommy, who despite guiding the club out of the Second Division, overseeing relegation, and coaching the side to successive F.A. Cup Finals, was unable to bring the then coveted First Division title to Old Trafford, which led to the appointment of Dave.

 Northern Irish, Chris McGrath, right winger, bought from Tottenham Hotspur by Docherty for £30,000 in October 1976, 9 starts, and 9 substitute appearances in 1977-78, was the most used sub in the season’s total of 21, illustrating Sexton’s supposedly more forward thinking, while McCreery, 13 starts and 4 appearances, remained a valuable squad member, because he could fill in at full back, as well as in midfield.

 Sexton sold Gordon to Derby County for the 1978-79 season for £250,000, preferring to buy the industrious talents of left sided Welsh midfielder, Mickey Thomas, from Wrexham for £300,000. For Northern Ireland, David was regularly detailed to man mark whoever represented the main danger to the nation's progress in European and World competition. Most notably, before the Group 4, World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park, Belfast, on October 12th, 1977, when 'Dee' was instructed by manager, Danny Blanchflower, brother of United’s Jackie, to stay close to the Netherlands' center forward, Johann Cruyff, although the Northern Irish team lost, 0-1.

 Cruyff won three European Cups at center forward with Eredivisie Ajax of Amsterdam in 1971, 2-0 against Greece's Alpha Ethniki club Panathinaikos, at Wembley, London; 1972, 2-0 against Italian Serie A club Internazionale of Milan, with Johann scoring twice, on 47 minutes, side foot, after a cross from right back, Wim Suurbier, on the right wing, over colliding Nerazzurri 'keeper, Ivano Bordon, and sweeper, Tarcisio Burgnich, fell to him, and on 78 minutes, a header past Bordon, stranded on his goal line, from left wing Piet Keizer's free kick, despite Tarcisio and left back, Giacinto Facchetti, tight marking, at De Kuip, Rotterdam, Holland; and 1973, 1-0 against Juventus, at Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia. Captaining the Dutch side that narrowly lost to Germany, 1-2, in the Final of the 1974 World Cup, held in Germany, Johann Cruyff was widely regarded as the best creative striker-playmaker in the world at that time.

 Substitutions were permitted for injured players only from 1965-66, but when it became apparent that players were feigning injury for the manager to make tactical changes, from 1967-68 a single substitute was possible, at any stage of the game, and for any reason, which was where United found themselves with Hill and McCreery, who invariably came on, after Hill had scored the goals that made the team successful, to shore up the defence, against opposing sides, looking to reduce the deficit.

 Relegation in 1973-74 was a sign that the coaching staff at the club hadn't got to grips with the possibilities afforded the team from tactical substitutions. After the 1968 European Cup Final triumph, against Portugal's Benfica, the club's ineptitude, when it came to the use of a ‘game-changer’, was palpable, and painful to watch. Law, 'The King', was a goal scoring machine to the terraced ranks of the Stretford End, who'd watched in bleak horror as McGuinness kept Law on the substitutes' bench for the 1970 F.A. Cup semi-final, until the team finally lost that second replay, 0-1, after successive 0-0 draws.

 The number of substitutes allowed increased to two in 1994-95, apart from a goalkeeper, who was also permitted, and from 1995-96 three from seven substitutes on the bench were permissible, which afforded Scot, Alex Ferguson, appointed manager of United in November 1986, replacing two times F.A. Cup winner, but titleless Ron Atkinson, 1983 and 1985, an opportunity his tactical genius seized upon as a gift of God. Atkinson had replaced Sexton, who lacking a second striker of Hill’s caliber, failed to win the league, or the F.A. Cup Final of 1978-79, 2-3, against Arsenal, while Eire's Ashley Grimes, left sided midfield utility player, 5 starts and 11 appearances out of the 24 substitutions made, took on the mantle of 'regular sub' at United, vacated by McCreery, transferred by Sexton to QPR for 1979-80 for £200,000.

 It was probably Sexton’s preferring to spend £350,000 on Leeds United’s ‘target man', Joe Jordan, who’d head the ball down, or hold the ball up, for striker, Jimmy Greenhoff, bought by Docherty in November 1976 from Stoke City for £120,000, that was his downfall. Joe got 13 for Sexton in 1979-80, his second highest, and 15, his highest ever, in 1980-81, but it was so labored a strike rate Atkinson sold him to AC Milan for £300,000 for 1981-82, while Grimes, 20 starts and 6 appearances, out of the 19 substitutions made in 1979-80, suggested United’s focus was awry.

 Andy Ritchie, second top scorer, with 10, in 1978-79, from 16 starts and 1 appearance, made 3 starts and 5 appearances for 3 goals in 1979-80, while Sexton, who'd preferred Grimes' utility play to Andy’s goal potential, made right back, Mike Duxbury, his most used substitute, 6 and 27 starts, with Ritchie, making 3 starts and 1 appearance for 0 goals out of 19 substitutions made in 1980-81, indicative of the need for a forward on the bench who could be deployed to effect a surgical strike if necessary.

 Upon the passing of his father Louis, on February 25th, 1980, Martin Edwards became Chairman, and CEO on January 5th, 1982. Although United finished runner-up in the league to Liverpool in 1979-80, 58 points to 60, the writing was on the wall for Sexton, long before the defeat to Leeds, 0-2 at Elland Road on May 3rd, 1980, last game of the season, as the side lost 0-6 away at Ipswich Town on March 1st. While Dave bought from Nottingham for £1m, Gary Birtles, 14 league goals at the City ground in season 1978-79, center forward in Forest’s defeat of Swedish club, Malmo, 1-0, in the 1979 European Cup Final, Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany, and 12 league goals in season 1979-80, with German club Hamburg SV beaten in the 1980 Final, 1-0, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain, 25 starts for United without a goal in 1980-81 only added emphasis to the issue. Joe Jordan’s exit to Milan heralded the arrival from Arsenal of center forward, Frank Stapleton, good in the air, and balletic on his turf, who netted 13 goals in 1981-82, while Birtles got 11.

 Sexton, replaced by Chairman Edwards for 1981-82 with flamboyant West Bromwich Albion manager, Ron Atkinson, lampooned as a ‘Big Time Charlie’, he lasted only so long as he recognized the preciousness of his young striker, Wales’ Mark Hughes, top scorer, age 20 in 1984-85, 16 goals, and 1985-86, 17 goals, but sold insanely to Spain’s FC Barcelona for £2m, before replacement for ‘Big Ron’, Ferguson, bought him back for 1987-88.

 Ron bought Stapleton for £950,000, while 10 starts for 2 goals and the most used substitute, with 6 appearances from a total of 19 substitutions made that term, suggested Ron’s use of 19 years Scots’ center forward, Scott McGarvey, meant he was becoming tactically awakened. An unused # 12 for Atkinson in the F.A. Cup Final of 1983 against Brighton, 2-2, a.e.t., and the replay, 4-0, Ashley Grimes was sold to Coventry City for the 1983-84 season for £200,000, but his role indicated the continued importance of the utility player, as either a bolster for the defence, or as an impetus to the attack. It was Grimes, after coming on for Luton Town, who crossed left footed from the far right near the goal line for right wing, Danny Wilson, to slide the ball in ahead of a challenge from Arsenal right back, Nigel Winterburn, 3-2, in the dying seconds of the 1988 League Cup Final.

 Before the advent of destroyer-creator Bryan Robson, it was West Brom's central defensive midfielder, Remi Moses, who first went to Old Trafford for £500,000, and rapidly became the club’s indispensable utility player, wearing the number eleven shirt in the enforced absence of Laurie Cunningham, arriving crocked, on loan from Real Madrid as a left winger in 1982-83, although Remi's injuries, which meant his missing the 1983 F.A. Cup Final, and suspensions, causing his absence from the 1985 F.A. Cup Final, though contributing to Whiteside’s successful conversion to midfield from his striker’s role, after Ray Wilkins’ departure to Milan, Remi’d had his chance.

 Steve Coppell, right wing since Docherty bought him from Third Division Tranmere Rovers, relegated that season, for £60,000 in February 1974-75, to replace captain Willie Morgan, right wing since his departing Burnley for £117,000 for the 1968-69 term, after 1968’s European Cup Final winger John Aston’s Jnr’s leg was broken, was crocked by a brutal challenge from Hungary’s left back, József Tóth, at Wembley on November 18th, 1981, in a Group 4, 1982 World Cup qualifier. Injury plagued before the 1983 F.A. Cup Final, Coppell was replaced by Welsh winger, Alan Davies, for the sake of the balance of the team.

 In central midfield Remi also filled the gaps left on the wings, as Grimes and McCreery had before him, until the arrival of Denmark’s Jesper Olsen, Ajax left wing, for £350,000, after persevering with Scot, Arthur Graham, the previous 1983-84 season, £45,000 from relegated to Division Two, Leeds United, and right wing, Scot, Gordon Strachan, £500,000 for 1984-85 from Scotland’s Aberdeen, where Alex Ferguson was still boss.

 As a twelfth man Grimes provided cover for half the team. A left sided midfielder, who could also fill in as a left winger or left back, or an inverted right winger, that is, as a left footed inside right, which became de rigeur in the early 21st century, largely due to Dutch national team manager, following the Netherlands’ third position overall in the 2014 World Cup, Louis van Gaal, replacement for David Moyes, sacked on April 22nd, 2014. David’d arrived from Everton to take over for 2013-14 upon Ferguson’s retirement at the end of 2012-13, another championship winning season, duly making Guillermo Varela, Uruguayan right back, £1m from Peñarol, his first signing, as Alex had been finalizing the deal, but defeat to Sunderland in the two leg home and away format of the League Cup semi-final, 1-2 on penalties, in front of an incredulous Stretford End, after the game ended, 2-1 to ‘The Reds’, but 3-3 on aggregate, as the side had lost, 1-2, to ‘The Black Cats' at the Stadium of Light, meant that the brown-nosing days of Moyes, whose qualifications for the job seemed to have been keeping Everton out of the relegation zone, were numbered.

 Moyes was dismissed after the side lost, 1-3 away to German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, on April 9th, 2014, having drawn, 1-1, on April 1st at Old Trafford, 2-4 on aggregate, in the quarter final of the European Champions League, and with the club in 7th position in the league, after defeat, 0-2, to ‘The Toffees’ of Everton at Goodison Park on April 20th, 2014. Appointed for 2014-15, with player coach, Ryan Giggs, caretaker manager for four games at 2013-14 season’s end, van Gaal, manager of the Dutch team to third place at the 2014 World Cup, experimented at United with a three man half-back line, after the fashion of the pre-WWI side with Charlie Roberts at left half, Dick Duckworth at center half, and Scot, Alex Bell at right half, and wing backs in support of the strikers, that is, stronger, with five at the back, and narrower, with three, including a single central striker, alongside left and right inverted wingers, as inside forwards, at the front.

 It was Ron Atkinson’s wheeling and dealing in the transfer market that contributed to his downfall. Inheriting Ray Wilkins, the Chelsea playmaker from Sexton, who’d brought him for £825,000 for 1979-80, having repaid some of the faith in his vision, and ball distributing skills, right, and well outside the 18 yard box, turning inside to curl a shot left footed into the top right corner of the net to put the side ahead in the first 1983 F.A. Cup Final, 2-1, Atkinson with a haste indecent, the club being then the proud owner of England’s midfield, as they had Robson too, sold Ray to AC Milan for £1.5m for the 1984-85 season, after the team, losing narrowly to Italian Serie A club Juventus of Turin in the semi-final of the 1983-84 European Cup Winners Cup, 2-3, attracted the Milan giants to Ray’s ability.

 In the quarter final the side had lost, 0-2 to Barca at the Nou Camp, but went through, on aggregate, 3-2, after winning the return leg at Old Trafford, 3-0. Ron thought he couldn’t refuse to sell Ray, while Juvé, after Robson’s two goals against Barca, the first a diving header at the far post on 21 minutes, after a corner on the left into the penalty area, center, back-headed by Scots’ center back, Graeme Hogg, and the second squeezed in by the right post after ‘keeper, Javier ‘Urruti’ Urruticoechea, spilled a low driven shot from Ray, right, outside the penalty area, made a similar offer for Bryan, but Atkinson, correctly feeling that the fans wouldn’t lightly tolerate the complete loss of England’s footballing heart, decided he could refuse that.

 Doubtless the utility player also had a positive influence on team organization too. United were able to recover from the loss of center back, Kevin Moran, sent off on 78 minutes, bringing down England midfielder, Peter Reid, when he was clear through with a chance to strike for goal, to win the 1985 F.A. Cup Final against Everton, 1-0, a.e.t., through converted striker in center midfield, Norman Whiteside, cutting in from the right on 110 minutes to curl a ball in left footed from the right corner of the 18 yard box, around Welsh left back, Pat van den Hauwe, and inside Welsh ‘keeper Neville Southall’s far left post.

 Atkinson’s self-blighted reign was terminated on November 6th, 1986, with the appointment of Ferguson, winner of the European Cup Winners Cup with Aberdeen in 1983, 2-1 against Real Madrid, a.e.t., 1-1, and the only Scots’ manager to seriously threaten the hegemony of ‘the Old Firm', Rangers and Celtic, winning the Scots’ Premier League in 1979-80, 1883-84 and 1984-85. Atkinson’s squad had still led the league table on January 18th, 1986, after opening the 1985-86 campaign with 10 straight wins, but they lost at home to Nottingham Forest, 2-3, and slipped to fourth place by season’s end, 12 points behind champions, Liverpool.

 Together with Ron’s decision to offload Hughes to Barcelona for £2m the auguries didn’t favor his continuing. The club lost the first three games of the season to London clubs, failing to score in the away fixture at Arsenal, Highbury, 0-1, before losing, 2-3, at home to West Ham, and failing to score again at home to Charlton Athletic, 0-1. The writing was on the wall, mene tekel upharsin, with the club in 21st position in the league on November 15th, in real danger of relegation, although finishing 11th by season’s end. Peter Davenport, signed as Hughes’ replacement in March 1986 for £750,000 from Nottingham Forest, netted 4, and a penalty, before Ferguson’s advent, reaching 14, 5 penalties, overall, which didn’t leave spectators sanguine about the team’s future success on their way out.

 Needing a goal scorer, Ferguson turned to Celtic’s Brian McClair, arriving for £850,000, and netting 24 before the close of the 1987-88 term. Strengthening the defence cost £900,000, paid for the services of Norwich City center back, Steve Bruce, while the club finished runner-up to Liverpool, although they led the table only on August 31st, 1987, after defeating Chelsea, 3-1, at home. In the close season Alex secured the return of Hughes from Barcelona for £1.8m and the fans hearts. Defeated in the Final of the F.A. Centenary Trophy on October 9th, 1988, 1-2 to Arsenal, the team lost 13 of their 38 league games in 1988-89, finishing 11th, which effectively put Ferguson’s job on the line for 1989-90.

 Dismal in the league, the club were 16th placed on May 2nd, 1990, after the season’s penultimate game, 0-4 at the City ground, Nottingham, although Alex’s canny use of striker, Robins, as a substitute, 10 starts and 7 appearances for 7 goals in the league, steered the side to the F.A. Cup Final. After a draw, 3-3, in the semi-final against Oldham, it was Robins, 100th minute ‘supersub’ for left back, Lee Martin, that got the semi-final replay winner in the 114th minute of extra time, after a long ball forward from Hughes, deep in his own right half, for right midfielder, Mike Phelan, £750,000 from Norwich at the beginning of 1989-90, to chase, outpacing left winger, Rick Holden, with center half, Earl Barrett, coming across to close him down. A few yards in front of the 18 yard box, right, Phelan passes the ball, low, along the grass, right footed to Robins, ahead of the right side of the ‘D’, inside the box, Barrett chasing, ball swept inside the left post, low, past ‘keeper, Jon Hallworth, as Irwin comes across too late to block it, 2-1. However, for many neutral observers it was Robins 56th minute goal as a starter on January 7th, 1990, against Forest in the 3rd Round, 1-0, with the club 15th in the table, that saved Alex from being sacked. Hughes, accepting a pass infield, well outside the 18 yard box, left, from left back, Martin, who’d dispossessed Icelandic midfielder, Þorvaldur ‘Toddy' Örlygsson, at the left touchline, curled an outswinging ball, with the outside of his right boot, finding Robins, running in to head the ball, on the bounce, down and inside the left post, past ‘keeper Steve Sutton.

 Ferguson demonstrated his tactical savvy in winning the 1990 F.A Cup, 1-0, in the Final against Crystal Palace, with a goal on 59 minutes from left back, Martin, accepting to his feet a long ball, left of the penalty area, from Neil Webb, center midfield, Lee struck right footed, high into the net, past ‘keeper Nigel Martyn, in a replay after a draw, 3-3, with reserve 'keeper, Les Sealey, on loan from Luton Town, replacing Scot, Jim Leighton, brought from Ferguson’s former club, Aberdeen, for £750,000, having a nightmare encounter.

 In two minds, as to whether to go and deal with a high ball, or remain on his goal line, from a direct inswinging free kick on the right from Palace right midfielder, Phil Barber, a header on 18 minutes from center back, Gary O’ Reilly, looped the ball over Jim’s head, and into the net, 0-1. England’s ‘Captain Marvel’, brought from WBA by Atkinson for £1.5m for the 1981-82 season, looking for his third F.A. Cup winners’ medal, headed goalwards a floated cross to the back post, after McClair’s run down the right wing, deflecting into the net on 35 minutes, off right back John Pemberton’s shin, low, and inside the post, 1-1, before Hughes’ clever angling of a ball, bouncing to him, outside and left of the penalty area, after Webb got his right boot onto an attempted clearance by center back, Andy Thorn, on 62 minutes, angling the ball into Hughes’ path, who volleyed, left footed, into the top right corner of the net, 2-1. However, Palace center forward, Ian Wright, on as a 69th minute substitute for Barber, controlling the ball with his left foot, turned inside United’s right midfielder, Neil Webb, inside the 18 yard box, left, on 72 minutes, drilling a low, right footed shot, Leighton somehow allowed under him, and inside the post, far right, 2-2.

 In the 92nd minute of extra time, seemingly watching, instead of catching, a right footed cross from John Salako, turning inside right back, Phelan, out on the left wing, the ball went over Jim's head to Wright, who ran in to strike the ball with the inside of his right boot, leg outstretched, high into the roof of the net, at the far post, 2-3. Ferguson used both his substitutes late on, Welsh left back/winger, Clayton Blackmore, coming on for left back, Martin, on 88 minutes, before Wright’s second goal in extra time, and Robins, coming on in the Final replay for center back, Gary Pallister, on 93 minutes, designed to increase the pressure on Palace's defence. Left winger, Danny Wallace, center midfield, duly obliged, setting Hughes to chase a through ball he latched onto in the 113th minute, at the right of the ‘D’, on the edge of the 18 yard box, Mark calmly angling the ball low, past outrushing ‘keeper Martyn, into the bottom left corner of the net, 3-3.

 Victory in the F.A. Cup of 1990 was followed by victory in the 1991 European Cup Winners Cup Final, 2-1, against Spanish giants FC Barcelona, with a goal from Hughes, after a free kick, left footed from Robson, center of the Barca half, found Bruce’s head, outside the penalty area, right, whose header down, towards the left upright, was struck home on 67 minutes, left footed, inside the post by Mark, 1-0. His second came on 74 minutes after, rounding ‘keeper, Carles Busquets, right, at the edge of the 18 yard box, Mark drove the ball into the left corner of the net from an acute angle, 2-0, with Dutch defensive midfielder, Ronald Koeman, driving a long-range, low free kick, around the United wall, right, that Sealey could only push onto the left post and in, as a late consolation for Barca, at Stadion Feijenoord, Rotterdam, Holland.

 Of the 60 substitutions in the league that 1990-91 season, 12 were Mark Robins, who also made 7 starts for 4 goals, as supersub made good, while left wing Wallace, 13 starts and 6 appearances for 3 goals, was the other much-used striking substitute, although Ferguson’s use of left backs, Martin, 7 starts and 7 appearances, and from Luton Town for £650,000 for 1988-89, Mal Donaghy, 17 starts and 8 appearances, was an indication that the psychology of competing for places in the team was a well-honed aspect of the manager’s thinking, as Clayton Blackmore, left back in the 1991 European Cup Winners Cup Final, started 35 games for 4 goals, either at full back, or as a midfielder, while Lee Sharpe, 20 starts and 3 appearances for 2 goals, left winger in the 1991 League Cup Final, lost 0-1 to Sheffield Wednesday, was on his way to Alex's converting him to left back, before his transfer to Leeds United for £4.5m for the 1996-97 campaign.

 The club, floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, permitted the possibility of private investors wresting control from ‘the butchers of Manchester’, as Edwards’ family were contumaciously known by fans. Unhappy with the limited funds available to lure the signatures of fresh talent away from other clubs. Investors in new 'plates of meat' wouldn't have been added to the board, if the white of the snow hadn't been tinged with the red of the life's blood of the team at Munich. Contributing to a picture of the dynasty as profiting from a giant amputee in need of transfusions, withheld deliberately in the name of a youth policy with a vampire's thirst for the blood of fresh virgins ameliorated by rumors only of an expensive influx of replacement parts.

 The 1991-92 season began with triumph at Old Trafford in the Final of the European Super Cup, 1-0, played as a single game, because of the division through internecine war of the Yugoslavia ‘superstate’ into ethnically homogeneous cuts, with Martin at left back and Blackmore on the left wing against Red Star Belgrade, and a goal on 67 minutes from McClair, after Webb hit the right post from inside the ‘D’ center, and the ball rebounded left to where Brian struck the ball, right footed, inside ‘keeper Zvonko Milojević’s  left upright. The match was noteworthy for the appearance of Ryan Giggs, substituting for Martin on 71 minutes, as the first senior winners medal for the legendary Welsh left wing, age 17, while Blackmore, switching to left back, would discover his chances of selection lessened with the signing of right back, Paul Parker, for 1991-92 for £2m from QPR, as Denis Irwin would then make the transition from right to left back

The team led the way, until three consecutive defeats, on April 22nd, 1-2 at home to Forest, on April 26th, 0-1 at West Ham, and on April 29th, 1992, 0-2 to Liverpool in the penultimate game at Anfield, handed the title to Leeds, although the club won their first League Cup ever in the 1992 Final, 1-0, against Forest, after a long ball from center back, Gary Pallister, £2.3m from Middlesboro for 1989-90, found McClair with his back to goal, who passed to his right. Giggs, inside left position, taking the ball forward, returning the pass inside to Brian, center, on 14 minutes, left footed, between two Forest defenders closing in, shooting low, past outrushing Welsh ‘keeper, Andy Marriott, into the bottom right corner of the net.

 Andrei Kanchelskis, Ukrainian right winger, transferred from Borussia Dortmund in March 1991 for £650,000, was the fast, tricky winger the right side had needed, making 28 starts and 6 appearances for 5 goals, and midfielder Blackmore, chances of selection already slim, found a new niche only briefly as right back in place of injured Parker, although of 57 substitutions, Clayton’s being the highest number at 14, together with 19 starts for 3 goals, confirmed him as the squad’s exceptional utility player.

 After losing the last fought for First Division title to Leeds in 1991-92, the club won the inaugural Premier League, as compensation for the fans, with French striker, le god, Eric Cantona, 9 goals, and 21 starts, after his introduction as a substitute on December 6th, 1992, in a home defeat of Manchester City, 2-1, brought from Leeds for £1m on November 26th, 1992, adding style and finesse to the championship run in. The club's first title success, since the First Division of 1966-67, revamped as the Premier League for 1992-93, after a gap of twenty-six years, witnessing what Alex did with 13 players to choose from, and permutate on match days, was going to be mouth watering.

 With two substitutes, as well as a 'keeper, available from 1993-94, whereas one substitute and a ‘keeper had been the less effective rule since 1987-88, a soccer manager could dispense with utility players, and become more specialized in terms of substitute selection. Only Mark Hughes made it into double figures in 1992-93, with a goal tally of 15, which was the sign of a very mean defence, conceding just 31 goals, leaving the side with a goal difference of +36, with McClair and Giggs also contributing 9 each, clear of Aston Villa by 10 points at season’s end.

 Out of 41 substitutions made, 13 from Kanchelskis was easily the highest, and his 14 starts for 3 goals indicative of his role as a shock tactic to be inserted in the face of full back complacency, as focus shifted more towards tactics and strategic alterations in the mode of play to accommodate what the coaches could see happening on the field during the match. Forethought was required in order to plan for eventuality, though it was logical to keep in reserve a strong defensive component, as well as a powerful attacking option, while bearing in mind that opposing team's alterations on the field had to be met with what was available on the bench, if the starting eleven lacked sufficient effectiveness.

 The team secured the club’s first league and F.A. Cup double in 1993-94, and it would have been the domestic treble, if the side hadn’t lost the League Cup Final, 1-3 to Villa. Relentlessly energetic, and enthusiastic midfield ball winner, and finisher, Roy Keane, was transferred from Forest for £3.75m to replace the ageing ‘Captain Marvel’, Robson, alongside the volatile explosiveness of Paul Ince, bought for the 1990-91 campaign for £1m from West Ham, and Cantona top scored with 18 goals, while Giggs, weighing in with 13, and Hughes 12, were enough. Out of 46 substitutions made, McClair’s tally of 14 was the highest, together with 12 starts, suggesting Ferguson had chosen him as the utility player for the midfield to striker’s role ahead of Blackmore, released to join player-manager at Ayresome Park, Middlesboro, Bryan Robson, gaining promotion as Second Division champions from Teesside in 1994-95, while Sharpe, in the advent of wonder-kid, Welsh wizard Giggs, would provide sufficient cover for the left flank.

 Chelsea, beaten in the 1994 F.A. Cup Final, 4-0, were 0-2 after two penalties, both side footed, right footed, driven low, right of Russian ‘keeper, Dmitri Kharine, going the wrong way, with first Irwin brought down, left of the 18 yard box, upended recklessly on 64 minutes by defensive midfielder, Eddie Newton, then Kanchelskis, through on goal, right of the 18 yard box, level with the right edge of the penalty area, knocked down, unceremoniously on 67 minutes by left back, Frank Sinclair, and the contest was virtually over two minutes later, Sinclair attempting to collect an innocuous ball, with Hughes in attendance, succeeding only in playing the ball into the path of the striker, coolly running on to place a low shot, right footed, into the left corner of the net, 3-0. It was academic when, after Cantona, wide on the right, right footed, passed infield to where Hughes' right boot sent a ball, right, upfield for Ince to chase. Rounding the onrushing ‘keeper, left, at the edge of the 18 yard box, with only Scots’ right back, Steve Clarke, then standing in his way, Ince selflessly passed the ball inside, right, to McClair, substitute on 90+3 minutes for Kanchelskis, for an easier strike, left footed, center, open goal, 4-0.

 Great things were expected in 1994-95 but Hughes was allowed to leave, after netting only 8 league goals, as the team finished runner-up by a single point to Blackburn Rovers, 89, after a draw, 1-1, in the last match at Old Trafford, when a win would have given them three points, replacing the less exciting two points for a win system that persisted until 1980-81. Financed by steel magnate, Jack Walker, from 1991-92, Rovers were promoted from the Second Division for 1992-93, and ironically Ferguson bought center back, David May, as a long-term replacement for Bruce, from Blackburn manager, and former Celtic and Liverpool striking legend, Scotland's Kenny Dalglish, for £1.2m for the 1994-95 term, as well as center forward, Andy Cole, from Newcastle for £6m + winger, Keith Gillespie. Southampton had been persuaded to allow center forward, Alan Shearer, to leave The Dell for £3.6m, despite Ferguson’s attempts to sign him for the glamor of United, and Alan scored 34 league goals in the Ewood Park club’s championship winning season.

  United lost the 1995 F.A. Cup Final, 0-1 to Everton, although signs of future glory were the appearances of the teenagers and early tweens, known as ‘Fergie’s Fledglings’. Gary Neville at right back, hard-tackling ball distributor, Nicky Butt, in center midfield, and playmaker/second striker, Paul Scholes, on as a 72nd minute substitute for Sharpe, while most neutral observers thought Giggs, on as a 45th minute substitute for Bruce, after center forward Paul Rideout’s 30th minute headed opener, from central midfielder Graham Stuart’s shot that rebounded off the bar, ought to have started, though left footed Sharpe had proven versatility, keeping right wing, Kanchelskis, out of the side as Ferguson’s preferred, though inverted, right winger.

 The absence of Cantona, suspended for launching a Kung Fu style kick at a fan in the crowd, near the touchline, on January 25th, 1995, during a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Road ground, with Andrei injured, and Cole, unable to play because, ‘cuptied’, he’d played for Newcastle in a previous round, Alex’s preferring an extra midfielder, Butt, to Giggs, seemed over-cautious. Of 58 substitutions made, Butt tied with Scholes, 11, as the highest tally, making 11 starts to Scholes 6, while Paul’s 5 goals to Nicky’s 1 might realistically have encouraged him to expect to start against Everton also.

 Youth had won out by the end of the 1995-96 campaign with right wing, David Beckham, and Gary’s brother Phil Neville, also a full back, who’d become the squad’s indispensable utility player, joining Butt and Scholes as the new young gods of Stretford End adulation. Cantona returned on October 1st, 1995, scoring from the penalty spot against Liverpool in a home draw, 2-2, and finished top scorer with 19 goals, as the club again won the double, with Eric getting the winner in the 1996 F.A. Cup Final, after a corner on the right from Scholes, on as a substitute for Cole on 64 minutes, the ball punched away as far as Wales’ center forward, Ian Rush, on as a substitute for Stan Colleymore on 74 minutes, who chested it further on, but only as far as Cantona inside the ‘D’, volleying right footed through a crowd of players in the 86th minute. Of the 64 substitutions made in the league that term, forwards were predominant, with Scholes, 16 starts and 10 appearances for 10 goals, Beckham, 26 starts and 7 appearances for 7 goals, Sharpe, 21 starts and 10 appearances for 4 goals, and McClair, 12 starts and 10 appearances for 3 goals, indicating the shift in coaching emphasis after the implementation of the two substitutes per game allowance.

