Roaring Forties

Cristiano Ronaldo came, conquered and left. But in Manchester, life must go on. Skeptics were expecting the downfall of the Red Devils especially when no new superstars were signed from the record fee which Manchester United has managed to recoup from the sale of the

Neighbours, Manchester City FC were quick in announcing they are the Manchester with their advertisement of Carlos Tervez in their light blue strips. Liverpool must fancy their chances of a Man U without Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tervez. Chelsea felt that they finally have the Manager to step into the footsteps of Jose Mourinho. Tottenham Hostpurs started the season charging ahead and led the league in the first month of action.

Except for a hiccup against Burnley, Manchester United showed the world that they are a team and not a one man circus. The Red Devils stamped their class by having the best start in three years by posting 9 wins and only 1 loss in 10 matches (in all competitions). In comparison, they won only 4 times, lost 2 times and drew 3 times during the same period of August/September in the 2008/2009 season when Cristiano Ronaldo was at his prime with Manchester United.

Amongst the 9 wins this season, Manchester United overcame the pretenders to the crown in Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspurs and Arsenal.  

Undoubtedly, the first two months of the previous season yielded more goals and if we were to review the goal scorers in the previous season, Cristiano Ronaldo did bagged 5 goals or 20% of the goals scored. The positive point for this season is more players got on the score sheet which means that United is not dependent on one or two scorers. 

Even though it is only two months into the 2009/2010 season, Sir Alex Ferguson has proven yet again that Manchester United is a team. They have survived the departure of David Beckham and Eric Cantona, so life will go on without Cristiano Ronaldo or Carlos Tervez.

Cristiano Ronaldo had dominated limelight and hogged the possession of the ball. In doing so, players like Rooney, Nani and Giggs took a back seat. Now these players have the opportunity to show their worth. Sir Alex also managed the best bargain of the season by buying Michael Owen. His clinical finishing in the Man City game is only a glimpse of what he can produce for Man U.

It will be an exciting season yet again for Manchester United. Bring on Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid.

 Jan 11 – Could proved to be the turning point for the English Premier League for the 2008/2009 season. First Liverpool shot blanks at Stoke City and were held to a goalless draw after manager Rafael Benitez made some uncalled personal attacks on Sir Alex Ferguson only three days earlier in a lame attempt to rattle the Manchester United squad before the big day clash with Chelsea. Clearly from the outburst from Benitez  showed that Liverpool feared Manchester United most amongst the top three rivals.

Then Chelsea’s manager Luis Felipe Scolari then announced that Chelsea knows how to neutralise Cristiano Ronaldo as they have three defenders one on midfielder who play along side Ronaldo in the Portuguese national team and they know how to take him out of the game. Deco, Jose Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho and Paula Ferreira are all set and ready to take on Cristiano Ronaldo. Coming to Old Trafford with their unbeaten away record and a wisp of arrogance, Chelsea thought that they will end the Red Devils’  title ambitions right in front of their own crowd.

Cristiano Ronaldo played and did his artistic runs up and down the flanks. Chelsea players were throwing themselves at him. Stop Ronaldo, Stop Ronaldo was Chelsea’s main objective. Ronaldo played to their tune. Come and get me, come and get me! Ronaldo taunted.

Chelsea thought they were doing right for they kept Ronaldo at bay for 45 minutes. It was stoppage time. Ryan Giggs took the corner. Where is Ronaldo? Giggs wasn’t passing to Ronaldo. He crossed to Berbatov. Berbatov flicked it toward Vidic who headed home past a helpless Petr Cech. Goal No 1.

After the break, Chelsea tried to go for broke by bring in Nicholas Anelka for Deco. While Nicholas Anelka provided more firepower upfront, Gary Neville, Jonathan Evans, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Erva managed to contain the Chelsea strikers, limitting them to only desperate long distance shots.

While all attention was on Ronaldo, Patrice Evra broke through the left flank in the 66th minute and cross a perfect for Wayne Rooney to stab home Goal No 2.

Chelsea by now know that they were beaten and it would take a miracle for them to get back into the game. With the back their back broken, Chelsea tried but could never threaten Edwin Van Der Saar in anyway. As Chelsea became more desperate, their tackles went wild with John Terry being booked in the 80th minutes and Julio Beletti in the 86th minute. Beletti’s foul provided the final platform for Cristiano Ronaldo for they could mark in in open play but in a deadball situation, Ronaldo is king. Ronaldo centered a precise freekick for Dimitar Berbatov to push the ball past Petr Cech for Goal No 3.

What a splendid win for the Red Devils. The final score Manchester United 3 Chelsea 0. 

