BY NISAR KHAN
Manchester United kept their Champions League credentials in tact with a win over Olympiakos and also convincingly shut out West Ham. But the key to the resurgence is consistency, along with making do without Robin van Persie.
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| Wayne Rooney scored a double against the Hammers. AP |
Wayne Rooney scored a stunning goal as Manchester United shut out West Ham United in a convincing win at Upton Park on Saturday. It was an important win as they bounced back from a humiliating 3 – 0 loss to Liverpool the weekend prior. In the week, they overturned a 2 – 0 deficit as Robin van Persie smashed home a hat-trick to see his side progress to the Quarter Finals.
One of the biggest problems that last season’s Champions have suffered from is consistency. After big results such as beating Arsenal 1 – 0 earlier in the season, they did not follow it up with good enough form, and that could come to punish them as the season winds down.
If the setbacks continue to come occasion-after-occasion, Manchester United will be further derailed casting a shadow of doubt over the season. However their recent two games act as encouragement, and a head-start to a consistent run of form, in order to build up any dignity in regards to preventing big club losses.
Robin van Persie’s standout performance in the Champions League had just one negative – his injury. The Dutchman suffered a knee injury and could be out for up to six weeks. Could this be a major spanner in the works for Manchester United?
Judging by Wayne Rooney’s performance against West Ham, many will be quick to jump the gun and say no. But in all honesty, an attempted forge between Rooney and van Persie is needed to build a striking partnership worthy enough to contend and score plenty of goals.
Instances like the 2 – 2 draw with Fulham are no doubt frustrating for the fans to watch, and for the players it must be agonizing to see points dropped in games they knew they could have won. This is why consistency is all the more important as it works towards building up better confidence in the team, and most importantly they are regarded as a bigger threat.
In a season’s time, there has been a huge change. Teams would go to Old Trafford expecting a hostile side and likely to drop points. Now, over the course of one season, that has completely changed. Maybe a consistent run will reverse that again.
Without Robin van Persie, there’s more pressure on Wayne Rooney. And yes, we know its expected from him with his substantial salary, but still Van Persie is a key part to this squad, even if he has under-performed at times.
Cornerstone performances like RVP did at Olympiakos is what matters. Those can be the difference between Champions and Europa League football, it can go far. With an injury so late on, at such a pivotal time, United’s struggles have been amplified – fortunately for them, though, they have got a good start of two strong wins, to keep consistent and turn their season around.
Conclusion
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