 Aged 30, Cantona retired at the end of 1996-97, with the club champions again, Eric finishing second, on 11 in the scoring, to Norway’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, 25 starts, and 8 appearances for 18 goals, brought from Molde for £1.5m, although German Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, proved too strong in the European Champions League, United losing, 0-1, first away, and again in the home leg. Of the 75 substitutions made, strikers were again to the fore, with Andy Cole, easing his way through a spell of injury, 10 starts, and 10 appearances for 6 goals, indicating the use of defenders only in emergencies to avoid upsetting the stability of the team at the back, while changes upfront in search of a goal were usual and mandated.

  McClair had the highest tally of substitutions, 15, and 4 starts, but 0 goals as the old warhorse came towards career’s end in midfield, while Czech right winger, Karel Poborský, signed from SK Slavia Prague for €4m as cover for Beckham, with 15 starts and 7 appearances for 3 goals, Scholes, 16 starts and 8 appearances for 3 goals, and Jordi, Johann Cruyff’s son, brought from Barca for £1.4m, 11 starts and 5 appearances for 3 goals, were the other main contributors from the bench.

Arsenal won the title in 1997-98 with 78 points to United’s 77, with Cole netting 15. With Solskjaer 15 starts and 7 appearances for 6 goals, and Teddy Sheringham, brought from Tottenham Hotspur for £3.5m, 28 starts and 3 appearances, yet to find his scoring boots, 9 goals, the same total as Beckham, and with Giggs and Scholes on 8, United’s losing at home to Arsenal, 0-1, on March 14th, 1998, shouldn’t have been the difference, but it was. Despite the transfer of Norwegian central defender, Henning Berg, from Blackburn for £5m. Of the 76 substitutions made, McClair was easily the most, with 11, but only 2 starts for 0 goals, still qualifying for a runner-up medal, with 10 appearances in the 38 possible league fixtures being the target for competitive playing staff.

 That Ferguson mastered the substitution option is evident from the thirteen league titles won before his retirement at the end of the 2012-13 season, replaced by Everton's David Moyes, who was dismissed after losing the League Cup semi-final, 1-2 on penalties, with van Gaal appointed for 2014-15, after then 40 years old player coach Ryan Giggs' caretaker spell at 2014-15 season's end. Most notably in the European Cup Final of 1999 at Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium, against Germany's Bayern Munich, substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were the strikers that came off the bench to score both goals in the last three minutes of the game to win the trophy, 2-1.

 Moreover, able to act as a sweeper in defence, as well as a center forward in attack in extremis, goalkeeping 'Great Dane', Denmark's Peter Schmeichel, illustrated the influence that the importance of utility players had at Old Trafford. Peter, who’d actually scored with a header in the 89th minute to give the team a 2-2 draw against Russia’s Rotor Volgograd in the 1st Round second leg of the 1995-96 UEFA Cup at Old Trafford, with the team, 0-1, to Bayern, was inside the German penalty area, as an auxiliary forward, when Sheringham steered Welsh left wing Ryan Giggs' shot inside the left post, 1-1, on 90+1 minutes, again demonstrating the successful aligning of the utility player strategy with the tactic of keeping fresh strikers back to insert them with dramatic effect.

 The 1998-99 season ended with the club winning the treble of league, F.A. Cup, and European Cup, after Solskjaer’s gleeful sticking out of his outstretched right leg, the ball headed on towards the far post by Sheringham, following a Beckham corner, booting it into the Bayern net at the far post on 90+3 minutes. Trinidad and Tobago's Dwight Yorke, bought from Villa for the campaign for £12.6 m, top scored with 18 goals, alongside Cole, 17, with Solskjaer finishing on 12, in just 9 starts and 10 appearances. Jaap Stam, Dutch central defender, came from PSV Eindhoven for £10.6m, 30 starts and 1 goal, sidefooting into an empty goalmouth a cross from Beckham, on 90 minutes, the last in a 6-2 victory at Leicester City’s Filbert Street on January 16th, 1999.

 Of the 92 substitutions made, Solskjaer and Sheringham, 7 starts and 10 appearances for 2 goals, tallied highest, with utility player, Phil Neville, 19 starts and 9 appearances, and Butt, 22 starts and 9 appearances for 2 goals, indicating the value of the defender/midfield strong man in holding a lead, or defending a needed result, as is the case in European competition, where the objective need not necessarily be a win, as away goals count double, and a draw at the group stage is better, given the position of the team’s rivals, in the home and away league table.

 Stam was justifiably renowned for being at the heart of United’s defence for three consecutive championship seasons. 1999-2000 began with defeat, 0-1, to Italy’s Serie A club, Lazio, in the Super Cup Final at Stade Louis II, Monaco, although Stam impressed, as he was transferred to Lazio for 2001-02 for £15.3m, with Ferguson bringing a center half he’d much admired to the club, despite raised eyebrows at Laurent Blanc’s age, 35, France’s ‘Le Président’, signed for £2.5m from Italy’s Serie A club Inter Milan. The club competed successfully in the 1999 Intercontinental Cup Final at Japan’s National Stadium, Tokyo, against Brazil’s Palmeiras of São Paolo, with Roy Keane running in to stretch out his right boot at the far post and divert a cross from Giggs out on the left wing, near the corner flag, into the net, on 35 minutes, 1-0.

 Third in their Group B matches at Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the World Club Cup, held January 5th-14th, 2000, and the club declining to compete in the F.A. Cup that term to avoid fixture congestion, the team didn’t place, behind Brazil’s Vasco da Gama, qualifying for the Final, losing to Corinthians of Brazil, 0-0, a.e.t., 4-3 on penalties, and Mexico’s Necaxa, who beat Real Madrid, 1-1, a.e.t., 4-3 on penalties, for third place overall. United, drawing 1-1 with Necaxa, losing 1-3 to Vasco da Gama, beat Australia’s South Melbourne, 2-0.

 With their own Australian, 'keeper, Mark Bosnich, signed on a free from Villa as successor to Schmeichel, retired after the treble season, South Melbourne fell to left winger, Quinton Fortune, signed from Spain’s Atlético Madrid for £1.5m, after a long ball, left footed, down the right flank, headed on for Solskjaer to run into the 18 yard box, passing to Andy Cole on the penalty spot, back heeling the ball, left, the South African ran up on 8 minutes to strike the ball, left footed, up into the top left corner, 1-0. On 20 minutes Cole, central midfield position, right instep directing the ball forward into the path of Fortune, left, and halfway into the 18 yard box, chipping left footed over outrushing ‘keeper Chris Jones, into the net, 2-0, for a points total of 4, but with Necaxa finishing second in the group, having a goal difference of +1.

 When the squad left Manchester, the club were second in the league table, after a draw, 2-2 at Sunderland on December 28th, 1999, and another draw followed, 1-1, at home to Arsenal upon resumption on January 24th, 2000, with ‘black pearls’, Cole and Yorke, on 13 and 11 goals respectively. Cole would finish on 20, from 23 starts and 5 appearances, and Yorke 19, from 29 starts and 3 appearances, with Solskjaer on 12, Scholes on 9, and Giggs and Beckham on 6 goals, as the club took the title, 18 points clear of Arsenal with 81. Of the 90 substitutions made, Solskjaer and Sheringham, 15 starts each, and 13 and 12 appearances, for 12 and 5 goals respectively, tallied highest, with Jordi Cruyff, 1 start and 7 appearances for 3 goals, again illustrating the shift to ever more penetrating substitutes in pursuit of attacking open play and a win.

 The 2000-01 title was won with 80 points, 10 clear of Arsenal, with Teddy Sheringham, 23 starts and 6 appearances, top scoring with 15, Solskjaer, 19 starts and 12 appearances for 10, Cole 15 starts and 4 appearances for 9, Yorke, 15 starts and 7 appearances for 9, and Beckham, 29 starts and 2 appearances for 9, the main contributors. Of the 92 substitutions made, after Solskjaer the highest tally was right midfielder, 20 years Luke Chadwick, 6 starts and 10 substitute appearances for 2 goals, including the first on 64 minutes in a 1-1 draw at Leeds on March 3rd, 2001. Scholes, playing a one-two at his right, moving forward from the halfway line, right footed, center midfield, passing forward, right, to Solskjaer, shooting right edge of the 18 yard box, spilling out of ‘keeper Nigel Martyn’s grasp, left, presenting substitute Luke, running in, with a simple tap in for his right boot, sidefoot, 1-0.

 Stam’s departure, the arrival of Blanc, and flamboyant, but volatilely unpredictable, France ‘keeper, Fabien Barthez, replacing Bosnich for 2000-01, for £7.8m from AS Monaco, resulted in a defensive hiatus that left the side titleless in 2001-02, after a run of five defeats in seven games from October 20th to December 8th, dropping from third to ninth in the table, and finally finishing third, 10 points behind Arsenal, after that run of one win in seven, dropping 16 points. The bright patch in a cloudy sky was the arrival of classic run and shoot center forward, Ruud van Nistelrooy, from Dutch Eredevisie club, PSV Eindhoven, for £19m, 29 starts and 3 appearances, top scoring with 23 goals, although similarly anticipated right midfielder, Argentina’s Juan Sebastián Verón, £28.1m from Lazio, 24 starts and 2 appearances for 5 goals, scored with knowledgeable supporters, but not with the critics. Ole, 23 starts and 7 appearances for 17 goals, and ‘Becks’, 23 starts and 5 appearances for 11 goals, were Nistelrooy’s main support in attack, although Scholes, 30 starts and 5 appearances for 8 goals, and Giggs, after ten years awarded a testimonial against Celtic, which took place on August 1st, 2001, with Ruud and Séba making their debuts, weighed in with 7 goals from 18 starts and 7 appearances.

 In the European Champions League, the club went out, 3-3 on aggregate to German Bundesliga club, Bayer Leverkusen, in the semi-final, after a draw, 2-2, at Old Trafford, followed by a draw, 1-1, away, as away goals counted double. It was the final season at Old Trafford for full back, Irwin, and Norway’s Ronny Johnsen, defensive midfielder, or center back, as he was in the European triumph over Bayern, brought from Turkish club, Beşiktaş, for £1.2m for 1996-97. Swedish left winger, Jesper Blomqvist, bought from Italy’s Serie A club, Parma, for £4.4m for 1998-99, as cover for Giggs, was in for Scholes that night, booked in the Juvé semi-final and suspended, and he received a free to go to Everton. Cole signed for Blackburn on December 29th, 2001, 7 starts and 4 appearances for 4 goals, and Yorke, 4 starts and 6 appearances for 1 goal, would join him there for 2002-03 and £2.6m.

 Out with the old, in with the new. Leeds central defender, Rio Ferdinand, arrived for 2002-03 for £29.1m, with several options as to who would share central defensive duties. Mikaël Silvestre, French left back, and sometime central defender, bought from Inter Milan for £4m for 1999-2000, Wes Brown, academy graduate and mainstay of the treble, Blanc, or Eire’s John O’Shea, midfield utility player, who could play center of defence, and either full back position, 5 starts and 4 appearances the previous campaign. Ferguson’s solution, as had become his wont, was permutation, having the effect of maintaining competition for places on match days.

 Malcolm Glazer, owner of American Football franchise, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa, Florida state, Super Bowl XXXVII and LV champions, and a TV mogul, was becoming owner of Manchester United through private share purchase, while Martin Edwards would receive the title, ‘Honorary President for Life’. Resembling the implementation of a coaching program, approximating to Dutch ‘total football’, as advocated by three-times consecutive winners of the European Cup, Ajax of Amsterdam, the flexibility of Alex’s team was evidently going to be an important aspect of their longevity. Nistelrooy, 33 starts and 1 appearance for 25 goals, received the mainstay of striking support from Scholes, enjoying a new lease of life as a second striker, 31 starts and 2 appearances for 14 goals, although Ferguson used Uruguayan striker, Diego Forlán, signed from Argentina's Independiente, on January 22nd, 2002, for £6.9m, making 6 starts and 7 appearances in 2001-02, like a bullet, making 7 starts and 18 substitute appearances for 6 goals in 2002-03, as the club took the title, with 83 points, from Arsenal on 78. A very strong team lost the League Cup Final, 0-2 to Liverpool; Barthez, G. Neville, Brown (Solskjaer 74’), Ferdinand, Silvestre, Beckham, Keane (c), Verón, Giggs, Scholes, Nistelrooy. Of the 85 substitutions made, apart from Forlán, Solskjaer’s 8 substitute appearances, and 29 starts for 9 goals, were the most significant statistically, indicating the importance of loading the gun to hit the target, while Beckham weighed in with 27 starts    and 4 appearances for 6 goals.

 Before 2003-04, David left for Real Madrid for £17.25m, Verón for Chelsea at £15m, Blanc retired age 37, and May, released, signed for second tier club, Burnley. Of the transfers in, the most significant were right winger, Cristiano Ronaldo, signing from CP Sporting of Lisbon for £12.24m, France’s center forward, Louis Saha, on January 23rd, 2004, from Fulham for 12.82m, and ‘keeper Tim Howard from MetroStars, New York metropolitan area, competing in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States of America, for £3.5m, as Barthez’s eccentric showmanship came to seem unreliability.

 Nistelrooy, 31 starts and 1 appearance for 20 goals, was again supported in his second striker’s role by Scholes, 24 starts and 4 appearances for 9 goals, although Saha, cuptied for the F.A. Cup, but 9 starts and 3 appearances for 7 league goals, weighed in welcomely. Of 91 substitutions made, apart from Cristiano, Diego tallied highest, 10 starts and 14 appearances for 4 goals, with France’s center forward, David Bellion, £2m from Sunderland, 4 starts and 10 appearances for 2 goals, illustrative of the highly prized bullets from the bench.

 The club finished third in the league, 15 points behind Arsenal’s championship winning 90, probably because of an eight month ban for Ferdinand for missing a mandatory drug test at the Carrington training ground on September 23rd, 2003, for illegal performance enhancing substances, although Solskjaer’s absence with a knee injury, from September through to February, 2004, didn’t help, 7 starts and 6 appearances, 0 goals. The squad bore Rio's absence to win the 2004 F.A. Cup Final, 3-0, against Millwall; Howard (Roy Carroll 84’), G. Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O'Shea, Ronaldo (Solskjaer 84’), Fletcher (Butt 84’), Keane, Giggs, Scholes, Nistelrooy. Tipped to take over from Beckham, Darren Fletcher, 17 starts and 5 appearances, began to emerge as a central midfielder, rather than a right winger, although Ronaldo, 15 starts and 14 appearances for 4 goals, wasn’t yet seen as the irreplaceable and magisterial, goal-getting powerhouse, he’d be famed as.

 Cristiano headed in at the far post on 44 minutes, after a floated cross, from halfway along the right edge of the 18 yard box by Gary Neville, 1-0, and a penalty kick, right footed, high into the top left corner, from Nistelrooy on 65 minutes, 2-0, was Giggs’ reward, after he cut inside from the right wing into the penalty area, right, through the 18 yard box, brought down from behind by central midfielder, David Livermore. Scholes, left midfield position, right foot, lobbed low, forward to Giggs, trapping the ball, stranding right back, Marvin Elliott, edge of the 18 yard box, unable to follow the bounce, Giggs runs on, a cross-shot, left foot, viciously into the penalty area, and Nistelrooy gratefully turns the ball in, with the side of his right boot, almost on ‘keeper Andy Marshall's goal line, for his second on 81 minutes, 3-0.

 Alan Smith, center forward, signed from Leeds for £7m on May 26th, 2004, for the 2004-05 term, and Argentine left back, or center back, Gabriel Heinze, from French Ligue 1 club, Paris Saint-Germain, for £6.9m, signed on June 11th, 2004, positively indicated the coaching staff’s intention in cultivating the left side with ‘lefties’, unplayable to those unable to afford them, as well as an arsenal of shooting stars, deployable from the bench, or off it. Wayne Rooney, 18 years, transferred from Everton for £27m, making his league debut at center forward against Middlesboro on October 3rd, 2004, though Alan Smith came off the bench on 69 minutes for O'Shea to head in a Ronaldo cross from the right, near the goal line, in front of the corner flag, down into the left corner, past the grasp of Aussie ‘keeper, Mark Schwarzer, at full stretch, for an equalizer on 81 minutes, 1-1. 

 Rooney ended the season top scorer on 11 goals, after 24 starts and 5 appearances, and Scholes contributed 9 as second striker, 29 appearances and 4 starts, but Nistelrooy returned just 6 goals, 3 of them penalties, which wasn’t enough to get the club a higher final league position than third, 19 points behind Chelsea’s title-winning 95. Smith, 22 starts and 9 appearances for 6 goals, was disappointing, as Nistelrooy’s tally, from 16 starts, and a single appearance as sub, was due to injury curtailing his opportunities, which suggested Smith’s chance in the side was forced and prolonged disadvantageously. Saha, nursing a knee injury, was out for September, and from November to January, 2004, and from February to April, 2005, 7 starts and 7 appearances for 1 goal. Although Bellion got the idea, 1 start and 9 appearances for 2 goals, as a bullet from the bench, he wasn’t successful enough, and if he didn’t start more games, it was for the same reason.

 Ronaldo, who’d score 48 goals for Real Madrid in 2014-15, after his transfer there for 2009-10 and £80m, made 25 starts and 8 appearances for 5 goals, as a future master learning his trade. As a provider of striking opportunities on the left, more accuracy had been demanded of winger, Giggs, 26 starts and 6 appearances for 6 goals, and Cristiano's involvement in the making and taking of chances would improve, although Giggs’ role was as a danger, rather than a striker. Of the 89 substitutions made, 7 were Phil Neville, who made 12 starts in his tenth season of playing in enough games to qualify for a title medal, 1995-96, 1996-67, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, and 2002-03, indicating how consistently great the achievement of the powerful contributor is.

 Also winner of the double in '96 and the treble in '99, as well as the F.A. Cup in 2004, at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, while Wembley was undergoing renovation, P. Neville’s final chance at glory, before transferred to Everton for £3m for 2005-06, was the F.A. Cup Final of 2005, against Arsenal, 0-0, a.e.t., and defeat, 4-5 on penalties; Carroll, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, O’Shea (Fortune 77’), Fletcher (Giggs 91’), Keane, Scholes, Ronaldo, Nistelrooy, Rooney. Phil wasn’t selected and Gary was on the bench.

 Scholes missed the team’s second, German ‘keeper, Jens Lehmann, saving to his right a waist high shot that ought to have been lower, and closer to the left upright, which would have kept up the pressure on Arsenal, 2-1, rather than 1-1, with Arsenal given an opportunity to take the lead, with a goal in hand, as it were, which is what happened, as Swedish midfielder, Freddie Ljungberg, on as a 65th minute substitute for Dutch striker, Dennis Bergkamp, stepped up to make it, 2-1, at the expense of Northern Irish ‘keeper, Roy Carroll, signed for £2.5m from fourth tier club, League Two's Wigan Athletic, for 2001-02, initially competing with Barthez for a place between the sticks. Roy, missing his guess, going the wrong way, Ljungberg struck low into the left corner of the net.

 The Glazer family, with Joel and Avram, Malcolm’s sons, appointed to the board, became the new owners. The 2005-06 term was better in that the team won the 2006 League Cup Final against Premier League Wigan, 4-0, with goals from Rooney (2), Saha, and Ronaldo. Nistelrooy top scored, 28 starts and 7 appearances for 21 goals, with Rooney on 16 goals, 34 starts and 2 appearances, and Ronaldo the only other forward to approach double figures, 24 starts and 9 appearances for 9 goals, while Saha’s stats, 12 starts and 7 appearances for 7 goals, though ruled out of the first three months of the season by a hamstring injury, were the reason Nistelrooy, benched for the League Cup Final, would be transferred to Real Madrid for 2006-07. That, and the €14m fee. Of the 94 substitutions made, the most significant statistic was left winger, Kieran Richardson’s, whose 12 starts, and 10 substitute appearances for 1 goal, indicated the use of the provider as well as the scorer, although the most welcome statistic was Solskjaer’s appearance from the subs’ bench for Ronaldo on December 28th, 2005, in the 83rd minute of a draw, 2-2, at Birmingham City, St Andrew’s, 0 starts but 3 appearances, as the Norwegian was nursed back through injury by the physiotherapy and coaching staff.

 A long punt, right foot, straight upfield from the center, edge of his 18 yard box, from Dutch ‘keeper, Edwin van der Sar, £2m from Fulham, back headed by Saha, collected by Rooney on his right foot, saw Wigan captain and Dutch center back, Arjan de Zeeuw, nutmegged by Rooney, left footed, collide with French right back, Pascal Chimbonda, as Wayne burst through to shoot, right footed, center, edge of the ‘D’, into the right corner of the net, past Australia’s John Filan, substitute ‘keeper, on for Mike Pollitt in the 14th minute, 1-0, in the 2006 League Cup Final on 33 minutes. Gary Neville’s cross from the right edge of the 18 yard box, on 55 minutes, found Saha, his strike at the far post, rebounding off the ‘keeper, he then appeared to chest the ball over the line, 2-0. Swiss center back, Stéphane Henchoz, edge of the 18 yard box, center, attempting a low clearance, instead found Saha, right footed pass, low, along the ground to Ronaldo, inside the 18 yard box, right, striking the ball, low, right footed, left corner of the net, 3-0, on 61 minutes. Giggs’ left footed free kick on the right, the ball won in the air by Saha’s header, center of the 18 yard box, dropping for Ferdinand, edge of the penalty area, right, heading the ball towards the left post, Rooney turned quickly, anti-clockwise, directing the ball into the net, 4-0, on 61 minutes.

 The arrival of Serbian center back, Nemanja Vidić, from Spartak Moscow on January 5th, 2006, for £7m, and French left back, Patrice Evra, on January 10th from AS Monaco for £5.5m, during the winter transfer window, kept the club in the running for the league title, eventually runner-up, 8 points behind Chelsea on 91, but never below second place, after the arrival of Evra and Vidić. Keane, 4 starts and 1 further appearance, was released on November 18th, 2005, to join Scotland’s Celtic, where he won the double of league and League Cup, 3-0, against Dunfermline Athletic, with center forward, Dion Dublin, coming on for Roy in the 61st minute, directing a cross from right back, Paul Telfer, right footed, center, edge of the penalty area, behind him, into the bottom left corner, for Celtic’s third in the 90th minute.

 Signed from Cambridge United of the Second Division, which in 2004-05 was relabeled the Championship, England’s second tier competitive league, for £1m, Dion was United’s emergency center forward at the beginning of the 1992-93 season, 3 starts and 4 appearances for 1 goal away at Southampton in the 88th minute, right footed, right side of the penalty area, after a free kick on the right. McClair rose to head the ball down towards the goal, left, where the S’ton center back could only watch in horror, as the ball hit him, before rolling over to where Dublin could pounce. With the side having lost their opening two games, on August 15th, 1-2, 1992, at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane, and on August 19th, 0-3, 1992, to Everton at Old Trafford, before drawing the third, at home to Ipswich, 1-1, they beat ‘The Saints’ at The Dell, 1-0, to record their first win of the campaign. Though the squad went on to win the title, and Hughes scored in the 88th minute for a win, 1-0, Welsh defender, Eric Young, broke Dublin’s leg in a tackle away at Crystal Palace on September 2nd, 1992, and the arrival of Cantona so limited his chances of starting he accepted a transfer to Coventry City for 1994-95 at £2m.

 The club finished 2006-07 as champions, 6 points clear of Chelsea with 89. Ronaldo top scored with 17 goals, 31 starts and 3 appearances, with Rooney on 14, 33 starts and 2 appearances, but hamstring and groin injury largely sidelined Saha after Christmas, 2006, 18 starts and 6 appearances for 8 goals. Ferguson’s response was to court Swedish striker, Henrik Larsson, age 35, at the end of his Barca contract, returning to Sweden’s Allsvenskan, where he began, and a former club, Helsingborg, loaned Henrik to Ferguson from January 1st to March 12th, 2007, 5 starts and 2 appearances for 1 goal.

 In the Final of the 2006 UEFA Champions League, which Barca won, 2-1 against Arsenal, Larsson came on for Dutch central midfielder, Mark von Bommel, on 61 minutes, providing assists for Cameroon center forward, Samuel Eto’o, and Brazilian, Juliano Belletti, on for Spanish right back, Oleguer, on 71 minutes. Andrés Iniesta, on for Brazilian defensive midfielder, Edmilson, on 46 minutes, in the inside left channel found Larsson, on 76 minutes, left corner of the 18 yard box, whose one-touch, right-footed lay-off released Eto’o, running on, with the ball, right footed strike, right corner of the net, 1-1, Barca having conceded a goal to center half, Sol Cambell, on 37 minutes, near the penalty spot, heading French center forward, Thierry Henry’s free kick, from the right, outside the 18 yard box, into the top left corner of Spanish ‘keeper Víctor Valdés’ net. Larsson, right, outside the 18 yard box, close to the goal line, left footed, along the turf to Belletti, on 80 minutes, right corner of the penalty area, angle narrowing as the ball runs on, Juliano, right footed, Spanish ‘keeper Manuel Almunia, on for Jens Lehmann on 18 minutes, sent off for bringing down Eto’o outside his area, his legs, shot through, near post, 2-1.

 Alan Smith, being tried as Keane’s replacement, during a defeat to Liverpool, 0-1, in the F.A. Cup 5th Round, on February 18th, 2006, attempting to block a free kick by Norwegian left back, John Arne Riise, broke his leg, 6 starts and 3 appearances, 0 goals in 2006-07, before being transferred to Newcastle for £7m for 2007-08. Of the 94 substitutions made, the most significant were Solskjaer’s 10, 9 starts for 7 goals, after a knee injury caused him to miss 2005-06, while further surgery in late February caused him to miss a month, until the defeat of Blackburn on March 31st , 2007, 4-1, with Ole, on for Cristiano in the 84th minute, getting the fourth goal in the 89th.

 Park Ji Sung, a Republic of Korea right winger, signed from PSV Eindhoven for £4m for 2005-06, making 23 starts and 11 appearances for 1 goal, nicknamed ‘Park bench’ initially, as fans expected another expensive bench warmer, incurring an ankle injury in a defeat of Spurs, 1-0, at Old Trafford on September 9th, 2006, after coming on for Richardson on 70 minutes, that kept him out for six months, completed knee surgery by Dr Richard Steadman at the Steadman Clinic, Vail, Colorado, United States, on April 28th, 2007, after incurring an injury at home to Blackburn, 4-1, on March 31st, 2007, during which he scored the team’s third goal in the 83rd minute, sliding it in, right footed, after US' ‘keeper,  Brad Friedel, couldn’t hold on to Ronaldo’s powerfully struck, right footed, direct free-kick, making Park, 8 starts and 6 appearances for 5 goals, unavailable for selection until 2007-08, but known in his native Korea as ‘Three-Lungs Park’ for his seemingly inexhaustible desire and capacity to assist, did return.

 A narrow defeat of Italy’s Serie A team, AC Milan, 3-2, in the European Champions League semi-final first leg at home, was overturned at the San Siro, 0-3, 3-5 on aggregate, with Rooney’s second goal in the 90+1 minute at Old Trafford, after Giggs outside the ‘D’, in the inside right position, passed left footed, right, to Wayne, edge of the ‘D’, who struck the ball, low, beyond diving Brazilian ‘keeper, Dida, inside the right upright, 3-2, indicative of the difficulty posed by I Rossoneri.

Disappointment was doubled, as the team lost to Chelsea in the 2007 F.A. Cup Final, 0-0, with 30 minutes of extra time to come; van der Sar, Brown, Vidic, Ferdinand, Heinze, Carrick (O’ Shea 112’), Scholes, Fletcher (Smith 92’), Giggs (Solskjaer 112’), Ronaldo, Rooney. Ivory Coast center forward, Didier Drogba, in the 116th minute, edge of the 18 yard box, center, back to goal, inside of his raised right boot to a ball, right foot, from Nigeria’s Mikel John Obi, center midfield, found Lampard, to his left. Drogba, turning, running towards the penalty spot, Frank, first touch, right footed, dinking the ball over to him there, Didier strikes the ball into the left corner of the net, beyond ‘keeper, van der Sar, 0-1, in the first F.A. Cup Final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium.

  In 2007-08 the club won the double of European Champions and Premier League, 87 points from Chelsea’s 85, although it was nearly Chelsea, as the team beat them in the UCL Final, 1-1, a.e.t., 6-5 on penalties, after defeating Barca, on aggregate, 1-0, following a Scholes strike, right footed, from left of the ‘D’, after an attempted clearance by Barca’s Italian right midfielder, Gianluca Zambrotta, left corner of the 18 yard box, resembling an inch perfect pass, lashed from the bridge of Paul’s right boot, into the top right corner of ‘keeper Valdés’ net, on 14 minutes, in the second leg at Old Trafford. ‘CR7’, as he came to be famed for his # 7 shirt, Cristiano Ronaldo, top scored with 31 goals, from 31 starts and 3 appearances, with Argentine, Carlos Tevez, on loan from Media Sports Investments (MSI), on 14 goals, from 31 starts and 3 appearances, while Rooney weighed in with 12, 25 starts and 2 appearances.

 Of 104 substitutions, the most significant were Saha’s 11, 6 starts for 5 goals, injured for a month in early January, and out for almost the rest of the season, following a hamstring injury against Bolton, 2-0, at Old Trafford on March 19th, 2008, before being transferred to Everton for 2008-09, and Owen Hargreaves', right midfielder, transferred from Bayern for £17m for 2007-08, 16 starts and 7 appearances for 2 goals, before patellar tendonitis ruined his career, while Portuguese right winger, Nani, 16 starts and 10 appearances for 3 goals, transferred from Sporting CP Lisbon for €25.5m, represented the coaching ideal of a game killer, who could come off the bench.

 Wes Brown, right back, on the right wing, a  throw-in from Brown to Scholes, shadowed by French left wing, Florent Malouda, one-two, Scholes, outside of his right boot, back to Brown, tight on the touchline, unable to move past Frank Lampard, one-two, outside of his right boot, back to Paul, around Frank, Brown gets the ball back, ‘magic triangle', outside of Paul's right boot, carrying the ball to the right corner of the 18 yard box, left footed cross, finds the head of Ronaldo, leaping, center, outside the penalty area, bottom left corner of the net, 1-0, cancelled out by central midfielder, Lampard, following a long-range shot by Ghanaian right back, Michael Essien, deflecting first off Vidić, and then Ferdinand by the penalty spot, causing van der Sar to lose track of the ball, Frank running in, left of the penalty spot, left boot, goal, center, 1-1, on 45 minutes.

