Most of the pre-match chatter for United’s encounter against Blackburn concerned United’s midfield deficiencies but it was their defence which was their undoing in a 4-3 defeat at Ewood Park.
It was sickening when United finished the first-half 3-1 down after conceding three soft goals. The first saw the ball trickle past van der Sar after he brilliantly saved a Pedersen freekick, the second was the result of poor communication between Ferdinand and the keeper and the third came via a ridiculous Wes Brown handball which resulted in a converted penalty.
I was dreading another Middlesbrough-type embarassment in the second-half when Bentley completed his hattrick after some strange defending by Neville but I was heartened by the manner with which Ferguson’s men fought back. It almost looked like a stirring turnaround was in the making when van Nistelrooy poached two goals to make the scoreline more respectable by the 68th minute.
But it was not to be. Ferdinand, who had a match to forget in the centre of midfield, was put out of his misery when he was sent off towards the end and that ended any hope of salvaging a point out of the fixture.
United are now 15 points off the pace and the sad thing is they could have taken advantage when leaders Chelsea could only manage a draw for a second successive match.
United have some serious problems to overcome and the rest of the season will prove to be a real test of Ferguson’s management abilities. He has talented players at his disposal but he needs to forge them into a great team worthy of the famous red jersey.
