Like A Ray Of Sunshine On A Cold Gloomy Day…

I wasn’t very positive after 40 minutes. It is very easy to be scarred by past experiences. All the ingredients for the 'okra' stalemate broth were already on the kitchen table and ready for use:

ü A Psychedelic experimental formation (an odd variation of 4-4-2…for shame, Jose…for shame…);

ü Rashford on the left (Mourinho is no Mr. Bonner. But he has a unique way of encouraging his players who have had stinkers by ensuring they start/play the next game seemingly in defiance of the ‘Einsteins’. What better way to get the bad performance out of your system, right?);

ü Mata on the right;

ü Smalling’s enforced presence due to Jones’ injury (but wouldn’t a Bailly/Rojo pairing have been preferable?);

ü Points desperately needed to close the gap on the top 5.

The game started as pretty much expected. Leicester had their tails up and incessantly harried United off the ball on several occasions with the intention of launching the ball quickly to their speedy front 3 of Musa, Okazaki and Vardy. The under-sized Juan Mata was their favourite victim. In that initial spell, he was rarely allowed a second touch on the ball and coughed up the ball one time too many. You could tell by now that this particular tactic was once again going to spectacularly backfire if it wasn’t tweaked. It was in trying to make restitution for one of such turnovers that Mata dangerously lunged at Jamie Vardy in the 27^th minute and was extremely fortunate to have escaped with only a yellow card. An unarguable red in my book. Imagine if it was a United player tackled in same manner…

The passing at about same time was slow and often inaccurate. Zlatan couldn’t get the ball to stick. Rashford had to turn back several times from the road blocks set before him and when an exceptional opportunity to score arose, he fluffed his lines. Herrara was uncharacteristically fidgety in possession. and Pogba was Pogba – meandering without any urgent purpose. A commentator described him thus:

“…he has been really good in brief flashes for many games but he always dallies too much on the ball, almost as if he is preparing a montage for the YouTubers, he has some really good attributes- strength, decent pace for a midfielder, good aerially, technically excellent, amazing ball control, but why the hell can't he release the ball at the first opportunity? Midfielders like Modric and Iniesta, or even Carrick at this age, are so good at keeping the play ticking, by releasing the ball quickly into gaps, Pogba takes a touch turns around the same spot a few times pushes the one or two players who come for the ball, and either loses the ball or sends that Hollywood ball to Valencia…”

I couldn’t have put it any better. You get the impression that like current-form Neymar, he’s more interested in Vine moments than the most practical option.

The clouds had begun to gather storm and an inferno was brewing inside me. I was mad. Worse than David Beckham (Limited) discovering he was not going to be knighted. This was a chance too good to be missed. If we still held any hopes for a top 4 finish, this was an opportunity that simply couldn’t be let up. Another needless experiment was once again going to cost us dearly. However, the incorrigible Mourinho fortunately saw the (continuous) errors of his ways and midway through the half, switched formation to what has been the most fluid formation of his team – 4-2-3-1…

…and then succour came in the form of an Armenian ray of light in the 42nd minute. Swift, decisive and clinical. Arms flaying as he distinctively sprints glides, as soon as he was able to outwit Robert Huth and prod the ball past him, I correctly predicted that the outcome of that run would be similar to those in the Zorya Luhansk and Spurs games – a legitimate net shake. Goal. 

I often speak about the best players having the ability to 'vary the pace' of the attack as the key to breaking through double-decker buses parked by opponents. The unique technique to either burst into a sprint, quicken a pass and move, change direction and body shape or hold up the ball and appropriately release, as suitable for the occasion. Playing at a mono-pace, however effectively, will not unlock the tightest defences. Just ask Van Gaal. All the teams currently ahead of us on the table have several players capable of this gift. It is usually the difference between a cagey draw and a win. Mkhitaryan is one of the 2 players that possesses this skill at Manchester United. The other is PSG Summer-bound Anthony Martial.   

