Red Devils not frightening anyone as yet
September 18th 2008 00:06
Manchester United are one of the finest clubs in world football.
They showed us all what it takes to be champions when they claimed both the Premier League and Champions league titles last season.
But, wow, that seems a long time ago now.
As the Premier league and Champions League competitions get underway, awaiting to crown a new king of club football, United are lagging big time.
In the Premier League, they sit in 14th position with just four points next to their name. That is courtesy of just one win and a draw.
To make matters worse, their one loss came at the hands of fierce rivals Liverpool, who from their part, are playing great football.
That loss came after United forward Carlos Tevez put his side in front against Liverpool after just four minutes of game time.
From there, an own goal from Wes Brown and a strike from Liverpool forward Ryan Babel sealed the points for the Anfield faithful.
Although United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was disappointed with the result, he could take some consolidation in the fact that his greatest weapon was yet to be unleashed this season.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been nursing a knee injury in the off season but had to nurse other things along the way.
No doubt the news of the off season surrounded the Portuguese midfielder and his keen desire to move to Spanish side Real Madrid for a record fee.
In the end, Ferguson, as per usual, got his way and Ronaldo remained at Old Trafford, despite the growing tension United fans were feeling towards the Portuguese superstar.
All those off field dilemmas were finally put to rest when Ronaldo made his return from injury in the Champions League this morning against Spanish side Villarreal.
Although his presence allowed United to play the better football, it was not enough for the 'red devils' to grab all three points and had to make do with a goalless draw.
Championship pressure is starting to build now with every passing moment United fail to score, or seal victory.
But it is just early in the season.
United have shown enough before to suggest they will keep their Premiership defence alive well into the latter stages of the season.
New recruit Dmitriv Berbatov will have an impact in the middle of the area when he comes down from cloud nine and stops looking at the 37 million Euro price tag United brought him for.
Although a quality player, Berbatov is yet to prove he is worth that much money.
But its just early days.
And no doubt United fans will expect their team to also remain in Champions league contention until, well, the final.
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