Sir Alex Ferguson raged against refereeing decisions, again, after the 1-0 defeat against Chelsea. Was he justified?
On this occasion, he probably was. There were four or five instances when Manchester United could have been given the benefit of the doubt by Martin Atkinson, but all of the decisions went in favour of Chelsea. Did Darren Fletcher foul Ashley Cole? Possibly not. Did Didier Drogba grab at Wes Brown? Maybe. Was Drogba offside and interfering with play? Perhaps.
So Ferguson, for once, had good cause to rant?
Yes. Whatever you think of his history in this respect – and, of course, people have heard it all before many times - it was deeply frustrating for him. He was entitled to be aggrieved, he was entitled to feel a huge sense of injustice. United may have had matters go their way in many games over the years, but not on Sunday.
Still, isn’t it all becoming a bit tiring?
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Yes, it has reached the stage where Sir Alex must be sick of criticising referees. The public, the officials and the FA must be sick of it, too. It does, though, illustrate his huge and enduring passion for the game, even though, at times, this can spill over into an unedifying tirade at the match officials.
It appears that the FA will let him off on this one?
It’s not surprising. He did not slaughter Atkinson, his comments never got personal or cast doubts over the integrity of the referee. When Ferguson laid into Alan Wiley and questioned his fitness, he went over the top. The charge of improper conduct was deserved.
Is not all this ranting just a way of masking United’s deficiences?
Ferguson can be clever like that. Over the seasons, a United defeat or poor display has often been followed by an outburst at the referee. He likes to deflect the issue, keeping his real thoughts for the dressing-room and training ground. He is the master at that and, because of it, gains the respect of his players. On Sunday, United played reasonably well. Ferguson’s dismay was genuine and justified.
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But are United playing well?
Not badly, but there is a distinct lack of penetration, which was half-expected once Cristiano Ronaldo left. A total of 23 goals in 12 matches is OK but United still lag way behind Chelsea and Arsenal in the goalscoring stakes. They have to up that significantly ... and quickly.
Is the five-point gap to Chelsea worrying?
Only marginally. It’s not insurmountable by any means. United will continue to pick up victories but it would nice to see them back to their scintillating best. “Winning ugly” just doesn’t suit them.