The goal was the equivalent of finally expressing pus from an uncomfortable ripe boil, the prick in the Leicester balloon of resistance. The atmosphere of relief in the away section of the stadium immediately became palpable. The Foxes were probably still contemplating on how to re-engineer a comeback in the second half when Zlatan struck the coup de grace 87 seconds after Mkhi's goal. Simple straightforward football. Valencia took on his defenders and crossed into the 18'. Planets are not supposed to get too close to the star at the centre of the solar system. There were 3 of them. They didn't. Goal. Game over. 

With the form and fragile confidence Leicester are in and have, the second half became a procession of exhibition football. Mata quickly added the 3rd in the 49 minute after exchanging passes with the excellent Mkhi while the Leicester defenders were pretending to be training cones. Mata had another gilt-edged chance to increase the scoreline but forever being a gentleman, he returned the ball to the home team. Fellaini came on. So did Ashley Young. And Pogba even managed to shoot on target from a distance!

It ended up being a very comfortable victory, well deserved 3 points AND a clean sheet. Leicester, who to be frank, were very disappointing (not that I mind) are still yet to score a league goal in 2017. Could we have done better than we did in the context of things? I think so. Why? It was a victory resembling routine while our true form has been anything but. What I mean by this is that we could and should have piled on the misery to improve our goal difference. There were lots of opportunities. The performance suggested we were comfortable with getting the 3 points and not much else which while not necessarily a bad thing, does not take cognisance of our meagre goals difference compared with that of our rivals. It currently stands:

Chelsea +34, Tottenham +30, Man City +20, Arsenal +24, Liverpool +22 and Manchester United +15.

I understand that we also needed to steady the 'winning' ship but the goals ledger may hauntingly matter at the end of the season. 3 goals, yes but I do not think we are anything near clinical yet. Good step in the right direction but so much still needs to be done or improved upon in the aspect of our finishing.

What else? Martial still on the bench. I'm not the manager. Perhaps he sees something we don't see. It wouldn't really matter if we keep winning but it's going to be a huge (read, 'yuuuuuge') stick to beat his back with when we don't for obvious reasons. Luke Shaw is also in the naughty corner and can't get a look in. Again perhaps he is being reserved for the Europa fixtures. United has the busiest fixtures for the rest of February and it may just be that the manager is trying to pace his team accordingly. A resurgent Watford is next on Saturday at Old Trafford. Remembering the events that occurred in the earlier fixture, maybe, just maybe Mourinho has been saving Martial to exact an epic revenge this weekend...

On a final note, today marks the 59th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster which claimed the lives of 23 persons including 8 members of the famed 'Busby Babes'. Rest on... 

Signing Out,

B.L...

In Other News:

*The Indomitable Lions of Cameroun are the new African Champions. They defeated Egypt 2-1 in the pulsating final. They were however much more hungrier than the Pharaohs and the late winning goal by Aboubakar was worth its weight in gold. All in all, I thought it was a poor tournament quality-wise. Few games were watchable and the state of the pitches left a lot to be desired. We can do much better. Still, congratulations Cameroun! 

* The New England Patriots won the NFL Super Bowl LI by beating the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime while making the greatest comeback in the competition's history. The owner, (Kraft), the manager (Belchick) and the star quarter-back (Brady) of the team are President Trump's friends. In current climate America, you know what that means - Atlanta had a lot of sympathy supporters. Ironically, the city itself voted FOR Trump while New England's majority voted against him. The US is indeed a melting point, eh?

* Boston Celtics legend, Paul Pierce played at the TD Garden for the last time in a storied career which winds up this season. Though now playing with the Los Angeles Clippers in his final season, Pierce is one of the 3 players who have scored over 20,000 points with the Celtics. He holds the team's record for most 3-points made, steals and is 2nd in most points scored. And this is the most successful NBA franchise we are talking about. Ovations were aplenty. 'The Truth' lives on...