United Road Take Me Home

Viva La Vida!

Prior to United’s departure for Japan there was much anxious calculation of exactly how wide the points gap between United and the supposed pretenders to our crown might be when we return. 3? 6? A totally insurmountable 9?

In the event, with Chelsea and Liverpool both letting points slip left, right and centre, it turns out that such speculation was utterly futile. Indeed as I write United have hopped back on the perch that we temporarily allowed Liverpool to occupy. When searching for negatives about the Japan trip, only one stands out – the red-card that will keep Vidic out of the Milan tie. For our impervious to peril Serb is having a season to truly cherish.

While others struggle to sustain their very finest form, Vidic has consistently been the outstanding performer in a red-shirt. That record-breaking run of clean sheets (like all records these days pertaining to no further back than the Premiership age) speaks for itself. Of course no defender operates alone, but, Edwin aside, who is the common denominator in all those games? Need you ask?

In many ways those 10 games without being breached are the defenders equivalent of scoring 42 in a season (I’d say that at this point Vidic is on the equivalent of 28, Johnny Evans is on a very creditable 11, and Rio about 15). Of course if Vidic’s performance was calculated in goals for rather than goals against, he would be strolling to Player of the Year awards. As Fergie himself lamented the other day, defenders rarely earn such plaudits.

Will we survive the San Siro without him? Milan themselves are suffering a slump in form, with Mourinho perhaps distracted by the likelihood of a fat contract at city about to cross his desk, but there’s no avoiding the fact that our task is immeasurably more difficult with Vidic missing from the side.

posted by Royton Red @ 10:47 PM