By John ST

Soccer Net Live

If Manchester United are in the grip of an injury crisis, they are not showing it. The Red Devils were rampant in a masterful 5-0 thrashing of West Bromich Albion on Tuesday and moved two points clear of Liverpool who failed to destroy Wigan. Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo were utterly irresistible in front of goal.

At the start of the season, Manchester United’s fortunes were draped in a dark fog as they dropped points carelessly while their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, seems half-hearted in repeating last season’s glory. Speculation abounds that he prefers the white jerseys of Real Madrid after achieving all possible honors in England and his August public statement of “staying at United for the time being” left the door open for future suitors.

However, the fog cleared after Manchester United picked up the Club World Cup last month. The players returned from Japan in ominous form. Their back line was not breached in the Premier League since that defeat at the Emirates, 11 games ago. Slowly but surely, Manchester United’s Quadruple dreams is taking shape and to the consternation of their rivals, this era of absolute dominance may continue for years.

I believe the immediate and realistic goal for Manchester United is to win a third consecutive Premier League title. It is an ultimate test of consistency to finish top after 38 games and they are now in a strong position to do so.

There is an added prestige to maintaining domestic superiority for Manchester United. Winning an 11th crown in 17 seasons would bring them level with Liverpool’s record 18 league titles, and rub shoulders with the all-conquering Anfield sides of the ’70s and ’80s. Fergie’s babes would be well and truly be legends.

The implosion of their closest rivals has also made the work easier for Alex Ferguson. Liverpool ended their short reign at the top of the Premier League on an unhappy note. Successive draws against Stoke, Everton and Wigan compounded Benitez’s misery and sent Liverpool sliding to to third in the Premier League table.

Defeat at home to Chelsea on Sunday could leave Liverpool five points adrift of Manchester United after holding a 10-point advantage over his rival Sir Alex Ferguson in December. The dip in form has coincided with some unexpected outbursts from Benítez, who has made public his contract dispute with the club while launching conspiracy theories about Sir Alex Ferguson’s influence over match officials.

Football pundits are now questioning the state of Rafael Benitez’s mind, especially after his “crazy” rant about “uncontrollable events” in the second half against Wigan. Some choice words from Benitz: “What you can’t control, you can’t change and maybe you have to understand it has to be like this for years.”

I don’t blame the players for feeling clueless when the manager is talking in such cryptic terms and being resigned to his fate. The heat of the championship race and Alex Ferguson’ mind games have really affected Benitez badly. When the boss loses the plot, the battle is lost.

As for Arsenal, the players have continued their tradition of being soft in the face of physical challenges, despite Arsene Wenger’s insistence on his team’s resilient character. This season, the Gunners got worse by failing to dish out their fluid passing game consistently and missing crucial chances. These days, it is common to read post match descriptions of Arsenal’s performances like “lack of quality,” “lucky,” “living dangerously,” and “finishing not up to scratch.”

Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Everton was lackluster. Against Cardiff, they only manage to eke out a goalless draw and hence, another meaningless FA Cup replay. Clearly, this batch of Gunners lacked the killer instinct nor the sense of urgency to clinch titles. Wenger has failed to boost Arsenal’s squad sufficiently which left them extremely vulnerable to injuries.

Meanwhile, the same elements causing discontent within the ranks have not been eliminated. Top of the list is William Gallas and there are those who want away because of unhappiness over their wages and contract terms. It is up to Arsene Wenger to stop the rot; if Alex Ferguson can show Roy Keane to the door, I don’t see why Wenger is hesitant in exercising his authority.

Chelsea is another inexplicable disappointment. Scolari coached Brazil to the World Cup crown and also brought Portugal to the threshold of similar glories. Why isn’t he able to achieve the same success at Stamford Bridge, and also failing to outperform Avram Grant, an unqualified manager to boot? I suspect a combination of cultural clash, players politics, technical abilities, language barrier in motivating the players, as well as maladjustment to the attacking strategy/formation and training methods.

In any case, Scolari deserves respect for accepting blame for the poor run of results. After the 3-0 drubbing by Manchester United, Chelsea won unconvincingly against Southend (4-1) and Stoke City (2-1). I don’t care much about the scoreline; against these two clubs, nothing short of clean sheets will suffice.

That used to be something which can be taken for granted during Mourinho’s era, especially at Stamford Bridge. But the home ground is no longer a fortress. Will Chelsea regain their aura of invincibility and threaten Manchester United? From what I have seen so far, the squad is not fully united behind Scolari nor committed to implementing his ideas. Getting rid of Drogba and securing capable replacements will take time, thus, the fans have to be patient with Scolari this season.

In the Carling Cup, Manchester United booked a place in the finals after a taxing tug-of-war against Derby County. United will clash next with Tottenham Hotspur, led by Harry Redknapp (winner of last year’s Carling Cup at Portsmouth). Based on Spurs’s current state of affairs, they are a long way off from getting their house in order.

Harry Redknapp has started on the umpteen Tottenham’s rejuvenation process by calling his old boys up for a gathering. I don’t know how effective that will be because Spurs have been rebuilding for the last ten years and since the buck always stops with the manager prematurely, we may not even see Redknapp next season, whether Tottenham are relegated or not.

