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English Angle: Can Ferguson's Manchester United Survive The Spanish Assault?
Man Utd's position as Europe's premier outfit is under threat by the exciting football and mega-money of Spain's finest. Goal.com's Greg Ptolomey outlines the challenge facing 'Fergie'...
19-Jun-2009 7:05:39 PM
There's little doubt that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the grand masters of top-level football, if not the grand master. In order for his disciples to question his beliefs, it would take the equivalent of of an alien spacecraft piloted by a velociraptor landing at the Vatican.
Well, nothing of that magnitude as occurred as yet, but the re-emergence of Spanish football is moving towards that ballpark.
The question is, can the 67-year-old Scot rouse himself for one last big challenge at the tail-end of a glittering career in his comfy Old Trafford chair?
Just a few months ago, the notion that United, or English football, could be challenged to such an extent was unthinkable. Premier League sides were cruising through the Champions League, with the overbearing Red Devils moving through the gears and into pole position to retain their domestic crown.
Then England were humbled by Spain in a friendly encounter, and a few people started to glance around nervously. Come the end of the season, Barcelona had beaten Man Utd – a good United side, with little inkling of their inferiorities – in Rome to plant their flag at the top of Europe's footballing mountain.
After the game, Ferguson looked more pensive than anything, probably wondering which minor adjustments he could make to balance the scales again next season. However, he wasn't afforded much time to regroup before Real Madrid's madcap scheme to lure Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu finally leapt off the pages, turning fiction into friction. 'Fergie' conceded defeat, his prize possession finally soiled to the extent that it turned his stomach.
Money, talks, though, and it talks loudly.
Now, it's going to be very hard for Ferguson to meet this Spanish challenge, mentally or financially. It's something like total football, the infamous Oranje shake-up of yore, while Ferguson represents the current establishment. He's wise, he's canny, but it's questionable as to whether he'll be able to force the kind of evolutionary leap that's clearly needed in order to compete on the terms of the Primera Division, based on recent evidence.
Then there's Liverpool – a team which Spanish boss, Rafael Benitez, has turned into an outpost for La Furia Roja. Bitter Rafa would absolutely relish beating Ferguson on his own terms, but with a Spanish flavour. The Merseyside men ran them closer than ever last season, and will be ready to go again.
In terms of the transfer market, which appears to becoming the real 'business end' of the season these days, Ferguson's confidence must be knocked by now. Cristiano aside, Ferguson will have watched in horror as three of his 'rejects' – red-hot Giuseppe Rossi, Golden Shoe winner Diego Forlan and Barca's Gerard Pique – have reached dizzy heights as part of Primera Division squads. Meanwhile, he's got an almighty mess on his hands with the Carlos Tevez situation and also Dimitar Berbatov, a signing questioned like few before him.
Ferguson's response, as always, is likely to be bullish. His followers aren't going to walk into his church for the first day of training and find clowns making balloon animals – the environment will remain respectful, formal and professional. His team, and its ethos, is meant to be set in stone. He can't have too many superstars – you need a Darren Fletcher to temper every Cristiano Ronaldo – so he'll continue as is, bringing in like-for-like where need be.
In fact, the real challenge might be for his successor. If it does turn out that Spain's exciting brand of football and the extravagant transfer market approach of La Liga's giants is the correct model, and not a false dawn, then it'll be very difficult to start rebuilding an entire ethos. What is certain is that every empire in history has fallen, as will United's.
Still, it would be complete folly to write Sir Alex off. He is more than capable of adapting – bouncing straight back in Europe, whilst starting to plant the seeds of change around his Garden of Eden.
It'll certainly be fascinating to see how United and the best manager of the modern era handles the threats on the horizon. As Bill Pullman roared in Independence Day, "We will not go quietly into the night!"
Greg Ptolomey, Goal.com
Now all of our breaking news is at your fingertips. Meet the Goal.com Toolbar, the new and exciting way to take the passion of football with you!
Well, nothing of that magnitude as occurred as yet, but the re-emergence of Spanish football is moving towards that ballpark.
The question is, can the 67-year-old Scot rouse himself for one last big challenge at the tail-end of a glittering career in his comfy Old Trafford chair?
Just a few months ago, the notion that United, or English football, could be challenged to such an extent was unthinkable. Premier League sides were cruising through the Champions League, with the overbearing Red Devils moving through the gears and into pole position to retain their domestic crown.
Then England were humbled by Spain in a friendly encounter, and a few people started to glance around nervously. Come the end of the season, Barcelona had beaten Man Utd – a good United side, with little inkling of their inferiorities – in Rome to plant their flag at the top of Europe's footballing mountain.
After the game, Ferguson looked more pensive than anything, probably wondering which minor adjustments he could make to balance the scales again next season. However, he wasn't afforded much time to regroup before Real Madrid's madcap scheme to lure Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu finally leapt off the pages, turning fiction into friction. 'Fergie' conceded defeat, his prize possession finally soiled to the extent that it turned his stomach.
Money, talks, though, and it talks loudly.
Now, it's going to be very hard for Ferguson to meet this Spanish challenge, mentally or financially. It's something like total football, the infamous Oranje shake-up of yore, while Ferguson represents the current establishment. He's wise, he's canny, but it's questionable as to whether he'll be able to force the kind of evolutionary leap that's clearly needed in order to compete on the terms of the Primera Division, based on recent evidence.
Then there's Liverpool – a team which Spanish boss, Rafael Benitez, has turned into an outpost for La Furia Roja. Bitter Rafa would absolutely relish beating Ferguson on his own terms, but with a Spanish flavour. The Merseyside men ran them closer than ever last season, and will be ready to go again.
In terms of the transfer market, which appears to becoming the real 'business end' of the season these days, Ferguson's confidence must be knocked by now. Cristiano aside, Ferguson will have watched in horror as three of his 'rejects' – red-hot Giuseppe Rossi, Golden Shoe winner Diego Forlan and Barca's Gerard Pique – have reached dizzy heights as part of Primera Division squads. Meanwhile, he's got an almighty mess on his hands with the Carlos Tevez situation and also Dimitar Berbatov, a signing questioned like few before him.
Ferguson's response, as always, is likely to be bullish. His followers aren't going to walk into his church for the first day of training and find clowns making balloon animals – the environment will remain respectful, formal and professional. His team, and its ethos, is meant to be set in stone. He can't have too many superstars – you need a Darren Fletcher to temper every Cristiano Ronaldo – so he'll continue as is, bringing in like-for-like where need be.
In fact, the real challenge might be for his successor. If it does turn out that Spain's exciting brand of football and the extravagant transfer market approach of La Liga's giants is the correct model, and not a false dawn, then it'll be very difficult to start rebuilding an entire ethos. What is certain is that every empire in history has fallen, as will United's.
Still, it would be complete folly to write Sir Alex off. He is more than capable of adapting – bouncing straight back in Europe, whilst starting to plant the seeds of change around his Garden of Eden.
It'll certainly be fascinating to see how United and the best manager of the modern era handles the threats on the horizon. As Bill Pullman roared in Independence Day, "We will not go quietly into the night!"
Greg Ptolomey, Goal.com
Now all of our breaking news is at your fingertips. Meet the Goal.com Toolbar, the new and exciting way to take the passion of football with you!
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