AS Alex Ferguson stood amid the ruins of another unsuccessful Manchester United Champions League campaign on Wednesday night, the question arose as to whether the Red Devils are seriously underachieving. Is it, in other words, fair to say that the idea of Manchester United as one of the world's great clubs owes more to publicity than achievement?
United's forthcoming Premiership title will no doubt result in the usual quota of encomia being lavished on the boss. Suggestions will be made that Ferguson has somehow proved his critics wrong and that he remains a great manager. But if you judge the club by the highest standards, a first title in four years and another failure to make the Champions League final hardly constitute proof of greatness.
And these things do need to be judged by the highest standard if we are to take United at their own estimation. The club seems to be under the illusion that it is not only one of Europe's great powers, but may in fact be the greatest of them all.
If that's so, then a league title largely handed to United because Chelsea and Arsenal seemed to be at odds with themselves all season is hardly cause for jubilation, especially when events in the San Siro provided a more truthful picture of the club's worth.
United's title is more along the lines of one of those Bundesliga triumphs which Bayern Munich notch up with monotonous regularity. We look at it and give the German kingpins little credit. Big deal, there's only a handful of decent clubs there anyway. They didn't look much cop in Europe, did they? If Real Madrid win the Primera Liga but fail to make a mark in the Champions League, it seems to be universally regarded as a disappointment and provokes a few hundred media variations on the well-worn theme of 'Galacticos in Crisis'.
Yet there's no escaping the blunt fact that since their tremendous Champions League victory in 1999, United have persistently failed to establish themselves as contenders at the very highest level.
Wednesday's humiliation makes it eight European campaigns in a row without so much as a single appearance in the final. In that period, Real Madrid have won the trophy twice, AC Milan have reached three finals, Valencia have made two, the scarcely mighty FC Porto have lifted the cup and the even less mighty Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco have also turned up in the blue riband game.
Ferguson has been given to finessing the situation by claiming that United were in transition, the implication being that another side just as good as the 1999 version was being built. Yet the semi-final seemed to indicate a team standing still. Two years ago Milan outclassed United, winning 1-0 home and away in games which showed United to be a long way off the pace. This year's 5-3 victory was equally comprehensive, the men against boys flavour of proceedings equally pronounced.
Given these repeated failings, how is it that every year without fail United emerge as media favourites to win the Champions League? Well, Ferguson may not be the manager he once was, but he hasn't lost his touch as a manipulator of the press. Few sporting figures are so aware of the importance of public perception.
When United teetered on the brink of an embarrassing group stage exit in last year's competition, he was wont to stifle debate by the simple reiteration of his certainty that they would make it through. When they didn't, he moved on and talked up their prospects in the Carling Cup, a trophy which assumed great importance for the boss once it became clear United weren't going to win anything else.
So much hype attends United's performances that when they do produce the occasional stirring European display, as they did in that marvellous 7-1 home win over Roma, it can seem as though they're already being given credit for the competition victory the papers assure us is now inevitable.
Contrast the kid gloves treatment afforded Ferguson with the current willingness to dance on the grave of Jose Mourinho. Mourinho, it seems, is a failure because Chelsea have failed in three attempts to make the Champions League final. That they have won two Premiership titles in that period is being dismissed as ultimately beside the point. The Champions League, apparently, is the big test and Chelsea have failed it. The money disbursed by Abramovich is slightingly mentioned. Yet, while Chelsea have spent big, so too have United. Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand, after all, came to Old Trafford in the kind of mega transfer deals only the big two in England can manage.
Expect some more bravura covering of the tracks from Ferguson in the near future as he reveals that the Premiership was the one United really wanted to win this season and holds out the hope of a more convincing assault on Europe next season. The fact remains that a truly great club, an AC Milan or a Real Madrid, would hardly have tolerated the underachievement of the last few seasons.
Then again, perhaps it's not underachievement. Perhaps we are all blinded by the Old Trafford publicity machine and that constant insistence that United is the greatest club in Europe. Because, when you examine the evidence, it becomes clear that this greatness is largely financial.
In their entire storied history, after all, United have reached just two European Cup/Champions League finals, the same number as Nottingham Forest, Stade de Reims, Steaua Bucharest and SV Hamburg. It's a record which compares poorly with the likes of Benfica, Bayern Munich and Juventus (seven appearances each), Ajax and Liverpool (six) and Barcelona (five).
Above all, it pales into insignificance when you consider the record of Europe's two genuine giants. Real Madrid, (10 finals, eight wins) and AC Milan (Now in their 10th final, four wins so far). Both historically and contemporaneously, the kings of Spanish and Italian soccer leave United far behind.
That we find it difficult to see this clearly in this country merely indicates how Anglocentric our view of football is. We are still disposed to regard Roy Keane's magnificent European displays in the 1998-'99 season as proof that our man is the ne plus ultra of midfielders, a man who is the very definition of a winner.
Yet who was that dominating midfield on Wednesday night, as he has done on so many big European occasions, and scoring a splendid goal into the bargain? Clarence Seedorf, that's who. Seedorf has been so good for so long in Europe that he has won Champions League honours with three different clubs, Ajax, Real Madrid and AC Milan.
Even Paul Scholes didn't look to be in the same class as him on Wednesday. Yet, to be honest, the casual fans on this island probably only have a vague idea of who the man is. That big island beside us fatally blocks our view of Europe sometimes.
