United in life…..

Article by e-Manchester United Correspondent Noel Hutchinson

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There’s nothing in life that you can’t find in football. That’s what my Dad used to say.

I have a mate who is going through one of those periods in his life which we all go through at some stage. You know the story, the company you work for goes bust so you lose your job; so, as you start to look a bit rough round the edges because you are losing sleep amidst the worry of how are you going to pay next month’s bills you look for a new job; at last you get an interview- but just as you arrive at it you get a text that your Dad has been diagnosed with a life changing illness; you do a bad interview and don’t get the job but you pull yourself together because your family needs you to be strong just now; your unhappiness comes out at home and your marriage comes under pressure from taking the strain of everything else……sound familiar? If it doesn’t I truly hope it never does.

The big question you face when life does this to you is: how are you going to react?

Some people get knocked off course and then stagger, already off-balance, into the next crisis, spinning ever more out of control until they fall under a final, knock-out blow, never to rise again.

Others, due to nature or nurture or strong support from those around them manage somehow to rise up, dust themselves down and carry on; and in the long run these people are often successful, having grown stronger for the experience.

In life, as in football.

So United have had a very well documented season of struggling from one bad result to another, reported disharmony in the ranks, stalwarts leaving at the end of the season. We have been taking one step forward and two back according to many and we have a manager who has no idea what he is doing and is miles out of his depth. We have struggled through crisis to crisis, from false dawn to false dawn.

But last weekend we saw a chink of light in our world darkness, a glimpse of a brave new world.

We saw our defence become youthful and, importantly effective; a clean sheet, Smalling and Jones looking assured and in control, Raphael looking like G Neville in his pomp, de Gea confident and in charge of his penalty box. Jones got the first goal from a free kick won by Raphael, who himself went on to provide the cross of the match in his assist for our second.

Our 4-2-3-1 formation sat Fellaini and Carrick in front of our back four, both of whom controlled the game, Fellaini showing his defensive and ball holding qualities for the first time in a United shirt.

Then we had Rooney, Mata and Janujaz weaving magical mystery behind Van Persie, who provided the cross for the first goal, later to be replaced by Welbeck who came on to score our third and underline some statisticians arguments that he is the most clinical striker in the Premier league this year.

So, all in all a good performance, albeit against a weak West Brom but nevertheless positive and promising in equal measure.

However, any potential upward trajectory faces a huge hurdle next week in the shape of a season defining couple of matches against a formidable in-form Liverpool and a two goal deficit to Olympiacos.

So will it be one step forward, two back? One’s heart says maybe, one’s head says yes.

But in football, as in life, you never know what is going to happen……

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