United old boys have short memories.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soc...united-old-boys-have-short-memories-1.2448160

Irish Journal Ken Early talks United past and how we are now remembered as the greatest team of all time in the eyes of our ex players.

 

Why do they have short memories?

 

I think the journalist is paraphrasing.

You know, making it up as he goes along.

 

Not about you Chief so don't get your panties in a twist, eh?

Hes not wrong. A great deal of rewriting history has taken place at United. A lot of which isn't helping anyone at the club and feeds the Twitter and sky sports generations opinions.

 

Anyone with a braincell knows why. Though there's an unwritten rule that any suggestion that United of old did t win everything can cause issues. Some don't like it. Reality hurts I guess.

As a short demonstration, here the last rebuild we did at this same stage.

2004/5 - 27 points at this stage. We scored 11 in the first 12 games. Scholes, van Nistlerooy, Giggs and a young Ronaldo were part of the attack.

2005/6 - at this stage.... 27 points. We had now added Rooney and Saga. Scored very few goals, Boro humiliated us 4-1.

We couldn't beat the likes of Exeter, Boro, Rovers (many times), Bolton, Birmingham, City etc and we couldn't buy a goal to save our lives at this stage.

From about February of 2006 we clicked, had a good run towards the end of the season and then walked the PL the year after, sending a certain Jose packing too.

As for the obsession with goals and chances. We won the title in 2008 or 9 with 90 points and 68 goals. This was with Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney. What was vital in those days was our defence, who broke records every game they played basically.

Sone of our ex players should know better... Considering they were involved in much of this.

 

I know you weren't on about me ffs!

It certainly fits your own current m.o. though; a few ex players say that we never used to play this way and that actually equates to them meaning we used to win every game 7-3 and so it becomes cast in stone that that is what they said. That sort of nonsense.

Black or White. Nothing, at all, whatsoever, in between.


Anyway, I was joking.

 

Wow. Mega rant

 

Not much of a rant really. Just stating the obvious.

 

He was referring to the old boys who can only remember when things were going well. Not all Uniteds former players are towing that line either.

I think the journalists point is that you have to take the rough with the smooth. 2 or 3 years of hard work, grinding out results, getting smashed by Leicester or Middleborough and failing to score past cannon fodder are part and parcel. Fans looking back with nostalgia is one thing, none of us were there in the midst of it all but players, players who have gone through the good and the bad should know better IMO. I'm not saying they shouldnt have an opinion but it should be used sensibly and they should use their wisdom to understand the situation.

To be fair to Scholes and Neville, their opinions have changed recently. Whether someone's had a word or they have seen things differently I don't know. They don't think we are great, nobody does but they see things differently to before. Maybe Fergies given then a clip round the ear?

 

This is the problem when all you look at is points and results. A whole thread based on 27 points. This tunnel vision thinking is what's blinding you from what others are saying.

The difference between now and 2004-06 is that we weren't underperforming then. And before you mention 27 points again, I don't mean underperforming in points, I mean in terms of player potential and attacking football. I honestly don't remember anyone begrudging our performances on the pitch or our achievements those seasons. We simply had to hold up our hands, look at the transition in the quality of our defence and midfield and accept that while doing our best, we simply weren't as good as the new (money) kid on the block (Chelsea).

 

Two of the best games I have seen at the lane involved Utd, and no, one wasn't the 5-3. New years day, 4-1, Chrissy Armstrong tearing your defence a new one, even more impressive as your defence contained the world class centre back Prunier.

 

Back then the infamous Rob Smyth article came to be ("shredding his legacy at every turn") and there was a lot of noise over Fergie and that he should go. He was in some ways distracted by the whole racing horse issue and even alludes to it in his book.

We certainly under achieved too. We fell away quite a bit after the last title in 2003 while Arsenal and Chelsea seemed to pull away. Of course we all know what happens but that rebuilding period resembles this in many ways. Much of the old guard was coming to the end of their time here while young superstars were being bedded in. Goals were hard to come by too. Many considered us finished. This is where our long term decline originates.

We all know how it turned out and no United fan would admit to any doubts looking back (I'm not suggesting you did BTW, I wouldn't have a clue after all) because the good times are more fondly remembered. The period was worth it though, because of the prolonged period of success it brought afterward and some brilliant football between 06-09. Our patience paid off once again while other clubs lagged behind, occasionally putting in a challenge.

If van Gaal can continue his rebuild and sort the attack before someone like Pep comes in, maybe we will all look back on this period in a similar fashion.

 

You've misunderstood the use of the term "underachieving". We weren't underachieving at all back then. What you've just said in the bit in bold shows exactly why we didn't underachieve. Our squad wasn't great then and as I said, a lot of United fans accepted there were serious gaps in the team. A period of transition was there and many of the players we built our success on weren't there. The starting 11 now is much better than what it was back then, bar a couple of superstars.

Furthermore, when I talk about underachievement I'm not talking about success either. We are underachieving now in terms of the quality of our football on the pitch, the style and manner of our passing play, considering the players we have now.

 

We didn't play well back then though. Better than we do now but Fergie had a huge advantage having been here for over 15 years at the time. Even then he found that period difficult. I guess we didn't underachieve looking back but it felt like it at the time. Inconsistency was the name of the game. We would beat Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs etc but lose to Portsmouth, Blackburn, Middlesbrough etc. We also had the benefit of a player still scoring goals even when we weren't playing well, which certainly helped. We don't have that right now.

I also don't think we have a great team. The makings of for sure but a few things need to happen first. The squad needs to mature as a unit and we need that final piece to complete it. Perhaps a new manager down the line to take it to the next level if I am honest.

 

Yep you're bang on with the inconsistency part, but that was down to the inconsistency in our squad. Hence why we didn't play well. I'm speaking fromm memory here but Keane was on his way out? Scholes had an eye injury which kept him out for a whole season? Carrick hadn't arrived yet iirc and we had Alan Smith in midfield? The defence had Rio, but Vidic and Evra in their first 6 months were poor. Rooney was tearing it up and Ronaldo was on the cusp of greatness. I remember going to watch the derby game that season and it was a 0-0 with that fckwit Fowler playing for City. It was awful tbh but we all knew why and accepted the team wasn't good enough, and that Chelsea were so far ahead.

I look at the squad we have now, look at our direct competition, and think bloody hell we should be doing better. I'm sure if Fergie had, had this squad a decade ago, he would have had them playing better than we are now and given a bloody good Chelsea side (back then) a much closer run, if not beaten them.

 

Putting it another way, if Fergie did fail back then, it wouldn't have been bcos he wasn't playing attacking football, it was bcos he didn't have the squad or first 11 to always deliver the football he wanted. LVG has a squad capable of delivering just that, but we're not seeing it on the pitch.

 

In the past couple of days you've said the match going fans and former players don't know what they're talking about. All those people crammed into a stadium, utterly clueless as to why they're there and what's going on. Basically only you, with your internet stream, is qualified to give an opinion. Do you in any way appreciate how football wouldn't actually exist without players and match going fans? I suppose you'd still have FIFA so it would be aces for you!

 

I was referring to the fans booing. Just don't see the point. And the ex players give a variety of views to be fair. Just the more negative ones make the headlines over here. Which is to be expected really.

 

All fair points. I do think if Fergie had this side, we would play better but I think even he would struggle with the frankly pathetic performances some have put in as far as the attack goes. Its likely he wouldn't have this team so it impossible to say really.

I