If you happen to be wondering who the "Red Devils" are, you must be really ignorant of the most followed game on this planet. In other words you could be one of those very few who don't watch the "Beautiful Game"- football. And for the others who do follow it, it would be obvious they know a thing or two about the most amazing club team to play football ever, Manchester United.Man United has been the solitary reason I, till not so long ago a self-confessed devotee of cricket, have now turned into an ardent "fubbal fan". Even though I still am into 'serious' cricket, I can comfortably say that on any given day now I would prefer watching Man Utd play to even watching an Indo-Pak cricket fixture. That just goes to show how mermerised I am by their play.
United are a treat to watch. Commentators often find their dictionaries too thin to produce the superlatives to describe their flair. They say the Brazilian team played the best football, but I 'd beg to differ on that. Brazil have long lost their sheen while playing as a unit, even though they boast of the best players in the world. And Man Utd to me are the most enterprising team when it comes to entertaining football fans. The smoothest, free-flowing, attacking style of football you would come across and few teams could match. Specially when they play at Old Trafford in front of their home crowd. One of the most soothing spectacles you could witness. Considering that the English Premiere League is the best league right now and the fact that United are the winners this season, my claim is pretty much vindicated.
Flair is just one of the traits I admire in United. There are so many more things that makes them special. The best thing about United, according to me is their spirit to come from behind. Resilience is what United stands for. The 99 Champions League final is a true testimony to this fact. Trailing 0-1 and facing defeat, Utd won the match scoring two goals, both in the injury time. A performance known to be the best ever of come-backs of all time. I know just one performance doesn't make a team the best. If you consider the just concluded season, they have come back from behind many times to win, and win in style - like they did against Blackburn(0-1 to 4-1) and Everton(0-2 to 4-2). These are just the ones I can remember right now. Their securing this season's league after 3 years, and that by pipping the star-studded Chelsea to the title isn't any mean come back in itself. As Sir Alex rightly puts it so many times, the team really stands for it, the character of resilience.
Another thing that makes United extraordinary is their ability to find success through faith in the youth and talent. They are not a Chelsea who, with big bucks go after all the big names to make up their team. Utd just believes in identifying the young and talented, however less known the players are and grooming them into match-winners. Scholes, Giggs, Neville are the best examples for it ( Ofcourse being the richest club, they do buy big players paying big bucks but they don't completely rely on that strategy). Imagine how inspired a young football crazy kid would be to know that he could make it straight into the biggest club in the world, just through his talent and not by making a name and then hopping in.
This season has been a treat if you've been a Utd fan. They've lead the league table from the word go, something they knew was crucial to keep their title hopes. All through the season, they've gone for the goals, show-casing the best of attacking football and in the end winning the title pretty comfortably. Their Champions League form was stupendous too. The 7-0 win against Roma and 3-2 win against Milan in the first leg are matches I'll cherish for a long time to come. In the end, as it happened, only a storm could stop them from making it to the yet to be played finals. The FA Cup final will surely have it's stamping on it, whichever way the trophy is going to go.
I could just go on writing about this team all night, about Sir Alex and his extraordinary success, about the Rooney and Ronaldo magic, about the electrifying atmosphere Old Trafford presents, about their numerous stunning displays this season and about so many other things the club is known for. I'm really struggling to keep this as short as possible.
United are just a treat to watch. My weekends are so very thoroughly entertained now. Praying for their success to continue all along, I bow to the Champions.
GLORY GLORY UNITED!