So brace yourself for another round of plaudits for Ferguson. Brace yourself for another round of Champions League previews where United are selected as possible winners. And, above all, brace yourself for another premature exit by Europe's smallest giants.
(Eammon Sweeney)
United's forthcoming Premiership title will no doubt result in the usual quota of encomia being lavished on the boss. Suggestions will be made that Ferguson has somehow proved his critics wrong and that he remains a great manager. But if you judge the club by the highest standards, a first title in four years and another failure to make the Champions League final hardly constitute proof of greatness.
And these things do need to be judged by the highest standard if we are to take United at their own estimation. The club seems to be under the illusion that it is not only one of Europe's great powers, but may in fact be the greatest of them all.
If that's so, then a league title largely handed to United because Chelsea and Arsenal seemed to be at odds with themselves all season is hardly cause for jubilation, especially when events in the San Siro provided a more truthful picture of the club's worth.
United's title is more along the lines of one of those Bundesliga triumphs which Bayern Munich notch up with monotonous regularity. We look at it and give the German kingpins little credit. Big deal, there's only a handful of decent clubs there anyway. They didn't look much cop in Europe, did they? If Real Madrid win the Primera Liga but fail to make a mark in the Champions League, it seems to be universally regarded as a disappointment and provokes a few hundred media variations on the well-worn theme of 'Galacticos in Crisis'.
Yet there's no escaping the blunt fact that since their tremendous Champions League victory in 1999, United have persistently failed to establish themselves as contenders at the very highest level.
Wednesday's humiliation makes it eight European campaigns in a row without so much as a single appearance in the final. In that period, Real Madrid have won the trophy twice, AC Milan have reached three finals, Valencia have made two, the scarcely mighty FC Porto have lifted the cup and the even less mighty Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco have also turned up in the blue riband game.
Ferguson has been given to finessing the situation by claiming that United were in transition, the implication being that another side just as good as the 1999 version was being built. Yet the semi-final seemed to indicate a team standing still. Two years ago Milan outclassed United, winning 1-0 home and away in games which showed United to be a long way off the pace. This year's 5-3 victory was equally comprehensive, the men against boys flavour of proceedings equally pronounced.
Given these repeated failings, how is it that every year without fail United emerge as media favourites to win the Champions League? Well, Ferguson may not be the manager he once was, but he hasn't lost his touch as a manipulator of the press. Few sporting figures are so aware of the importance of public perception.
When United teetered on the brink of an embarrassing group stage exit in last year's competition, he was wont to stifle debate by the simple reiteration of his certainty that they would make it through. When they didn't, he moved on and talked up their prospects in the Carling Cup, a trophy which assumed great importance for the boss once it became clear United weren't going to win anything else.
So much hype attends United's performances that when they do produce the occasional stirring European display, as they did in that marvellous 7-1 home win over Roma, it can seem as though they're already being given credit for the competition victory the papers assure us is now inevitable.
Contrast the kid gloves treatment afforded Ferguson with the current willingness to dance on the grave of Jose Mourinho. Mourinho, it seems, is a failure because Chelsea have failed in three attempts to make the Champions League final. That they have won two Premiership titles in that period is being dismissed as ultimately beside the point. The Champions League, apparently, is the big test and Chelsea have failed it. The money disbursed by Abramovich is slightingly mentioned. Yet, while Chelsea have spent big, so too have United. Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand, after all, came to Old Trafford in the kind of mega transfer deals only the big two in England can manage.
Expect some more bravura covering of the tracks from Ferguson in the near future as he reveals that the Premiership was the one United really wanted to win this season and holds out the hope of a more convincing assault on Europe next season. The fact remains that a truly great club, an AC Milan or a Real Madrid, would hardly have tolerated the underachievement of the last few seasons.
Then again, perhaps it's not underachievement. Perhaps we are all blinded by the Old Trafford publicity machine and that constant insistence that United is the greatest club in Europe. Because, when you examine the evidence, it becomes clear that this greatness is largely financial.
In their entire storied history, after all, United have reached just two European Cup/Champions League finals, the same number as Nottingham Forest, Stade de Reims, Steaua Bucharest and SV Hamburg. It's a record which compares poorly with the likes of Benfica, Bayern Munich and Juventus (seven appearances each), Ajax and Liverpool (six) and Barcelona (five).
Above all, it pales into insignificance when you consider the record of Europe's two genuine giants. Real Madrid, (10 finals, eight wins) and AC Milan (Now in their 10th final, four wins so far). Both historically and contemporaneously, the kings of Spanish and Italian soccer leave United far behind.
That we find it difficult to see this clearly in this country merely indicates how Anglocentric our view of football is. We are still disposed to regard Roy Keane's magnificent European displays in the 1998-'99 season as proof that our man is the ne plus ultra of midfielders, a man who is the very definition of a winner.
Yet who was that dominating midfield on Wednesday night, as he has done on so many big European occasions, and scoring a splendid goal into the bargain? Clarence Seedorf, that's who. Seedorf has been so good for so long in Europe that he has won Champions League honours with three different clubs, Ajax, Real Madrid and AC Milan.
Even Paul Scholes didn't look to be in the same class as him on Wednesday. Yet, to be honest, the casual fans on this island probably only have a vague idea of who the man is. That big island beside us fatally blocks our view of Europe sometimes.
So brace yourself for another round of plaudits for Ferguson. Brace yourself for another round of Champions League previews where United are selected as possible winners. And, above all, brace yourself for another premature exit by Europe's smallest giants.
(Eammon Sweeney)
