Will this be the year to produce another Manchester United treble?
In the prestigious Manchester United season of 1998/99, the Red Devils enjoyed a 33 game unbeaten streak running from Boxing Day of 1998, all the way through to the end of the season. Of course we all know this led to the first treble ever won by an English team, as they racked up the FA Cup, domestic league and the Champion’s League in their best campaign to date. The club won the FA Community Shield for the 14th time in August and look to be in great form across all competitions. So, it’s inevitable that the topic of another historic treble is to be raised, and just how likely they are to repeat the biggest honour in football.
The Red Devils narrowly missed out on retaining the Barclays Premier League in 2010, following the £80m sale of Cristiano Ronaldo. Many speculated that before the current season began, the Manchester outfit still hadn’t signed sufficient replacement for the Portuguese national captain. This coupled with Wayne Rooney’s drama off the pitch following an unimpressive World Cup, there were doubts the team would even make a serious challenge for recovering the title this season.
As it is however, the club certainly seems to have signed sufficient replacement in the form of the revelation that has been Javier Hernandez. The Mexican wonderkid who starred at last year’s World Cup has netted 17 times for United in a mere 36 appearances in his debut season. A ratio of almost a goal every other game isn’t quite Ronaldo-esque yet, however the 22 year-old starlet shows plenty of promise and is a serious candidate for signing of the season. Dimitar Berbatov is in the form of his life and currently top goalscorer in the Premier League, and when you factor Rooney’s return from the ashes of his personal life, it’s no wonder the goal difference of Manchester United is in such fine shape.
The seven point gap at the top of the Premier League makes it hard to see anything other than the title returning to Old Trafford. One would therefore think that if Manchester United beat second-placed Arsenal come 1st May, they’ve got that particular trophy sewn up. So, what about the other Domestic competition? Well, United may be missing Wayne Rooney for their semi-final tie against Manchester City, but seeing as how the Evertonian is their lowest scoring striker this season, there won’t be too many City fans thinking they’re through quite yet.
The Sky Blues will also be disheartened to see United’s latest form in injuries. In recent weeks, Manchester United have been looking just about everywhere to fill out a full defence. This has seen the likes of Antonio Valencia and even Ryan Giggs putting in their shifts at the back. However, this bad/good news depending on which side of Manchester you’re from, looks just about over. Vidic has overcome recent suspensions and even Rio Ferdinand has won his battle against injury to revive his season.
Beating their City rivals earlier this year, and looking at the form the team is in, you’d expect the red side of Manchester to prevail in this monumental fixture. They’ve coped well with Sir Alex Ferguson’s touchline ban thusfar, and don’t look set to change anytime soon. So, allowing for a semi-final victory, you’d also expect whichever team succeeds in this tie to go on and beat Stoke or Bolton, who make up the other semi-final.
This brings us to the last and furthest away title. It’s only been three years since they last won the Champion’s League, but this year the European trophy is just about anyone’s. An all-Spanish final is off the cards and unfortunately, with Spurs 4-0 down after the 1st leg, it seems as if we won’t see an all-English final either. It’s more good news for the Red Devils though, as current champions Internazionale look set to be ejected from the tournament by German surprise candidates Schalke 04, who were simply rampant in Milan midweek.
That being said, Manchester United will have to build on that 1-0 lead they took away from Stamford Bridge come Tuesday night. Everyone knows how a lead can be overturned in these types of games as we were shown in the replica fixture on 1st March.
That being said, if United were to weave their way to the final, they’ll still have to topple the Catalan giants Barcelona or Jose Mourinho’s Galacticos, Real Madrid. So, when Sir Alex Ferguson does return from his stint in the stands, he’ll be looking to propel his players forward to the top of club football. It’s still a mountain to climb in anyone’s eyes but after all, it’s nowhere some of these players haven’t already been.
