The journey that started way back in august last was officially put to an end on that night of the 22nd of April on a Monday night when Man United on the best form put Aston Villa to the sword and ran away with a well deserved 3-0 victory. Among a few surprises was the fact that the scoreline read only 3-0 while evidence suggests that it would or it should have been at least 6-1, that is if u would count the clear chances missed and the fact that United were ahead as early as the 80th second.
That was that and the fat lady had officially sung loud enough for the whole of England to hear, game over it was and title number 20 was finally home. The say the end to any cause justifies the means towards it and if the saying is anything to go by the Red devils deserve their moment in the 'English football sun'.
When you cast back your mind to a few weeks back the writing was on the wall that this was to be a red season (red not having anything to do with Liverpool). However a debating was raging, the sort of debate every one who has an allegiance to the beautiful game must have been a part of at some point in their life. When it became clear that this United side would go on to win the title and not just win it but stand a chance of altering the record books by registering a points total that would eclipse the record that was set by Chelsea in 04/05 the topic became where would this United side rank among the past sides.
Every football fan, pundit, writer and just about anybody is well and truly entitled to their opinion. And these opinions differ a great deal alright, one thing that would set records straight is a fact and again these facts Do speak a language of their own. One United side that is often used as a yard stick for others to be measured upon is that famous class of 99. Any side that can win 3 major trophies both domestic and international merits a place in history. The class of 99 is of course famous for winning the league,Fa Cup and that champions league against Bayern Munich and the thought of putting it in a straight forward comparison against the current one has the word unfair written all over it.
The class of 99 boasted of seasoned players who were by far finished articles in many ways than most of the current crop. Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Keane, Butt, Schemeichel and everyone else who was around in those days had been together for quite some time and the culmination of that season's success was a result of years of building which can only be traced as far back as the 1994 FA Youth cup success. The crop of 99 had dismantled sides like Inter Milan and Juventus battled toe to toe with Barcelona and Bayern Munich sides that in those days would be seen to be better than United at that time so the victories were justified on many fronts.
Coming back to the side that has just won the league and one thing has been said about it by at least everyone who has watched it, they are not the finished article, not just yet. This is a side with rookies and sophomores who are under the guidance of old heads such as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand among a few. That is not to discredit them in their success which has been coming for a while. The addition of Robin Van Persie was a timely boost that gave the side a needed edge that has been lacking since Cristiano Ronaldo's boyhood dream of playing for Real Madrid was fulfilled. David De Gea and Rafael may still have that occasional moment of naivety about them and there is a lot of room to improve the first choice number 1 and 2 and a few others. The 99 side with all the success secured the title by recording 78 points which the current side has gone 6 points beyond that mark with an extra 4 games still to go.
There have been lessons learnt and harsh ones at that. The game aganst Real Madrid will be a dark sport in an other wise perfect season . The two Cup losses to Chelsea will be right behind that and those will be notes that Sir Alex Ferguson will use to remind the class of 2013 that it wasn't all plain sailing.
In Jonny Evans, Phil Jones, Shinji Kagawa, Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck, David De Gea, Rafael Da Silva, Alex Buttner and Javier Hernández the future looks secure considering the fact that all of the above mentioned are well below the age of 26. With Wayne Rooney still a good number of years light and a few more to get from Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra the sky surely has to be the limit for this team.
The question one cant help asking is that if this United side that is not finished just yet has been able to achieve a success of sealing the title by notching 84 points with 4 games to spare, what will happen when it reaches its maturity, when the time to rightfully put it face to nose with the 99 one?
Writer: Geoffrey Lea @geoffiejeff
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