As a Manchester United supporter, I’m often accused of being a bandwagon rider. Their fightback against Chelsea at the weekend reminded me that I don’t love United because they win all the time. I love them because they are never beaten.
This is a team which has had a pretty rough year on a number of fronts. Punted out of the Champions League by FC Basel, and the League Cup by Crystal Palace, both in dreadful performances, United were being written off as early as November.
In fact it was earlier than that; many said they couldn’t do anything this year because they didn’t buy a new midfielder in the summer transfer window.
Their defence, so often the basis for League wins, has been riddled with injuries, not least captain and best player Nemanja Vidic, as well as a goalkeeper who would look far more comfortable on a tennis court than in the penalty area against a Rory Delap long throw.
Add into this injuries at one stage or another to Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jones, Nani, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez, and Darren Fletcher, and you’ve got a recipe for ‘maybe next year.’
Remember that their primary opponents are their supremely resourced neighbours, and most would already be scouring next summer’s market for rebuilding the team.
But no. After 26 games of this Premier League season, United are two points behind Manchester City. City, whose second-string side would arguably be better than United’s first, have simply had one less draw. That gap would be a point greater had United not found three goals in half an hour at their least favourite ground against one of the best sides in the country. They just keep hanging on.
Now, I’m not saying they’re going to win the league, but the fact that we are even discussing the possibility at this stage of the season is remarkable. If they fail to win the league it will be a grave disappointment, and that too speaks volumes about the spirit of the club.
When they were whipped 6-1 at home by City in November many said it was over. Power shift, regime chance, all of that. Sir Alex Ferguson, the most prominent force behind in this spirit, said at the time that the players got carried away with the history and reputation of their club, and so were still trying to win the game from three and four goals down.
While he was right about that, I’m sure he also knew that it was that same history which has kept his side pedalling along behind City throughout the season’s toughest climbs.
They may not win the league. But it will not be for lack of trying or lack of belief. Where many crowds heckle or pressure their players if they go behind, Old Trafford lifts to the challenge.
I can feel it all these thousands of miles away in my lounge room on Australia. I usually turn the volume up on the TV, to my family’s annoyance. I sometimes enjoy watching them more when they chase the game, it brings out the best traditions of the club.
These are the same traditions which saw a cobbled-together squad beat Sheffield Wednesday in an FA Cup tie within two weeks of the Munich air disaster. The same traditions which saw a club languishing as poor cousins to Liverpool and Everton sweep past them by the end of the first decade of this century. The same traditions which found two goals in stoppage time to deny the Germans in ’99.
So, while there will plenty who say that United fans are simply glory-hunters, celebration junkies who know little about football, I can tell you that I’m a United fan because when it all looks lost they find a way. And even if they don’t, they keep trying.
Their charge to May begins when they host Liverpool this weekend. If they can find a way past them, and onwards to the Premiership, it must rank as one of the club’s greatest achievements.
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