I know, I know, it sounds silly. Anton Ferdinand puts in an own goal and gives Manchester United a draw (which allows them to stay atop the EPL rankings) and that somehow exhibits Man U’s power? It does. Let me show you.
Remember, I’m writing from an American Sports perspective. Soccer is a little different in that it takes so many different things coming together just to produce a goal, much less a flurry of scoring, but here in America the sports tend to move a little quicker and the “power” that I’m speaking of is shown much more readily when the sport moves faster.
Take a look at someone like Michael Jordan (who I detest as a person, but must respect as a player) or Wayne Gretzky, or Joe Montana, or Magic Johnson, or Larry Bird, or Bill Russell, or Dennis Eckersley, or Joe Carter. The list could go on and on, but these players just found a way to win games. Dennis could make the pitch that needed to be made to put a game away. Joe Carter could hit the home run that would win a championship. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic and all those cats could hit the winning shot, draw the foul that sealed the game or make the steal that sealed the game. It happened again and again.
Those same players put their teams in positions to have the ball bounce their way. Manchester United is the kind of team that just finds a way to win matches, even if they didn’t DIRECTLY do anything to make that happen.
I want you to imagine how the fates have aligned for a team like Man U. They just had all their players in the right place at the right time to make it so that Anton Ferdinand would produce FOR THEM an own goal. It’s that simple. This team has “power”. They have the power to make things go their way almost every time. Sometimes we call it “hand” (although ‘hand’ is more typically associated with celebrity and business power I’m using it here because I really think they have ‘hand’ on the fields of the EPL.)
Tell me that this team doesn’t seem like it’s on a whole other level since they took out Chelsea in the Final last year. Tell me it doesn’t seem different! Come on, tell me!
You can’t, because you know it’s different. If you’re a Man U fan you’re so happy that this is what it is. If you aren’t you’re so mad at me right now you could spit…but you know I’m right. They have all the “hand” and no one can do anything about it.
Notice how little mention I made of Mr. Ferdinand. Anton Ferdinand need not take the blame for Sunderland’s unexpected draw. He was simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and inadvertently played himself right into Man U’s “hand”. I can’t blame him for that…
{ 5 trackbacks }