It's that time of year again - moving into the stretch run of the European football season - with United still in the running for the Premier League, FA cup and Champions' League. With a maximum of 11 games to go, there is talk of the Treble ....
I, for one, find it incredible that this season's team is even in a position to be challenging on 3 fronts.
* Ferdinand - injured for half the season for one reason or another
* Johnny Evans - absolutely terrible
* right back - O'Shea injured for months, Rafael is liable to get a yellow card or two during a match, Gary Neville was so bad he decided to retire
* Paul Scholes - approaching the end of his career at 36, limited games due to age
* Darren Fletcher - where's he been the last few months ?
* Michael Carrick - hasn't been the same player ever since the Champions League final against Barcelona in 2009. Nowadays, if he plays a pass forward, he gets a standing ovation.
* Anderson - injured for most of the season, as usual
* Owen Hargreaves - he's still around ?
* Antonio Valencia - injured for most of the season
* Park Ji Sung - 2-3 months out when he went to play in the Asia Cup
* Obertan, Darron Gibson - squad players who should really be on their way out after this season
* Rooney - off form for large chunks of the season
* Michael Owen - can't remember the last time we sighted him in a match
With all this going on, how did this particular United team get into a position where the possibility of the Treble is mentioned ?
I've got to say that even though many of their performances have been under par, they've been winning matches based on some individual moments of brilliance, and frequently just on sheer blardy mindedness. I guess that would be the 'will to win' part of what it takes to play football for Manchester United.
I won't go much into some of the very good things that have gone into making United's season a potentially great one but
* Van der Sar - why is he going to retire ?
* Vidic - solid as a rock
* Chris Smalling - his emergence minimized Ferdinand's absences
* Evra - just keeps on going
* Ryan Giggs - just keeps on going
* Berbatov - his emergence in the 1st half of the season led to some very vital wins. Hard to believe that United's 3rd choice striker is currently the Premier League's leading goal scorer.
* Hernandez - his emergence has been an absolute revelation. Looks to be United's first choice striker for years to come.
Still, Harry Redknapp says that this is United's worst team in years. I agree, but they just keep on winning. Could it be that they have 'What it Takes' ?
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