 Extra time producing no result, Ronaldo's was the first missed penalty, with Lampard making it, 2-3, but Chelsea center back and captain, John Terry, slipped and fell on his arse in the Moscow rain at the Luzhniki Stadium, and the ball hit the right post. All square and ‘sudden death'. French center forward, Nicholas Anelka, on for right midfielder, Joe Cole, on 99 minutes, was next to miss, which meant  Giggs’ previous successful kick from the spot was the winning goal; van der Sar, Brown (Anderson 120+5)', Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra, Hargreaves, Scholes (Giggs 87’), Carrick, Ronaldo, Rooney (Nani 101’), Tevez.

 The team lost the Final of the 2008 Super Cup on August 29th to Russia's Zenit Saint Petersburg, 1-2, at Stade Louis II, Monaco, with Vidić replying on 73 minutes, ball struck hard with the bridge of the left boot, into the net, after Tevez, corner of the penalty area, left, by the goal line, right footed, passed to him, unobstructed, inside the area, level with the left post; van der Sar, G. Neville (c) (Brown 76’), Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra, Fletcher (Park Ji Sung 60’), Scholes, Anderson (O’Shea 60’), Nani, Rooney, Tevez.

 When center back Vidić was sent off on 49 minutes, elbowing Argentine striker, Claudio Beiler, during the 2008 World Club Cup Final on December 21st, 2008, at International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan, against Ecuador's LDU Quito, the side was again successful after reorganization, owing much to the spectrum of substitutes to choose from, with Northern Ireland's center back, Jonny Evans, on 51 minutes, coming on for Argentine center forward, Tevez. Rooney, collecting a pass on the left edge of the 18 yard box from right wing, Cristiano, before striking on 73 minutes past 'keeper, Jose Francisco Cevallos, 1-0.

 The title was won with 90 points, 4 ahead of Liverpool. Bulgarian striker, Dimitar Berbatov, signed for £30.75m from Spurs, 29 starts and 2 appearances for 9 goals, would improve. Cristiano top scored, 31 starts, 2 appearances, 18 goals, while Wayne weighed in with 12, 25 starts and 5 appearances, and Carlos, 18 starts, 11 appearances, 5 goals, looked less than it was, as he scored 6 goals on the way to the club’s winning the 2009 League Cup, and 4 on the F.A. Cup run that saw the side lose to Everton in the semi-final, 0-0, a.e.t., 2-4 on penalties.

 Of the 98 substitutions made, Italian Frederico Macheda, 2 starts and 2 appearances for 2 goals, stands out. United won the title by 4 points and 17 years Frederico won 4 points. On for Nani on 61 minutes, netting the 90+3 minute winner, 3-2, against Villa at Old Trafford on April 5th, 2009. Giggs, in the inside left position, midfield, left footed, along the ground, Macheda, inside the 18 yard box, back heels, loses right back, Luke Young, turns and strikes, right footed, past ‘keeper Friedel, the ball curling deliciously into the right side netting, and again, 2-1, on for Berbatov on 75 minutes in the following league game at S'land's Stadium of Light on April 11th, inside the 18 yard box left of the ‘D’,  Carrick’s shot, outside of the ‘D’, center midfield, Frederico left footed, 75th minute, flicking it past Scots’ ‘keeper, Craig Gordon, low, right corner of the net.

 The League Cup Final of 2009, as had become traditional, saw the younger Academy players, and squad members, defeat Spurs, 0-0, a.e.t., 4-1 on penalties, with Giggs, Tevez, Ronaldo, and Brazilian midfielder, Anderson, transferred from Portugal’s Porto for 2007-08 and €30m, converting the spot kicks; Foster, O'Shea (Vidić 76’), Ferdinand (c), Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Gibson (Giggs 91’), Scholes, Nani, Welbeck (Anderson 56’), Tevez. Industrious Eire midfielder, Darren Gibson, made 1 start and 2 appearances in the league, while future England ‘keeper, Ben Foster, made 2 starts, and Danny Welbeck, who’d play center forward for England, made 1 start and 2 appearances for 1 goal.

 

 The club again reached the UCL Final, losing, 0-2, to Barca at Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy, with eyebrows raised at the benching of Scholes; van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra, Anderson (Tevez 46’), Carrick, Giggs (c) (Scholes 75’), Park Ji-sung (Berbatov 66’), Rooney, Ronaldo. Eto’o, on 10 minutes, central midfielder, Andrés Iniesta, a one-two with midfield partner, Xavi, bursting through from inside his own half, between Anderson, right, and Carrick, left, finding Samuel, right side of the 18 yard box, cutting inside, on his right foot, leaving Vidić stranded, right footing the ball to van der Sar’s left, 1-0, and Argentina’s attacker-playmaker, Lionel Messi, on 70 minutes, regarded as the world’s best, a flying header, left corner of the penalty area, ball crossed by Xavi, well outside the 18 yard box, right corner, over van der Sar, and to his left, dropping luxuriously into the bottom right corner of the net, 2-0.

 Ronaldo duly left for Real Madrid, while Antonio Valencia, Ecuador right wing, was signed from Wigan for £16m, 29 starts, 5 appearances for 5 goals, that 2009-10 season. Rooney was top scorer with 26 goals from 32 starts, with Berbatov on 12 from 24 starts and 9 appearances. The title was lost by 1 point to Chelsea on 86. Of the 102 substitutions made, former Liverpool striker, Michael Owen’s, freed by Newcastle, were most illuminating, 5 starts, and 4 appearances for 3 goals, had the look of the bench assassin.

  The team made it through to the 2010 League Cup Final, defeating Villa, 2-1, after falling behind to a penalty, taken by central midfielder, James Milner, side footed finish to the bottom right corner, on 5 minutes, United’s # 2 ‘keeper, Pole, Tomasz Kuszczak, £2.125m from WBA for 2007-08, going the wrong way, after Vidić dragged center forward, Gabriel Agbonlahor, down by his shirt, left of the eighteen yard box, level with the left corner of the penalty area, 0-1. Berbatov, dispossessing Eire center back, Richard Dunne, by the right touchline, just inside the Villa half, roared down the wing, cutting inside, brought down at the right corner of the 18 yard box, the ball spilling left, into the path of Owen, running in, striking right footed, low, left corner of the net, 1-1, on 14 minutes. Park Ji Sung, right corner of the 18 yard box, cross right footed, Rooney header, at about the penalty spot, over ‘keeper, Friedel, dropping implacably, bottom right corner of the net, 2-1, on 74 minutes; Kuszczak, Rafael (G. Neville 66’), Vidić, Evans, Evra (c), Valencia, Carrick, Fletcher, Park Ji-sung (Gibson 85’), Berbatov, Owen (Rooney 42’).

 The 2010-11 Premier League was won with 80 points, 9 more than Chelsea. Gary Neville retired, and no-nonsense center back, Chris Smallng, was signed from Fulham, 11 starts and 5 appearances. The club never lost 1st position in the table after November 27th, 2010, when Blackburn were beaten at Old Trafford, 7-1, with Berbatov’s 5 an indication of the success of three points for a win, and the shift away from utility players towards strikers, as the three substitute allowance afforded the selection of more specialized skills. Berbatov top scored with 20, 24 starts and 8 appearances, while Rooney weighed in with 11 goals, from 25 starts and 3 appearances.

  Strikers, like Mexico's Javier Chicharito ‘little pea’ Hernández, as his green-eyed father, Javier Hernández Gutiérrez, was Chicharo, ‘pea’, a player with ‘Tecos’, Guadalajara, winner of the 1993-94 Primera División, remain at a premium. Chicharito, signed by Ferguson from Chivas Guadalajara for €7.5m, 15 starts, 12 appearances for 13 goals, was hungry for success. The Maracanã, largest stadium in Brazil has a smaller stadium close by, Maracanãzinho, ‘little’ Maracanã, while the big stadium looks like an eye from the air; the monster, jealousy, where the green-eyed god is worshipped. Javier’s grandfather, Tomás Balcázar González, a forward with the Guadalajara campeonísimo, 8 titles in 10 years, scored Mexico’s second on 85 minutes in the 1954 World Cup against France, 2-3, Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland, although Mexico finished last in Group 1.

 Of the 99 substitutions made, apart from Chicharito, Owen's, 1 start and off the bench on 10 occasions for 2 goals, exemplified expectations. Expected to be able to play full back and center back also, an echo of the total football advocated by the Dutch, in the halcyon days of Cruyff at Ajax, the epitome of the new breed were players like Ronny Johnsen, who could play center back, midfield, on the wing, or at center forward, and Valencia, right wing, right midfield, or right full back, while two-footed Nani could play in any of the five positions across the front line; outside right, inside right, center forward, outside left and inside left, as well as left midfield or right, inverted or otherwise, and either full back role, although his value elsewhere to the side made that option an unforeseen rarity, occurring in the case of injury, or a sending off.

 Although the UCL Final was reached, the side lost 1-3 at Wembley to Barca, despite Rooney’s goal from the inside right position, cutting in from the right wing, looking to Nani, inside the 18 yard box, corner, right, flicked with the outside of his right boot, hitting Nani’s right hip, the ball dropping to the Portuguese winger’s right foot, one-two, Rooney receiving the ball back, on the run, right footed, center of the 18 yard box, 1-1, on 34 minutes, ball curling right to left, into the top corner of ‘keeper Valdés‘ net; van der Sar, Fábio (Nani 69’), Ferdinand, Vidić (c), Evra, Valencia, Carrick (Scholes 77’), Giggs, Park Ji-sung, Rooney, Hernández.

 Ferguson had signed Brazil’s da Silva twins, as (right) full backs, cover for Gary Neville, though Rafael began as a striker, and Fábio, a defensive midfielder, from Brazil’s Fluminense, age 17, in January 2007, although the twins, and such are often thought telepathic, wouldn’t be eligible to play until 2007-08, when 18 years. While Rafael, 15 starts and 1 appearance in 2010-11, was an unused attacking right back amongst the substitutes for the 2009 UCL Final, lost 0-2 to Barca, Fábio, 5 starts and 6 appearances for 1 goal, made the 2011 UCL Final, lost 1-3 to Barca, as a right back, for his defensive expertise, demonstrating the highly specialized nature of substitutions.

  The title in 2011-12 was won by Manchester City, on a goal difference of +64 to Manchester United’s  +54, with the same number of points, 89, for a number of interesting reasons. Ferguson brought Spain’s  ‘keeper, David de Gea, from Atlético Madrid for £18.9m, Phil Jones, center back, from Blackburn for £16.5m, who took some time to reach a defensive understanding and partnership, left winger Ashley Young from Villa for £17m, and dynamic Japanese midfielder, Shinji Kagawa, 17 starts, 3 appearances, for 6 goals, including a hat-trick on March 2nd, 2013, against Norwich, 4-0, at Old Trafford, transferred for £12m from German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. Berbatov, 5 starts and 7 appearances for 7 goals, had an excellent strike rate, which suggested he’d score more if picked, but Ferguson persisted with Welbeck, 23 starts and 7 appearances for 9 goals. Rooney top scored, 32 starts, 2 appearances, 27 goals, while Hernández exemplified the role of the striker as substitute, 18 starts and 10 appearances for 10 goals.

 Having retired at the end of 2010-11, being given a testimonial against New York Cosmos, latter day champions of the North American Soccer League, with Brazil’s glittering center forward, Pelé, and cool German sweeper, Franz Beckenbauer, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, Scholes agreed to return as player coach, 14 starts, 3 appearances, 4 goals, after consecutive defeats, with the club placed 2nd, 2-3 against Blackburn, on 31st December, 2011, at Old Trafford, though Berbatov headed in, after a shot from Rafael, 1-2, before Valencia, on the right, played him in to sweep in a shot from 10 yards out, 2-2, and 0-3 to Newcastle on January 4th, 2012, at St James’s, but the terrace chant, ‘Paul Scholes, he scores goals’, wasn’t enough to get them.

 Of the 100 substitutions made, most significant were French left central midfielder Paul Pogba’s 3, an Academy graduate, whose limited opportunities persuaded him to leave from 2012-13 for Serie A giants Juventus, costing van Gaal’s Portuguese successor, José Mourinho, £89.3m to secure his return for 2016-17. Making 5 starts and 5 appearances, Tom Cleverley, highly regarded by Ferguson, would play a significant role as a midfield ball-player, potent in attack, the following season, 2012-13, 18 starts and 4 appearances for 2 goals, when Alex brought Robin van Persie from Arsenal for £24m to supply the goals the side lacked, 35 starts, 3 appearances, and 26 goals, before Alex retired.

 The club finished 11 points ahead of Manchester City on 89. Rooney, 22 starts and 5 appearances for 12 goals, and Hernández’ 9 starts, 13 appearances, and 10 goals, neatly exemplified the paradox of the ageing reliable striker, and ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’, as Solskjaer was called, coming onto the field off the bench when a goal was of paramount necessity. Welbeck had gotten the idea, 15 starts and 10 appearances for 9 goals.

 Although Moyes’ short-lived sojourn in the manager’s seat for 2013-14 was characterized by players, who’d been used to contributing, left to wither away, added to the squad were, Spain’s Juan Mata from Chelsea for £37.1m, a left-footed replacement for Giggs, 6 starts and 6 appearances in his retirement season, age 40. Mata, who’d also serve as an inverted right wing, or inside right, 14 starts, 1 appearance and 6 goals. Belgium's tireless midfielder, up-and-down the pitch ceaselessly, using his aerial advantage, 6’ 4” (1.94m) in support of the attack, Marouane Fellaini, £27.5m from Moyes’ former club, Everton, 12 starts and 4 appearances, and Belgian Adnan Januzaj, an Academy graduate, left footed, playmaker, who just didn’t have the bigness of body to go with his skill, 15 starts, 12 appearances, for 4 goals. Of the 106 substitutions made, the most significant stats were Hernández, 6 starts and 18 appearances for 4 goals, indicating Moyes didn’t believe he should start, and that he didn’t get enough goals as the super sub he’d demoted him to be. Rooney top scored with 17 from 27 starts and 2 appearances, while van Persie weighed in with 12 from 18 starts and 3 appearances, but the club finished 7th and Moyes was replaced by van Gaal for 2014-15.

 Upon Malcolm’s passing, on May 8th, 2014, Joel and Avram Glazer remained co-chairmen. Though largely despised, as a meaningless series of ‘friendlies’, the pre-season International Champions Cup, organized in the United States for clubs with a global standing, had some significance. United’s Group A contained Inter, Roma, and Real, while Group B contained Liverpool, Olympiacos of Greece, Manchester City and Milan. After a round robin, United and Liverpool topped their groups, and the Manchester club won the final at Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, 3-1, with goals from Mata, Rooney, and Jesse Lingard, an inverted left winger, or inside forward, who also played on the right, as he was right footed, on as a substitute; de Gea; Jones, Smalling, Evans (Blackett 46’); Valencia (Shaw 8’), Fletcher (Cleverley 46’), Herrera (Lingard 78’), Young; Mata (Kagawa 69’); Rooney (c), Hernández (Nani 69’).

 Hernández’ deep cross from out by the right corner of the 18 yard box found Rooney, running in, left corner of the penalty area, left foot, instep, on 55 minutes, directing the ball back across the mouth of the goal, inside the side netting by the far post, right, 1-1, Luke Shaw, brought from S’ton for £30m, left back, his position, on for injured right back, Valencia, crossing, outside the corner of the 18 yard box, finding Mata, left edge of the ‘D’, turning to strike, left footed, goal, center, on 57 minutes, 2-1. Cross from the right, Nani, outside the 18 yard box, midway along it, back towards Kagawa, traps the ball, right of the ‘D’, inside, sets up the ball for Lingard, strikes, on 88 minutes, right footed, low, inside the right upright, 3-1.

 Rooney, 33 starts for 12 goals, and van Persie, 25 starts and 2 appearances for 10, found support in Mata, 27 starts and 6 appearances for 9 goals. Argentina’s center back/left back, Marcos Rojo, £16m from Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon, right winger, Ángel Di María, £59.7m from Real Madrid, were added by van Gaal. Spain’s playmaker, Ander Herrera, from Athletic Bilbao for €36m, and Daley Blind from Ajax for £13.8m, a utility player capable of defensive midfield duties, left back, or center back roles, and who was probably the most useful buy of all. Blind started 25 games for 2 goals, and because of his solidity, van Gaal was able to look at his options in several positions.

 Of the 108 substitutions made, Radamel Falcao’s, a Columbian striker, El Tigre, ‘The Tiger’, on loan from AS Monaco, 14 starts and 12 appearances for 4 goals, indicated the direction of coaches’ thinking. The hungry for goals striker, on the bench like a caged tiger, waiting to spring. The club finished 4th in the table, qualifying for the UCL, while the list of those shown the door was extensive. Ferdinand was released, Vidić left on a free to Inter, Evra was transferred to Juvé for £1.2m, Kagawa returned to Dortmund for £6.3m, Welbeck was transferred to Arsenal for £16m, Fletcher left on a free to West Ham, and Anderson left on a free to Brazil’s Internacionale, while Nani, loaned to Sporting CP, Hernández, loaned to Real Madrid, and Cleverley, loaned to Aston Villa, wouldn’t return to ‘the theater of Dreams’, as van Gaal shaped his own squad.

 Anthony Martial, French center forward, brought from AS Monaco for £36m, 18 years, top scored with 11 goals, from 29 starts and 2 appearances, which didn’t look good, as Rooney was second with 8, from 27 starts and 1 appearance. A low goals total meant the club finished 5th in the 2015-16 term, qualifying for Europe’s second tier Europa League, successor to the Fairs Cup, integrated within the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in 1971, as the UEFA Cup, and retaining the same trophy, the ‘U Cup’ of the Europa League from 1999.

 Memphis Depay, an inverted left winger, right footed, from PSV for £25m, and right winger, Bastian Schweinsteiger, from Bayern Munich for £6.5m, were van Gaal’s flexi-wings. France’s Morgan Schneiderlin, defensive midfielder, signed from S’ton for £25m, and Italian Matteo Darmian, full back or center back, for £12.7m from Milan, represented van Gaal’s defensive thinking, with an eye on three at the back with wing halves, corresponding to Valencia and Young, but also the sweeper system, catenaccio in Italy1 requiring the astuteness of full back, Matteo, terzino volante, free to bolt, while the other defenders man-mark.

 Van Persie was transferred for £4.5m to Turkey’s Süper Lig club, Fenerbahçe, joining Nani, transferred there for £4.25m, Rafael to French Ligue 1 club, Lyon, for £2.5m, Di María to PSG for £44m, Hernández to German Bundesliga club, Bayer Leverkusen, for £8.75m, and Evans to WBA for £6m. As ‘a new broom sweeps clean’, van Gaal bolted the door behind his swept. The team for the 2016 F.A. Cup Final was sophisticated, as analysis of the list of substitutes reveals; de Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Rojo (Darmian 66’), Carrick, Rooney (c), Mata (Lingard 90’), Fellaini, Martial, Rashford (Young 72’).

 The unused substitutes were, apart from Argentine ‘keeper, Sergio Romero, Jones, Herrera, and Schneiderlin. As Young could play left back, Darmian could be free, if it became necessary to defend a lead. Unfortunately, center back, Smalling, was sent off in the 105th minute of extra time, the game having ended, 1-1, after 90 minutes, for holding onto the leg of Crystal Palace's Democratic Republic of the Congo left winger, Yannick Bolasie, although van Gaal’s plan remained sufficiently organizational. With Smalling, sent off, and all of the three substitutes permissible used, Jones, the center back on the bench, couldn’t fill in.

 Young was switched to left back, although the side could have played three at the back, as they’d been coached to do. With Carrick dropping back from midfield, alongside Blind, and ‘door bolt’ Darmian, Valencia, a former right winger, converted to right back, and Young, similarly, could have deployed as wing backs, without losing any defensive capability, or midfield creativity, as Carrick would be the door to Darmian’s bolt.

 Van Gaal opted to leave the midfield unchanged, with Lingard as a striker, on as a 90th minute substitute for Spain's left footed inverted right winger, Mata, alongside rising star, Marcus Rashford, 18 years, 11 starts for 5 goals, since his Premier League debut on February 28th, 2016, in the home win against Arsenal, 3-2, striking right footed a crossed ball from right back, Varela, wide on the right, on 29 minutes, outside the penalty area, level with the left upright, top right corner of the net, 1-0, and on 32 minutes, just outside the penalty area, center, heading down a Lingard lobbed ball, right footed from inside the right corner of the 18 yard box, one bounce, inside the left post, 2-0, although Jesse would drop back into midfield when Palace had possession. On 110 minutes, Jesse volleyed right footed from the right of the 'D', edge of the 18 yard box, scoring top left corner of the goal, past 'keeper, Wales' Wayne Hennessy, 2-1.

 Palace, a throw-in, left, parallel with the 18 yard box, Senegal’s left back, Pape Souaré, to take, the ball with Bolasie, left winger, just inside the box, Darmian, tapping his ankle as he turns, left, looking to deliver a cross-shot, surprised by the quick, sharp pain, Bolasie gasps, stumbles, loses control. The defenders converge on the loosed, rolling, ball.

 What the English call ‘the flaw in the Italian character’ is the defence of a place in the team, rather than be blamed, which is the downside of catenaccio, as the onus is on self-protection, rather than the team. Although the use of three substitutes diluted this selfishness, as squad rotation came to the fore, a sending off, equivalent to incapacitating injury, before a sub was allowed in 1965, naturally stimulates the desire to avoid more blame, which is why Matteo’s defending was dangerously Latin.

 Blind, 21 starts and 3 appearances for 1 goal, was just as useful to new boss, José Mourinho, UCL 2003-04 winner with Porto, UCL 2099-10 winner with Milan, and soon to be Europa Cup winner with Manchester United. The best was yet to come from Rashford, 16 starts and 16 appearances for 5 goals, but José brought on a free from PSG an old striking head, 35 years, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Sweden’s center forward, 27 starts and 1 appearance for 17 goals, to ease the pressure on Marcus’ development, as well as Pogba, Armenia’s captain and right wing, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, from Borussia Dortmund, for £30m, 14 starts and 9 appearances for 4 goals, and Ivory Coast center back, Eric Bailly, £30m from Spain’s Villarreal, 24 starts and 1 appearance. Of the substitutions made, apart from Rashford’s 16, indicating he wasn’t a super sub, with only 5 goals and 16 starts, Rooney’s 10 and 5 goals from 15 starts was a sign of an old warrior needing to be rested, though better stats than Martial, 18 starts, 7 appearances, 4 goals, junior to Wayne by a decade.

 The club finished 6th but won the 2016-2017 season’s League Cup Final, 3-2, against Southampton, with Ibrahimović’s 25 yard direct free kick, in the 19th minute, left side of the ‘D’, bent, curling around and over the S’ton wall, to ‘keeper Fraser Foster’s right, bottom left corner of the goal, 1-0. On 38 minutes, left back, Rojo, outside the 18 yard box, left corner, left footed pass to Lingard, right of the ‘D’, struck low, right footed, right corner of the net, 2-0. Although Italian center forward, Manolo Gabbiadini, levelled, on 45+1 and 48 minutes, each side of half-time, after a low cross from right wing, James Ward-Prowse, outside the 18 yard box by the goal line, striking inside the penalty area, right near post, right footed, in front of ‘keeper de Gea, 2-1, and again, just outside the area, center goal, the ball bouncing on the penalty spot, after a header, coming down, high, from right edge of the ‘D’, Gabbiadini spinning, right to left, right boot, waist high, lashing shot, to de Gea‘s right, 2-2. Herrera, central right midfielder, inside left corner of the 18 yard box, cross to Ibrahimović, just outside the penalty area, level with the left upright, powerful header, on 87 minutes, goal, center, 3-2, bulging net; de Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Smalling (c), Rojo, Herrera, Pogba, Mata (Carrick 46’), Lingard (Rashford 77’), Martial (Fellaini 90’), Ibrahimović.

 The Europa Cup Final against Ajax, at Friends Arena, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden, won, 2-0, a low shot from Pogba, inside the ‘D’, right, deflected over surprised Cameroon ‘keeper André Onana’s head by Columbian central defender, Davinson Sánchez, center of the 18 yard box, on 18 minutes. A corner on the right, Smalling, center of the goal, just outside the penalty area, heading the ball, onto the white line, marking its boundary, bounces, high, and an overhead kick from Mkhitaryan (Lingard 74’), inside the area, looking over his head, right boot high, outstretched, contact, 2-0, on 48 minutes; Romero, Valencia (c), Smalling, Blind, Darmian, Herrera, Mata (Rooney 90’), Fellaini, Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Rashford (Martial 84’).

 The team lost the Final of the European Super Cup, 1-2, to Real Madrid, at the Philip II Arena in Skopje, Macedonia, although Belgian center forward, Romelu Lukaku, bought for £75m from Everton, after Costa Rican ‘keeper, Keylor Navas, spilled a shot, left footed, outside the ‘D’, left, from Nemanja Matić, Serbian defensive midfielder, bought from Chelsea for £40m for 2017-18, outside the penalty area, right, right footed strike, low, left corner of the net, 1-2, on 84 minutes, began to justify the money spent, with 33 starts, 1 appearance and 16 goals. No other United player came close to double figures in 2017-18; de Gea; Valencia, Lindelof, Smalling, Darmian, Matić, Herrera (Fellaini 56’), Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Lingard (Rashford 46’), Lukaku.

 Daley Blind was amongst the unused substitutes, 4 starts and 3 appearances, before returning to Ajax for €16m for 2018-19. With the money available to the big clubs, the utility player had become a luxury that the desire for instantaneous recognition couldn’t afford. Fans, coaching staff, and the club board, want recognizable excellence, resulting in the productivity of the best mechanisms for each specialized task, as a business, making redundant the ‘jack-of-all trades and master of none’, ignoring the fact that utility is masterful. As complexity demands slavery, making the brain too tired to recognize that the right back can switch to left midfield, the utility player appears as viral to the damage, although it’d be more sensitive to observe that the human replacement for the machine part is replaceable until the replacer is able to perceive it’s a perfectly functioning hole.

1 Martin, Jay The Best of Soccer Journal: An NSCAA Guide to Soccer Coaching Excellence, London: Maidenhead: Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2012, pp. 69–71.

