After conceding the Premier League title to Chelsea during the previous season, many doubters raised questions about the quality of Sir Alex Ferguson's team and the strength of the squad, making comparisons with successful Manchester United teams of previous years. The Reds went onto win a historic 19th League title, overtaking arch rivals Liverpool's record of 18 league titles.
After beating Chelsea 3-1 in the Charity Shield, United began the league season with an emphatic 3-0 home victory against Newcastle, but while the Reds were almost invincible at Old Trafford, incredibly only dropping two points at home all season, they seemed to be struggling for the same kind of form away from home, recording seven draws from their first eight away games in the Premier League.
SEASON 3 PREMIERE
Despite some unconvincing performances United remained undefeated in the Premier League until February, by which time they had opened up a considerable points gap over their rivals, which was to give them a comfortable cushion for the final few games. A 2-1 defeat at Chelsea at the beginning of March followed by a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool the following week opened the door for Chelsea to mount a late surge as they attempted to retain their title.
The Blues revival set up a potential title decider at Old Trafford with three games remaining, the Reds prevailed with a 2-1 victory and secured the Premier League title at Blackburn the following week. While many of the performances this season may not have emulated the fantasy football of previous years, the Reds were still good enough to win the league by nine clear points.
United also dismissed Chelsea in the Champions League with victories both home and away, but they were to fall well short when they faced Barcelona in the Champions League final, when a brilliant display by Barca left the Reds second best in all respects, which illustrated to Alex Ferguson that his team will have to be considerably improved in order to win that trophy again.
Veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has retired, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes have also brought an end to their playing career, the Old Trafford career of injury plagued Owen Hargreaves is also over.
New names are emerging at United, who are set to become the stars of the future Chris Smalling and the striker Javier Hernandez, who had a brilliant first season at the club. United are set to sign the impressive Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers and have several other players on their radar as the renewal of the team definitely seems to be underway as they prepare for a new season of challenges.
Manchester United Season Review 2010-11 SEASON 3 PREMIERE
0 comments:
Post a Comment