And so to West Ham United, at a noisy and tuneful Upton Park on a Saturday evening, in the FA Cup, is as much about nostalgia and history as it is about winning or losing.
The return of the prodigal son, Joe Cole, added some further teary eyes to the occasion, as Big Sam Allardyce gave Cole his old shirt, and so he joined the former Bolton brigade in a game that defines the season of neither Club.
Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t pick Rio Ferdinand, the man about whom much was made pre-game. His lack of an FA Cup winner’s medal, his final 6 months of his £110k a week pay and his age, all made news this week, as his agent bounced around possible summer destinations like the MLS or China for his prized asset.
Rio doesn’t need the money and should take a reduced salary for reduced playing time to stay at the club that has stood by him through his drug ban and injuries over many years.
Show some loyalty Rio and do a deal please as you’ll get 20 games a year out of our 60 game schedule and will then be remembered in the same way as Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister – legends!
The match itself was a game of two halves.
The first half a vibrant open passing game, that passed in an instant as United linked up their play brilliantly but failed to finish. The formation comprising 3 centre halves, 2 fullbacks, 3 midfielders and 2 strikers was interesting to say the least, with Chris Smalling right back and Rafael in midfield.
The midfield quartet of Shinji Kagawa, Tom Cleverley, Paul Scholes and Rafael left me wondering who was playing left side as Cleverley was there more often than not and Kagawa played as a sort of false number 9 in that Lionel Messi position, but to a far lesser effect.
The second half was so different, we caught their disease and started lumping it forward and so we had a half of route 1 football with almost no United efforts on goal until the 85th minute.
Bolton, sorry I mean West Ham, are better than us at that lump it upfront game and they proved it. Nemanja Vidic was again warrior like and excellent, Jonny Evans vanished under the aerial attack and the fullbacks failed to cut out the ammo. This was not our finest half as we failed to impose ourselves in any way.
Sending on the rescue team was the order of the day at 75 minutes, as we switched to 4-4-2 and then turned the screw in the last 10 minutes.
The sight of Robin Van Perfect scoring with a piece of class was what we have come to expect from a man with a goal a game in the last 9. This is a man at the peak of his power, the finished article.
The performances of Vidic, Smalling, Rafael and Danny Welbeck were also worth the admission fee.
Kagawa exhibited poor touch and was largely ineffective throughout, looking like he has yet to find a role in this United team. I really don’t know how he fits into our best XI.
A replay at Old Trafford will give the second string players a chance to improve on this result, and we should be capable of doing that with some ease.
I thought this game raised a couple of questions that need answering:-
1) Where was Darren Fletcher? Surely he should have played here and the fact he didn’t concerns me.
2) Who is defensive midfield cover for Michael Carrick? I expected to see Smalling attempt that role when I saw the line up as he is the most Yaya Toure-like player we have on staff. I would have liked to see Rafael at fullback and Smalling tracking James Collins and breaking up their midfield to allow our creative players more time to create.
However this game did all that you can ask of an FA Cup tie, it was a brilliant match.
It has a history, a passion and nostalgia that few tournaments can recreate.
Nowhere more was that passion demonstrated than Sir Alex Ferguson at 71 heading at every chance and then dancing along the touchline when Robin van Perfect scored. Great stuff and proof positive that this man will never quit United, he just loves it too much and we love him.
By Steve Burrows CBE @ifollowsteve