 

10/03/2024 04:56
Shaw Got Ten Years

A product of Southampton's youth policy, age 16, left back Luke Shaw made his first team debut on January 28th, 2012, against Millwall, 1-1, in the F.A. Cup 3rd Round, substituting for left winger, Jason Puncheon, in the 77th minute, before signing as a professional, after 'The Saints' beat Coventry City, 4-0, on April 28th, to finish second on 88 points below Reading's 89, but above West Ham United's 86, and gain promotion from English soccer’s 2nd tier Championship to 1st tier Premier League for the 2012-13 campaign. Manchester United's Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, had him transferred for the 2014-15 season for £30m.
In an injury ravaged start to his career, Luke also had the talents of Argentine defender, Marcos Rojo, bought by van Gaal from Portugal’s Sporting CP, Lisbon, for £16m, former Aston Villa left wing, England’s Ashley Young, bought for £17m for 2011-12, and converted by then manager, Alex Ferguson, to left back, and left footed Dutch center back, Daley Blind, after a hamstring injury to Shaw kept him out of the team for the first month of the season, also bought by Gaal for 2014-15 from Eredivisie Ajax for £13.8m, to compete for a place in the team.
Rojo, a center half, also played at left back, as he did in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final for Gaal, though Rojo himself was replaced on 66 minutes by Italian full back, Matteo Darmian, transferred from Italy's AC Milan for 2015-16, after being on loan at Torino, Turin, Italy, for £12.7m, specifically as cover for Shaw, while Young came on as substitute for England center forward, Marcus Rashford, on 72 minutes, with French left wing Anthony Martial, switching to center forward, as Young took the left wing position. United drew, 1-1, but won, 2-1, a.e.t., through a volley on the right edge of the 18 yard box, right footed, top left corner of the net, from England's Jessie Lingard, on for Spain's left footed inverted right wing, Juan Mata, on 110 minutes.
Before the appointment of Portuguese manager, José Mourinho, as Gaal's successor for 2016-17, as the club wanted the league title as well as the F.A. Cup, Young, along with right wing, Ecuador's Antonio Valencia, similarly at right back in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, Ashley having been converted to left full back by Ferguson, to win the last of his 13 league titles in 2012-13, before he retired to be replaced for 2013-14 by Everton's David Moyes.
Gaal had replaced Moyes, after David lost to Sunderland, 1-2 away, and 2-1 at home, with the aggregate score, 3-3, a.e.t., in the second leg, 1-2, on penalties at Old Trafford of the 2013-14 League Cup semi-final. A catalyst for dismissal. However, the non-availability of Shaw for the 2016 F.A. Cup Final was indicative of the problems that injury and competition for the left back role represented for him. In the 2014-15 season, ruled out by a hamstring complaint for the first part, Luke made 15 starts and 1 appearance from the substitutes' bench, as the specialist left back, while Rojo and Young had more opportunities to compete for that spot in 2015-16, after Shaw suffered a double leg fracture, subsequent to a 15th minute sliding tackle by Dutch club PSV Eindhoven's Mexican center back, Héctor Moreno, in a defeat, 1-2, on September 15th, 2015, at Philips Stadion, during a Group B Champions League qualifier for the knock-out Round of 16 stage. However, finishing 3rd the club were relegated to competing in European soccer's 2nd tier competition, where in the Europa League’s Round of 16 they lost to Liverpool, 1-3, on aggregate, 0-2, at Anfield, and 1-1 at home.
Shaw made only 5 starts in 2015-16, and 9 starts and 2 appearances in 2016-17, followed by 8 and 3 in 2017-18, which indicated not only the extent of his injury concerns with regard to recovery and fitness, but also the ability of the competition, for example, Darmian, who made 15 starts and 3 appearances for Mourinho in 2016-17, with Rojo at left back for the League Cup Final defeat of Southampton, 3-2, was at left back in the Europa Cup Final defeat of Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam, 2-0, at Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden, while Young was at left back for the defeat to Chelsea, 0-1, in the 2018 F.A. Cup Final.
Luke's England career was similarly disrupted, with only 8 appearances, subsequent to his 4 in 2014, after his debut as half-time substitute for Chelsea's Ashley Cole, while still at Southampton, in a friendly at London's Wembley Stadium against Denmark, 1-0, on March 5th, and second choice to Everton's Leighton Baines in the 2014 World Cup Finals, selected only for the Group D, Game 3, World Cup qualifier, at Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on June 24th, against Central America's Costa Rica, 0-0, eventual group winners, with former World Cup winners England and Italy eliminated, while another, Uruguay, progressed.
In the 2016 European Championship, with the Finals due to be held in France, without injured Shaw, who'd been fit for the Group E European Championship qualifiers against a European microstate within Italy's borders, San Marino, beaten 6-0, at Stadio Olimpico, Sarravalle, on September 5th, 2015, and against Switzerland, defeated 2-0, at Wembley, on September 8th, 2015, before England lost to Iceland, 1-2, at Grande Stade de Nice, Italy, in the Round of 16, with Tottenham Hotspur's Danny Rose at left back, while at the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia, Ashley Young was at left full back for the semi final, 1-2, against Croatia, at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.
Shaw was available for the inaugural 2018-19 UEFA Nations League, Portugal, Group A 4 defeat to Spain, 1-2, at Wembley on September 8th, 2018, while England, losing to the Netherlands in the semi final, 1-1, and 1-3, a.e.t., at Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal, June 6th, 2019, with Leicester City's Ben Chilwell at left back, on June 9th, again in the city of Guimarães, beat Switzerland, 0-0, a.e.t., 6-5 on penalties, in the game to decide 3rd and 4th place overall, but this time with Rose at left back.
For 2020's European Championship Finals, held multi-nationally in 11 countries, Shaw was selected for Group D, Game 3, to face the Czech Republic, won 1-0, on June 22nd at Wembley, and against Germany, won 2-0, on June 29th, in the Round of 16, at Wembley, before the defeat of Ukraine, in the quarter final, on July 3rd, 2021, 4-0, at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy, and then Denmark were beaten, 2-1, in the semi final, on July 7th, at Wembley, but the side lost at London’s national Stadium on July 11th, 2-3, to Italy on penalties, a.e.t., 1-1, with Shaw getting England's goal from open play on 2 minutes, striking low, left of 'keeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, from a cross by Atlético Madrid's right back, Kieran Trippier, at the right corner of the 18 yard box to Luke at the far post.
Losing the final of the European Championships was a close affair, and Manchester United wouldn't win another trophy until 2022-23, when manager from the Netherlands' Ajax, Amsterdam, Erik ten Hag,  steered the side to victory in the 2023 League Cup Final, 2-0, against Newcastle United, having replaced Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, former ‘red devils’ striker, and Mourinho's successor, after the 2018 F.A. Cup Final defeat to a penalty on 22 minutes by Eden Hazard, when the Belgian striker was recklessly challenged in the penalty area by England center back, Phil Jones, 0-1.
Shaw had made the left full back position his though, with 29 starts in 2018-19, and Daley Blind returned to Ajax for €16m, although Solskjaer assessed Brandon Williams, 19 years, 11 starts and 6 appearances in 2019-20, while Luke was making 20 starts and 4 appearances. For 2020-21 Ole had Brazil left back, Alex Telles, 8 starts and 1 appearance, transferred from Portugal's FC Porto for £15.4m to sustain the pressure on Shaw, 30 starts and 2 appearances, to perform. The competition was productive, as Ole's team made four semi-finals in two seasons; the League Cup, F.A. Cup and Europa Cup in 2019-2020, and the League Cup semi final in 2020-21.
The club also reached the 2021 Europa Cup Final at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, beating Roma in the first leg of the quarter final at home, 6-2, but losing, 2-3 in Rome, winning 8-5 on aggregate, only to lose to Spain’s Villarreal in the Final, 10-11 on penalties, a.e.t., 1-1, with South America's Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, arriving on a free transfer, age 34 from French club, Paris Saint-Germain, striking twice in the semi final first leg against Roma, with United behind, 1-2, right footed volleying a pass infield from Portugal’s playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, to his right on 49 minutes into the top right corner, and a tap in on 64 minutes after Spanish ‘keeper, Pau López, was unable to hold onto Croydon born right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross shot from wide on the right.
Edinson, in the second away leg, put through by Fred, right footed, bursting through from inside his own half into Roma’s, receiving the pass infield, ran on to rifle a shot, on 39 minutes, into the net, a yard or so from the edge of the 18 yard box, 1-0,  then later, Fernandes, left outside the 18 yard box, chipping the ball towards Cavani, running in at goal from the right corner of the 18 yard box, center, a yard or so outside the penalty area, on 68 minutes, a header down, and inside the right post, 2-2.
On 55 minutes Cavani equalized in the Final against Villarreal, with a close-in strike from 5 yards, 1-1. Left back, Alfonso Pedraza, midway inside the 18 yard box, could only block, with the outside of his right boot, Rashford’s low effort, center field, from 20 yards, as far as Scots’ midfielder, Scott McTominay, who set himself to run at the ball to strike at goal. Although center back, Pau Torres, dove in with a sliding tackle to clear, Cavani, coming in from the left ahead of him, swept the ball with the inside of his right boot, past Argentine ‘keeper, Gerónimo Rulli, into the net.
The team lost comprehensively to Manchester City in the 2019-20 two leg League Cup semi final, 1-3, at home, with Williams at left back, but with Shaw, 1-0 away, 2-3 on aggregate, while in the F.A. Cup semi final the side again lost comprehensively to Chelsea, with Williams at left back, 1-3, and in the Europa cup semi final a loss, 0-2, to Spain’s Sevilla, at the RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany, with Williams again at left back. Luke was at left back against Manchester City in the 2020-21 League Cup semi final defeat, 0-2, and in the 10-11 Europa Cup Final loss to Villarreal, which led to Solskjaer's replacing in 2021-22, with former RB Leipzig manager, German Ralf Rangnick, an interim appointment on December 3rd, 2021, until season's end.
For Ole 2021-22 began optimistically, with Portugal’s legendary right wing, Cristiano Ronaldo, agreeing to leave Italy's Juventus for £12.85m. He'd won back-to-back titles there in 2018-19 and 2019-20, after leaving Real Madrid for £88m, where he'd won the European Champions League in 2014, against Spain’s Atlético Madrid, 1-1, and 4-1, a.e.t., on May 24th at the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal; 2016, against Atlético Madrid, 1-1, a.e.t., 5-3 on penalties, on May 28th at the San Siro, Milan; 2017, against Italy's Juventus, 4-1, on June 3rd at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany, and 2018, against Liverpool, 3-1, on May 26th at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine, as well as the World Club Cup in 2014, against Argentina's San Lorenzo, 2-0, on December 20th at the Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco; 2016, against Japan's Kashima Antlers, 2-2, a.e.t., 4-2, on December 18th at the International Stadium, Yokohama, and 2017, against Brazil's Grémio, 1-0, on December 16th at the Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, after leaving Old Trafford for £80m, where he'd won the 2008 Champions League Final at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, against Chelsea, 1-1, and ahead on 26 minutes from his own headed goal, through a cross on the right from the full back there, Wes Brown, 6-5, a.e.t., on penalties, with legendary Welsh left wing, Ryan Giggs, converting # 6.
Despite the legend’s desire to unfold further, scoring 6 of his 18 goals that term for Solskjaer, the club, 7th in the league on November 20th, was taken out of Ole’s control and given over to first team coach Michael Carrick who, caretaker manager until Ralf, saw his charges draw, 1-1 on November 21st against Chelsea at home.
Right footed inverted left wing, Jadon Sancho, brought from German Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, for 2021-22 for £73m, and returning on loan there from January 11th, 2024, for a fee of £4m, ‘underperforming’, according to ten Hag, dispossessed Brazilian born Italian international defensive midfielder, Jorginho, who tried to control on his chest, just outside the center circle, inside the Chelsea half, a volleyed left footed lob from Fernandes, left of United’s 18 yard box. Sancho ran the ball into The Blues’ penalty area, rounding Senegalese ‘keeper, Édouard Mendy, and drove the ball right footed into the net on 50 minutes, 1-0.
On November 28th Carrick effectively relinquished his caretaker role, after a win away to Spain’s Villarreal in Group F of the Champions League, after securing for the club a place in the Round of 16, with Ronaldo, on 78 minutes, lobbing the ball over ‘keeper Rulli, after his too-short kick out to French defensive midfielder, Étienne Capoue, challenged by United’s Brazilian left midfielder, Fred, bounced favorably for Cristiano to side footed, lob, with the inside of his right boot, 1-0.
Fernandes, right of center, completing a sweeping cross field move from the left touchline, flicked a pass infield from Rashford, on as a 66th minute substitute for Martial, and in his preferred role of right footed inverted left winger, out to Sancho, at the right of the 18 yard box, almost level with the corner of the 6 yard box, and the England striker, right footed, struck high, on 90 minutes, into the top right corner of the net, 2-0.
With United on 10 points in Group F, at worst the club would complete their fixture list to finish second to Villarreal on goal difference. Completing their fixtures, home and away, against United, Italy’s Atalanta, and Switzerland’s Young Boys of Berne, Villarreal finished on 10 points, with a goal difference of +3. With a game against Young Boys at Old Trafford remaining, under Rangnick’s guidance, the team drew, 1-1, after a cross from Shaw out on the left wing near the goal line, was struck, left footed, falling backwards, low inside the left post, 1-0, by then 20 years England center forward, Mason Greenwood, later sent off on loan to get offers at Spain’s La Liga club, Getafe, after January, 2022, social media video recordings alleging rape, but 18 in 2019-20, when he reached double figures in goals, 10, for the first and only time in his then United career. With the same goal difference as Villarreal, +3, United finished top of Group F on 11 points.
Shaw made 19 starts and 1 appearance in 2021-22 before ten Hag's arrival. Curiously the Dutchman managed to leave the team without recognizable left back cover for Luke, 30 starts and 1 appearance in 2022-23, by the close of 2023-24, which significantly impinged on the club's progress, as they had to negotiate the later rounds of the F.A. Cup without Shaw. Telles, allowed to go on loan for 2022-23 to Spain's Sevilla, where he won the Europa Cup, 4-1 on penalties, a.e.t., with the match against Italy's Roma ending, at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, after normal time, 1-1, was transferred for $7.8m to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for 2023-24, where he was in the team that won the Arab Club Champions Cup Final at King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia, on August 12th, 2023, against Al Hilal, also of Saudi Arabia, 2-1, alongside Ronaldo, given a free transfer by ten Hag, who got both goals.
Ten Hag's solution to his left full back issue was to bring from Everton Spain's Sergio Reguilón on loan, 5 starts and 4 appearances, but he was allowed to return to Everton on January 4th, shortly before Shaw's injury on 45 + 2 minutes, during the February 18th, 2-1, win at Luton Town, which in the absence of left footed Argentine center back, and sometime left back, Lisandro Martínez, foot and knee injury, brought from ten Hag's former club, Ajax, for 2022-23 for £47m, and Tyrell Malacia, knee, left back transferred from Holland's Feyenoord, also for 2022-23, for £13m, both out for most of the season, meant the side hadn't a left full back for the remaining F.A. Cup games.
A loan spell for Brandon Williams at then Premier League club, Norwich City, 2021-22, 23 starts and 3 appearances, didn't augur well. Though a rugged, long-legged tackler, with the capacity to cross strongly from the left, Williams didn't figure in ten Hag's 2022-23 league campaign, and loaned to England's 2nd tier Championship club, Ipswich Town, for 2023-24, he wasn't recalled after Shaw's setback. Spanish left back, Álvaro Carreras, 27 starts and 12 appearances, on loan to England's Championship club Preston North End in 2022-23, was again loaned, first on September 1st, 2023, to Granada in Spain's La Liga, then on January 17th, 2024, before Shaw's injury in February, who then had only 12 starts to his name, Carreras again went on loan to Portugal's Primeira Liga club Benfica, with the condition of his signing for €6m being that he should play half (8) of the Lisbon club's remaining games in their league season, which for ten Hag seemed to preclude Carreras being recalled, while emphasizing how it was Shaw hadn't any rivals.
At 3rd in Group 2, with Trippier at left back, England didn't qualify for the biennial 2020-21 UEFA Nations League Finals, Italy, but England's Luke, selected for the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Group I against Hungary, 4-0, on September 2nd, 2021, at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, and against Poland, 1-1, on September 8th, at Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, before the return against Hungary, on October 12th, 1-1, at Wembley, was at left back for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, Holland, Group A3, Game 5, against Italy, on September 23rd, 2022, at Stadio San Siro, Milan, 0-1, and against Germany, Game 6, on September 26th, in which he scored England's first at Wembley on 77 minutes in a draw, 3-3, although England, bottom of Group A3, were relegated to Group B.
Shaw, selected for the 2022 World Cup Finals against Iran, on November 21st, in the Group B Game 1, experienced victory, 6-2, at the Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar, while drawing in Game 2 against the United States, 0-0, on November 25th at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, before winning in Game 3 against Wales, 3-0, on November 29th, at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, and beating Senegal in Game 4, 3-0, on December 4th, at Al Bayt, but losing the quarter final against France, 1-2, on December 10th, at Al Bayt.
Luke went on to play for England in the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championship, Germany, against Italy, Group C, winning 2-1, on March 23rd, 2023, at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, and in the defeat of Malta, 4-0, on June 16th, at the Ta'Qali National Stadium, Valetta, as well as against North Macedonia, beaten 7-0, on June 19th, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and England's last opponent ahead of Shaw's February 2024 injury.
Ten years at 'the theater of Dreams', and some dreaming with ten Hag, deserves a testimonial, according to received soccer wisdom. Shaw was the latest in a considerable line of left back heroes for the faithful amongst the terraced ranks at the Stretford End to applaud. Eire's Johnny Carey, captain of the 1948 F.A. Cup Final winning side that beat Blackpool, 4-2. Roger Byrne, captain, and another left winger, 7 goals in 1951-52’s league title team, switched to left full back. Eire's Tony Dunne, left back in the 1968 European Cup Final defeat of Portugal's Benfica, 4-1, a.e.t., 1-1, at Wembley. Scot, Arthur Albiston, winner of the F.A. Cup Finals of 1977, against Liverpool, 2-1, 1983, against Brighton and Hove Albion, 4-0, after a replay, 2-2, and 1985, against Everton, 1-0. England left back, Lee Martin, lashing home the winner on 59 minutes in the 1990 F.A. Cup Final Replay, 1-0, after the first game ended, 3-3. Northern Ireland’s Denis Irwin's marathon stint as a right footed left back, after his transfer from Oldham Athletic for season 1990-91 for £650,000, during 7 of the team's championship winning seasons, as well as the 1999 European Cup Final in Spain at Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium, 2-1, against German Bundesliga club, FC Bayern Munich. Fans have had some cheer from the left back position.
Although Shaw reportedly idolized Chelsea's Ashley Cole, prior to van Gaal’s injection of Luke's panache in 2014-15, his immediate predecessors in the left back role at United were equally as deserving. France's Mikaël Silvestre, five league titles before 2007-08, and his second European Champions League title in 2007-08, although France’s left back, Patrice Evra, edged him out of the starting line up, and Alex Ferguson’s converted left wing, Ashley Young, at left full back, assuring him and his players of their 13th league title in 2012-13.

Shaw Got Ten Years

A product of Southampton's youth policy, age 16, left back Luke Shaw made his first team debut on January 28th, 2012, against Millwall, 1-1, in the F.A. Cup 3rd Round, substituting for left winger, Jason Puncheon, in the 77th minute, before signing as a professional, after 'The Saints' beat Coventry City, 4-0, on April 28th, to finish second on 88 points below Reading's 89, but above West Ham United's 86, and gain promotion from English soccer’s 2nd tier Championship to 1st tier Premier League for the 2012-13 campaign. Manchester United's Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, had him transferred for the 2014-15 season for £30m.

 In an injury ravaged start to his career, Luke also had the talents of Argentine defender, Marcos Rojo, bought by van Gaal from Portugal’s Sporting CP, Lisbon, for £16m, former Aston Villa left wing, England’s Ashley Young, bought for £17m for 2011-12, and converted by then manager, Alex Ferguson, to left back, and left footed Dutch center back, Daley Blind, after a hamstring injury to Shaw kept him out of the team for the first month of the season, also bought by Gaal for 2014-15 from Eredivisie Ajax for £13.8m, to compete for a place in the team.

 Rojo, a center half, also played at left back, as he did in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final for Gaal, though Rojo himself was replaced on 66 minutes by Italian full back, Matteo Darmian, transferred from Italy's AC Milan for 2015-16, after being on loan at Torino, Turin, Italy, for £12.7m, specifically as cover for Shaw, while Young came on as substitute for England center forward, Marcus Rashford, on 72 minutes, with French left wing Anthony Martial, switching to center forward, as Young took the left wing position. United drew, 1-1, but won, 2-1, a.e.t., through a volley on the right edge of the 18 yard box, right footed, top left corner of the net, from England's Jessie Lingard, on for Spain's left footed inverted right wing, Juan Mata, on 110 minutes.

 Before the appointment of Portuguese manager, José Mourinho, as Gaal's successor for 2016-17, as the club wanted the league title as well as the F.A. Cup, Young, along with right wing, Ecuador's Antonio Valencia, similarly at right back in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, Ashley having been converted to left full back by Ferguson, to win the last of his 13 league titles in 2012-13, before he retired to be replaced for 2013-14 by Everton's David Moyes.

 Gaal had replaced Moyes, after David lost to Sunderland, 1-2 away, and 2-1 at home, with the aggregate score, 3-3, a.e.t., in the second leg, 1-2, on penalties at Old Trafford, of the 2013-14 League Cup semi-final. A catalyst for dismissal. However, the non-availability of Shaw for the 2016 F.A. Cup Final was indicative of the problems that injury and competition for the left back role represented for him. In the 2014-15 season, ruled out by a hamstring complaint for the first part, Luke made 15 starts and 1 appearance from the substitutes' bench, as the specialist left back, while Rojo and Young had more opportunities to compete for that spot in 2015-16, after Shaw suffered a double leg fracture, subsequent to a 15th minute sliding tackle by Dutch club PSV Eindhoven's Mexican center back, Héctor Moreno, in a defeat, 1-2, on September 15th, 2015, at Philips Stadion, during a Group B Champions League qualifier for the knock-out Round of 16 stage. However, finishing 3rd the club were relegated to competing in European soccer's 2nd tier competition, where in the Europa League’s Round of 16 they lost to Liverpool, 1-3, on aggregate, 0-2, at Anfield, and 1-1 at home. 

 Shaw made only 5 starts in 2015-16, and 9 starts and 2 appearances in 2016-17, followed by 8 and 3 in 2017-18, which indicated not only the extent of his injury concerns with regard to recovery and fitness, but also the ability of the competition, for example, Darmian, who made 15 starts and 3 appearances for Mourinho in 2016-17, with Rojo at left back for the League Cup Final defeat of Southampton, 3-2, was at left back in the Europa Cup Final defeat of Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam, 2-0, at Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden, while Young was at left back for the defeat to Chelsea, 0-1, in the 2018 F.A. Cup Final.

 Luke's England career was similarly disrupted, with only 8 appearances, subsequent to his 4 in 2014, after his debut as half-time substitute for Chelsea's Ashley Cole, while still at Southampton, in a friendly at London's Wembley Stadium against Denmark, 1-0, on March 5th, and second choice to Everton's Leighton Baines in the 2014 World Cup Finals, selected only for the Group D, Game 3, World Cup qualifier, at Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on June 24th, against Central America's Costa Rica, 0-0, eventual group winners, with former World Cup winners England, 1966, and Italy, 1934, '38, '82 and 2006 eliminated, while another Uruguay, 1930 and '50, progressed.

 In the 2016 European Championship, with the Finals due to be held in France, without injured Shaw, who'd been fit for the Group E European Championship qualifiers against a European microstate within Italy's borders, San Marino, beaten 6-0, at Stadio Olimpico, Sarravalle, on September 5th, 2015, and against Switzerland, defeated 2-0, at Wembley, on September 8th, 2015, before England lost to Iceland, 1-2, at Grande Stade de Nice, Italy, in the Round of 16, with Tottenham Hotspur's Danny Rose at left back, while at the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia, Ashley Young was at left full back for the semi final, 1-2, against Croatia, at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.

 Shaw was available for the inaugural 2018-19 UEFA Nations League, Portugal, Group A 4 defeat to Spain, 1-2, at Wembley on September 8th, 2018, while England, losing to the Netherlands in the semi final, 1-1, and 1-3, a.e.t., at Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal, June 6th, 2019, with Leicester City's Ben Chilwell at left back, on June 9th, again in the city of Guimarães, beat Switzerland, 0-0, a.e.t., 6-5 on penalties, in the game to decide 3rd and 4th place overall, but this time with Rose at left back. 

 For 2020's European Championship Finals, held multi-nationally in 11 countries, Shaw was selected for Group D, Game 3, to face the Czech Republic, won 1-0, on June 22nd at Wembley, and against Germany, won 2-0, on June 29th, in the Round of 16, at Wembley, before the defeat of Ukraine, in the quarter final, on July 3rd, 2021, 4-0, at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy, and then Denmark were beaten, 2-1, in the semi final, on July 7th, at Wembley, but the side lost at London’s national Stadium on July 11th, 2-3, to Italy on penalties, a.e.t., 1-1, with Shaw getting England's goal from open play on 2 minutes, striking low, left of 'keeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, from a cross by Atlético Madrid's right back, Kieran Trippier, at the right corner of the 18 yard box to Luke at the far post.

 Losing the final of the European Championships was a close affair, and Manchester United wouldn't win another trophy until 2022-23, when manager from the Netherlands' Ajax, Amsterdam, Erik ten Hag,  steered the side to victory in the 2023 League Cup Final, 2-0, against Newcastle United, having replaced Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, former ‘red devils’ striker, and Mourinho's successor, after the 2018 F.A. Cup Final defeat to a penalty on 22 minutes by Eden Hazard, when the Belgian striker was recklessly challenged in the penalty area by England center back, Phil Jones, 0-1.

 Shaw had made the left full back position his though, with 29 starts in 2018-19, and Daley Blind returned to Ajax for €16m, although Solskjaer assessed Brandon Williams, 19 years, 11 starts and 6 appearances in 2019-20, while Luke was making 20 starts and 4 appearances. For 2020-21 Ole had Brazil left back, Alex Telles, 8 starts and 1 appearance, transferred from Portugal's FC Porto for £15.4m to sustain the pressure on Shaw, 30 starts and 2 appearances, to perform. The competition was productive, as Ole's team made four semi-finals in two seasons; the League Cup, F.A. Cup and Europa Cup in 2019-2020, and the League Cup semi final in 2020-21.

 The club also reached the 2021 Europa Cup Final at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, beating Roma in the first leg of the quarter final at home, 6-2, but losing, 2-3 in Rome, winning 8-5 on aggregate, only to lose to Spain’s Villarreal in the Final, 10-11 on penalties, a.e.t., 1-1, with South America's Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, arriving on a free transfer, age 34 from French club, Paris Saint-Germain, striking twice in the semi final first leg against Roma, with United behind, 1-2, right footed volleying a pass infield from Portugal’s playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, to his right on 49 minutes into the top right corner, 2-2, and a tap in on 64 minutes after Spanish ‘keeper, Pau López, was unable to hold onto Croydon born right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross shot from wide on the right, 2-3.

 Edinson, in the second away leg, put through by Fred, right footed, bursting through from inside his own half into Roma’s, receiving the pass infield, ran on to rifle a shot, on 39 minutes, into the net, a yard or so from the edge of the 18 yard box, 1-0,  then later, Fernandes, left outside the 18 yard box, chipping the ball towards Cavani, running in at goal from the right corner of the 18 yard box, center, a yard or so outside the penalty area, on 68 minutes, a header down, and inside the right post, 2-2.

 On 55 minutes Cavani equalized in the Final against Villarreal, with a close-in strike from 5 yards, 1-1. Left back, Alfonso Pedraza, midway inside the 18 yard box, could only block, with the outside of his right boot, Rashford’s low effort, center field, from 20 yards, as far as Scots’ midfielder, Scott McTominay, who set himself to run at the ball to strike at goal. Although center back, Pau Torres, dove in with a sliding tackle to clear, Cavani, coming in from the left ahead of him, swept the ball with the inside of his right boot, past Argentine ‘keeper, Gerónimo Rulli, into the net. 

 The team lost comprehensively to Manchester City in the 2019-20 two leg League Cup semi final, 1-3, at home, with Williams at left back, but with Shaw, 1-0 away, 2-3 on aggregate, while in the F.A. Cup semi final the side again lost comprehensively to Chelsea, with Williams at left back, 1-3, and in the Europa cup semi final a loss, 0-2, to Spain’s Sevilla, at the RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany, with Williams again at left back. Luke was at left back against Manchester City in the 2020-21 League Cup semi final defeat, 0-2, and in the 10-11 Europa Cup Final loss to Villarreal, which led to Solskjaer's replacing in 2021-22, with former RB Leipzig manager, German Ralf Rangnick, an interim appointment on December 3rd, 2021, until season's end.

 For Ole 2021-22 began optimistically, with Portugal’s legendary right wing, Cristiano Ronaldo, agreeing to leave Italy's Juventus for £12.85m. He'd won back-to-back Serie A titles there in 2018-19 and 2019-20, after leaving Real Madrid for £88m, where he'd won the European Champions League in 2014, against Spain’s Atlético Madrid, 1-1, and 4-1, a.e.t., on May 24th at the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal; 2016, against Atlético Madrid, 1-1, a.e.t., 5-3 on penalties, on May 28th at the San Siro, Milan; 2017, against Italy's Juventus, 4-1, on June 3rd at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany, and 2018, against Liverpool, 3-1, on May 26th at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine, as well as the World Club Cup in 2014, against Argentina's San Lorenzo, 2-0, on December 20th at the Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco; 2016, against Japan's Kashima Antlers, 2-2, a.e.t., 4-2, on December 18th at the International Stadium, Yokohama, and 2017, against Brazil's Grémio, 1-0, on December 16th at the Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, after leaving Old Trafford for £80m, where he'd won the 2008 Champions League Final at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, against Chelsea, 1-1, and ahead on 26 minutes from his own headed goal, through a cross on the right from the full back there, Wes Brown, 6-5, a.e.t., on penalties, with legendary Welsh left wing, Ryan Giggs, converting # 6. 

 Despite the legend’s desire to unfold further, scoring 6 of his 18 goals that term for Solskjaer, the club, 7th in the league on November 20th, was taken out of Ole’s control and given over to first team coach Michael Carrick who, caretaker manager until Ralf, saw his charges draw, 1-1 on November 21st against Chelsea at home.

 Right footed inverted left wing, Jadon Sancho, brought from German Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, for 2021-22 for £73m, and returning on loan there from January 11th, 2024, for a fee of £4m, ‘underperforming’, according to ten Hag, dispossessed Brazilian born Italian international defensive midfielder, Jorginho, who tried to control on his chest, just outside the center circle, inside the Chelsea half, a volleyed left footed lob from Fernandes, left of United’s 18 yard box. Sancho ran the ball into The Blues’ penalty area, rounding Senegalese ‘keeper, Édouard Mendy, and drove the ball right footed into the net on 50 minutes, 1-0. 

 On November 28th Carrick effectively relinquished his caretaker role, after a win away to Spain’s Villarreal in Group F of the Champions League, after securing for the club a place in the Round of 16, with Ronaldo, on 78 minutes, lobbing the ball over ‘keeper Rulli, after his too-short kick out to French defensive midfielder, Étienne Capoue, challenged by United’s Brazilian left midfielder, Fred, bounced favorably for Cristiano to side footed, lob, with the inside of his right boot, 1-0.

 Fernandes, right of center, completing a sweeping cross field move from the left touchline, flicked a pass infield from Rashford, on as a 66th minute substitute for Martial, and in his preferred role of right footed inverted left winger, out to Sancho, at the right of the 18 yard box, almost level with the corner of the 6 yard box, and the England striker, right footed, struck high, on 90 minutes, into the top right corner of the net, 2-0.

 With United on 10 points in Group F, at worst the club would complete their fixture list to finish second to Villarreal on goal difference. Completing their fixtures, home and away, against United, Italy’s Atalanta, and Switzerland’s Young Boys of Berne, Villarreal finished on 10 points, with a goal difference of +3. With a game against Young Boys at Old Trafford remaining, under Rangnick’s guidance, the team drew, 1-1, after a cross from Shaw out on the left wing near the goal line, was struck, left footed, falling backwards, low inside the left post, 1-0, by then 20 years England center forward, Mason Greenwood, later sent off on loan to get offers at Spain’s La Liga club, Getafe, after January, 2022, social media video recordings alleging rape, but 18 in 2019-20, when he reached double figures in goals, 10, for the first and only time in his then United career. With the same goal difference as Villarreal, +3, United finished top of Group F on 11 points. 

 Shaw made 19 starts and 1 appearance in 2021-22 before ten Hag's arrival. Curiously the Dutchman managed to leave the team without recognizable left back cover for Luke, 30 starts and 1 appearance in 2022-23, by the close of 2023-24, which significantly impinged on the club's progress, as they had to negotiate the later rounds of the F.A. Cup without Shaw. Telles, allowed to go on loan for 2022-23 to Spain's Sevilla, where he won the Europa Cup, 4-1 on penalties, a.e.t., with the match against Italy's Roma ending, at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, after normal time, 1-1, was transferred for $7.8m to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for 2023-24, where he was in the team that won the Arab Club Champions Cup Final at King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia, on August 12th, 2023, against Al Hilal, also of Saudi Arabia, 2-1, alongside Ronaldo, given a free transfer by ten Hag, who got both goals.