For Sir Alex and his boys, it is other 3 points and they have proven that Manchest United is a team. It is not about Cristiano Ronaldo. It is all about Manchester United.

But for Chelsea, it was their first away loss of the season. It was also the worst defeat, Chelsea has suffered since the 2005/2006 season. No one has beaten them for more two goals in the last three years. While Jan 11 may signal the awakening of the Champions’ march to the title, it could also be the day the superiority of Chelsea is finally erased forever.

Will Manchester United sell Cristiano Ronaldo in view of Real Madrid continued persistence interest even-though Manchester United had repeatedly told Real Madrid that Cristiano Ronaldo was not for sale. Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has even gone on the record that they have the cash to pay more than the record £40 million which they paid for Zinadine Zidane.  

As a Manchester United fan, I would love to see Cristiano Ronaldo remaining at Old Trafford until the end of his current contract. He is one of a kind and there will never be another Cristiano Ronaldo. 

There is no one currently in the world who can match his skills with the ball.

(Youtube Video uploaded by frazlatan91)

He has also proven that he can deliver with his 42 goals for the 2007/2008 season

(Youtube Video uploaded by cr7ladyproductions)

By selling a player like Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United may as well kiss their 2008/2009 season goodbye.

13 Apr – Arsenal saw their dreams ripped apart in the Theater of Dreams as the Red Devils took a giant step towards retaining the English Premier League Championship.

In an equally matched game, Arsenal looked the sharper side with Emmanuel Adebayor, Francesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie giving the Manchester United defense a torrid time. The Manchester United backline collapsed in the 48th minute where Van Persie delivered a cross into the goal mouth area where Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Edwin Van Der Sar who were all glued to the ground watching the ball. Emmanuel Adebayor was the only one who reacted and he managed to touch the ball to direct it passed Van Der Sar for Arsenal’s goal.

At the other end in the 54th minute, the Arsenal Captain, William Gallas gifted Manchester United the golden opportunity when he handled the ball with his arm.

Cristiano Ronaldo cemented his claim for the top scorer for the season by hitting his 27th goal for the league and his 38th goal for all competitions. The crown is as good as Ronaldo’s as second placed Fernando Torres needs to get 7 goals in the next 4 games to better Ronaldo’s record and that’s provided Ronaldo does not score any more.

In the 72nd minute, Cristiano Ronaldo lined up for a free kick and the entire Arsenal defense wall and goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann watched him closely. Owen Hargreaves then step forward and everyone expected a dummy. Hargreaves took the kick and lobbed it over the wall into the top left hand corner. The entire Arsenal defense wall and Jens Lehmann just watched the ball. It was an absolutely magnificient kick.

From then on, Manchester United hung on for their victory over the Gunners. Arsenal tried but as the minutes ticked away, they knew that they will end the season with nothing.

With four more matches to go, away against Blackburn on 19 April and Chelsea on 26 April, home game against West Ham on May 3 and finally away against Wigan on 11 May, the Red Devils already have their hands on the Cup. The game at Stamford Bridge on 26 April will most likely be the decider for the season.

If Manchester United could beat Chelsea in their home fortress, then they would be the undisputed Champions for 2007/2008 season.

29 March – Manchester United stretched their unbeaten home record against Aston Villa to 25 years as Cristiano Ronaldo proved yet again why he is truly one of the best players in the world. His 35th goal of the season was really wonderful and could only be attempted by Cristiano Ronaldo. Only he has the confidence, the arrogance and the skill to attempt the cheekiest goal I have ever seen. The ball fell on the outside of Ronaldo’s left leg on the 30th minute. For any normal players, it would have been at the wrong side and they would have to shift their body to control the ball. But not Ronaldo. He just used his right back heel to steer the ball first time through in-between the legs of the  defender in front of him and beyond reach of the goal keeper. He made it looked so simple but no one else could have scored the way he did. It was truly a goal with a Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark.

Cristiano Ronaldo then went on to prove why he is truly one of the best player in the world when he provided the perfect cross in the 33rd minute for Carlos Tervez to head the ball in for the second goal, after which he flicked the ball past the Aston Villa defence for Wayne Rooney in 53rd minute to make it 3:0 and lastly but not least, he again supplied the pass in the 70th minute for Wayne Rooney to score his brace.

The match ended Manchester United 4 Aston Villa 0 with Cristiano Ronaldo having a part in all four goals.

Cristiano Ronaldo proved that he is enroute to become one of the legends of Manchester United as he took his goal scoring tally for all competition to 34 goals by adding another goal to his name in the historic 3:0 win over Liverpool.

It has been truly an amazing season for Cristiano Ronaldo and no one has proved to be more valuable to the club since Eric Cantona. Cristano Ronaldo is true No 7 hero for Manchester United. 

