Sonoknye.. Here’s to the title, the team and to Fergie! *yum chaaa*
SO the title is back at Old Trafford after an absence of three seasons.
It has been a victory not just for Manchester United’s relative prudence over Chelsea’s halfbillion pound budget, but in Alex Ferguson’s belief that the beautiful game can still triumph over raw power and aggression.
It also confirmed Ferguson’s dominance in his personal duel with Jose Mourinho.
Over the 10 months, Ferguson had both the man-management skills and self-control that slowly deserted his closest rival.
Like his team, he had class and style when it counted.
Crucially, he had a belief in his team Mourinho clearly never did.
Even before a ball had been kicked, the Manchester United boss had to iron out the ill-feeling between Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
It seemed at one stage Ronaldo would be on his way out of Old Trafford after his controversial run-in with his United team-mate at the World Cup.
Ferguson got the pair in, appealed to their better nature, reaffirmed his belief they were the two essential pillars of the new United — and let them get on with it.
From the moment the pair set each other up for goals in an opening-day 5-1 thrashing of Fulham, whatever problems there may have been were firmly in the past.
If there was one key to the success that would follow, it was this.
Between them, Rooney and Ronaldo have so far scored 31 Premiership goals between them — and created countless more.
Compare this to Mourinho’s failure to come to grips with the challenge of assimilating Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack into his side.
Yes, these players were foisted on him by owner Roman Abramovich.
Had he had his own way, neither would have been taken on by a manager who was against the superstar culture — and had won successive titles without any need to resort to it.
But, having been landed with Shevchenko and Ballack, it was part of Mourinho’s job to get the best out of them.
However much sympathy you have for him, he clearly failed on this score.
But, as the season went on, this sympathy began to evaporate.
If things went wrong, it was rarely Mourinho’s fault.
While Ferguson had bought well — Nemanja Vidic in defence and Michael Carrick in midfield — Chelsea failed to fill basic holes in the squad.
For one reason or another, they were unable to provide Didier Drogba with a goalscoring partner while, at the back, Mourinho quickly bemoaned a lack of cover for John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho. Even when Khalid Boulahrouz arrived, Mourinho let it be known the player wasn’t his choice.
But, surely, the Chelsea manager must have been responsible for something in the transfer market?
Paulo Ferreira or Shaun Wright Phillips, perhaps?
Mourinho, though, never referred to their shortcomings.
Arjen Robben didn’t escape, either, with Mourinho questioning his ability to string more than a handful of appearances together.
All this squabbling added to behind-the-scenes friction and the already strained relationship between Mourinho and Abramovich.
Ferguson, typically, never once questioned the players under his command.
Even when they struggled for results at times, he provided reassurance rather than pointing the finger.
He showed loyalty to all his players — and got it back in return.
As such, he was able to say after Saturday’s 1-0 win at Manchester City: “What you saw today was human courage. It wasn’t a great performance but we got through it.”
A few days earlier, he had held his hands up and admitted United were very much second-best after their 3-0 whipping by AC Milan. Here was another field in which Ferguson heavily outscored Mourinho. Class in adversity.
Mourinho, on the other hand, came up with the preposterous nonsense that the best side had lost the other Champions League semi-final. He should listen to his own fans sometimes.
Yet, by this time, Mourinho was heading off the rails.
He saw conspiracies everywhere and responded with a scatter-gun attack on anyone who caught his eye.
Worst of all was his highly-personalised criticism of fellow countryman Ronaldo. A man who himself was brought up amid wealth and a certain opulence, had the temerity to refer to Ronaldo’s lack of intelligence and poor upbringing.
Ferguson, ever the Govan-raised Socialist, nailed Mourinho with the words: “There are people from very poor backgrounds who have principles.
“Whereas there are others who are educated but have no principles at all. That, without question, is the case here.”
Finally, Ferguson was again the winner when it came to the football produced by the two sides.
Chelsea won their first title in 2004-2005 with 72 goals and a style with which few could quibble.
But over the last two seasons it has grown increasingly grim.
Recently, it has been little more than Route One. United, though, have stuck to their traditional values.
Ferguson, always a romantic, has got his team playing the sort of football admired throughout the game.
And yet you felt for Chelsea at the Emirates yesterday.
With Boulahrouz red-carded after conceding the penalty that gave Arsenal the lead just before the break — more confirmation of Mourinho’s initial judgment on the defender — Chelsea produced one of their most spirited second-half displays of the season.
With a bit of luck, they could have taken the title race into Wednesday’s game with United at Stamford Bridge.
Ferguson, who watched the last 15 minutes on TV, admitted as much and congratulated Chelsea on making such a good fight of it.
Mourinho, though, couldn’t bring himself to admit United had proved themselves the best.
He said only the statistics said that — and went into another one of those self-justifying diatribes about how the fates had conspired against him and his team all season.
At times like this you need a bit of style. While his team went out like champions, Mourinho didn’t.
He’s better than this.
steven.howard@the-sun.co.uk
I wished we cud also secure a hardman in the midfield. No softie please. We really need someone with that ability. No doubt.