 Ten Hag's solution to his left full back issue was to bring from Everton Spain's Sergio Reguilón on loan, 5 starts and 4 appearances, but he was allowed to return to Everton on January 4th, shortly before Shaw's injury on 45 + 2 minutes, during the February 18th, 2-1, win at Luton Town, which in the absence of left footed Argentine center back, and sometime left back, Lisandro Martínez, foot and knee injury, brought from ten Hag's former club, Ajax, for 2022-23 for £47m, and Tyrell Malacia, knee, left back transferred from Holland's Feyenoord, also for 2022-23, for £13m, both out for most of the season, meant the side hadn't a left full back for the remaining F.A. Cup games.

 A loan spell for Brandon Williams at then Premier League club, Norwich City, 2021-22, 23 starts and 3 appearances, didn't augur well. Though a rugged, long-legged tackler, with the capacity to cross strongly from the left, Williams didn't figure in ten Hag's 2022-23 league campaign, and loaned to England's 2nd tier Championship club, Ipswich Town, for 2023-24, he wasn't recalled after Shaw's setback. Spanish left back, Álvaro Carreras, 27 starts and 12 appearances, on loan to England's Championship club Preston North End in 2022-23, was again loaned, first on September 1st, 2023, to Granada in Spain's La Liga, then on January 17th, 2024, before Shaw's injury in February, who then had only 12 starts to his name, Carreras again went on loan to Portugal's Primeira Liga club Benfica, with the condition of his signing for €6m being that he should play half (8) of the Lisbon club's remaining games in their league season, which for ten Hag seemed to preclude Carreras being recalled, while emphasizing how it was Shaw hadn't any rivals.

 At 3rd in Group 2, with Trippier at left back, England didn't qualify for the biennial 2020-21 UEFA Nations League Finals, Italy, but England's Luke, selected for the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Group I against Hungary, 4-0, on September 2nd, 2021, at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, and against Poland, 1-1, on September 8th, at Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, before the return against Hungary, on October 12th, 1-1, at Wembley, was at left back for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, Holland, Group A3, Game 5, against Italy, on September 23rd, 2022, at Stadio San Siro, Milan, 0-1, and against Germany, Game 6, on September 26th, in which he scored England's first at Wembley on 77 minutes in a draw, 3-3, although England, bottom of Group A3, were relegated to Group B.

 Shaw, selected for the 2022 World Cup Finals against Iran, on November 21st, in the Group B Game 1, experienced victory, 6-2, at the Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar, while drawing in Game 2 against the United States, 0-0, on November 25th at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, before winning in Game 3 against Wales, 3-0, on November 29th, at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, and beating Senegal in Game 4, 3-0, on December 4th, at Al Bayt, but losing the quarter final against France, 1-2, on December 10th, at Al Bayt. 

 Luke went on to play for England in the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championship, Germany, against Italy, Group C, winning 2-1, on March 23rd, 2023, at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, and in the defeat of Malta, 4-0, on June 16th, at the Ta'Qali National Stadium, Valetta, as well as against North Macedonia, beaten 7-0, on June 19th, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and England's last opponent ahead of Shaw's February 2024 injury.

 Ten years at 'the theater of Dreams', and some dreaming with ten Hag, deserves a testimonial, according to received soccer wisdom. Shaw was the latest in a considerable line of left back heroes for the faithful amongst the terraced ranks at the Stretford End to applaud. Eire's Johnny Carey, captain of the 1948 F.A. Cup Final winning side that beat Blackpool, 4-2. Roger Byrne, captain, and another left winger, 7 goals in 1951-52’s league title team, switched to left full back. Eire's Tony Dunne, left back in the 1968 European Cup Final defeat of Portugal's Benfica, 4-1, a.e.t., 1-1, at Wembley. Scot, Arthur Albiston, winner of the F.A. Cup Finals of 1977, against Liverpool, 2-1, 1983, against Brighton and Hove Albion, 4-0, after a replay, 2-2, and 1985, against Everton, 1-0. England left back, Lee Martin, lashing home the winner on 59 minutes in the 1990 F.A. Cup Final Replay, 1-0, after the first game ended, 3-3. Northern Ireland’s Denis Irwin's marathon stint as a right footed left back, after his transfer from Oldham Athletic for season 1990-91 for £650,000, during 7 of the team's championship winning seasons, as well as the 1999 European Cup Final in Spain at Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium, 2-1, against German Bundesliga club, FC Bayern Munich. Fans have had some cheer from the left back position.

 Although Shaw reportedly idolized Chelsea's Ashley Cole, prior to van Gaal’s injection of Luke's panache in 2014-15, his immediate predecessors in the left back role at United were equally as deserving. France's Mikaël Silvestre, five league titles before 2007-08, and his second European Champions League title in 2007-08, although France’s left back, Patrice Evra, edged him out of the starting line up, and Alex Ferguson’s converted left wing, Ashley Young, at left full back, assuring him and his players of their 13th league title in 2012-13.

04/03/2024 05:39
The Rise and Pause of Scott McTominay

Scots' midfielder, Scott McTominay, increased his stature during Louis van Gaal's tenure; Dutch manager of Manchester United appointed for the 2014-15 season's campaigning after the qualified success of his stewardship of the Netherlands' national side at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, organized by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). Holland finished in third place, subsequent to their losing at the semi-final stage to Argentina, 4-2, on penalties, a.e.t., 0-0, at Arena Corinthians, São Paolo, July 9th, but beat Brazil, who'd lost to eventual winners, Germany, 7-1, in their Belo Horizonte, Estádio Mineirão semi-final on July 8th.
Although Germany had beaten Argentina, 1-0, in the Final, a.e.t., on July 13th, Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã, Holland had beaten Brazil, 3-0, on July 12th in Brasilia’s Estádio Nacional third and fourth place play off, which was enough for the 'red devils' to appoint van Gaal as successor to former Everton boss, David Moyes, who’d always appeared a curious replacement for Alex Ferguson, 13 league titles, as Moyes' only claim to fame was to keep 'The Toffees' from relegation. When David's team lost the 2013-14 League Cup semi-final at home to Sunderland, 1-2, on penalties, van Gaal's appointment seemed fated.
Moyes took the reins on July 1st, 2013, and McTominay signed his first professional contract with the club in that same month. Making his debut under José Mourinho, appointed manager after van Gaal's United won the 2015-16 F.A. Cup Final, 2-1, against Crystal Palace, a.e.t., 1-1, ostensibly to improve the club's league position and potential for qualifying for the  Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competitions, Scott spent his time under Moyes struggling due to his small size. However, gaining 14 inches during van Gaal's reign, McTominay made 22 starts, scoring 3 goals, for the U-21s in 2016-17, which brought him to the notice of Mourinho, who after putting him on the subs' bench, gave him his first appearance in a blue shirt on May 7th at Arsenal's North London Emirates Stadium, Islington, coming on for Spain’s left footed inside forward, Juan Mata, on 84 minutes, but losing, 0-2, after ex-red center forward Danny Welbeck's second for 'The Gunners' on 57 minutes to end a 25 game unbeaten run.
Scott got his first start on the last day of the 2016-17 league campaign, with the squad already EFL Cup winners against Sunderland, 3-2, and after the English Premier League season was over would go on to beat Ajax of Amsterdam, 2-0, on May 24th in the Europa League Final at Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden. With a view to minimizing the possibility of injuries, Mourinho gave opportunities to several more young players in the victory, 2-0, against Crystal Palace on May 21st at Old Trafford; midfielder Josh Harrop, who scored after 15 minutes, twisting and turning on the left of the 20 yard box, cutting inside onto his right foot to unleash an unstopped screamer; Swiss born 'keeper and Portuguese international, Joel Pereira, left back Demetri Mitchell, and Angel Gomes, then the club's youngest Premier League player, 16 and 263 days, on for captain and center forward, Wayne Rooney, on 88 minutes.
McTominay made 7 starts in 2017-18, and 6 appearances as substitute, during the club's league campaign, in which they finished runners up on 68 points, a long way 2nd behind Manchester City on 106, and Scott was on the substitutes' bench for the F.A. Cup Final defeat to Chelsea, 0-1, when a perfectly good goal from Chilean center forward Alexis Sánchez was disallowed after the ball, pushed out by the 'keeper, was stabbed home with grateful aplomb at close range.
A 21st century South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) innovation, Apertura and Clausera, divided the year into two league championship competitions, either between or within calendar years, and Alexis was in Chile’s Primera División Colo-Colo side that won back-to-back Clausura and Apertura from 2006-07, on loan from Italy’s Serie A club Udinese, transferred there on April 21st, 2006, for £1.7m from Chile’s Cobreola, and thereafter the 2008 Argentine Primera División Clausera with River Plate.
Returning to Udinese, Alexis was transferred to Spain’s Barcelona from 2011-12 for €26m; 2012-13 La Liga champions, before going to Premier League Arsenal from 2014-15 for £31.7m; F.A. Cup winners in 2015 and 2017. Brought  to United, on January 22nd, 2018, in a swap deal for Armenian captain and right wing, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, scorer of the second goal against Ajax with an overhead kick on 48 minutes in the 2017 Europa Cup Final, after France's Paul Pogba had opened the scoring with a long range deflected strike on 18 minutes, on 2 league goals for the term from 12 starts, Alexis would be given a free transfer by Solskjaer to Italy's Inter Milan, following a period on loan in 2019-20, after scoring once in 9 starts and 11 appearances for United in 2018-19.
Mourinho’s departure and Alexis’ were linked inextricably. Leaving on December 18th, 2018, with just 7 wins in 17 games, to be replaced by former striker, manager of Norway's Molde, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, that 2018 F.A. Cup Final goal, ruled out for offside, with the linesman's flag being raised after the ball was in the net, could have made all the difference to Alexis’ confidence as a striker and the club’s future with Mourinho.
Alexis played alongside sometime left winger, bought by Alex Ferguson for 2011-12 from Aston Villa for £17m, Ashley Young, at left back, with Belgian center forward and top scorer with 16, Romelu Lukaku, bought by Mourinho for £75m from Everton for 2017-18, on the substitutes' bench, because of doubts about his fitness, and all three would play for Inter in the 2019 Europa Cup Final defeat to Spain's Sevilla, 2-3, at the Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 29th, while United were left to rue what might have been, when 0-1 down in the 2018 F.A. Cup Final on 22 minutes to an Eden Hazard penalty, after a rash challenge on Chelsea's Belgian center forward by England center back, Phil Jones, who almost made amends on 63 minutes, heading a free kick, taken by England center forward, Marcus Rashford, wide on the right, after he himself was brought down, which goal-bound effort was pushed away from his right corner by the post, left handed by Belgian 'keeper Thibaut Courtois, onto the onrushing Sanchez's grateful knees.
While Romelu Lukaku's transfer to Inter for €80m was permanent immediately on August 8th, 2019, Sánchez’s wasn’t. 4 league goals that term, and substituting in the August 21st, 2020, Europa Cup Final, at the RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany, for central midfielder, Roberto Gagliardini, on 78 minutes, after going behind to Spanish side Sevilla, 2-3, due to a Lukaku own goal on 74 minutes, with Ashley Young on the left of midfield, after being transferred in January 2020 for €1.5m, Alexis’ transfer wouldn't become permanent until given a free by Solskjaer on August 6th, 2020, after which Inter would win Italy's 2020-21 Serie A, with former United left full back, Italian Matteo Darmian, joining them in October 2020 from Serie A club Parma, where he’d been transferred by Solskjaer for €1.5m on September 2nd, 2019, while Sánchez would score 7 times in 12 starts and 18 appearances.
The Solskjaer upheaval doubtless assisted McTominay, 9 starts and 7 appearances for 2 goals in 2018-19, and Fred, 13 starts and 4 appearances for 1 goal. Of the established midfield players only Pogba, winner of the World Cup in Russia with France in 2018, 4-2 against Croatia, at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, and top scorer in 2018-19 with 13 goals, seemed unchallengeable. While Moroccan Marouane Fellaini, brought with him from Everton by Moyes for his height and vision in support of the attack for £27.5m, and Serbia's defensive midfielder, Nemanja Matić, bought by Mourinho from Chelsea for £40m for 2017-18, were over 30 years, at 29 Spain's playmaker Ander Herrera, 'man of the match' in the 2017 Europa Cup Final defeat of Ajax, bought by van Gaal for his first 2014-15 season for €36m, was approaching 30, which suggested right footed McTominay, then 22 years, who could double as a center forward if necessary, had a future alongside left footed Brazilian, Fred, age 25, bought by Mourinho from the Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk on July 1st, 2018 for £47m.
'McFred', as the pair in midfield were called by fans, flourished, while Fellaini, appearing only twice as a substitute for Solskjaer, before being transferred to China's Shandong Luneng Taishan in January 2019, captained the team to the Chinese Super League in 2021, and the Chinese F.A. Cup in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Herrera, given a free to Paris Saint-German, won the French double of league and cup twice in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Matić, though his tenaciousness on the pitch survived Solskjaer's purge, his age couldn't. Freed by Solskjaer's Dutch successor for 2022-23, Ajax of Amsterdam's boss Erik ten Hag, Nemanja joined Roma for 2022-23 at 34, where opposite another casualty of ten Hag's purge, loaned to Spain's Sevilla for that season, Brazilian left back, Alex Telles, bought by Ole for £14.5m from Portugal's Porto, runner-up in the 2023 Europa Cup Final against Sevilla, 1-1, a.e.t., on May 31st at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, 1-4 on penalties, he also made way for McFred.
Solskjaer's failure in four semi-finals and the 2021 Europa Cup Final on May 26th at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, against Spain's Villarreal, 1-1, a.e.t., and 10-11 on penalties, with only Spanish 'keeper, David de Gea, missing his spot kick opportunity, was the cause of his dismissal, although clipping the wings to make inverted inside forwards to compensate for Fernandes' centrocampista role with a lone striker ahead of him, was a contributory factor. The McFred partnership lasted until ten Hag's taking over from former German boss at RB Leipzig, Ralf Rangnick, interim manager, appointed in December 2021, with Brazil’s hard-bitten attack-minded creative midfield destroyer, Casemiro, being brought from Real Madrid for £60m, while the emergence of calmly composed controller, new precocious midfield talent, left footed teenager, Kobbie Mainoo, was enough to convince ten Hag to transfer Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos, otherwise known as ‘Fred’, on August 13th, 2023, for €9.74m to Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe, Istanbul, for their 2023-24 season, which effectively dismantled McFred's engine room.
With Mourinho having guided the side to a runners up spot in European Champions League Group H, behind Juventus, Solskjaer’s selection beat Paris Saint-Germain, 3-1 away in the 2018-19 season's Round of 16, with Lukaku opening the scoring on 2 minutes, seizing on German right half back Thilo Kehrer's back pass to round PSG's ‘keeper and strike left footed from a tight angle, then left footed again on 30 minutes, making it 2-1, after Italian ‘keeper Gianluigi Buffon was unable to hold onto a distance effort from Rashford, while Marcus converted a 94th minute penalty, 3-1, after French left half back Presnel Kimpembe was adjudged to have handled a shot at goal by Portuguese right back, Diogo Dalot, on as a 35th minute substitute for Ivory Coast's injured Eric Bailly, to ensure United’s progress on the ‘away goals counting double’ rule, after losing, 0-2, at home. However, the team lost to Barcelona, 0-4 on aggregate in the quarter final; 0-1 at Old Trafford, and in Spain 0-3 at Camp Nou.
In Solskjaer's first full 2019-20 season, McTominay started 20 games, 7 as substitute, scoring 4 goals, while Fred had 23 starts, 6 as substitute, with the team, finishing 3rd in the league, making the semi-finals of the F.A. Cup, the League Cup, and the Europa Cup, the major innovation was the introduction in January 2020 for £47m of Bruno Fernandes from Portugal's CP Sporting, Lisbon, who'd complete a diamond behind a lone striker in front of him, while a left footed inverted winger on the right, and a right footed inverted winger on the left, essentially functioning as inside forwards, constituted the cutting edges.
With McTominay being earmarked for the role that England star, Paul Scholes, had formerly in midfield, as the player freed by the holding midfielder to go forward in support of the attack and score, Fernandes' 8 goals in 14 starts, with Marcus Rashford, 17 goals, and left footed inverted right winger, Anthony Martial, 17 goals, ahead of him, indicated a change in the way McTominay's midfield role could develop.
Failure to progress beyond the semi-final stages, against Manchester City in the League Cup, losing the first home leg, 1-3, with the side 0-3 at half time, before Rashford produced some hope in the second half with a clinical finish on 70 minutes, right of the penalty area, right footed, left corner, low, following a run from the halfway line by Mason Greenwood, and a defense-splitting pass from the 21 years center forward, but winning the second away leg, 1-0, with Matić, right of the penalty area, squeezing his shot inside the post, low into the right corner, left footed, on 35 minutes, after a City defender failed to head clear a Fred free kick, but Matić later sent off on 76 minutes, indicated that problems with the twin McFred engine in midfield, aligned as it was with Fernandes’ playmaker, behind a lone striker, and clipped wings, indicated the need for a tune up; if the ball was to be driven home by the forwards.
In the F.A. Cup semi-final the team lost, 1-3, to Chelsea, with Fernandes’ consolation penalty on 8 minutes, after winger, Callum Hudson-Odoi, appeared to kick at Martial, while they were defeated, 1-2, by Spain's Sevilla in the Europa Cup semi-final, despite taking the lead through a Fernandes' penalty on 9 minutes. The absence of McTominay from the semi-final starting line-ups in favor of Fernandes' diamond signified Solskjaer's preference for the then apparently unchallengeable left foot of Pogba alongside Fred for the latter stages of the cup competitions.
In his first full season, 2020-21, Bruno Fernandes top scored with 18 league goals, as the club finished 2nd in the Premier League on 73 points, albeit 10 behind Manchester City on 83, while failing to progress beyond the League Cup semi-final stage again, losing 0-2 to City, although McTominay, 25 and 7 appearances for 4 goals, did start with Fred, 27 starts and 3 appearances for 1 goal, as well as alongside Pogba, although it was Fred who made way for Scott in the team that lost, 10-11 on penalties to Spain's Villarreal, after 34 years Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, brought by Solskjaer on a free from Paris Saint-Germain, struck home an equalizer on 55 minutes, which wasn't enough to save either Solskjaer, or Pogba in the aftermath of the appointment of ten Hag.
What looked like desperation brought Cristiano Ronaldo for 2021-22 from Italian side Juventus for £12.85m. Called CR7 for his preferred shirt number, opening the scoring with a header on 26 minutes from a cross on the right by right full back, Wes Brown, Ronaldo had won the European Champions Cup with United against Chelsea, a.e.t., 1-1, and on penalties 6-5, on May 21st at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia, but failure to beat Barcelona at the Stadio Olympica, Rome, on May 27th in the 2008-09 Final, 0-2, led the Portuguese right winger, bought from CP Sporting Lisbon for £12.24m by Scot Alex Ferguson for 2003-04, to seek a transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid for £80m, where he won the European Champions Cup in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, as well as the World Club Cup in 2014, 2016, and 2017, before being transferred to Juvé for £88m, where he won Serie A titles in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Ronaldo struck 18 times that 2021-22 season, 12 of those, including hat tricks against Spurs at Old Trafford, 3-2, on March 12th, 2022, and Norwich City at home, 3-2, on April 16th, coming after Rangnick became interim manager in December 2021, while McTominay’s 28 starts and 2 appearances for 1 goal, compared to Fred’s 24 starts and 4 appearances for 4 goals, was a sign of the adroitness with which McFred negotiated the Solskjaer-Rangnick interregnum.
Solskjaer, and after him coach Michael Carrick, had steered the side to win Group F in the Champions League, leaving Rangnick to negotiate the Round of 16, but a late 80th minute equalizing goal, taken with aplomb and apparent maturity by teenage Swedish striker, Anthony Elanga, 1-1, away at Spain's Atlético Madrid, persuaded Rangnick to persevere with him, and with England center forward Rashford on the bench, lost 0-1 in the second home leg, 1-2 on aggregate. Rangnick's chance was gone and ten Hag was appointed for 2022-23.
The club won the League cup, 2-0, against Newcastle United, with a headed goal from Casemiro on 33 minutes, following a free kick by left back, Luke Shaw, and a 39th minute strike from Rashford, deflected over German 'keeper, Loris Karius, but lost the F.A. Cup Final, 1-2, to Manchester City, after being a goal down from German captain İlkay Gündoğan's volley on 13 seconds, and despite an equalizing 33rd minute penalty from Fernandes, after right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka's progress on the right of the city 20 yard box was adjudged to have been illegally impeded by England winger Jack Grealish's handling of the ball. McTominay, 1 goal in 10 starts and 14 appearances in 2022-23, coming on in the League Cup Final as 69th minute substitute for Fred, 12 starts and 23 appearances for 4 goals, and for Swedish center back, Victor Lindelöf, on 83 minutes in the F.A. Cup Final, again indicated trouble with the engine.
Ten Hag had brought Danish ball player age 30, Christian Eriksen, 25 starts and 3 appearances, from Brentford on a free, and until the emergence of Mainoo in 2023-24 the pairing with Casemiro seemed most likely, with Pogba age 32 released to return to Juvé on June 30th, 2022, while Matić signed on a free for Roma.
Ronaldo, age 37, was also released to Saudi club Al Nassr in November 2022. On August 12th, 2023, he won the Arab Club Champions Cup. Organized by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Cristiano scored both goals, 2-1, in the win over Saudi's Al Hilal at the King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
The arrival of Moroccan international, defensive midfielder, Sofyan Amrabat, born in Huizen, Amsterdam metropolitan area, Holland, and on loan for £8.5m from Italy's Serie A club Fiorentina, together with England's attacking midfielder, Mason Mount, from Chelsea for £55m, put further pressure on McTominay, survivor of seven managerial purges, if the interim roles of legendary United and Welsh left winger, scorer of the 6th penalty that gave United victory over Chelsea in the 2008 European Champions Cup Final, Ryan Giggs, coach after Moyes' dismissal, before 2013-14 season's end, April 22nd - May 11th, 2014, and United and England midfield stalwart, Michael Carrick, November 21st - December 2nd, 2022, who coached the team to qualify for the European Champions League Round of 16, beating Villarreal away, 2-0, after Solskjaer, are to be considered managerial.
Ten Hag’s solution to his engine trouble was to bring Danish striker, Rasmus Højlund, from Italian Serie A club Atalanta for £64m to profit from Fernandes’ promptings, while Rashford would move to the left as an inverted right footed inside forward, with left footed Argentine winger, Alejandro Garnacho, on the right flank, although Casemiro’s 32 years suggested that, if McTominay, 27 years, needed to improve, and couldn’t, teenager Kobbie Mainoo would need a partner who wasn’t waiting to be retired, and although Mason Mount, 25 years, England’s attacking midfielder, bought from Chelsea for £55m for 2023-24, fits the description, 4 starts and 4 appearances, before retiring to the physiotherapist’s treatment room, indicate either that the emperor doesn’t want to wear any clothes, or at least one of the twin engine turbo needs replacing, rather than maintenance and a routine repair.
Luke Shaw, due a testimonial at the end of season 2023-24, as were Martial and Rashford for playing at 'the theater of Dreams' for a decade at the close of 2024-25, is a true measure of success. While 2023-24 is only McTominay's 8th year hoping to wear away a red strip, Lindelöf has another three seasons to serve, before a game played in his honour, against such luminaries as FIFA’s Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football's (CONCACAF's) New York Cosmos, for whom Germany’s ‘Kaiser’, sweeper Franz Beckenbauer, and Brazil’s magical Pelé played together, appearing for Paul Scholes’ on August 5th, 2011,  recognizing loyalty as a portion of the take.

The Rise and Pause of Scott McTominay

Scots' midfielder, Scott McTominay, increased his stature during Louis van Gaal's tenure; Dutch manager of Manchester United appointed for the 2014-15 season's campaigning after the qualified success of his stewardship of the Netherlands' national side at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, organized by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). Holland finished in third place, subsequent to their losing at the semi-final stage to Argentina, 4-2, on penalties, a.e.t., 0-0, at Arena Corinthians, São Paolo, July 9th, but beat Brazil, who'd lost to eventual winners, Germany, 7-1, in their Belo Horizonte, Estádio Mineirão semi-final on July 8th. 

 Although Germany had beaten Argentina, 1-0, in the Final, a.e.t., on July 13th, Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã, Holland had beaten Brazil, 3-0, on July 12th in Brasilia’s Estádio Nacional third and fourth place play off, which was enough for the 'red devils' to appoint van Gaal as successor to former Everton boss, David Moyes, who’d always appeared a curious replacement for Alex Ferguson, 13 league titles, as Moyes' only claim to fame was to keep 'The Toffees' from relegation. When David's team lost the 2013-14 League Cup semi-final at home to Sunderland, 1-2, on penalties, van Gaal's appointment seemed fated.

 Moyes took the reins on July 1st, 2013, and McTominay signed his first professional contract with the club in that same month. Making his debut under José Mourinho, appointed manager after van Gaal's United won the 2015-16 F.A. Cup Final, 2-1, against Crystal Palace, a.e.t., 1-1, ostensibly to improve the club's league position and potential for qualifying for the  Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competitions, Scott spent his time under Moyes struggling due to his small size. However, gaining 14 inches during van Gaal's reign, McTominay made 22 starts, scoring 3 goals, for the U-21s in 2016-17, which brought him to the notice of Mourinho, who after putting him on the subs' bench, gave him his first appearance in a blue shirt on May 7th at Arsenal's North London Emirates Stadium, Islington, coming on for Spain’s left footed inside forward, Juan Mata, on 84 minutes, but losing, 0-2, after ex-red center forward Danny Welbeck's second for 'The Gunners' on 57 minutes to end a 25 game unbeaten run.

 Scott got his first start on the last day of the 2016-17 league campaign, with the squad already EFL Cup winners against Southampton, 3-2, and after the English Premier League season was over would go on to beat Ajax of Amsterdam, 2-0, on May 24th in the Europa League Final at Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden. With a view to minimizing the possibility of injuries, Mourinho gave opportunities to several more young players in the victory, 2-0, against Crystal Palace on May 21st at Old Trafford; midfielder Josh Harrop, who scored after 15 minutes, twisting and turning on the left of the 18 yard box, cutting inside onto his right foot to unleash an unstopped screamer; Swiss born 'keeper and Portuguese international, Joel Pereira, left back Demetri Mitchell, and Angel Gomes, then the club's youngest Premier League player, 16 and 263 days, on for captain and center forward, Wayne Rooney, on 88 minutes. 

 McTominay made 7 starts in 2017-18, and 6 appearances as substitute, during the club's league campaign, in which they finished runners up on 68 points, a long way 2nd behind Manchester City on 106, and Scott was on the substitutes' bench for the F.A. Cup Final defeat to Chelsea, 0-1, when a perfectly good goal from Chilean center forward Alexis Sánchez was disallowed after the ball, pushed out by the 'keeper, was stabbed home with grateful aplomb at close range. 

 A 21st century South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) innovation, Apertura and Clausera, divided the year into two league championship competitions, either between or within calendar years, and Alexis was in Chile’s Primera División Colo-Colo side that won back-to-back Clausura and Apertura from 2006-07, on loan from Italy’s Serie A club Udinese, transferred there on April 21st, 2006, for £1.7m from Chile’s Cobreola, and thereafter the 2008 Argentine Primera División Clausera with River Plate. 

 Returning to Udinese, Alexis was transferred to Spain’s Barcelona from 2011-12 for €26m; 2012-13 La Liga champions, before going to Premier League Arsenal from 2014-15 for £31.7m; F.A. Cup winners in 2015 and 2017. Brought  to United, on January 22nd, 2018, in a swap deal for Armenian captain and right wing, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, scorer of the second goal against Ajax with an overhead kick on 48 minutes in the 2017 Europa Cup Final, after France's Paul Pogba had opened the scoring with a long range deflected strike on 18 minutes, on 2 league goals for the term from 12 starts, Alexis would be given a free transfer by Solskjaer to Italy's Inter Milan, following a period on loan in 2019-20, after scoring once in 9 starts and 11 appearances for United in 2018-19. 

 Mourinho’s departure and Alexis’ were linked inextricably. Leaving on December 18th, 2018, with just 7 wins in 17 games, to be replaced by former striker, manager of Norway's Molde, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, that 2018 F.A. Cup Final goal, ruled out for offside, with the linesman's flag being raised after the ball was in the net, could have made all the difference to Alexis’ confidence as a striker and the club’s future with Mourinho.

 Alexis played alongside sometime left winger, bought by Alex Ferguson for 2011-12 from Aston Villa for £17m, Ashley Young, at left back, with Belgian center forward and top scorer with 16, Romelu Lukaku, bought by Mourinho for £75m from Everton for 2017-18, on the substitutes' bench, because of doubts about his fitness, and all three would play for Inter in the 2020 Europa Cup Final defeat to Spain's Sevilla, 2-3, at the Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 29th, while United were left to rue what might have been, when 0-1 down in the 2018 F.A. Cup Final on 22 minutes to an Eden Hazard penalty, after a rash challenge on Chelsea's Belgian center forward by England center back, Phil Jones, who almost made amends on 63 minutes, heading a free kick, taken by England center forward, Marcus Rashford, wide on the right, after he himself was brought down, which goal-bound effort was pushed away from his right corner by the post, left handed by Belgian 'keeper Thibaut Courtois, onto the onrushing Sanchez's grateful knees.

 While Romelu Lukaku's transfer to Inter for €80m was permanent immediately on August 8th, 2019, Sánchez’s wasn’t. 4 league goals that term, and substituting in the August 21st, 2020, Europa Cup Final, at the RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany, for central midfielder, Roberto Gagliardini, on 78 minutes, after going behind to Spanish side Sevilla, 2-3, due to a Lukaku own goal on 74 minutes, with Ashley Young on the left of midfield, after being transferred in January 2020 for €1.5m, Alexis’ transfer wouldn't become permanent until given a free by Solskjaer on August 6th, 2020, after which Inter would win Italy's 2020-21 Serie A, with former United left full back, Italian Matteo Darmian, joining them in October 2020 from Serie A club Parma, where he’d been transferred by Solskjaer for €1.5m on September 2nd, 2019, while Sánchez in 2019-20 would score for Internazionale 7 times in 12 starts and 18 appearances.

