Lame At The Lane

Move along now...there's nothing to see here.

It's that however brief window period in this very peculiar Manchester United's league season where it is corporately acceptable for management and team to dial in their performances for the singular reason that 38 games must be concluded by each team before the league officially draws to a close.

2 more games to go then. Thankfully, no extra times (Not like any of these testimonial showings would merit it).

Tottenham Hotspurs beat Manchester United 2 -1 in the White Hart Lane grand finale yesterday. Victor Wanyama and Harry Kane scored for Spurs from well-worked set pieces. Wayne Rooney scored the last goal at the Lane. Rashford gave the Spurs faithful a rightful fright when he came on even though the game should have been long dispatched by then. Perhaps a fairer fight would have involved the attendees of the after-match celebrations, David Ginola, Chris Waddle, Ledley King & Co. against our team. 1-0, I'll wager still.

The manager has now made it blatantly clear that everything rests on the result in Stockholm. Yes, this was what we wanted due to the ongoing situation of injuries, lack of quality players 'fatigue' and the significance of winning the Europa. But...without sounding too contradictory...err...could we just tone down that impression a little bit? When you say to millions of fans and viewers after a loss to a rival that "There were no injuries and it's one less match to play because at this moment the Premier League matches for us are matches we don't want to play", you send a very strong wrong message.

"To tank" means to lose deliberately, or fail to finish. See Aussie tennis maverick, Nick Kyrgios or most National Basketball Association teams already assured of Play-Off placement. A cynical person may include West Ham United to that list but I would never have imagined in my lifetime that it is something that would be in anyway even remotely associated with Manchester United. For any reason whatsoever.

This is not about 'losing' simplicta; it's about intentionally setting out to lose or surrendering from competing. It's simply unethical behaviour. Instead play a bulk of the U-23s. They may yet be defeated but it would offer them 1. experience in a big game situation 2. A hint at the possibility of making the big leagues. They would also approach the game in a much more competitive spirit because there would be a point to prove. But to field De Gea, Bailly, Jones, Smalling, (Tuanzebe, who even had a decent game in an unfamiliar position, is excused) Blind, Carrick, Rooney, Mata, Lingard and Martial, all experienced, all multi-millionaires, all internationals, all, if it weren't for certain over-enhanced reputations, should be able to challenge for the league title as is, to put out that kind of performance is disheartening, unfair and ultimately detrimental to the interests of the club. I still retch when reminded that this is the most expensively assembled team ever in the history of football. 😱  

While the circumstances of making the Europa League Cup a priority have since been noted, offering full baby-diaper exhibitions of this kind is unacceptable. No one becomes depraved in a day. Clubs who are today maligned and mocked for setting mediocre parameters did not become like that in one season. It was a trend of decisions and directions that led them to that harrowing regrettable path. It's never OK to 'not compete'. You can and should rest players but those available should never take to the field without fire in their belly. Not least well-paid professionals.

The manager, by his statements, is also unwittingly putting immense pressure on the players leading to the Europa final. True, the importance of that match cannot be understated but it has been made to be "the mother of all finals". To put in perspective, this is still the final of Europe's 2nd tier competition. Knowing also the calibre and make-up of this squad, do you reckon it's the kind of pressure they'll thrive under? Judging by the after-effects of the very public flaying of Shaw, Mkhitaryan and Martial, I'm not so sure.

I really hope the team develops some level of competitive spirit before the final. Like Ryan Giggs mentioned yesterday, form is not a switch you suddenly turn on in a final. There should be some sort of confidence build-up culminating to the required performance, desired rest notwithstanding. It's the manager's job to find this balance. If it wasn't, I could as well be occupying on his seat. (Quite literally)

At least I know what my definite transfer list is.

Please let's see some more ambition/effort is the remainder 2 games. The club deserves much better than this.

Southampton (A) on Wednesday is next. Amen to that.

Signing Out,

B.L...

In Other News:

* As predicted since December, Chelsea has been crowned 2016/17 English Premier League Champions. Deserved. Antonio Conte has been successful in stabilising a previously fractured and unsettled but talented team while also moulding them into a functional unit. I imagine that next season will call for even more expertise from Italian with the added 'distraction' of the Champions League but that bridge would be attempted when encountered. Congratulations, Roman's Army...

* ...speaking of which, another set of Romans ensured that Serie A Champions, Juventus, would not be officially crowned till weekend. Not in the home of Il Re Di Roma, Francesco Totti. It was bad enough that his team lost his last Derby Della Capitale but that was a local civil war. There can only be one sovereign in Rome. And he is not an old lady however advanced in years he may be.  3-1 was the final scoreline. It should be noted however that Juventus rested a number of players in advance of the Copa De Italia and Totti only came on in extra time but still...

* ...time stood still as King of Clay, Rafael Nadal showed all his characteristic resilience and doggedness to win his record equalling 30th ATP 100 Tournament in Madrid by beating Dominic Thiem  7-6, 6-4. The greats are rolling back the years...

* Monaco has now scored over a 100 goals this season. Cristiano has now scored over 400 for Madrid. Animals.

*Some-What-Good News: Feyenoord Rotterdam, the 1st team to ensure Ajax comes second in a major competition this season has won its first Erevedisie title since 1999 when one Ruud van Nistelrooy was in their books. Not-So-Good News: One 36-year old Dirk Kuyt scored a hat-trick to seal the deal.

* Olden is golden?