This was a good read

Hudge · Dec 29, 2008

Manchester United who, for some reason, are supposed to have been cheered by the relative failure of the big four to win matches in recent weeks, although they were up to their necks in it as well. Their late goals against Sunderland and Stoke may have highlighted their problems with their strikers this season (Liverpool have scored more than them in the league this season), but their failure to score at Aston Villa or Tottenham or their dropped points at Everton and defeat at Arsenal also indicates their forward problem.

Dimitar Berbatov looks like another expensive mistake by Alex Ferguson. He has scored two league goals this season, three less than Robbie Keane and he has disrupted the balance of the side which could only accommodate the narcissist apathy of one player, Cristiano Ronaldo. Now they are being asked to accommodate two.

It was fitting that Carlos Tevez got the winner at Stoke and was brought in for a game which would always require a physical commitment lacking in Berbatov. Tevez may not last there much longer as he is forced out by United's need to play a player who does not look like a £30m footballer.

At the heart of United's challenge is Cristiano Ronaldo who was lucky not to be sent off for a third successive stamp after flinging a foot at an opponent during the game at Stoke. One of those stamping matches was against Sunderland when, tired of the punishment he was receiving, Ronaldo took the decision to substitute himself.

It was a move now totally in character as the player seems convinced that each game has been designed as an intricate vanity project to accommodate his mammoth ego. Last season, he often played as badly as he has this year but his goals led him to be acclaimed as the best player in the world. He still scores, but not as often and every game is now simply an opportunity to find out which referee will stand up to him.

As Ronaldo lashes out at those who he seems amazed to discover have not turned up to praise his genius, he is United's greatest liability as they attempt to win the title that would equal Liverpool's record.

The victory at Stoke was an important one for Ferguson as the unconvincing display did not matter after the trip to Japan. With home games against the top five to come, he will see the title as being in his hands. Yet it may be determined by how he deals with Ronaldo's increasingly desperate assaults on his authority.

by Dion Fanning

Source (The Independent)
Click to expand...

From lfc.tv boards, but you can't access them unless you have an account.
Here's the Link anyway
http://forums.liverpoolfc.tv/showthread.php?t=82023

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This was a good read

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