 The Solskjaer upheaval doubtless assisted McTominay, 9 starts and 7 appearances for 2 goals in 2018-19, and Fred, 13 starts and 4 appearances for 1 goal. Of the established midfield players only Pogba, winner of the World Cup in Russia with France in 2018, 4-2 against Croatia, at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, and top scorer in 2018-19 with 13 goals, seemed unchallengeable. While Moroccan Marouane Fellaini, brought with him from Everton by Moyes for his height and vision in support of the attack for £27.5m, and Serbia's defensive midfielder, Nemanja Matić, bought by Mourinho from Chelsea for £40m for 2017-18, were over 30 years, at 29 Spain's playmaker Ander Herrera, 'man of the match' in the 2017 Europa Cup Final defeat of Ajax, bought by van Gaal for his first 2014-15 season for €36m, was approaching 30, which suggested right footed McTominay, then 22 years, who could double as a center forward if necessary, had a future alongside left footed Brazilian, Fred, age 25, bought by Mourinho from the Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk on July 1st, 2018 for £47m.

 'McFred', as the pair in midfield were called by fans, flourished, while Fellaini, appearing only twice as a substitute for Solskjaer, before being transferred to China's Shandong Luneng Taishan in January 2019, captained the team to the Chinese Super League in 2021, and the Chinese F.A. Cup in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Herrera, given a free to Paris Saint-German, won the French double of league and cup twice in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Matić, though his tenaciousness on the pitch survived Solskjaer's purge, his age couldn't. Freed by Solskjaer's Dutch successor for 2022-23, Ajax of Amsterdam's boss Erik ten Hag, Nemanja joined Roma for 2022-23 at 34, where opposite another casualty of ten Hag's purge, loaned to Spain's Sevilla for that season, Brazilian left back, Alex Telles, bought by Ole for £14.5m from Portugal's Porto, runner-up in the 2023 Europa Cup Final against Sevilla, 1-1, a.e.t., on May 31st at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, 1-4 on penalties, he also made way for McFred.

 Solskjaer's failure in four semi-finals and the 2021 Europa Cup Final on May 26th at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, against Spain's Villarreal, 1-1, a.e.t., and 10-11 on penalties, with only Spanish 'keeper, David de Gea, missing his spot kick opportunity, was the cause of his dismissal, although clipping the wings to make inverted inside forwards to compensate for Fernandes' centrocampista role with a lone striker ahead of him, was a contributory factor. The McFred partnership lasted until ten Hag's taking over from former German boss at RB Leipzig, Ralf Rangnick, interim manager, appointed in December 2021, with Brazil’s hard-bitten attack-minded creative midfield destroyer, Casemiro, being brought from Real Madrid for £60m, while the emergence of calmly composed controller, new precocious midfield talent, left footed teenager, Kobbie Mainoo, was enough to convince ten Hag to transfer Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos, otherwise known as ‘Fred’, on August 13th, 2023, for €9.74m to Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe, Istanbul, for their 2023-24 season, which effectively dismantled McFred's engine room.

 With Mourinho having guided the side to a runners up spot in European Champions League Group H, behind Juventus, Solskjaer’s selection beat Paris Saint-Germain, 3-1 away in the 2018-19 season's Round of 16, with Lukaku opening the scoring on 2 minutes, seizing on German right half back Thilo Kehrer's back pass to round PSG's ‘keeper and strike left footed from a tight angle, then left footed again on 30 minutes, making it 2-1, after Italian ‘keeper Gianluigi Buffon was unable to hold onto a distance effort from Rashford, while Marcus converted a 94th minute penalty, 3-1, after French left half back Presnel Kimpembe was adjudged to have handled a shot at goal by Portuguese right back, Diogo Dalot, on as a 35th minute substitute for Ivory Coast's injured Eric Bailly, to ensure United’s progress on the ‘away goals counting double’ rule, after losing, 0-2, at home. However, the team lost to Barcelona, 0-4 on aggregate in the quarter final; 0-1 at Old Trafford, and in Spain 0-3 at Camp Nou.

 In Solskjaer's first full 2019-20 season, McTominay started 20 games, 7 as substitute, scoring 4 goals, while Fred had 23 starts, 6 as substitute, with the team, finishing 3rd in the league, making the semi-finals of the F.A. Cup, the League Cup, and the Europa Cup, the major innovation was the introduction in January 2020 for £47m of Bruno Fernandes from Portugal's CP Sporting, Lisbon, who'd complete a diamond behind a lone striker in front of him, while a left footed inverted winger on the right, and a right footed inverted winger on the left, essentially functioning as inside forwards, constituted the cutting edges.

 With McTominay being earmarked for the role that England star, Paul Scholes, had formerly in midfield, as the player freed by the holding midfielder to go forward in support of the attack and score, Fernandes' 8 goals in 14 starts, with Marcus Rashford, 17 goals, and left footed inverted right winger, Anthony Martial, 17 goals, ahead of him, indicated a change in the way McTominay's midfield role could develop.

 Failure to progress beyond the semi-final stages, against Manchester City in the League Cup, losing the first home leg, 1-3, with the side 0-3 at half time, before Rashford produced some hope in the second half with a clinical finish on 70 minutes, right of the penalty area, right footed, left corner, low, following a run from the halfway line by Mason Greenwood, and a defense-splitting pass from the 21 years center forward, but winning the second away leg, 1-0, with Matić, right of the penalty area, squeezing his shot inside the post, low into the right corner, left footed, on 35 minutes, after a City defender failed to head clear a Fred free kick, but Matić later sent off on 76 minutes, indicated that problems with the twin McFred engine in midfield, aligned as it was with Fernandes’ playmaker, behind a lone striker, and clipped wings, indicated the need for a tune up; if the ball was to be driven home by the forwards. 

 In the F.A. Cup semi-final the team lost, 1-3, to Chelsea, with Fernandes’ consolation penalty on 8 minutes, after winger, Callum Hudson-Odoi, appeared to kick at Martial, while they were defeated, 1-2, by Spain's Sevilla in the Europa Cup semi-final, despite taking the lead through a Fernandes' penalty on 9 minutes. The absence of McTominay from the semi-final starting line-ups in favor of Fernandes' diamond signified Solskjaer's preference for the then apparently unchallengeable left foot of Pogba alongside Fred for the latter stages of the cup competitions. 

 In his first full season, 2020-21, Bruno Fernandes top scored with 18 league goals, as the club finished 2nd in the Premier League on 73 points, albeit 10 behind Manchester City on 83, while failing to progress beyond the League Cup semi-final stage again, losing 0-2 to City, although McTominay, 25 and 7 appearances for 4 goals, did start with Fred, 27 starts and 3 appearances for 1 goal, as well as alongside Pogba, although it was Fred who made way for Scott in the team that lost, 10-11 on penalties to Spain's Villarreal, after 34 years Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, brought by Solskjaer on a free from Paris Saint-Germain, struck home an equalizer on 55 minutes, which wasn't enough to save either Solskjaer, or Pogba in the aftermath of the appointment of ten Hag.

 What looked like desperation brought Cristiano Ronaldo for 2021-22 from Italian side Juventus for £12.85m. Called CR7 for his preferred shirt number, opening the scoring with a header on 26 minutes from a cross on the right by right full back, Wes Brown, Ronaldo had won the European Champions Cup with United against Chelsea, a.e.t., 1-1, and on penalties 6-5, on May 21st at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia, but failure to beat Barcelona at the Stadio Olympica, Rome, on May 27th in the 2008-09 Final, 0-2, led the Portuguese right winger, bought from CP Sporting Lisbon for £12.24m by Scot Alex Ferguson for 2003-04, to seek a transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid for £80m, where he won the European Champions Cup in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, as well as the World Club Cup in 2014, 2016, and 2017, before being transferred to Juvé for £88m, where he won Serie A titles in 2018-19 and 2019-20. 

 Ronaldo struck 18 times that 2021-22 season, 12 of those, including hat tricks against Spurs at Old Trafford, 3-2, on March 12th, 2022, and Norwich City at home, 3-2, on April 16th, coming after Rangnick became interim manager in December 2021, while McTominay’s 28 starts and 2 appearances for 1 goal, compared to Fred’s 24 starts and 4 appearances for 4 goals, was a sign of the adroitness with which McFred negotiated the Solskjaer-Rangnick interregnum.

 Solskjaer, and after him coach Michael Carrick, had steered the side to win Group F in the Champions League, leaving Rangnick to negotiate the Round of 16, but a late 80th minute equalizing goal, taken with aplomb and apparent maturity by teenage Swedish striker, Anthony Elanga, 1-1, away at Spain's Atlético Madrid, persuaded Rangnick to persevere with him, and with England center forward Rashford on the bench, lost 0-1 in the second home leg, 1-2 on aggregate. Rangnick's chance was gone and ten Hag was appointed for 2022-23.

 The club won the League cup, 2-0, against Newcastle United, with a headed goal from Casemiro on 33 minutes, following a free kick by left back, Luke Shaw, and a 39th minute strike from Rashford, deflected over German 'keeper, Loris Karius, but lost the F.A. Cup Final, 1-2, to Manchester City, after being a goal down from German captain İlkay Gündoğan's volley on 13 seconds, and despite an equalizing 33rd minute penalty from Fernandes, after right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka's progress on the right of the city 18 yard box was adjudged to have been illegally impeded by England winger Jack Grealish's handling of the ball. McTominay, 1 goal in 10 starts and 14 appearances in 2022-23, coming on in the League Cup Final as 69th minute substitute for Fred, 12 starts and 23 appearances for 4 goals, and for Swedish center back, Victor Lindelöf, on 83 minutes in the F.A. Cup Final, again indicated trouble with the engine. 

 Ten Hag had brought Danish ball player age 30, Christian Eriksen, 25 starts and 3 appearances, from Brentford on a free, and until the emergence of Mainoo in 2023-24 the pairing with Casemiro seemed most likely, with Pogba age 32 released to return to Juvé on June 30th, 2022, while Matić signed on a free for Roma. 

 With Real Madrid, Australia Group champions of the International Champions Cup (ICC) tournament in 2015, drawing with Italy's Roma, 0-0, losing 7-6 on penalties, July18th, before Manchester City  beat Roma, July 21st, after drawing, 2-2, 5-4 on penalties, also at the Melboune Cricket Ground (MCG), July 24th, but in front of a 99,382 crowd, CR7 got Real's second on 25 minutes, 2-0, in a 4-1 defeat of City, toeing the ball, right footed, over Costa Rican 'keeper Keylor Navas' head, after collecting, at center field, inside the City 18 yard box, German midfielder Toni Kroos' pinpoint accurate, right footed, long-range pass from inside the half circle, at the City side of the half way line. Organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), CR7's status as a soccer champion became more global than Real.

 The arrival of Moroccan international, defensive midfielder, Sofyan Amrabat, born in Huizen, Amsterdam metropolitan area, Holland, and on loan for £8.5m from Italy's Serie A club Fiorentina, together with England's attacking midfielder, Mason Mount, from Chelsea for £55m, put further pressure on McTominay, survivor of seven managerial purges, if the interim roles of legendary United and Welsh left winger, scorer of the 6th penalty that gave United victory over Chelsea in the 2008 European Champions Cup Final, Ryan Giggs, coach after Moyes' dismissal, before 2013-14 season's end, April 22nd - May 11th, 2014, and United and England midfield stalwart, Michael Carrick, November 21st - December 2nd, 2022, who coached the team to qualify for the European Champions League Round of 16, beating Villarreal away, 2-0, after Solskjaer, were to be considered managerial. 

 Ten Hag’s solution to his engine trouble was to bring Danish striker, Rasmus Højlund, from Italian Serie A club Atalanta for £64m to profit from Fernandes’ promptings, while Rashford would move to the left as an inverted right footed inside forward, with left footed Argentine winger, Alejandro Garnacho, on the right flank, although Casemiro’s 32 years suggested that, if McTominay, 27 years, needed to improve, and couldn’t, teenager Kobbie Mainoo would need a partner who wasn’t waiting to be retired, and although Mason Mount, 25 years, England’s attacking midfielder, bought from Chelsea for £55m for 2023-24, fits the description, 4 starts and 4 appearances, before retiring to the physiotherapist’s treatment room, indicate either that the emperor doesn’t want to wear any clothes, or at least one of the twin engine turbo needs replacing, rather than maintenance and a routine repair. 

 Luke Shaw, due a testimonial at the end of season 2023-24, as were Martial and Rashford for playing at 'the theater of Dreams' for a decade at the close of 2024-25, is a true measure of success. While 2023-24 is only McTominay's 8th year hoping to wear away a red strip, Lindelöf has another three seasons to serve, before a game played in his honour, against such luminaries as FIFA’s Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football's (CONCACAF's) New York Cosmos, for whom Germany’s ‘Kaiser’, sweeper Franz Beckenbauer, and Brazil’s magical Pelé played together, appearing for Paul Scholes’ on August 5th, 2011,  recognizing loyalty as a portion of the take.

01/03/2024 05:06
Telles about ten Hag
 
Alex Telles, a left full back with Brazil's national team, was deemed surplus to requirements by Erik ten Hag, Dutch manager of Eredevisie Ajax Amsterdam, subsequent to his succeeding, for the 2022-23 season, German Ralf Rangnick, who from December 2022 had been interim manager at Manchester United. On loan with Spanish club Sevilla, there Telles won the Europa Cup, 4-1 on penalties, a.e.t., with the match against Italy's Roma ending, after normal time, 1-1, on May 31st, 2023, at Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, giving the lie somewhat to Alex’s supernumerary status at Old Trafford to the terraced fans on the Stretford End.
 Rangnick had replaced former Reds' striker, Norway's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who'd steered the side to the Europa Cup Final of 2021, but losing to Spain's Villarreal, 10-11 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw, a.e.t., left a trophyless Solskjaer without enough kudos in soccer's credibility bank to continue. Ten Hag brought from Dutch club Feyenoord, Tyrell Malacia, a Dutch left full back, and Argentine Lisandro Martínez, a center back, who could also play at left back, from Ajax, but the decision to allow Telles to be loaned to Sevilla would return to haunt. England left back, Luke Shaw, had always been first choice since his signing, by United's then Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, from Southampton for £30m for the 2014-15 season, but Shaw's injury proneness had left a gap through which Telles had been able to shine.
 Alex was signed from Portugal's FC Porto for £15.4m on October 5th, 2020, and made his debut against French club, Paris Saint-Germain, away 2-1, in the first game of the European Champions League group (H) stage, although it was Shaw, 30 starts and 2 appearances that term, as opposed to Telles' 8 and 1 substitute appearance, who'd fill the left back birth against Villarreal in the Europa Cup Final at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, on May 26th, 2021, after the side had battled through being relegated from the Champions League, finishing third in group H behind Paris Saint-Germain and German Bundesliga club, RB Leipzig, but thereby qualifying for the Round of 32 in the Europa League, Europe's second tier club trophy, after the cup of champions.
 Although the left back rolein 2021-22 was filled almost equally by Telles, 18 starts and 3 appearances, and Shaw, 19 starts and 1 substitute appearance, from August 4th, 2022, ten Hag loaned Telles, taker of United’s second penalty against Villarreal in the 2021 Europa Cup Final, after coming on for Scots’ central midfielder, Scott McTominay, on 120+3 minutes, to Sevilla for 2022-23, 15 starts and 12 appearances, before transferring him for $7,800,000 to Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr for their 2023-24 season, where he was in the team that won the Arab Club Champions Cup Final at King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia, on August 12th, 2023, against Al Hilal, also of Saudi Arabia, 2-1.
 Former Manchester United right wing legend, Cristiano Ronaldo scored both Nassr goals, in the 74th minute, right footed close in from a low driven cross on the right from right full back, Sultan Al-Ghannam, 1-1,  and a 98th minute header from a shot by Ivory Coast central midfielder, Seko Fofana, that hit the crossbar. CR7 had been given a free transfer there by ten Hag on November 23rd, 2022, despite a successful return from Juventus, Italy, scoring 18 league goals in 27 starts and 3 appearances for Solskjaer and £12.85m.
 Ten Hag's belief that Malacia and Martínez would be enough left back cover for Shaw seemed sensible in the light of Brandon Williams emergence in United's youth ranks as a rugged long-legged tackler with the capacity to cross strongly from the left, but a loan spell at then Premier League club, Norwich City, 2021-22, 23 starts and 3 appearances, didn't augur well. Williams didn't figure in ten Hag's 2022-23 league campaign and was loaned to England's second tier Championship club, Ipswich Town, for 2023-24.
 Ten Hag's decision to bring on loan Spanish left back, Sergio Reguilón, from London's Tottenham Hotspur, 4 starts and 5 appearances, until January 4th, 2024, looked like double jeopardy when United's own Spanish left back, Álvaro Carreras, 27 starts and 12 appearances on loan to England's Championship club Preston North End in 2022-23, was again loaned, first on September 1st, 2023, to Granada in Spain's La Liga, then on January 17th, 2024, to Portugal's Primeira Liga club Benfica, with the condition of his signing for €6m being that he should play half (8) of the Lisbon club's remaining games in their league season.
 When Luke Shaw was again injured, after making just 12 starts in 2023-24 thus far out of a possible 24, to be replaced by Victor Lindelöf on 45+2 minutes, during the February 18th 2-1 win at Luton Town, with a goal left footed past onrushing Belgian ‘keeper, Thomas Kaminski, from Danish center forward, Rasmus Højlund, after his intercepting of Jamaica's left half back Amari'i Bell's back pass, and a second chesting in left footed Argentine inverted right winger Alejandro Garnacho’s shot on 7 minutes, the setback at ‘The Hatters’, Kenilworth Road, was ahead of United's campaign run in, and the F.A. Cup 5th Round tie at Nottingham Forest. With Malacia and Martínez already injured, there was no one to cover for Shaw.
 Renowned, in the early part of the third decade of the 21st century, for playing with inverted wingers, that is, left footed wingers on the right, and right footed wingers on the left, giving the look of inside forwards, rather than wideners of the pitch for the forwards to receive crossed balls to head home from the flanks, and where opposing full backs could be tested to reveal strengths and, as importantly, expose weaknesses, United's extending of the same principle to the left back position, where Portuguese right back, Diogo Dalot, or Sweden's captain Lindelöf, for example, a right footed central defender, being required to fill in, appeared courting disaster.
 As the team lost, 1-2, to Fulham at home, despite an 89th minute equalizer from center back, Harry Maguire, left footed, a yard or so out from the goalmouth, after a right footed cross-shot from wide on the left by playmaker Bruno Fernandes was palmed away two-handed only so far as Maguire by Fulham's German 'keeper, Bernd Leno, supporters were left wondering how Forest could be stopped on their own City Ground, Nottingham.
 From Huizen, metropolitan area of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, although a Moroccan international, Sofyan Amrabat, was a naturally right footed central midfielder for Italy's Fiorentina of Serie A against Premier League West Ham United in Europe's tertiary tier competition, the Europa Conference League Final of June 7th, 2023, at Fortuna Arena, Prague, in the Czech Republic, which the London team won, 2-1. On loan for a fee of £8.5m at ‘the theater of Dreams' since September 1st, the same day that left back Carreras was loaned to Granada, Amrabat was determinedly two-footed enough for ten Hag to stand in at left back as surety for the 89th minute headed goal by Brazilian midfielder Casemiro, 1-0, from a free kick on the left by Fernandes, which set up a 6th Round encounter with Liverpool.

Telles about ten Hag

Alex Telles, a left full back with Brazil's national team, was deemed surplus to requirements by Erik ten Hag, Dutch manager of Eredevisie Ajax Amsterdam, subsequent to his succeeding, for the 2022-23 season, German Ralf Rangnick, who from December 2022 had been interim manager at Manchester United. On loan with Spanish club Sevilla, there Telles won the Europa Cup, 4-1 on penalties, a.e.t., with the match against Italy's Roma ending, after normal time, 1-1, on May 31st, 2023, at Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, giving the lie somewhat to Alex’s supernumerary status at Old Trafford to the terraced fans on the Stretford End.
 Rangnick had replaced former Reds' striker, Norway's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who'd steered the side to the Europa Cup Final of 2021, but losing to Spain's Villarreal, 10-11 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw, a.e.t., left a trophyless Solskjaer without enough kudos in soccer's credibility bank to continue. Ten Hag brought from Dutch club Feyenoord, Tyrell Malacia, a Dutch left full back, and Argentine Lisandro Martínez, a center back, who could also play at left back, from Ajax, but the decision to allow Telles to be loaned to Sevilla would return to haunt. England left back, Luke Shaw, had always been first choice since his signing, by United's then Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, from Southampton for £30m for the 2014-15 season, but Shaw's injury proneness had left a gap through which Telles had been able to shine.

 

Alex was signed from Portugal's FC Porto for £15.4m on October 5th, 2020, and made his debut against French club, Paris Saint-Germain, away 2-1, in the first game of the European Champions League group (H) stage, although it was Shaw, 30 starts and 2 appearances that term, as opposed to Telles' 8 and 1 substitute appearance, who'd fill the left back birth against Villarreal in the Europa Cup Final at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, on May 26th, 2021, after the side had battled through being relegated from the Champions League, finishing third in group H behind Paris Saint-Germain and German Bundesliga club, RB Leipzig, but thereby qualifying for the Round of 32 in the Europa League, Europe's second tier club trophy, after the cup of champions.

 Although the left back rolein 2021-22 was filled almost equally by Telles, 18 starts and 3 appearances, and Shaw, 19 starts and 1 substitute appearance, from August 4th, 2022, ten Hag loaned Telles, taker of United’s second penalty against Villarreal in the 2021 Europa Cup Final, after coming on for Scots’ central midfielder, Scott McTominay, on 120+3 minutes, to Sevilla for 2022-23, 15 starts and 12 appearances, before transferring him for $7,800,000 to Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr for their 2023-24 season, where he was in the team that won the Arab Club Champions Cup Final at King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia, on August 12th, 2023, against Al Hilal, also of Saudi Arabia, 2-1.

Former Manchester United right wing legend, Cristiano Ronaldo scored both Nassr goals, in the 74th minute, right footed close in from a low driven cross on the right from right full back, Sultan Al-Ghannam, 1-1,  and a 98th minute header from a shot by Ivory Coast central midfielder, Seko Fofana, that hit the crossbar. CR7 had been given a free transfer there by ten Hag on November 23rd, 2022, despite a successful return from Juventus, Italy, scoring 18 league goals in 27 starts and 3 appearances for Solskjaer and £12.85m.

Ten Hag's belief that Malacia and Martínez would be enough left back cover for Shaw seemed sensible in the light of Brandon Williams emergence in United's youth ranks as a rugged long-legged tackler with the capacity to cross strongly from the left, but a loan spell at then Premier League club, Norwich City, 2021-22, 23 starts and 3 appearances, didn't augur well. Williams didn't figure in ten Hag's 2022-23 league campaign and was loaned to England's second tier Championship club, Ipswich Town, for 2023-24.

 Ten Hag's decision to bring on loan Spanish left back, Sergio Reguilón, from London's Tottenham Hotspur, 4 starts and 5 appearances, until January 4th, 2024, looked like double jeopardy when United's own Spanish left back, Álvaro Carreras, 27 starts and 12 appearances on loan to England's Championship club Preston North End in 2022-23, was again loaned, first on September 1st, 2023, to Granada in Spain's La Liga, then on January 17th, 2024, to Portugal's Primeira Liga club Benfica, with the condition of his signing for €6m being that he should play half (8) of the Lisbon club's remaining games in their league season.

 When Luke Shaw was again injured, after making just 12 starts in 2023-24 thus far out of a possible 24, to be replaced by Victor Lindelöf on 45+2 minutes, during the February 18th 2-1 win at Luton Town, with a goal left footed past onrushing Belgian ‘keeper, Thomas Kaminski, from Danish center forward, Rasmus Højlund, after his intercepting of Jamaica's left half back Amari'i Bell's back pass, and a second chesting in Argentine winger Alejandro Garnacho’s shot on 7 minutes, the setback at ‘The Hatters’, Kenilworth Road, was ahead of United's campaign run in, and the F.A. Cup 5th Round tie at Nottingham Forest. With Malacia and Martínez already injured, there was no one to cover for Shaw.

 Renowned, in the early part of the third decade of the 21st century, for playing with inverted wingers, that is, left footed wingers on the right, and right footed wingers on the left, giving the look of inside forwards, rather than wideners of the pitch for the forwards to receive crossed balls to head home from the flanks, and where opposing full backs could be tested to reveal strengths and, as importantly, expose weaknesses, United's extending of the same principle to the left back position, where Portuguese right back, Diogo Dalot, or Sweden's captain Lindelöf, for example, a right footed central defender, being required to fill in, appeared courting disaster.

 As the team lost, 1-2, to Fulham at home, despite an 89th minute equalizer from center back, Harry Maguire, left footed, a yard or so out from the goalmouth, after a right footed cross-shot from wide on the left by playmaker Bruno Fernandes was palmed away two-handed only so far as Maguire by Fulham's German 'keeper, Bernd Leno, supporters were left wondering how Forest could be stopped on their own City Ground, Nottingham.

 From Huizen, metropolitan area of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, although a Moroccan international, Sofyan Amrabat, was a naturally right footed central midfielder for Italy's Fiorentina of Serie A against Premier League West Ham United in Europe's tertiary tier competition, the Europa Conference League Final of June 7th, 2023, at Fortuna Arena, Prague, in the Czech Republic, which the London team won, 2-1. On loan for a fee of £8.5m at ‘the theater of Dreams' since September 1st, the same day that left back Carreras was loaned to Granada, Amrabat was determinedly two-footed enough for ten Hag to stand in at left back as surety for the 89th minute headed goal by Brazilian midfielder Casemiro, 1-0, from a free kick on the left by Fernandes, which set up a 6th Round encounter with Liverpool.

18/01/2024 06:13

Franz

 

A classic World Cup encounter was that of Manchester United’s deep lying England center forward, Bobby Charlton, and sweeper in defense, Franz Beckenbauer, who though he’d often reprise his earlier role as a central midfielder, found his niche in soccer history in the role of libero, as it’s called in Italy, for Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, and the German national team.

 The role of the 'free' back is to ‘sweep up’, that is, take the ball away from the opponent, usually as a last ditch defense, but turned into a counter-attacking position by Beckenbauer, allying his almost prescient ability to know where to intervene, with the ball distributing vision of a playmaker behind the forwards, and who in support would often score remarkable, often seemingly impossible goals, after dispossessing his antagonist, moving up field, exchanging quick one-touch passes in midfield, and one-twos again with the attackers, getting into a place from which to strike.

 In English soccer, known as sistema, ‘the system', in Italy, the role of the ‘sweeper’ arose from the half-back line, for example, the United team that won the league titles of 1908 and 1911, and the 1909 F.A. Cup Final, 1-0, against Bristol City, with a strike from inside left, Sandy Turnbull, from the rebound, after inside right, Harold Halse, hit the bar, had a half-back line of Dick Duckworth, Charlie Roberts and Scot, Alex Bell, across the middle in front of ‘keeper, Harry Moger, as well as wing backs, which became full backs in the modern game.

 The half-back line lasted a long time in soccer, for example, the 1948 United side that won the F.A. Cup, 4-2, against Blackpool, had John Anderson at right half, Allenby Chilton at center half, and Henry Cockburn at left half, while the side that won the F.A. Cup in 1963, 3-1 against Leicester City, had Scot, Paddy Crerand on the right, Bill Foulkes in the center, and Maurice Setters on the left. Whereas the less wealthy Italian clubs adopted the libero to counter a man-to-man marking system pitting players positionally against each other, which favored the strongest individuals, soccer in England moved towards a pair of central defenders and an additional ‘hard man’ in midfield, there to break up attacks before they started, a role filled to perfection for United and England by Nobby Stiles, playing against Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final at London’s national Wembley stadium with center forward for West Ham United of Stratford, East London, Geoff Hurst, scoring a ‘hat-trick', 3, as England won, 4-2, and Beckenbauer finding Charlton too difficult to control.

 The same was true in the 1970 World Cup quarter final at Estadio de Guanajuato, La Martinica, León de los Aldama, Mexico, with England leading, after a cross on the right from Everton full back, Keith Newton, turned in at the near post by midfielder, Alan Mullery of Tottenham Hotspur, on 32 minutes, 1-0, and a goal on 49 minutes, after the break, from another cross by Newton, ran into the net at the far post by Spurs forward, Martin Peters, 2-0, and cruising. However, England’s Chelsea ‘keeper, Peter Bonetti, allowed a long range Beckenbauer shot to slip through, 2-1, on 69 minutes. Manager Alf Ramsey took Charlton and Peters off, reportedly saving the pair for the semi-final, but having the unintended effect of freeing Bayern’s Beckenbauer from defense, and captain and center forward, Hamburger SV's Uwe Seeler, equalized with a back header from a long 76th minute ball forward into the area from Italian club A.C. Milan’s left back, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, 2-2, before left winger, Hannes Löhr of FC Cologne in the 108th minute, a.e.t., near post, left, headed a cross from substitute Jürgen Grabowski of Eintracht Frankfurt back across to where goal poaching Bayern center forward, Gerhard Müller, was lurking at the far post to lash it right footed into the net, 2-3.

 Franz, nicknamed ‘the Kaiser’, that is, ‘the Emperor’ by the German media, had antecedents with Bobby, who was a survivor of the Munich air disaster of February 6th, 1958, when the airliner, British European Airways Flight 609, taking the team back to Manchester, crashed on the snowbound runway at its third attempt to take off from Riem-Munich airport, Munich. The flight was scheduled to refuel in Munich, because a non-stop flight from Belgrade to Manchester was beyond the range of the ‘Elizabethan’-class Airspeed Ambassador. The injured, some unconscious, were taken to Munich's Rechts der Isar Hospital, where 3 more died, total 23 with 21 survivors. Reserve full back, Geoff Bent, England captain, and left back, Roger Byrne, right wing-half, midfielder Eddie Colman, left half, Duncan Edwards, who died 15 days later, center half, Mark Jones, left winger, David Pegg, center forward, Tommy Taylor, and Irish inside forward, Liam Whelan, all lost their lives, while right winger, Johnny Berry and Northern Irish inside forward, Jackie Blanchflower, were too badly injured ever to play again.

