Catastrophic week for Manchester football fans

It’s been a pretty catastrophic week for Manchester football fans, both the Sky blue and reds. But for Manchester United their failure to qualify for the Champions League knockout phase was perhaps more keenly felt as the club has been part of three of the last four finals.

It looked very possible; all they needed to do was get a point against FC Basel. This is a side that has a solid record of producing a performance when the situation demanded it. Games like this are defined by a moment of magic, a special performance and Wednesday night it never happened.

When the groups were drawn Alex Ferguson himself couple not have picked a better group. It looked weak, there was no question who the big team was and this makes United’s elimination was even more eye opening. United were not good enough, results were poor and the price is elimination.

This is the 16^th year in a row United have qualified for the Champions League. This is only the second time they failed to make it out of the group stage. Benfica won the group that time too.

For all the millions Manchester City have spent the exit at this stage will also be felt. But the other half of Manchester does not have the history that United have in this competition.

City was in a tough group, Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal offered no “easy” games (if there is such a thing at this level. A quality side was going to be knocked out, that’s just how the draw was. This was their first year in the competition and players have talked about the pressure that comes with this stage.

As good a manager as Mancini is, walking out onto the pitch in Naples or Munich is not something players can prepare for. City will be back next year and will be far better prepared for the experience.

United have no such excuse. They have a defence that was found wanting Wednesday; both Basel goals should have been dealt with comfortably. The lack of a truly world class holding midfielder shows. I don’t know if you can say they are “rebuilding”, but they really miss Scholes and I’m interested to see who Ferguson goes after in January.

The players that come to mind are Luka Modric (Spurs) or Inters Wesley Sneijder. United were in the fight for Samir Nasri last summer, but could not quite outbid City for his signature.

Signing a world class midfielder is going to come at a steep price. It’s a sellers market once again and they know what United needs. There are a handful of players that fit the bill, and they are going to be stupid money.

Also the loss of Vidic is going to be huge going forward. Looks like he is out for the rest of the season and he is a true top class defender and the team looks far more vulnerable with out him at the back.

But they have the manager; I don’t think there is any question that Ferguson has the experience to make the best of what they have been given. Yes they will miss out on the massive European nights at Old Trafford, but they will be back.

The season is clearly not over. They are second in the league and put a little pressure on City by comprehensively putting away Wolves 4-1 today and taking the three points. Chelsea and City face each other on Monday, in another game with huge implications for the league.

The cup tie against City in a couple of weeks is looming large. Again, a good side is going out of the FA Cup early this year. And both sides are playing for something more than just the FA Cup, bragging rights over the other half of the Manchester.
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