HAVE MAN UTD LOST IT?

It was, apparently, the prospect of meeting a Newcastle United side guided by the 67-year-old Bobby Robson that prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to start hinting that he may not retire as manager of Manchester United at the end of this season.
Consumed with admiration for Robson’s achievement in the North East, Ferguson may be at last starting to think that his move away from the game he loves with an equal passion is premature. Tomorrow’s match may do nothing to quell his waverings.
It should be fast, open and entertaining, not short on goals or defensive errors. Ferguson’s side was brilliant going forward against Fulham on Sunday but still looked vulnerable at the back, where Laurent Blanc cannot snap out of his nonchalance no matter how many times he gives the ball away or how many tackles he misses. Alan Shearer will relish the chance to thunder into him in the air, Craig Bellamy to run at him with the ball at his feet. It is likely to be a busy, fraught night for Blanc’s unenviable nursemaid, Gary Neville.
At the other end, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs, so deadly against Fulham, will use their speed and strength to terrorise Newcastle. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may be thrown into the mix, too. It won’t be dull
One thing is certain: retaining the league title will not be the waltz of last year. As the yo-yo of public and media opinion swings wildly back towards the viewpoint that United suddenly have become unbeatable footballing gods again, though, it would be foolish to fall prey to the same abandonment of perspective that greeted their slide down the table just weeks ago. If it was misguided to think that United would not be in the mix one way or another by the end of the season, so it would be irresponsible to suggest that they are now playing without vulnerability.
They have some momentum now that may be hard to arrest but they are still not the team of last season: nowhere near it. The fact that they allowed a team that had scored two goals in their past six league games to double that tally yesterday tells its own story. Laurent Blanc still looks so out of his depth at the heart of the United back four that the labours of a once accomplished and elegant defender make a poignant sight.
Blanc does not carry the ball out from the back, does not distribute it well, does not tackle well or organise the defence well. He is a passenger and even if United can just about afford to carry him against offensively weak teams like Fulham, the suspicion is that his atrophy will be cruelly exposed by the other leading sides. Any one of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Michael Owen, Alan Shearer or the rejuvenated Robbie Fowler would feast on his decline and reawaken United’s suffering. A test is now coming up when Shearer takes on Blanc.
There is a possibility that Ferguson will put some of the £8 million raised by selling Andrew Cole to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday towards buying another central defender. An ambitious, youthful sort such as Philippe Mexes, the highly rated centre half from A J Auxerre, would be a valuable addition if Ferguson could tempt his club to part with him. Kevin Hofland, of PSV Eindhoven, is also a fitting target. With John O’Shea, Wes Brown and Ronny Johnsen injured, Ferguson needs to bring someone else in. As long as, of course, his pride will let him.
For the moment, Blanc’s deficiencies are being camouflaged by the excellence of others — in particular, Gary Neville, his partner in the centre of defence, Roy Keane, who produced another titanic performance in front of the back four yesterday, and Giggs and Van Nistelrooy, whose instant understanding up front produced three counter-attacking goals that ripped through a stunned Fulham defence.
The fact remains, though, that United have conceded more Premiership goals this season than every team bar Bolton Wanderers, Southampton, West Ham United and Leicester City. Ipswich Town and Derby County have less porous defences.

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