 Roger, Eddie, Mark, Duncan, and Tommy had been members of the team that had drawn, 3-3, with Red Star Belgrade, with a goal from Dennis Viollet after 2 minutes, and Bobby getting two more in the 30th and 31st minutes, 3-0, at half-time in the away leg of the European Champions’ Cup quarter final, Yugoslavia (Serbia), to secure a semi final against Spain's Real Madrid, who were on their way to five successive triumphs in the competition since winning it in 1955-56. United wouldn’t recover sufficiently to win until 1968, 4-1, a.e.t., against Portugal's Benfica at Wembley.

 Beckenbauer, born in the post-WWII ruins of Munich, Giesing district, would be aware of the tragedy befalling Charlton, before joining Bayern’s youth team in 1959. Following defeat to England in the 1966 World Cup Final, he was in the Bayern side that defeated Scots’ club Rangers in the 1967 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final, 1-0, Städtisches Stadion, Nuremberg, and in the German team that lost ‘the game of the century’ to Italy, 3-4, in the 1970 World Cup semi final at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, before captaining Germany to World Cup triumph at Olympiastadion, Munich, 2-1, against Holland in 1974. The European Cup was won three times in succession when he was captain of Bayern. In 1974, 1-1, and 4-0, after a replay against Spain's Atlético Madrid at Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium. Retained in 1975, 2-0 against England's Leeds United, Parc des Princes, Paris, France, and defended once more in 1976, 1-0 against France’s Saint-Étienne, at Scotland’s Hampden Park, Glasgow.

 Italy’s catenaccio, ‘door-bolt’ system , offers broad protection for younger players, in terms of their physical, mental, and technical development, and probably helped French generalissimo, Paul Pogba, for example, 2011 F.A. Youth Cup Final winner, 6-3 on aggregate against Sheffield United, before agreeing to join Juventus of Turin, where he won four successive Serie A titles; 2012-13, and Supercoppa Italiana, 2013-14, 2014-15, and Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa Italiana, and 2015-16, and Coppa Italia.

 Belgium’s left footed playmaker, Adnan Januzaj, 15 starts and 12 appearances for 4 goals in 2013-14, receiving more protection there, flourished in Europe, after leaving the ‘sink or swim' English game of uncompromising center backs, and central midfield hard men. Though perceived as defensive, the libero has his advantages, which Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, experimenting with three center backs, after being appointed to succeed David Moyes for 2014-15, sought to introduce. Despite criticism, being replaced by Portuguese manager for 2016-17, José Mourinho, after winning the F.A. Cup Final in 2016, Gaal’s three at the back had some influential impact on the coaching side.

 Traditionally United had two in midfield. A holding ball winner allied to a creative playmaker; feeding twin strikers, and complimenting left and right wingers. As the idea of a ball-playing centrocampista had disappeared with the half back line, there was no sense of a gap in the center of the pitch. The symmetry of two full backs, two center backs, a left and right wing half in midfield, left and right wingers, and twin strikers, created a spectacle the terraced ranks paid to watch.

 However, the desirability of taking hold of the center was demonstrated admirably by Danish ‘keeper, Peter Schmeichel, famous for going up to the halfway line, as an additional midfielder, if United needed a goal, and even into the opponent’s penalty area, scoring a goal, with a header, as he did in the 89th minute, 2-2, against Russia’s Rotor Volgogrod, in the UEFA Cup Round 1 at ‘the theater of Dreams’, on September 26th, 1995.

 That’s where Peter was when England’s center forward, Teddy Sheringham, equalizing right inside forward Mario Basler’s 6th minute free-kick, left, bent right footed around the United wall, low, and inside the right post, 1-0, scored the 91st minute equalizer, 1-1, steering Wales’ left winger Ryan Giggs’ shot into the net against Bayern in the 1999 European Cup Final, won, 2-1, with a strike from Norwegian center forward, Solskjaer, with only the ball to beat, after Sheringham nodded on England right winger David Beckham's corner in the 93rd minute, at FC Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium, Spain.

 Spain’s Ander Herrera, bought by Gaal for 2014-15 for €36m from Athletic Bilbao, was utilized by Mourinho as a central playmaker, behind a lone striker, and inside forwards, nominally labeled left wingers, ahead of a midfield two, essentially right and left wing halves, with Paul Pogba, returning for €105m from Juvé, center left. Ousting Spain’s left footed Juan Mata, who thereafter had the role of outside left, inside left, or inverted outside and inside right, Pogba, at the Friends Arena venue, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden, got the first, 1-0, in the 2017 Europa Cup Final defeat of Dutch club, Ajax, Amsterdam, with a low left foot shot on 18 minutes, looping over Cameroon ‘keeper, André Onana, deflected off Columbian center back, Davinson Sánchez. Pogba was deployed alongside England’s Michael Carrick, center right, and later Nemanja Matić, £40m from Chelsea from 2017-18. While Armenian captain and right footed winger, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, bought for 2016-17 from German club Borussia Dortmund for £27m, scoring the second, with his right foot, 2-0, an overhead kick on 48 minutes, deployed as an inverted left wing.

 Herrera later played behind the midfield two, as a hard tackling half back, or the stamina of box-to-box Belgian, Marouane Fellaini, brought by Moyes with him from Everton for £27.5m, after his appointment to replace retiring Alex Ferguson for 2013-14, and Fellaini was there in the ‘diamond’ for the 2017 Europa Cup Final. Behind the three up front, Marouane, known for his heading ability in support of the forward line, demonstrated the influence of the ‘free’ central player of European soccer strategy and tactics.

 With 4-3-3 the centrocampista is ultimately defensive, as those nominally in front of the diamond aren’t necessarily forwards, that is, 4-1-2-3, 4-2-1-3, and 4-3-1-2, etc., are centrocampista versions of 4-4-2, and although 4-2-4 means wingers, in the absence of a recognizable sweeper, while the inclusion of a libero still remains an option, the devolution of the diamond is 4-1-4-1, that is, a midfielder in front of the back four, and behind the rest of the midfield, with a lone striker up front, which though protective of the indisputably valuable playmaker, the forecast is not enough goals to look like reign.

 When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, effectively replacing Mourinho from December 19th, 2019, bought playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, from Portugal’s Sporting CP of Lisbon on January 30th, 2020, for €80m, the fans anticipations were higher than four semi-final defeats, and defeat in the Europa Cup Final of 2021, 10-11, a.e.t., against Spain’s Villarreal on penalties, with the full-time score, 1-1, after a 55th minute equalizing strike from Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, after a 20 yard shot from Rashford, blocked, fell favorably to his right boot inside Villarreal ‘keeper Onana's penalty area. The Final was notable for emphasizing a trend. Both wide players were center forwards, essentially functioning in the role of inverted inside forwards, that is, Mason Greenwood on the right, as an inverted left footed right winger, and Marcus Rashford on the left as an inverted right footed left winger.

 Cavani had taken Zlatan Ibrahimović’s mantle of Paris Saint-Germain’s all-time top scorer, before following the Swede to Old Trafford for season 2020-21, like ‘Ibra’, as a free agent. Doubts about Zlatan’s fitness before Cavani’s arrival led to his departure on March 23rd, 2018, for US’ Major League Soccer club, LA Galaxy, and United never had the two forwards striking together. Zlatan had sustained a ligament injury on April 20th and was substituted by France center forward, right winger, and sometime inverted left winger, Anthony Martial, in the 90th minute of the second home leg of the 2017 Europa Cup quarter final defeat of Belgium’s Anderlecht, 1-0, on 10 minutes through a low, right footed strike, center and left of Spanish ‘keeper, Rubén Iván Martínez, from Mkhitaryan, in the midfield diamond role, found with a pass by Rashford, inside left, cancelled out, 1-1, by Algeria’s attacking midfielder, Sofiane Hanni, right footed on 32 minutes, low from a rebound, when right central midfielder Youri Tielmans’ left foot shot, deflected, hit the bar, but 2-1, a.e.t., after an aerial knock down from Fellaini. Rashford, in the inverted left winger role, with his right instep dragged the ball around and behind his left leg, allowing it to roll into a position where he struck left footed, in the 107th minute.

 Solskjaer reached the semi final of League Cup, F.A. Cup, and Europa Cup in 2020, before reaching the League Cup semi final in 2021, as well as losing the 2021 Europa Cup Final, replaced for 2022-23 by Dutch manager of Eredivisie Ajax, Amsterdam, Erik ten Hag, after former Leipzig manager, German Ralf Rangnick, on November 29th was appointed as interim boss until the end of 2021-22. Ten Hag moved quickly to bring, for £82m from Ajax, Brazilian inverted right winger, left footed Antony, to play on the right. Complimenting right footed, inverted left winger, Rashford, United won the 2023 League Cup Final, 2-0, against Newcastle United, with go-getting right midfield, Brazilian Casemiro, bought for the start of the term by ten Hag from Real Madrid for £60m, getting the first, with a header from left back Luke Shaw’s free kick on 33 minutes, and Rashford the second, after being put through by on loan Burnley center forward, Netherlands’ Wout Weghorst, his shot deflected in off defender, Sven Botman, on 39 minutes.

 Beaten at Wembley, 1-2, by Manchester City, eventual winners of the 2022-23 treble of league, F.A. Cup, and European Cup, 1-0 against Italy’s Internazionale of Milan at Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey, with inverted left winger, bought by Solskjaer for 2021-22 from Germany’s Borussia Dortmund for £73m, right footed, Jadon Sancho, Rashford was at center forward. Ten Hag’s deploying of Portuguese right footed right back, Diogo Dalot, bought by Mourinho from FC Porto for £19m for 2018-19, as an inverted left back, for left footed socceroos, on the left side of the line up, was mene tekel upharsin, while buying left footed Danish striker, Rasmus Højlund, for 2023-24 from Italy’s Atalanta for £64m, to be the latest cutting edge of Bruno Fernandes’ diamond, 2 goals in 13 starts and 3 appearances, before United’s 4th Round F.A. Cup tie at Newport, on January 28th, 2024, that is, the club’s last realistic chance of silverware for that campaign's trophy cabinet, bluntly showed that an eagle with its wings on backwards might deceive for a time, but it won’t fly well enough to prey with the others.

14/01/2024 14:27

QB Fernandes

 

That the Glazer family, who took over Manchester United football club, centered at their Old Trafford stadium, built 1910, adjacent to the Bridgewater Canal, off Warwick Road, north, Greater Manchester, county of Lancashire, bordering the city of Salford, and roughly delineated by former toll gates, Brooks’ Bar to the east, and Trafford Bar to the west, as part of the 19th century Turnpike system of mercantile traffic, residential exclusivity, and road maintenance, are from the United States of America, was a fact that normally impinged but slightly on the consciousness of the average supporter.

 Malcolm Glazer, born in Rochester city, Monroe county, New York state, whose stake in the club was 2.9%, after purchasing his first tranche of shares on March 2nd, 2003, for £9m, had 100% by June 2005, costing £790m, and although he died on May 8th, 2014, in the incorporated town of Palm Beach, on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach county, Florida state, founding First Allied Corporation in 1984, as a holding company, with Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Conrail freight, and former US’ President George H. W. Bush’s oil and gas, Zapata Corporation, for example, as well as the American Football team, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa city, Florida, his legacy to his family was inestimable.

 On June 7th, 2005, sons Avram and Joel, Executive Co-Chairmen from July 1st, 2005, and Bryan, were first appointed to the board as non-executive directors, and sons Kevin, Edward, and daughter, Darcie, in 2006, although on December 24th, 2024, Jim Ratcliffe, through his Ineos chemical conglomerate, were given control over soccer, after buying 25% of the club. Despite apparent seeming success with Alex Ferguson, appointed in November 1986, and continuing until retirement at the close of the 2012-13 season, the impact of the Glazers on United was discernible.

 Before 2005-06, under Ferguson’s stewardship, the F.A. Cup, 1990, 3-3 and 1-0 in the replay against Crystal Palace; the European Cup Winners’ Cup, 1991, 2-1 against Spain’s FC Barcelona at Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Holland, and the European Super Cup, 1-0 against Red Star Belgrade at Old Trafford; the 1992 League Cup, 1-0 against Nottingham Forest; the 1992-93 Premier League championship; the F.A. Cup, 4-0 against Chelsea and league ‘double’ of 1993-94 and 1995-96, 1-0 against Liverpool; the Premier League title of 1996-97; the ‘treble’ of league, F.A. Cup, 2-0 against Newcastle United and European Cup, 2-1 against German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, at Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium in 1998-1999, as well as the Intercontinental Cup, 1-0 against Brazil's Palmeiras at the National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan; the 1999-2000, 2000-2001, and 2002-03 league titles, and the 2003-04 F.A. Cup, 3-0 against Millwall, at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, while Wembley was renovated, were won before the Glazers’ takeover.

 The League Cup of 2006, 4-0 against Wigan Athletic, Millennium Stadium; the league title of 2006-07; the double of league and European Cup, 1-1, at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, Russian Federation, against Chelsea, a.e.t., and 6-5 on penalties, in 2007-08, as well as the World Club Cup, 1-0 against Ecuador’s LDU Quito at the International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan; the double of League Cup, 0-0 against Tottenham Hotspur, a.e.t., and 4-1 on penalties, and league in 2008-09; the League Cup of 2010, 2-1 against Aston Villa, and the titles of 2010-11 and 2012-13, were won with the Glazers.  

 Ferguson’s retirement saw something of a drought in terms of success. Fans had seen the appointment of the business suited manager before, with Frank O’ Farrell, 1971-December 9th 1972, when the joke at ‘the Theater of Dreams’ was that he only came out of his office on match days. Although it was no surprise to the terraced ranks to find David Moyes of Everton appointed to succeed Ferguson, despite the emergence of protégé Adnan Januzaj of Belgium, as a possible future left footed playmaker, with 15 starts and 12 appearances for 4 goals, it was no wonder to see him leave at the end of the 2013-14 campaign, having done what he’d done for ‘the Toffees’; kept the club from being relegated.

 That Malcolm Glazer’s death had a deleterious effect on the club’s chances is moot, although he didn’t live to see former Netherlands’ manager, track suited Dutchman Louis van Gaal, who'd looked more like a trainer than Moyes, after buying Spain’s playmaker, Ander Herrera, for €36m from Athletic Bilbao, win the 2014 International Champions Cup pre-season tournament in the United States on August 4th, 3-1 against Liverpool, at Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens city, Miami-Dade county, Florida. However, Gaal’s experiments with three central defenders and wing backs, as well as inverted right footed left wingers, and vice versa, left fans feeling they’d gotten off lightly, when he was sacked, after winning the 2016 F.A. Cup, 2-1 against Crystal Palace.

 A pattern was beginning to emerge. The Glazers owned division South's Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, when that National Football Conference (NFC) winning  team won Super Bowl XXXVII against the American Football Conference (AFC) winners, division West’s Oakland Raiders, 48-21, on January 26th, 2003, at the San Diego Chargers' Qualcomm Stadium, California, with quarterback, Brad Johnson, who in the American public imagination, corresponding to the role of playmaker in soccer, made an 8 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver, Keenan McCardell, increasing the Buccaneers' lead to 27-3.

 The idea of the playmaker, as equivalent to the role of the quarterback, at the pivotal, central hub of the team, was to predominate at United, whose traditional two man midfield, with a holding ball winner and distributor, allied to a playmaker, behind twin strikers, and dependent on wingers to left and right, was to be modified by the diamond, consisting of a playmaker ahead of the two man midfield, and behind a single striker, assisted by two forwards, after the fashion of the quarterback (QB) in American football, handing the oval ball to a rushing back, who’d run with the ball, or throwing to left and right wide receivers in the anticipation of a touchdown (TD) in the opponents’ end zone, 6 points, followed by a place kick between the posts, 1 point, to emphasize the success, 7 points.

 Successful sans pareil, Portuguese José Mourinho, dubbed ‘The Special One’ by the English press, abrasively won the 2017 League Cup, 3-2 against Southampton, and Europa Cup, 2-0 against Ajax, Amsterdam, at Friends Arena, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden, bringing the hard tackling and long range passing and shooting abilities of France’s Paul Pogba back from Italy’s Juventus for €105m, where he’d signed as a free agent, after winning the F.A. Youth Cup with United in 2011, 6-3 against Sheffield United on aggregate, and four consecutive Serie A titles later; 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16.

 However, after converting Herrera into a defensive midfielder, with Belgian Marouane Fellaini, who’d been brought with him from Everton by Moyes for £27.5m, and Pogba ahead of him, rather than Herrera in his former diamond role as playmaker, behind the attack, Mourinho was dismissed in December 2019, after first losing charismatic Swedish goal scoring center forward through injury, Zlatan Ibrahimović, brought from Paris Saint-Germain age 34, as a free agent, and then losing the 2018 F.A. Cup Final, 0-1 to Chelsea's Belgian center forward Eden Hazard's penalty on 22 minutes, despite the herculean efforts of Zlatan’s replacement, bought from Everton for £75m, Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku, 16 goals that 2017-18 season, and 12 more in 2018-19.

 José was replaced by former United striker, Norway’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who the board predictably thought they’d manage, but those who remembered the appointment of former player, Wilf McGuinness, as the legendary Matt Busby’s successor; F.A. Cup winner in 1948, 4-2 against Blackpool, and 1963, 3-1 against Leicester City; league titles in 1951-52, 1955-56, 1956-57, 1964-65, 1966-67, and the European Cup in 1968, 1-1, and 4-1, a.e.t., at London’s national stadium, Wembley, weren’t surprised when Solskjaer didn’t do well in the league, and had difficulties in getting past the semi-final stage of cup competitions.

 McGuinness was sacked, and replaced for the 1971-72 season, when United led the league before New Year, by O'Farrell, after Wilf lost the League Cup semi-final of 1970, 3-4 on aggregate to Manchester City, as well as the twice replayed F.A. Cup semi-final of that year, 0-1 to Leeds United, after two 0-0 draws, with legendary goal scorer, Denis Law, on the substitutes’ bench, and again the 1971 League Cup semi-final, 2-3 on aggregate to Aston Villa.

 History was repeated and Solskjaer suffered a fate similar to McGuinness, and indeed Moyes, who though losing 1-2 in the 2013-14 season’s away leg of the League Cup semi-final at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, despite a headed goal on 51 minutes from Serbia's center back, Nemanja Vidić, at the far post for a corner from the left, 1-1, won the home leg, 1-0, after a corner on the left from Januzaj, back heeled by England center forward, Danny Welbeck, finding Northern Irish center back, Jonny Evans, who headed in on 37 minutes.

 To many fans Sunderland were inexplicably given another 30 minutes. Normally, the game would have been over, as away goals count double, in the event of an aggregate draw, 2-2, that is, as United scored away, 3-2. However, a temporary rule change required a result, and after United’s Spanish ‘keeper, David de Gea, had fumbled right back Phil Bardsley’s low shot along the ground and into the net on 119 minutes, 1-1, Januzaj, playing a one-two with England center back, Chris Smalling, ran on to cross the ball, left and deep inside the area, for center forward, Mexico’s Javier Hernández, to oblige with a strike, left footed at the far post on 120+1 minutes, 2-1, a.e.t., 3-3 on aggregate. Only right midfield, Scot Darren Fletcher, from a quintet that also included Welbeck, Januzaj, England center half, Phil Jones, and Brazil’s right back, Rafael, scored as United lost on penalties, 1-2, a.e.t., in front of an incredulous Stretford End.

 Despite Solskjaer’s buying the playmaker United's American backers had been missing, Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes from Lisbon’s Sporting CP for €80m on January 20th, 2020, who scored 18 goals in 2020-21, as the team reached the 2021 Europa Cup Final, they lost at Stadion Gdańsk, Poland, 10-11, a.e.t., on penalties, to Spain’s Villarreal, when the game had ended in a draw in normal time, 1-1.

 Together with semi-final defeats for Solskjaer in the 2020 League Cup, 2-3 to Manchester City on aggregate, F.A. Cup, 1-3 to Chelsea, and Europa Cup, 1-2 to Spain’s Sevilla, at German club FC Köln’s neutral RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, that was failing, like McGuinness and Moyes. Glazers’ owned Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV, against AFC division West’s Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9, at ‘Ray Jay’, Raymond James (Financial) Stadium, ‘The New Sombrero’, Tampa city, Hillsborough county, Florida, on February 7th, 2021. QB Tom Brady threw, in the first quarter, an 8 yard TD pass, 7-3, inside flank to Rob Gronkowski, tight end (TE), and defensive blocker, that is, when Kansas’ QB, Patrick Mahomes, had the down,1 followed by another TD throw of 17 yards to ‘Gronk’, as eligible Buccaneers' offensive receiver, in the second, 14-3, and a throw of 19 yards to wide receiver, Antonio Brown, for a 1 yard gain, TD, in the end zone, with six seconds of the first half remaining, 21-6. However, cue B. Fernandes, United’s defeat again in the League Cup semi final of 2021, 0-2 to Manchester City at Old Trafford, was failure.

 Former Leipzig manager, German Ralf Rangnick, was invited to fill the role of interim manager until season’s end in December 2022, and Dutch manager of Ajax, Erik ten Hag was appointed for 2022-23, which finished relatively successfully, as Fernandes fulfilled his role as diamond playmaker in ‘the American Dream’, behind on loan Dutch center forward, Wout Weghorst, England’s Marcus Rashford on the left, and inverted left footed winger, Brazil’s Antony on the right, with Brazil’s Casemiro, right midfield, and Brazil’s Fred left midfield, behind him, as QB Fernandes’ United won the League Cup, 2-0, against Newcastle. Only time, and 'diamond Jim' would tell, if 4-3-3 was going to prove a better strategy, than 4-2-4.

 

1 A QB in possession has four downs to advance the ball ten yards or more to get it into their opponent's end zone for a TD.

10/01/2024 15:16
The Inverted Winger at Manchester United
 
The labeling of forwards as inverts began at Manchester United with the arrival of Memphis Depay, a right footed left winger, who technical writers, associated with the coaching side of soccer, defined as an inverted left winger. The choice of terminology was perhaps surprising to psychologists, for example, sexologist Havelock Ellis (1859-1939), whose understanding of ‘invert’ was ‘sexual instinct turned by constitutionalized abnormality toward persons of the same sex.’1 The other interpretation is that of ‘reverse psychology’, that is, a right full back, expecting a left footed winger as his antagonist, would be caught flat footed by Depay’s right foot, for example. 
 Memphis arrived at ‘the Theater of Dreams’, subsequent to Argentine right winger, Ángel Di María, bought for the 2014-15 campaign from La Liga Spain’s Real Madrid for £59.7m by Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, disappointing, with 20 starts, and 7 substitute appearances, for a return of 3 goals, being sold on to France’s Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain for £44m before the commencement of the 2015-16 term. Along with Depay, £25m from Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven, came Anthony Martial from Ligue 1 AS Monaco for £36m, a French left footed center forward, who also played on either wing, that is, as an inverted right winger, if he was selected to demonstrate his attacking abilities there.
 Like Ángel, the right winger Gaal rejected, Depay was also found wanting, with 16 starts, 13 appearances from the substitutes’ bench, and 2 goals in 2015-16, but by Gaal’s successor, Portuguese José Mourinho, replacing the Dutchman, rather surprisingly to many, after the club’s defeat, 2-1, of Crystal Palace in the May 21st, 2016, F.A. Cup Final. Depay didn’t figure and Mourinho brought Armenia’s captain, right wing, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, for £30m from German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, which investment was quickly repaid, as Henrikh scored the second goal on 48 minutes, with an overhead kick inside the penalty area against the Netherlands' Ajax of Amsterdam, 2-0, to win the May 24th, 2017, Europa Cup Final at Friends Arena, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden. 
 The emergence of England’s Jessie Lingard on the left wing, although he came on as a substitute for inverted right wing, Spain’s Juan Mata, in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, scoring the winning goal in the 110th minute, with a right footed volley from inside the 18 yard box, meant that Depay, who made only 4 appearances as a substitute in 2016-17, wasn’t missed when his transfer to Ligue 1 Lyon for £22m went through on January 20th, 2017. However, midway through the 2017-18 season Henrikh went to North London club Arsenal in a swap deal for Chilean forward, Alexis Sánchez, who’d score 2 goals in 12 starts and have what looked like a perfectly good goal disallowed in the May 19th, 2018, F.A. Cup Final defeat against West London’s Chelsea, 0-1 to Belgian center forward Eden Hazard’s 22nd minute penalty, after he was brought down by United center back, England's Phil Jones, lunging recklessly after a ball too far away at Hazard’s feet for County Durham referee, Mark Clattenburg, to have any option but to award Chelsea the spot kick.
 Although Mourinho brought Brazilian Fred for the left side of midfield from Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukrainska Premier Liha for £47m before the 2018-19 campaign, he couldn’t be defined as a winger, and the damage was done. Alexis scored only 1 goal in 9 starts and 11 appearances and Mourinho, dismissed on December 18th, 2018, with just 7 wins in 17 games, was replaced by manager of Norway’s Eliteserien club, Molde, former United striker, Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who’d scored the winning goal on 93 minutes almost on the goal line, after England center forward Teddy Sheringham’s 91st minute equalizer against German side, Bayern Munich, 2-1, in the May 12th, 1999, European Cup Final at Camp Nou, stadium of Spanish La Liga club, Barcelona.
 With players mainly inherited, with the notable exception of Portugal's midfield maestro, Bruno Fernandes, bought from Primeira Liga Lisbon's Sporting CP for €80m on January 30th, 2020, Solskjaer was able to reach the Europa Cup Final at Stadion Gdańsk, Poland, on May 26th, 2021, but lost to Spain’s Villarreal, 11-10, a.e.t., on penalties, with Spain's ‘keeper, David De Gea, the only player to miss, after Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, brought as a free agent for 2020-21 from Paris Saint-Germain, equalized on 55 minutes, a low strike from five yards, 1-1, in normal time. 
 Trophyless, despite bringing legendary right wing, Cristiano Ronaldo, from Italian Serie A club Juventus for €13m, European Champions’ Cup winner with United on May 21st, 2008, 6-5 on penalties, a.e.t., and a Ronaldo header on 26 minutes, 1-0, at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, before England midfielder, Frank Lampard’s equalizer, 1-1, on 45 minutes, poking the ball left footed between advancing Dutch ‘keeper Edwin van der Sar and England center back, Rio Ferdinand. Cristiano, who’d notch 18 goals in 2021-22, had been joined by inverted England left winger, Jadon Sancho, from Borussia Dortmund for €85m, and France’s center back, Raphaël Varane, from Real Madrid for £34m, but 7th in the Premier League, after losing away at Watford, 1-4, Solskjaer was nevertheless replaced on November 21st, 2021, by interim manager until season’s end, formerly at RB Leipzig, German Ralf Rangnick, before Dutch manager of Ajax, Erik Ten Hag, was appointed for 2022-23. 
 Cristiano, known as CR7 for his initials and his preferred shirt number, departed, 4 starts and 6 appearances for 1 goal, to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr of the capital Riyadh, on January 1st 2023, where his illustrious name would receive more luster, scoring twice on August 12th at the King Fahd Stadium, Taif, in the 74th, 1-1, and again in the 94th minute of extra time to win the 2023 Arab Club Champions’ Cup against city of Riyadh rivals Al-Hilal, 2-1. CR7’s leaving was bittersweet, as United’s first success since 2017 came with the February 26th, 2023, League Cup Final defeat of Newcastle United, 2-0, with Marcus Rashford and inverted Brazilian right wing, left footed Antony, bought from Ajax for €95m, on the wings. Brazilian midfielder, Casemiro, bought for £60m by Ten Hag for the 2022-23 season from Real Madrid, headed in a goal from Luke Shaw's free kick on the left on 33 minutes, 1-0. Put through by on loan Dutch striker from Burnley, Wout Weghorst, 6 minutes later, Rashford’s shot, deflected off Magpies’ Dutch central defender, Sven Botman, looped over Newcastle’s German ‘keeper, Lorius Karius, goal, 2-0. 
 The decision to select Marcus Rashford, as a left winger, came as a surprise to many devoted followers, 11 starts and 5 goals in his 2015-16 debut season, and center forward in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, but the purchase of Brazilian left footed right winger, Antony, provided a clue to manger Erik Ten Hag’s thinking. Previous managers had selected Anthony Martial as a center forward, or a winger, depending on injuries, tactics, and strategy, although Ten Hag looked to play Martial as a complementing inverted left winger to Antony on the right, that is, as what fans of soccer in the 1950s would recognize as inside forwards. Van Gaal’s tactical use of three center backs, along with full backs, who’d been wingers, had been similarly deployed as ‘retro’ 1950s ‘wing backs' by a Gaal predecessor, legendary two times European Champions’ Cup winning Scot, then retired, as Sir Alex Ferguson, knighted by England’s queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to soccer, and who’d been initially replaced by Everton’s David Moyes for 2013-14, before Gaal’s appointment. Ecuador’s Antonio Valencia, a former right winger, bought from Wigan Athletic for £16m for 2009-10, before being converted to right full back by Ferguson, and England’s Ashley Young, as a left winger, bought for £17m for 2011-12 from Aston Villa, restyled as a left full back, were converted again by van Gaal to wing backs, with responsibility for wing play in support of Depay, for example, an inverted right winger, effectively in the role of an inside forward.
 With five across the back, that is, a half back line, similar to that which won United the league title in 1909 and 1911, featuring Dick Duckworth, Charlie Roberts, and Scot, Alex Bell, and the April 24th F.A. Cup Final in 1909 at South London’s Crystal Palace, 1-0 against Bristol City, after a shot on 22 minutes from inside right, Harold Halse, hit the bar, and inside left, Sandy Turnbull, struck the rebound past ‘keeper, Harry Clay, room remains for two midfield players, and three forwards, or more daringly, a playmaker, functioning as a deep lying center forward, in the mold of Bobby Charlton, or Paul Scholes, behind the strikers and the wingers, and in front of a midfield two. However, if the wing backs function as wingers, left and right wingers become redundant in the forward line, although traditional with United, used to having a holding midfielder, of the type of Eire’s Roy Keane, alongside the attacking midfielder, for example, Fernandes, as that point of the diamond, where the two wings and the central striker are the other constellating points of the diamond’s structure. 
 With this strategy, either twin strikers were deployed, which means that each striking forward can be the point of the diamond, or there’d be a holding player in the midfield alongside the diamond strategist, with a single striker up front. If the manager deployed full backs as wing backs, for example, England’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right, signed by Solskjaer for £45m from Crystal Palace, before the 2019-20 campaign, and Luke Shaw on the left, bought for £30m from Southampton by Gaal for the 2014-15 term, it’d be logical to suppose inside forwards in the style of the 1950s United, for example, Eire’s inside right, Liam Whelan, and England’s Bobby Charlton at inside left, during United’s 1955-56 and 1956-57 championship winning seasons, therefore inverted is an appropriate description for wingers in the role of inside forwards playing with the wrong foot, as it were, on the opposite side of the pitch to where they might naturally be expected to deploy.
 Spain’s Juan Mata, for example, as a left footed player, often deployed on the right, after being brought by former manager, David Moyes, from Chelsea, on January 24th, 2014, for £37.1m, that is, as a left footed inside right, and similarly with Antony, had the effect of funneling the play into the center, as the space on the right touchline of the field lay abandoned. As there aren’t any rules barring left footed center forwards, so with inside forwards, which foot used is entirely a matter of preference. Rashford, a center forward by common consent, selected on the left or right, as a left footed inside forward, for example, rather than a twinned striker, alongside Dane Rasmus Højlund, bought from Italy's Atalanta for £64m, as an out-and-out striker for the 2023-24 term, illustrates that there aren’t any wingers per se in the inverted strategy.
 The advent of Alejandro Garnacho, as a left winger on the right foot, suggested tactics and strategy at Manchester United undergo revision. Although Gaal’s experiment with three center backs wasn’t entirely dismissed by Mourinho, as Gaal himself was, after the 2016 F.A. Cup Final win, the idea of starting full backs as wing backs to perform the role of wingers remained fashionable. Unfortunately, the ploy of having three central midfielders, with a diamond behind the main striker, seriously curtails United’s usually all-out attacking style, as more fluidity’s required of the front three; resulting in an inversely proportionate return through placing too much onus on a single central striker to score, that is, goal famine. Although the ideal for United is a two man midfield, with a hard man, midfield destroyer, who can pass, and a diamond; twin strikers, and left and right wingers, or at least left and right inside forwards, who’re left footed left inside forwards, and vice versa, are needed to improve the goal drought. Otherwise the forward line will be inverted to the extent that there’ll be no wide play, which means no balls from extreme angles, crossed over to evade defenders, for forwards to head in, or boot onto, after a wing and a prayer.
 The argument that inverted forward thinking is more cerebral ignores the fact that an outside left with a right foot can’t hug the touchline, evading tackles from the opposing right full back to deliver accurate balls, like that of Wales' Ryan Giggs to Roy Keane, there at the far post on 35 minutes against Brazil’s Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Palmeiras, 1-0, to secure the Intercontinental Cup trophy on November 30th, 1999, at the National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan, against the champions of South America, winners of the Copa Da Libertadores, 4-3, on penalties, after losing the June 2nd first leg away at Deportivo Cali, Valle del Cauca, Columbia, 0-1, but winning the June 16th return leg at their Palestra Italia Stadium, São Paulo, 2-1, that is, after a draw, 2-2 on aggregate.
 Reports that Manchester United actually narrowed the pitch at Old Trafford suggests timidity. Abandoning the wings to play an inverted game is indicative of fear. Moreover, against a team with wingers United’s inability to counterattack down the wings puts too much strain on the defenders, while making for a defensive team, containing as many midfielders as possible, for example, Mata, a left foot brought to replace Giggs, signed upon contract expiry for Turkey’s Süper Lig club Galatasary of Istanbul for the 2022-23 season, having found himself labeled left sided midfield too often to view his role as even that of an inverted winger, that is, as an inside left forward, after debuting against Cardiff City on January 21st, 2014, scoring 6 goals in 14 starts, including 2 goals in his only substitute appearance at Old Trafford against Norwich City, 4-0, before 2013-14 season’s end.
 The emergence of Argentine, Alejandro Garnacho, as a classic inverted left winger in 2022-23, 5 starts and 14 appearances for 3 goals, didn't preclude his appearing on the right as an orthodox, that is, right footed outside or inside right. Without a striking partnership in attack, a challenge for honors is unlikely. Irrespective of the deployment of wingers, two strikers are proven to be necessary for success. Withdrawing the wings in favor of a pitch inversion is indicative of a psychological complex, that is, introversion, which is a term used to describe an approach that is antithetical to that of the extroverted personality, as exemplified by United teams in their thirst for trophies since manager Matt Busby’s first great side beat Blackpool, 4-2, in the April 24th, 1948, F.A. Cup Final, coming back after being 0-1 on 12 minutes through right back Eddie Shimwell’s penalty, when center forward, Stan Mortensen, was tackled from behind, and again at 1-2, after a Mortensen cross-shot in the 35th minute improved upon a United goal on 28 minutes from a Delaney pass and a strike from Jack Rowley, 1-1, who went on to head home his second equalizer of the afternoon on 70 minutes from a quickly taken free-kick, 2-2, before a Pearson shot flew into the net via an upright on 80 minutes, 3-2, and two minutes later Anderson wrapped it up, 4-2.
 The attack boasted Scot, Jimmy Delaney, at outside right, Charlie Mitten at outside left, Johnny Morris at inside right, and Stan Pearson at inside left, and Jack Rowley at center forward, with a half back line of John Anderson at right half, Allenby Chilton at center half, and Henry Cockburn at left half. The full backs were John Aston on the left, and United’s captain, Eire's Johnny Carey, on the right, which was five at the back, and five up front, that is, 1-5-5, including ‘keeper Jack Crompton. The game’s evolution was of the playmaker amongst the inside forwards, dropping back alongside the more distributive half back, resulting in 2018-19 in what United fans were prone to call ‘McFred’, for example, as Fred, and Scot, Scott McTominay, were brought together in a two man midfield by Solskjaer, with Fernandes ahead of them as a part of the diamond with three forwards ahead. The concept of wing backs derived from the need to support the midfield two, which meant either attacking full backs, or defensive wingers, although 1-4-2-4 remained the prevailing paradigm at Manchester United, before the advent of the diamond, controlled by a playmaker ahead of the central midfield pair, for example, Fernandes in front of Fred and McTominay, and behind Rashford. 
 Describing inside forwards, who’re left and right wingers, as inverts, that is, being of one gender and having the traits of another, contains malice, that is, a team with inverts won't get much penetration, as they’ll be confused over whether they’re an inside forward, winger, or midfielder, which can only be detrimental for new stars, like Garnacho, defined as an inverted left winger with a right foot, although that mightn’t be evident to coaches who want a left footed left winger, and a right.
 
