Champions... but for how long? My year with Manchester United, by David McDonnell

By David McDonnell in Mirror Football Blog

Published 10:00 22/12/11

For Manchester United, 2011 was a bittersweet year.

Jubilation at overtaking arch rivals Liverpool to clinch an historic 19th league title was tempered by a chastening Champions League final defeat to Barcelona, for the second time in three seasons.

If losing to Barca last May was a brutal reminder of how far the bar had been raised in Europe by Pep Guardiola's peerless side, then United's shock exit from the group stage of the tournament this season was proof of how far they have fallen since that Wembley humiliation.

For a side that has contested three of the last four Champions League finals, failure to progress from arguably the easiest group in this year's competition, containing Benfica, FC Basel and Romanian unknowns Otelul Galati, was as shocking as it was embarrassing.

Yet 2011 has been that kind of year for United, one that at times has lurched from the sublime to the ridiculous, played out against a backdrop of huge change and a period of transition at the world's biggest club.

Change came with the retirement of three key figures in Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar, while United also said goodbye to two other stalwarts in Wes Brown and John O'Shea, as well as Owen Hargreaves, later picked up by rivals Manchester City for free.

While Sir Alex Ferguson brought in goalkeeper David De Gea, defender Phil Jones and winger Ashley Young, the one area in which the United boss failed to replace was the creative midfield role vacated by Scholes after almost two decades of distinguished service.

Inter Milan and Holland playmaker Wesley Sneijder was pursued, until his failure to compromise on his £250,000-a-week wage demands saw United walk away from the potential deal, yet there was no fall-back option waiting in the wings.

As such, the absence of a creative midfield figure, with the guile and artistry of Manchester City's David Silva or Chelsea's Juan Mata, has left United looking light in the middle of the pitch as they chase City this season, their hopes of Champions League success now gone.

Yet United had enough in their locker, following leaders Chelsea's spectacular implosion, which saw them pick up just seven points from 27 in their winter meltdown, to clinch the title last season and surpass Liverpool as the country's dominant football force.

The highlight of the season was arguably Wayne Rooney's astonishing scissor-kick to win February's Manchester derby at Old Trafford, the unanimous choice as goal of the season and one that went some way to atoning for the striker's ill-advised and unseemly public contract stand-off with United four months earlier.

Even a mini-wobble, with back-to-back defeats at Chelsea and Liverpool in early March, could not derail United, who ended up winning by a nine-point margin after Chelsea gave up following defeat at Old Trafford with two games to go.

While it would be churlish to denigrate United's title triumph, and such an historic one at that, they were forced to contend with accusations theirs was not a vintage Ferguson squad and had only won the title because of the shortcomings of their challengers.

Less open to criticism was United's march to last season's Champions League final, where they did not concede an away goal in the entire competition, until they were pulverized in merciless fashion by Barca at Wembley on May 28.

Ferguson was right in his post-match analysis, admitting there was no disgrace in losing to the best side he had faced in 40 years of management, but acknowledging the majesty of Barca's play did not make defeat any less painful for the United boss.

For the Champions League remains the Holy Grail of competitions for Ferguson. He has won 12 Premier League titles, his domestic supremacy assured, but his perceived failure in Europe, with two Champions League triumphs to his name, gnaws away at him.

Many managers would be satisfied with one European Cup success, let alone two, but Ferguson knows he should probably have won at least a couple more during his United reign, and it is that goal which continues to drive him on, despite turning 70 on December 31.

Ferguson was also forced to confront an unpalatable truth in 2011, as local rivals Manchester City emerged from the giant shadow cast by their more illustrious neighbours to win their first trophy for 35 years and cement their new-found status as equals to United.

If victory over United in the FA Cup semi-finals, which City went on to win by beating Stoke in the final, proved a significant moment in terms of the balance of power between Manchester's two clubs, it was nothing compared to their meeting at Old Trafford on October 23.

City demolished United 6-1 in their own back yard, Ferguson hailing it as his "worst-ever result", a seismic day in Manchester and one which could yet prove the defining moment of this season's title race, with Roberto Mancini's side still out in front and setting the pace.

Ferguson has prided himself on responding to challenges to United's domestic supremacy, be they from Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Chelsea, and the emergence of City as genuine title contenders has provided him with what is likely to be his last great test.

City host United in the third round of the FA Cup on January 9 and, given Mancini's side's formidable record at home, Ferguson and his players could well be facing another early exit from a cup competition this season, with another avenue to silverware closed off.

Of immediate concern to Ferguson is whether or not to go into the transfer market in January and buy a new midfielder, with Darren Fletcher out indefinitely through illness, and Anderson and Tom Cleverley still sidelined, while the loss of skipper Nemanja Vidic for the rest of the season is a huge blow to United's title hopes.

Whether United have the financial resources to buy a midfielder of sufficient quality to improve them remains to be seen, as well as the pertinent question of whether any of their targets are available at what is a notoriously tough time to prise players from clubs.

History would suggest Ferguson will not recruit a central midfielder next month, given his reluctance to buy in January, a huge call given the paucity of options at his disposal in that position, a point borne out by the deployment of Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones there in recent weeks.

As 2011 draws to a close, Ferguson will reflect on a year of highs and lows. Domestic success and European failure is something Ferguson has had to get used to over the years, but with City looking the real deal, 2012 could ultimately turn out to be a barren year on all fronts for United.