Source: Manchester_EveningNews
David Sadler column
From the San Siro to Wembley via Goodison and Old Trafford, Manchester United fans are on a roller coaster tour. Just when you thought you could begin to use words like consistent and continuity again the Reds revert to the erratic, swinging between the sublime and the ridiculous. There has been a lot of trumpeting about United's success in Milan. On the face of it, it was a triumph and if you'd just looked at the scoreline you'd have thought it must have been an absolutely outstanding performance. But you'd be short of the truth because it was a bizarre match. We could have effectively been out of the competition in the first half. If we'd gone in 3-0 down at the San Siro you'd have had to be grateful for that. The absurd equaliser from Paul Scholes woke us up and United started to play. With about 15 minutes to go something like a 5-1 win would not have been out of place. Then, ridiculously, we are hanging on and you have to say the Reds were fortunate not to concede more than Clarence Seedorf's late second. All I could think at the end of it was thank goodness for that. We'd got through a wacky night in Italy. Many thought a win in Milan was a great platform to go to Goodison on Saturday. The nature of the success in the San Siro didn't fill me with as much confidence as some because I thought there were too many moments that looked like the Reds of pre-Christmas. So it proved because we were outplayed at Everton and it was terribly depressing. Normally in a week leading up to a Cup Final you wouldn't want a match to distract your from preparations for Wembley. But the ideal scenario has been thrown up with re-arranging the West Ham fixture for tonight. A game at Old Trafford three days after that defeat at Everton should suit us. Quite honestly though I just don't know what we are going to get from United. It looks a perfect kind of pick-me-up but you just never know. And then what on earth we can expect against Aston Villa on Sunday in the Carling Cup final heaven only knows. By this time next week three more league points and the first silver pot of the campaign would be very welcome - but I am not going to bet on it! What do you think? Have your say.
