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Manchester United, memories of Macheda and some needed tonic
LET’S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN …
Fear not, Manchester United fans, we come bearing gifts. Defeat at Stamford Bridge was their fifth 4-3 game this season (two wins, three losses), an apt summary of their chaos. It has left Erik ten Hag and his wounded players feeling “mad and angry”, so a little care package is required, something to give the soul a brief respite from this latest implosion. As this is United, the only way to find real joy is to fire up the DeLorean and retreat to the past.
First, to some good ol’ wholesome #OnThisDay content. Friday marks the 15th anniversary of Federico Macheda’s injury-time winner against Aston Villa, the 17-year-old completing a comeback from 2-1 down to keep United ticking over in a zesty title duel with Liverpool. Pulling off the best Cruyff Turn since Johan himself, the debutant spun around Luke Young before curling past the outstretched hand of Brad Friedel, 73 years his senior. Cue bedlam at Old Trafford, a hog pile upon the Italian tyro, a raft of legendary figures celebrating with him, the scene entirely unfamiliar to the current club. The sole survivor from United’s team that day? All hail the everlasting Jonny Evans.
The next stop on our road to recovery is, er, at Gary Neville and Roy Keane’s Stick to Football podcast, where guests appear to be of a similar ilk. Visitors include Rio Ferdinand, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Wayne Rooney, Jaap Stam and David Beckham, the topics all the usual stuff: The Boss, the gong-filled glory days and decrying the current malaise. “Where are the leaders in the dressing room?” someone cries for the gazillionth time. Sorry, United fans will be getting all sad again; just have a listen to Ferdinand talk about his impenetrable partnership with Nemanja Vidic and feel all your wounds heal.
Macheda’s winner also has relevance with what’s to come in this unrelenting title race. With Liverpool and Manchester City dreaming of trebles and Arsenal still in Europe, knack will take hold and fringe players will get the call to come on and possibly decide this whole thing. Kind of like that [Snip – Football Daily Spoilers Ed] in The Departed, who shoots [Snip-snippety snip – FDSE] when the lift doors open. Or, if you’re no cinephile, think Divock Origi turning it on against Barcelona and Tottenham to win Big Cup for Liverpool. Alas, United must watch on as their old sparring partners battle on up top. At the very least on Sunday, they’ll hope to disrupt Jürgen Klopp’s long farewell for the second time this season. And if that doesn’t go well, just put Kiko’s curler on repeat.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’ve got to say the Arsenal-Man City game was brilliant. It was 0-0” – peak David Moyes in his Friday press conference. Never change, never change.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Mauricio Pochettino calling on his players to wake up earlier and run harder (yesterday’s Football Daily). He should take into consideration what has happened to Manchester United’s players, who apparently ran too hard in training and now the squad is depleted. Not that knack or no-knack can ever have an impact on the dire team that United have become” – Nigel Assam.
This is probably a broader philosophical question about what actually makes a football team, but if you have 11 players and half of them spend the 112th minute pointing for someone to mark Cole Palmer after he’s already scored two goals while no one from the other half bothers to do it, can you call yourself one? Apropos of nothing, Monday is also the 10-year anniversary of Big Website doing its ‘Manchester United: how did they get into this mess?’ piece” – Noble Francis.
For once, Football Daily is getting ahead of events in describing Carlisle United as a ‘League Two basement side’ (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). Although on the basis of the alleged shenanigans on Saturday night, it looks like [Snip – Football Daily Lawyers]” – Alan Giles (and others).
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Noble Francis.
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