Discipline

Howard Webb: he’s not from New York City; he’s from Rotheram. Over the summer he officiated the dirtiest World Cup final in recent memory and was roundly criticised for his over-lenience (despite showing thirteen yellow cards and a red), especially for failing to spot Nigel De Jong’s ‘sweet chin music’ on Xavi Alonso. At Old Trafford on Sunday however, he managed to keep one of the most historically tempestuous fixtures in the Premier League almost entirely above board and got most of the big decisions right. Well-done Howard.


In general, Lee Catermole aside, this season has been a largely well-disciplined one, with even the high profile red cards – Joe Cole’s against Arsenal for example – being badly timed rather than malicious. While the reverse could be said for the penalty-taking so far, this doesn’t come as a massive surprise to me (Graham Alexander isn’t around to bring up everyone else’s average and the ball’s probably too white to hit properly); I just can’t understand how Manchester United have forgotten to defend.


Don’t worry, the irony isn’t lost on me: after crafting a reputation and filling a multitude of trophy cabinets with the ability to score late, late, late goals, United have finally been getting a taste of their own medicine at Craven Cottage and Goodison Park in recent weeks. And all credit has to go Fulham and Everton for having the belief and drive to fight right to the end when it looked, in both instances, as if all was lost. But the harsh reality for Ferguson is that Chelsea’s four-point lead at the top of the table has been gifted to them, not by the Blues’ early season fixtures, but by his team’s inability to keep their discipline and close out the games for those two extra wins.

There are of course those who put United’s slow start down to the fact that they are finally losing their stranglehold on the English game. These people may yet be proved right, but if they are it will be through luck, now because of their knowledge of football. Man U always start slowly, and build momentum, make-up impossible points deficits and generally surmount the insurmountable (usually, even I have to say with a fair bit of luck and the odd refereeing decision here and there). Just because we’ve dropped four sloppy points it doesn’t suddenly make us Liverpool circa 1990 under Graham Souness.


It’s just difficult to understand. It’s not through lack of experience at the back that this indiscipline had developed. Johnny Evans is young but this is his third season in or around the first-team. Stalwarts Vidic and Evra are becoming as much a part of United as Mike Phelan doing Match of the Day interviews, while at right-back O’Shea or Neville have been the regular starters: not exactly the greenest of full-backs. They’ve been playing as a unit – with Evans deputising for Ferdinand more and more as the latter’s injury tendencies proliferate – for three or four seasons now, and the three homegrown players are products of the club’s youth system.


And it’s sure as hell not through lack of ability that these late goals are being leaked. Sloppiness is what it is, pure and simple. Not doing the basics properly. If you’ve made it as a professional footballer it stands to reason that you will have worked under scores of trainers, coaches and managers; the sum total of clichés must be massive and they should be as imbedded in your psyche as the need to wear florescent boots or cheat on your missus: keep the ball, it’s your friend, if you have it then the opposition can’t score ECT. So why have United forgotten them (the basics not the boots or infidelity clauses)?


Berbatov’s strike against Everton may have started with a backheel from Gary Neville (in his own half no less), but Arteta’s thundering leveller deep in injury time came about because, almost directly from the 3-2 restart: G Funk received the ball and lofted a nothing ball towards the opposition’s corner-flag; it was promptly launched back to Baines, he whipped it in the United area, Timmy Cahill inevitably won the header and the Spanglish midfielder was there to drive home.


Any one who has ever played football – or even had a bash on Fifa or Pro Evo – knows that if you’re seconds away from winning a match and the other team pull one back, the last thing you do is boot it back to them and give them a chance to launch one more attack. You play it square between the defence and midfield and the only time it ever goes into the corner is if someone runs it there. Where was Neville’s – the most experienced player on the pitch – composure and discipline?


Equally, what was the thinking behind putting Nani, arguably Man U’s least consistent performer in recent seasons (especially now Berbatov’s started banging them in this season) on a crucial penalty that could have put the game beyond a Fulham side who rarely lose at home? Why not put one of the more experienced or levelheaded players on it – Giggs or Owen for example – rather than cater to the ego of the erratic Portuguese winger?


Three points at Craven Cottage is not something that comes easily but if you’re going to win the Premiership it’s not exactly mission impossible.  The spot-kick goes in and you’d think it’s game, set and match (although, in hindsight events at Goodison cast doubts over this assumption). Instead, Nani stepped up, Nani missed and United dropped points.


These aren’t difficult things to address: the gaffer’s surely spotted them and from now on I’d be surprised if any more late collapses or sloppy mistakes didn’t result in a few games on those moulder barker loungers they have in the Old Trafford dugout. The puzzle is why they haven’t already.


This is manager who, as legend has it, sent home Paul Ince from his first United training session after the midfielder, newly signed from Inter Milan, turned up at Carrington with a personalised number plate reading: ‘TH3 GUVN0R’ (“there’s only one governor around here” was the growled Glaswegian reply); he’ll have been livid the discipline he’s spent 20+ years developing is being blatantly ignored. Blatently he chews so much Wriggly’s Extra to stop him grinding his teeth down to his gums and looking like Mr. Herbert by the time his death and subsequent retirement are announced.


Lack of quality is never going to be an issue at Old Trafford; nor are we ever going to be short of a balance between youthful exuberance and senior experience. And all but the most ignorant United fans (so at least a few London burghs aside) will admit we are one of ‘luckier’ teams in the league at the moment. However, without the discipline to see out games we’re not going to win the league back. Simple as.


Teams who try to buy success often fail because of a lack of order amongst the Rolexed-multimillionaires, whilst teams like Stoke and Wolves become part of the Premiership furniture by being organised, committed and concentrating for 95 minutes. With Man U it’s as much a case of pulling the finger out as putting a stick a bit further up, and keeping it there until the final whistle. Shotgun not being the one who does Nani though.