Mar 23 – Nothing gives a true Red Devil fan any more pleasure than for Manchester United to beat their greatest rival Liverpool and Manchester United did that again at Old Trafford 3:0, repeating their earlier in Anfield on Dec 16, 2007. It was truly a historic night with Wes Brown scoring a very rare goal, Ronaldo scoring his 25th EPL goal of the season and Nani completing his goal with his trademark acrobatic celebration.

What a night! Liverpool fans will have to hide for the rest of the season.

Manchester United proved without doubt that they are the better team. 

Jan 28 – Manchester United continued their march with a 2:0 win over  Reading in a 19 January league game and followed by a 3:1 win over Tottenham Hotspurs in a FA Cup match last night which enable Manchester United to proceed to the quarter finals of the 2007/2008 campaign.

While the Red Devils continued their winnings ways, Cristiano Ronaldo continue to dazzle the crowd at the Old Trafford scoring one goal in the Reading game and two goals in the win over Spurs bringing his total goals scored for all competitions to 25 goals.

His closest rival is Robbie Keane who scored 20 goals while Emmanuel Adebayor has only 19 goals. Meanwhile, high profiled strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Nicolas Anelka has only 13 goals and 12 goals respectively. Steven Gerard and Roque Santa Cruz had fared better with 15 goals each while Ronaldo’s teammate Carlos Alberto Tevez has 14 goals to his name.

As Sir Alex Fergueson’s boys taken on Portsmouth at home on 30 January followed by an away match at White Hart Lane on 2 February, all true Red fans will be cheering for more goals from Ronaldo.

Jan 12 – This day had to come. It was only a matter of when. The only question would be who will be the victim. The poor victims turned out to be managerless Newcastle United.

- Cristiano Ronaldo has been waiting for his first hattrick for two years.
- Manchester United has been waiting to outdo their previous 4:0 best score line.

During the first half of the game against the Magpies at Old Trafford, it looked like another typical encounter where the Red Devils had to slog for a single goal win. In a frustrasting stop-start game, the first installment ended scoreless.

Sir Alex Ferguson must have done some great tongue lashing because Cristiano Ronaldo opened up the flood gates on the 49th minute from a freekick. Carlos Tervez followed suit 6 minutes later while Ronaldo got his second in the 70th minute. The Devils continued the bombarment and Rio Ferdinand got his name on the goal sheet the 80th minute. On the 88th minute, Ronaldo’s two year wait came to an end when he finally got his hattrick. Tervez ended Newcastle’s nightmare when he scored a last minute goal bring the final score 6:0.

The weekend’s win was indeed the greatest result of the season especially since the long hectic Christmas season which saw them beating Everton 2:1 and Sunderland 4:0 before that 2:1 surprising lost to West Ham. They came back meekly from that shock loss with a 1:0 win on New Year’s Day over Birmingham followed by a 2:0 win over Aston Villa.

The 6:0 win over Newcastle United propelled Manchester United to the top spot after Arsenal was surprising held 1:1 at home by Birmingham.

The game was also trully historic as it not only enable Manchester United to lead the league but they also are the leaders for :-

1) Highest attendance – 75,965 fans (75,749 vs Everton)
2) Top scorer – Cristiano Ronaldo at 13 goals (Emmanuel Adebayor 12)
3) Most goals scored – 44 goals (Arsenal 43)
4) Most goals difference – 33 goals (Arsenal 26)
5) Most wins – 16 wins (Arsenal 15)

The game and the statistics truly reflect a real champion. It is now for Sir Alex and his boys to continue their good work and claim their 10th Premier League championship.

Dec 3 – Ronaldo continues to prove why he is the second best player in the world by single handedly winning the game at Fulham for Manchester United by scoring both the goals in the 2:0 win, in the 10 and 58 minutes. Kaka who was voted as the No 1 player in the world ahead of Ronaldo made a very realistic comment when he said “The only difference between him and Ronaldo, is that AC Milan won the Champions League last season while Manchester United did not. He admitted that he might not have been voted as the No 1 if it was the other way around.”

So now it more of what Manchester United can do for Ronaldo than what Ronaldo can do for the Red Devils. It is a proven fact beyond doubt that he is the most infuential player for the Old Trafford outfit. Each time he is on the field, they flow smoothly. Whenever he is not on, they struggle.

Dec 8 - Ronaldo  anchored the team again in their 4-win over Derby. Ryan Giggs capped his long illustrated career at Old Trafford by socring his 100th goal for the team. His opening goal opened up the flood gates with Carlos Tevez proving his salt by scoring two goals and Ronaldo finished the rout but adding a fourth taking his season tally to 14th.

Way to go Ronaldo!