POST-MATCH REACTION THREAD: Basel 2-1 Manchester United | Reds eliminated from Champions League (no, Europa League doesn't count)

How long is he going to be out?

First off, I’m gutted. This feels almost as bad as crashing out of Europe back in ’05 (how the eff we only got one point from Lille in two games is beyond me…). Almost. It still feels bad.

But, as mentioned before, I have faith. Here’s the silver lining that I see. We’re not in as bad a position as many people think.

Yes, we’re playing like poo. Since the Citeh debacle, we have had one, maybe two people on the pitch who were ‘on’: Phil and Nani, or Phil and Vida, or Phil and Roo. I’m of the opinion that we’re just in an unusual rough patch of form – typically, I’ve seen 5 or 6 guys that were on during a match and that’s usually good enough. I think that everyone is just playing like crap at the same time and these things tend to even themselves out – what’s important (to me, at least) is that we’re still getting results in the league (since, to me, that’s most important).

Gene insinuated earlier that SAF should deserve more credit for the last two months and I agree whole-heartedly.

I typically don’t look at standings much until after the holiday program – but our position in the league isn’t bad at all. We’re second fer chrissakes and that’s only because Citeh is playing out of their mind. I fully believe that they will hit a rough patch of form and they will NOT be able to get those 1-0 wins over the long haul that we can (see: Cantona, Eric back in the ‘90s). They don’t know what squeaky bum time is all about. They just don’t. They are getting an idea, mind you, but they just don’t know right now.

Let’s look at how we’ve been the last few seasons after 14 league games -

’11 – 10-3-1, 31 GF/ 13 GA, +18 GD, 33 pts, finish ???
’10 – 7-7-0, 28/15, +13, 28 (1st)
’09 – 10-1-3, 30/13, +17, 31 (2nd)
’08 – 8-4-2, 26/10, +16, 28 (1st)
’07 – 9-3-2, 23/7, +16, 30 (1st)
’06 – 11-2-1, 30/7, +23, 35 (1st)

We’re playing THIS crappy and we’ve STILL got the second most points over the sample above. We’ve also been a bit unlucky with the injury bug – by my calcs, I believe that out of the 23 competitive games we’ve played, half of them have had someone taken off due to injury that has missed as least one subsequent game. While I don’t have any other stats, this seems to be a bit much and certainly above average (several of them are pulled muscles which cause me to wonder a bit at our physios, but I digress). It’s not as bad as having Carrick and Fletch playing CB against Fulham a few years back, but it’s close.

I don’t believe that we need to make a knee jerk reaction buy in January – we’re going to be getting a few ‘free transfers’ by way of folks coming off the injury list (remember when Scholes came back in the spring of a season (‘07?) and played magnificently in the run out?). If we can find value, fantastic – but let’s not buy to placate us armchair midfielders. Specifically, I’d like to give Cleverley a shot to grow into the middle of the pitch. He’s had a bright, albeit rough, start and I believe that he should be given a fair shake to be the next great United midfield general. Agree that we should look long and hard at a few players to sell from a wage standpoint, but United needs to be very intelligent in who they buy and why.

Okay, back to my Powerpoint charts…