By the way, unless Redknapp considers himself master of reverse psychology, he will do well to motivate his team without going to the press and lamenting about individual performances.

The FA Cup is a similar story for Manchester United. They are three matches away from wresting the title. United have enough experience and intelligent players to turn around the games when the chips are down. Their greatest enemy remains themselves, complacency and tired legs notwithstanding, there are few defenses in England which can withstand the firepower of the Red Devils.

Turning to the European scene, the Champions League will present a tougher challenge. In the forthcoming last-16 tie of the Champions League on 25 February, Manchester United will face Inter Milan. Actually, the prospect of clashing with the Italian team is less daunting than confronting the manager, Jose Mourinho.

Alex Ferguson has never got the better of Jose Mourinho, be it psychologically or on the pitch. Porto eliminated Manchester United 3-2 over two encounters and they went on to clinch the Champions League in 2005. In Mourinho’s two seasons at Chelsea, they accumulated 86 unbeaten games at home and Manchester United were not able to hurt Chelsea even when they were struggling with injuries, suspensions and international commitment.

Jose Mourinho is an astute tactician and he knows how to play the intelligent, or rather boring game of football to counter superior opponents despite scarce resources. However, Alex Ferguson can take heart from the way Inter-Milan fell to Atalanta 3-1. It was a disgraceful performance which left Mourinho visibly upset. We shall not revisit his harsh criticisms of the squad here.

Given that Mourinho is not omnipotent in the Champions League (he has never won it with Chelsea), the odds are good that Manchester United can scrape through if Inter Milan perform below par.

Another factor which made Manchester United’s Quadruple dreams not only a distinct possibility but also replicable in the coming years is their strength in depth. United’s squad is now bursting with young talents after a series of shrewd acquisitions. Save for Barcelona, few clubs in Europe pursue youth development with such vigor and patience.

That is not to say that “old men” like Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Edwin van der Sar are about to become dispensable. They are crucial in imparting their experience and technical skills to the youngsters; more importantly, there is a continuity of the special bonding and Manchester United identity with these veterans around.

The days of Ryan Giggs blazing down the left flank, evading defenders and crossing the ball into the box may be over. In fact, the last couple of seasons, he has been fading into the background, so much that a lot of fans are questioning his value and contribution to the team.

Surprisingly, he is now enjoying a new lease of life with Alex Ferguson placing him in central midfield. He created three assists against West Brom and was devastating against Chelsea. Giggs has been rewarded with a new contract, a rare privilege of eventually retiring with Manchester United as his only club. In fact, he could even win the Footballer of the Year award this season.

Edwin van der Sar is also getting better with age. He has eclipsed Petr Cech’s four-year-old top-flight record by stretching his personal unbeaten run to 1,031 minutes at West Bromwich Albion and the Dutchman could yet approach the Football League milestone of 1,103 minutes, set by Steve Death for Reading during the 1978-79 season.

Even if these veterans were to retire tomorrow, Alex Ferguson need not fret. Rising stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Nani, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Anderson, Carlos Tevez are now holding the fort and have nearly a decade of service left in them… but Alex Ferguson is not contented.

Brazilians Rafael da Silva and his twin brother, Fabio, were spotted during a youth tournament and a deal was tabled immediately. Rafael, only 18-year-old, has such sublime skills that he has kept club captain, Gary Neville, and his understudy, Wes Brown, an England international, in reserve, until his untimely injury.

Alex Ferguson said during his trip to Japan last month: “This boy has come in from Brazil, doesn’t even speak the language that well, but understands the football very well. Gary and Wes Brown are England’s best right backs but they have a little problem because the boy, da Silva, has just taken off.”

Fabio, a talent of even brighter proportions, captained Brazil to the Under-17 World Cup title in 2007. He has not yet featured until the impressive match against Tottenham in the FA Cup fourth round. It is incredible to note that he has not played a competitive match over the past year, yet he is as sure-footed as his team mates. Great ball control, defensive ability and attacking instincts seem to be the trademark of the twins, little wonder that they are slated to be the bedrocks of Manchester United’s defense.

The da Silva brothers are not the sum of United’s youth squad though. Rodrigo Possebon, half a year older than the da Silva twins, is another maturing midfield prospect. And the Serbian revolution is on with the latest acquisitions in January (Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajicwere) to add to the already established Nemanja Vidic. The strategic purchase of Zoran Tosic provides yet another replacement for the aging Ryan Giggs.

Ferguson has built winning teams around youth before in his 22 seasons in Manchester. He gave youngsters like Neville, Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham their chance at the start of the 1990s and began an era of dominance in the ’90s. The core of these players remain almost two decades on. Given Ferguson’s track record, I will not bet against him starting another renaissance at Old Trafford.

Pre-season, Manchester United were 1000-1 to win all six competitions they entered. That looks like a great investment already since the Red Devils had put two prizes in the cabinet – the Community Shield and the Club World Cup crown. They may well perform an unprecedented clean sweep, I am keeping my fingers crossed.