1 Ellis, Havelock Studies in the Psychology of Sex Volume II: Sexual Inversion, 3rd Edition, 1927.

The Inverted Winger at Manchester United

The labeling of forwards as inverts began at Manchester United with the arrival of Memphis Depay, a right footed left winger, who technical writers, associated with the coaching side of soccer, defined as an inverted left winger. The choice of terminology was perhaps surprising to psychologists, for example, sexologist Havelock Ellis (1859-1939), whose understanding of ‘invert’ was ‘sexual instinct turned by constitutionalized abnormality toward persons of the same sex.’1 The other interpretation is that of ‘reverse psychology’, that is, a right full back, expecting a left footed winger as his antagonist, would be caught flat footed by Depay’s right foot, for example. 

 Memphis arrived at ‘the Theater of Dreams’, subsequent to Argentine right winger, Ángel Di María, bought for the 2014-15 campaign from La Liga Spain’s Real Madrid for £59.7m by Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, disappointing, with 20 starts, and 7 substitute appearances, for a return of 3 goals, being sold on to France’s Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain for £44m before the commencement of the 2015-16 term. Along with Depay, £25m from Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven, came Anthony Martial from Ligue 1 AS Monaco for £36m, a French left footed center forward, who also played on either wing, that is, as an inverted right winger, if he was selected to demonstrate his attacking abilities there.

 Like Ángel, the right winger Gaal rejected, Depay was also found wanting, with 16 starts, 13 appearances from the substitutes’ bench, and 2 goals in 2015-16, but by Gaal’s successor, Portuguese José Mourinho, replacing the Dutchman, rather surprisingly to many, after the club’s defeat, 2-1, of Crystal Palace in the May 21st, 2016, F.A. Cup Final. Depay didn’t figure and Mourinho brought Armenia’s captain, right wing, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, for £30m from German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, which investment was quickly repaid, as Henrikh scored the second goal on 48 minutes, with an overhead kick inside the penalty area against the Netherlands' Ajax of Amsterdam, 2-0, to win the May 24th, 2017, Europa Cup Final at Friends Arena, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden. 

 The emergence of England’s Jessie Lingard on the left wing, although he came on as a substitute for inverted right wing, Spain’s Juan Mata, in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, scoring the winning goal in the 110th minute, with a right footed volley from inside the 18 yard box, meant that Depay, who made only 4 appearances as a substitute in 2016-17, wasn’t missed when his transfer to Ligue 1 Lyon for £22m went through on January 20th, 2017. However, midway through the 2017-18 season Henrikh went to North London club Arsenal in a swap deal for Chilean forward, Alexis Sánchez, who’d score 2 goals in 12 starts and have what looked like a perfectly good goal disallowed in the May 19th, 2018, F.A. Cup Final defeat against West London’s Chelsea, 0-1 to Belgian center forward Eden Hazard’s 22nd minute penalty, after he was brought down by United center back, England's Phil Jones, lunging recklessly after a ball too far away at Hazard’s feet for County Durham referee, Mark Clattenburg, to have any option but to award Chelsea the spot kick.

 Although Mourinho brought Brazilian Fred for the left side of midfield from Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukrainska Premier Liha for £47m before the 2018-19 campaign, he couldn’t be defined as a winger, and the damage was done. Alexis scored only 1 goal in 9 starts and 11 appearances and Mourinho, dismissed on December 18th, 2018, with just 7 wins in 17 games, was replaced by manager of Norway’s Eliteserien club, Molde, former United striker, Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who’d scored the winning goal on 93 minutes almost on the goal line, after England center forward Teddy Sheringham’s 91st minute equalizer against German side, Bayern Munich, 2-1, in the May 12th, 1999, European Cup Final at Camp Nou, stadium of Spanish La Liga club, Barcelona.

 With players mainly inherited, with the notable exception of Portugal's midfield maestro, Bruno Fernandes, bought from Primeira Liga Lisbon's Sporting CP for €80m on January 30th, 2020, Solskjaer was able to reach the Europa Cup Final at Stadion Gdańsk, Poland, on May 26th, 2021, but lost to Spain’s Villarreal, 11-10, a.e.t., on penalties, with Spain's ‘keeper, David De Gea, the only player to miss, after Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, brought as a free agent for 2020-21 from Paris Saint-Germain, equalized on 55 minutes, a low strike from five yards, 1-1, in normal time. 

 Trophyless, despite bringing legendary right wing, Cristiano Ronaldo, from Italian Serie A club Juventus for €13m, European Champions’ Cup winner with United on May 21st, 2008, 6-5 on penalties, a.e.t., and a Ronaldo header on 26 minutes, 1-0, at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, before England midfielder, Frank Lampard’s equalizer, 1-1, on 45 minutes, poking the ball left footed between advancing Dutch ‘keeper Edwin van der Sar and England center back, Rio Ferdinand. Cristiano, who’d notch 18 goals in 2021-22, had been joined by inverted England left winger, Jadon Sancho, from Borussia Dortmund for €85m, and France’s center back, Raphaël Varane, from Real Madrid for £34m, but 7th in the Premier League, after losing away at Watford, 1-4, Solskjaer was nevertheless replaced on November 21st, 2021, by interim manager until season’s end, formerly at RB Leipzig, German Ralf Rangnick, before Dutch manager of Ajax, Erik Ten Hag, was appointed for 2022-23. 

 Cristiano, known as CR7 for his initials and his preferred shirt number, departed, 4 starts and 6 appearances for 1 goal, to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr of the capital Riyadh, on January 1st 2023, where his illustrious name would receive more luster, scoring twice on August 12th at the King Fahd Stadium, Taif, in the 74th, 1-1, and again in the 94th minute of extra time to win the 2023 Arab Club Champions’ Cup against city of Riyadh rivals Al-Hilal, 2-1. CR7’s leaving was bittersweet, as United’s first success since 2017 came with the February 26th, 2023, League Cup Final defeat of Newcastle United, 2-0, with Marcus Rashford and inverted Brazilian right wing, left footed Antony, bought from Ajax for €95m, on the wings. Brazilian midfielder, Casemiro, bought for £60m by Ten Hag for the 2022-23 season from Real Madrid, headed in a goal from Luke Shaw's free kick on the left on 33 minutes, 1-0. Put through by on loan Dutch striker from Burnley, Wout Weghorst, 6 minutes later, Rashford’s shot, deflected off Magpies’ Dutch central defender, Sven Botman, looped over Newcastle’s German ‘keeper, Lorius Karius, goal, 2-0. 

 The decision to select Marcus Rashford, as a left winger, came as a surprise to many devoted followers, 11 starts and 5 goals in his 2015-16 debut season, and center forward in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, but the purchase of Brazilian left footed right winger, Antony, provided a clue to manger Erik Ten Hag’s thinking. Previous managers had selected Anthony Martial as a center forward, or a winger, depending on injuries, tactics, and strategy, although Ten Hag looked to play Martial as a complementing inverted left winger to Antony on the right, that is, as what fans of soccer in the 1950s would recognize as inside forwards. Van Gaal’s tactical use of three center backs, along with full backs, who’d been wingers, had been similarly deployed as ‘retro’ 1950s ‘wing backs' by a Gaal predecessor, legendary two times European Champions’ Cup winning Scot, then retired, as Sir Alex Ferguson, knighted by England’s queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to soccer, and who’d been initially replaced by Everton’s David Moyes for 2013-14, before Gaal’s appointment. Ecuador’s Antonio Valencia, a former right winger, bought from Wigan Athletic for £16m for 2009-10, before being converted to right full back by Ferguson, and England’s Ashley Young, as a left winger, bought for £17m for 2011-12 from Aston Villa, restyled as a left full back, were converted again by van Gaal to wing backs, with responsibility for wing play in support of Depay, for example, an inverted right winger, effectively in the role of an inside forward.

 With five across the back, that is, a half back line, similar to that which won United the league title in 1909 and 1911, featuring Dick Duckworth, Charlie Roberts, and Scot, Alex Bell, and the April 24th F.A. Cup Final in 1909 at South London’s Crystal Palace, 1-0 against Bristol City, after a shot on 22 minutes from inside right, Harold Halse, hit the bar, and inside left, Sandy Turnbull, struck the rebound past ‘keeper, Harry Clay, room remains for two midfield players, and three forwards, or more daringly, a playmaker, functioning as a deep lying center forward, in the mold of Bobby Charlton, or Paul Scholes, behind the strikers and the wingers, and in front of a midfield two. However, if the wing backs function as wingers, left and right wingers become redundant in the forward line, although traditional with United, used to having a holding midfielder, of the type of Eire’s Roy Keane, alongside the attacking midfielder, for example, Fernandes, as that point of the diamond, where the two wings and the central striker are the other constellating points of the diamond’s structure. 

 With this strategy, either twin strikers were deployed, which means that each striking forward can be the point of the diamond, or there’d be a holding player in the midfield alongside the diamond strategist, with a single striker up front. If the manager deployed full backs as wing backs, for example, England’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right, signed by Solskjaer for £45m from Crystal Palace, before the 2019-20 campaign, and Luke Shaw on the left, bought for £30m from Southampton by Gaal for the 2014-15 term, it’d be logical to suppose inside forwards in the style of the 1950s United, for example, Eire’s inside right, Liam Whelan, and England’s Bobby Charlton at inside left, during United’s 1955-56 and 1956-57 championship winning seasons, therefore inverted is an appropriate description for wingers in the role of inside forwards playing with the wrong foot, as it were, on the opposite side of the pitch to where they might naturally be expected to deploy.

 Spain’s Juan Mata, for example, as a left footed player, often deployed on the right, after being brought by former manager, David Moyes, from Chelsea, on January 24th, 2014, for £37.1m, that is, as a left footed inside right, and similarly with Antony, had the effect of funneling the play into the center, as the space on the right touchline of the field lay abandoned. As there aren’t any rules barring left footed center forwards, so with inside forwards, which foot used is entirely a matter of preference. Rashford, a center forward by common consent, selected on the left or right, as a left footed inside forward, for example, rather than a twinned striker, alongside Dane Rasmus Højlund, bought from Italy's Atalanta for £64m, as an out-and-out striker for the 2023-24 term, illustrates that there aren’t any wingers per se in the inverted strategy.

 The advent of Alejandro Garnacho, as a left winger on the right foot, suggested tactics and strategy at Manchester United undergo revision. Although Gaal’s experiment with three center backs wasn’t entirely dismissed by Mourinho, as Gaal himself was, after the 2016 F.A. Cup Final win, the idea of starting full backs as wing backs to perform the role of wingers remained fashionable. Unfortunately, the ploy of having three central midfielders, with a diamond behind the main striker, seriously curtails United’s usually all-out attacking style, as more fluidity’s required of the front three; resulting in an inversely proportionate return through placing too much onus on a single central striker to score, that is, goal famine. Although the ideal for United is a two man midfield, with a hard man, midfield destroyer, who can pass, and a diamond; twin strikers, and left and right wingers, or at least left and right inside forwards, who’re left footed left inside forwards, and vice versa, are needed to improve the goal drought. Otherwise the forward line will be inverted to the extent that there’ll be no wide play, which means no balls from extreme angles, crossed over to evade defenders, for forwards to head in, or boot onto, after a wing and a prayer.

 The argument that inverted forward thinking is more cerebral ignores the fact that an outside left with a right foot can’t hug the touchline, evading tackles from the opposing right full back to deliver accurate balls, like that of Wales' Ryan Giggs to Roy Keane, there at the far post on 35 minutes against Brazil’s Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Palmeiras, 1-0, to secure the Intercontinental Cup trophy on November 30th, 1999, at the National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan, against the champions of South America, winners of the Copa Da Libertadores, 4-3, on penalties, after losing the June 2nd first leg away at Deportivo Cali, Valle del Cauca, Columbia, 0-1, but winning the June 16th return leg at their Palestra Italia Stadium, São Paulo, 2-1, that is, after a draw, 2-2 on aggregate.

 Reports that Manchester United actually narrowed the pitch at Old Trafford suggests timidity. Abandoning the wings to play an inverted game is indicative of fear. Moreover, against a team with wingers United’s inability to counterattack down the wings puts too much strain on the defenders, while making for a defensive team, containing as many midfielders as possible, for example, Mata, a left foot brought to replace Giggs, signed upon contract expiry for Turkey’s Süper Lig club Galatasary of Istanbul for the 2022-23 season, having found himself labeled left sided midfield too often to view his role as even that of an inverted winger, that is, as an inside left forward, after debuting against Cardiff City on January 21st, 2014, scoring 6 goals in 14 starts, including 2 goals in his only substitute appearance at Old Trafford against Norwich City, 4-0, before 2013-14 season’s end.

 The emergence of Argentine, Alejandro Garnacho, as a classic inverted left winger in 2022-23, 5 starts and 14 appearances for 3 goals, didn't preclude his appearing on the right as an orthodox, that is, right footed outside or inside right. Without a striking partnership in attack, a challenge for honors is unlikely. Irrespective of the deployment of wingers, two strikers are proven to be necessary for success. Withdrawing the wings in favor of a pitch inversion is indicative of a psychological complex, that is, introversion, which is a term used to describe an approach that is antithetical to that of the extroverted personality, as exemplified by United teams in their thirst for trophies since manager Matt Busby’s first great side beat Blackpool, 4-2, in the April 24th, 1948, F.A. Cup Final, coming back after being 0-1 on 12 minutes through right back Eddie Shimwell’s penalty, when center forward, Stan Mortensen, was tackled from behind, and again at 1-2, after a Mortensen cross-shot in the 35th minute improved upon a United goal on 28 minutes from a Delaney pass and a strike from Jack Rowley, 1-1, who went on to head home his second equalizer of the afternoon on 70 minutes from a quickly taken free-kick, 2-2, before a Pearson shot flew into the net via an upright on 80 minutes, 3-2, and two minutes later Anderson wrapped it up, 4-2.

 The attack boasted Scot, Jimmy Delaney, at outside right, Charlie Mitten at outside left, Johnny Morris at inside right, and Stan Pearson at inside left, and Jack Rowley at center forward, with a half back line of John Anderson at right half, Allenby Chilton at center half, and Henry Cockburn at left half. The full backs were John Aston on the left, and United’s captain, Eire's Johnny Carey, on the right, which was five at the back, and five up front, that is, 1-5-5, including ‘keeper Jack Crompton. The game’s evolution was of the playmaker amongst the inside forwards, dropping back alongside the more distributive half back, resulting in 2018-19 in what United fans were prone to call ‘McFred’, for example, as Fred, and Scot, Scott McTominay, were brought together in a two man midfield by Solskjaer, with Fernandes ahead of them as a part of the diamond with three forwards ahead. The concept of wing backs derived from the need to support the midfield two, which meant either attacking full backs, or defensive wingers, although 1-4-2-4 remained the prevailing paradigm at Manchester United, before the advent of the diamond, controlled by a playmaker ahead of the central midfield pair, for example, Fernandes in front of Fred and McTominay, and behind Rashford. 

 Describing inside forwards, who’re left and right wingers, as inverts, that is, being of one gender and having the traits of another, contains malice, that is, a team with inverts won't get much penetration, as they’ll be confused over whether they’re an inside forward, winger, or midfielder, which can only be detrimental for new stars, like Garnacho, defined as an inverted left winger with a right foot, although that mightn’t be evident to coaches who want a left footed left winger, and a right.

1 Ellis, Havelock Studies in the Psychology of Sex Volume II: Sexual Inversion, 3rd Edition, 1927.

03/01/2024 15:07

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, crossing from the left wing onto the heads and boots of center forwards, Tommy Taylor and Dennis Viollet, during the 1956-57 Championship triumph, 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 national 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, if Robson remained as the holding player in midfield, Wilkins or Whiteside, and later Paul Ince, when manager Alex Ferguson, coming from Aberdeen, where the Scots' Club had won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983, 2-1, against Spain's Real Madrid, before being appointed to replace Atkinson on November 6th, 1986, bringing Ince from West Ham United for the 1989-90 campaign for £1m, he could move up in support of the attack. 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, 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), bought for £850,000 from Celtic for the 1987-88 start, and Wales’ Mark Hughes (1980-86; 37, 1988-95; 83), bought from Barcelona for £1.8m for the 1988-89 start, after being imprudently sold by Atkinson there for the 1986-87 term, and Mark Hughes and Frenchman Eric Cantona (1992-97; 64), bought from Leeds United for £1m on November 26th, 1992, where he'd helped the Yorkshire club win the last First Division title of 1991-92, before it was restyled as the Premier League, 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. The class of 1991-92 were there, though, that is, right back, Gary Neville, midfielder Nicky Butt, left wing, Ryan Giggs, and right wing, David Beckham, who’d been in the teams that won the F.A. Youth Cup Final in 1992, 3-1 away against Crystal Palace, and 3-2 (6-3) at Old Trafford, while Scholes, playing alongside the same players in the F.A. Youth Cup Final defeat a year later, against Leeds United, 0-2 and 1-2 (1-4), would go on to first team success rivalled only by Giggs, who’d been a member of the team for a short while only before the 1991 Super Cup Final.

 Though Scholes hung up his boots at the end of the 2012-2013 term, Giggs opted to play in the 2013-14 season for manager David Moyes, coming from Everton to replace the retiring Ferguson, and became interim player manager, before Louis van Gaal’s appointment of him as his assistant manager, subsequent to Moyes’ dismissal, after a series of poor results, culminating in a 0-2 away defeat at Everton. Giggs’ United beat Norwich City, 4-0, on 26th April, 2014, but on May 3rd lost, 0-1, to Sunderland at home, before beating Hull City at home on May 6th, 3-1, and drawing at St Mary’s, Southampton’s ground, 1-1, on May 11th, with Giggs making his last appearance as a player, aged 40, putting himself on as a substitute in the 70th minute against Hull, for a record-breaking 672nd appearance, scoring 114 goals.

 Gary Neville, and brother Phil, who’d played at right back in the F.A. Cup Final defeat to Leeds, with Gary at center half, Butt, Beckham, Giggs, McClair and Hughes were all 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 Germany’s 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 73rd minute goal from Wayne Rooney against LDU Quito of Ecuador, after Serbian center half, Nemanja Vidić, was sent off for elbowing in the face Argentine striker, Claudio  Bieler, when both were on the floor after a tackle by  Vidić in the 49th minute, who'd convinced himself that Bieler was preventing him from getting to his feet.

 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 8th, 2012, Paul resumed his diamond role in the F.A. Cup 3rd 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 18th 2016-2018), and the Netherlands’ Erik Ten Hag, appointed as former United center forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s successor on April 21st, 2022, after a spell for Carrick as caretaker manager, during which the team successfully negotiated passage into the last 16 of the European Champions' Cup, beating Spain's Villareal away, 2-0, followed by a draw, 1-1, away at Chelsea, on November 28th, and a 3-2 home win over Arsenal on December 2nd, before the appointment of German, Ralf Rangnick, from German Bundesliga club Leipzing, until season's end, with Carrick then leaving, 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 S’ton 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.

 After pre-season success in the International Champions Cup, held in the United States of America, where United beat Liverpool in the Final, 3-1, to become 2014 ICC Champions, Jones, Smalling, and Evans were the three central defenders, with Valencia and Young as wing backs, Fletcher, Herrera, and Mata in midfield, and strikers, Rooney and Hernandez. Gaal experimented with variations, for example, Shaw as the left side of the three center backs, or as an out and out full back, paired on the right with Italy’s Matteo Darmian, bought for £12.7m from Torino for the 2015-16 season, as competition for Northern Irish Paddy McNair, 12 starts and 4 appearances as substitute in 2014-15.

 Darmian could also play center back, as did McNair, and Shaw was tried as a wing back in the style of Young, while the addition of Columbian forward Radamel Falcao for £6m on a season long loan from Monaco improved possibilities in attack, where Herrera was the diamond in center midfield, initially behind the aging van Persie, Falcao, or Rooney, and afterwards Rashford, although it was clear that Rooney had looked to be groomed for that diamond setting. Options intriguing Gaal throughout 2014-15 included the introduction of right winger, Ángel Di María, bought from Real Madrid for £59.7m, and when Di María failed to impress, French left winger, Anthony Martial, from Monaco for £36m, and Dutch right winger, Memphis Depay, from PSV Eindhoven for £25m were brought in before the 2015-16 campaign. Somewhat vindicated, Gaal’s permutating team selections eventually won, 2-1, a.e.t., in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, against Crystal Palace.

 

 

 However, as the line ups were announced, it was clear the Dutchman had accepted the United way, and a team took 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 72nd minute as a left winger, as Italy’s Matteo Darmian had already replaced Rojo at left back in the 66th minute, where they flanked Daley Blind, and Chris Smalling, who was sent off in the 105th 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 Belgium’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 90th 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 78th minute goal in the 81st minute, volleying in left side of the area at a narrow angle. However, it was Lingard who, in the 110th 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 despite assistant manager, Giggs, being mooted for the job, he left and later became manager of Wales (2018-2022), winning the 2020 British Home Championship, beating England at Wembley, 2-1, en route. José Mourinho, arriving via Chelsea, with fellow Portuguese assistant, Lui Faria, where he’d managed ‘the Blues’ to the 2014-15 English Championship, as well as the League Cup that season, coached 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 S’ton, 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, had been 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 90th minute, when he came on as a substitute for Mata, and it wasn’t until the 77th 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 87th minute, suggesting the traditional pairing of twin strikers at United was being challenged.

 Despite the arrival of Belgian center forward powerhouse, Romelu Lukaku, the decision of assistant Faria to leave, replaced by Carrick for the 2018-19 season, after his career ended with a standing ovation, while being substituted in the 84th minute for Pogba, during the last match of 2017-18, on May 13th against Watford, in which Carrick had been involved in making the only goal of the game in the 34th minute for Rashford, 1-0, and United’s failure to capture the 2018 F.A. Cup, losing the Final, 0-1, to a 22nd minute Eden Hazard penalty for Chelsea, after center back Phil Jones had clumsily brought him down, contributed to Mourinho’s dismissal, with Carrick being appointed acting caretaker manager, 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 73rd, 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 28th, 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 26th, 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, joining from Paris Saint-Germain, after succeeding Ibrahimović as all-time leading goal scorer there, Edinson Cavani, 1-1, in the 55th minute, was sacked on November 21st, 2021, after a defeat, 1-4, away at Watford; leaving United 7th in the table.

 Ten Hag was appointed on April 21st, 2022, after German interim manager Ralf Rangnick’s side, on February 23rd, 2022, drawing 1-1 away to Spain’s Atlético Madrid in the last 16 of the European Champions’ Cup, lost on March 15th, 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 75th minute for Rashford, Elanga had scored the 80th 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 3 in total, before being transferred to Nottingham Forest for their 2023-24 season, started a game that United, eventually finishing 6th 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 who, after making his debut for Mourinho on March 6th, 2019, as an 87th minute substitute in a 3-1 away victory over Paris Saint-Germain, Round of 16, second leg, 2-0 behind from the first leg at Old Trafford, had been third top scorer in 2019-20 with 10 goals, behind Martial and Rashford with 17 apiece, 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 33rd minute header from England left back Luke Shaw’s free kick, and Rashford, with a 39th 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 23rd at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey, after already securing the league title, with Arsenal losing at Nottingham Forest, 0-1, on May 20th, with a game to play, and four points behind, then beat United, 2-1, in the June 3rd 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 33rd 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 7th, and didn’t qualify for the Europa Cup, finishing fourth in their Champions’ League group, although third was required, behind 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 4th 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 3rd minute right footed overhead kick on Sunday, November 26th, at Goodison Park, Walton, Liverpool, opening the scoring in an away victory, 3-0, over Everton.

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Blog

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