TEDDY’S corner
have your say on info@manutd‑malta.com
Harry Gregg OBE
Dear All Rollercoaster! Couldn’t find a better word to describe this season. Less than 3 months before the end of the season and you never know what this United team will come up with next. They get a draw against relegation‑threatened Aston Villa with a lackluster performance, then all of a sudden, in the space of a week, they win 3 in a row beating Spurs at home and City away convincingly and scoring 4 past AZ in Europa League. Fans would think this is the time for a good run, time to turn the corner. Then all of a sudden, all those hopes fade away with another tame performance against struggling Everton at home resulting in a 1‑1 draw. I cannot count how many times this season the teams we were chasing, hovering above us in the table, failed and our team unexpectedly flops and miss the opportunity to bridge the gap. January was typical! The first week was a nightmare. Losing to Arsenal away, feeling as if our players just did not turn up. Subsequently we failed to give a shot on target in ninety minutes against Wolves away in the FA Cup and then suffered a humiliation against Man City at home in the League Cup. The first 45 minutes of that game merit the same level of disgust we all felt when Everton last year gave us that trashing towards the end of the season. When
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VOL 47 - ISSUE 3 - MARCH 2020
all was looking so gloom and doom, we scored 4 past Norwich and broke the duck against Wolves in the FA Cup, one of those teams who reached the status of ‘boogie’ for us…our first win against them since March 2012! The positive fans got filled with hope that we could go to Anfield and give them Scousers their first defeat of the season. Even though they beat us, that game showed how much this indomitable team, which Jurgen Klopp has successfully managed to create for Liverpool FC, still dreads playing Man Utd. At times they outplayed us but notwithstanding the current difference in quality and confidence, we still instill that fear in them. If only Pereira and Martial could hit the target! Notwithstanding defeat spirits were still high for some, somehow. We know this will be their year after 30 years of dreams. Then, all of a sudden, defeat against Burnley at home, the team which failed to give a shot on target when we played them at Turf Moor in late December. Disaster! Pressures were mounting high on Ole. The FA Cup game at Tranmere was seen as the potential giant killer which would write the script for the Norwegian. A convincing 6‑0
win playing on a dodgy surface followed by our second victory of the season and sweet revenge (though in vain) against the FIFA Fair Play rule breakers on the pitch of their counsel house, reinstated faith in Ole once again. Everyone was expecting a win against Wolves at home next, especially with our new acquisition Bruno Fernandes featuring in the starting line up but at the end we had to settle for a disappointing 0‑0 draw. This result meant that United had failed to score a goal in the Premier League for the past 4 hours and 45 minutes. Just so frustrating! By the time, February crept in and the Chelsea game at Stamford Bridge was now a 6‑pointer for that coveted 4th place. 2 great headers from Martial and Maguire sealed our third win against the pensioners this season in all
