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Pacman to the point

How Man Utd won the 2007/8 Premiership

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Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco thinks Man Utd's name is as good on the trophy but what were the decisive factors in the boys in red delivering the goods again?

As Man Utd look set to successfully defend their Premiership title, (they are currently trading at [1.07]) fans from the usual places such as Surrey and Tokyo prepare to celebrate with a gin and tonic or the odd glass of sake. Assuming they go on to do a Trevor Immelman (by the way, did anyone else notice that his Green Jacket didn't fit him properly?) and close the deal from a winning position, it might be worth considering the factors that have allowed them to do just that. Here is how I see it...

Cristiano Ronaldo- I think the lad from Madeira has heard more praise directed at him this season than most top footballers hear in a lifetime and I suspect the media men, fellow players and fans have to go to the dictionary to find new superlatives that haven't already been used to describe the season he's had. So I'll just keep it simple: he's scored 28 Premiership goals (and counting) from an advanced midfield position and provided a further six assists. He has taken on extra responsibility, kept himself fit, bar a sending-off early on in the season at Portsmouth he has stayed out of the ref's notebook and been the ultimate team player. He's a strong candidate for being considered the best player the Premiership has ever seen.

Vidic/Ferdinand- Vidic has played "bad cop" - brave headers, last-ditch tackles and controlled aggression to Rio's "good cop" - key positioning, bringing the ball out of defence and marshalling the back four. They have formed a superb partnership and are largely responsible for the Red Devils conceding a ridiculously low number of goals this season - six at home and just 12 away. With Ferdinand still only 29 and Vidic aged 26, this partnership can still be going strong for a good four or five years and the Old Trafford faithful will sleep that little bit better as a result of that.

Strength in depth - At Arsenal injuries to Van Persie, Rosicky and Eduardo and the loss of Toure, Eboue and Song to the African Cup of Nations at Arsenal forced players such as Flamini, Fabregas and Adebayor to play more matches than Wenger would want or indeed more than a doctor or fitness coach would recommend. At Chelsea the loss of John Terry (just 19 league appearances) to injury for large parts of the season, Michael Ballacks' absence through injury till Christmas and Essien, Kalou, Drogba and Mikel all missing away on African Cup of Nations duty, all took their toll.

Both sides found that their key player's understudies weren't up to it (the likes of Bendtner and Walcott at Arsenal and Pizarro, Sidwell and Ben Haim at Chelsea) and that the only alternative was to play the reliable players into the ground. United on the other hand had plenty in reserve with class international players such as Hargreaves, Giggs and Saha (when fit) not even being guaranteed starters. Furthermore, when injury, suspension or loss of form robbed Man Utd of their usual stalwarts, experienced, dependable and "horses for courses" squad players such as Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea and Park came in, did what was asked of them and returned to the bench to await their next chance with minimum fuss. That made a huge difference.

Ruling with an iron rod in the dressing room and tranquility in the board room - As a kid growing up I remember my old man being a fierce tackler in the David Batty mould when he played the odd game of football, moody as hell in the mornings (and the afternoons and evenings too - think Anelka), impatient and possessing as short a fuse as Roy Keane and as intolerant of any sort of dissent as Steve Bennett. Other than that, he was the nicest man you could ever meet. Twenty odd years later he's calmed down and you're most likely to find him drinking a latte in his dressing gown and slippers whilst doing a crossword, happy as Larry. Sir Alex Ferguson is a little different. His hair gets whiter and his face gets redder but his demeanour remains the same: a harsh, intolerant, discipline-imposing volcano ready to erupt when provoked. And Man Utd are a stronger team for it.

In the Arsenal camp Bendtner and Adebayor traded blows on the pitch at White Hart Lane, captain Gallas publicly criticised his team mate Walcott, Hleb tried to negotiate a move to Inter Milan just hours before a crucial Champions League clash and keeper Almunia told a newspaper that his rival for the keeper's jersey - Jans Lehmann - hated him. Meanwhile at Chelsea, John Terry had a training ground bust-up with Assistant Manager TenDer Cate, Ashley Cole mistook "Tweedy" for "Tweety" which resulted in him chasing more birds than a blood hound on the first day of hunting season and Tal Ben Haim has just said that if he'd known Mourinho was leaving, he wouldn't have signed for Chelsea. Meanwhile at Old Trafford, aside from the fact that Rio Ferdinand won't be organizing next year's Christmas Party after shameful incidents at the last one(http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2007/12/19/insde-the-man-utd-party-89520-20259987/) it has been very much a controversy-free season in the ranks of the champions-elect. Why? Well mostly it's because there's only going to be one winner in an argument between yourself and human hairdryer Sir Alex Ferguson.

In all honesty I don't know the full story behind the boardroom dramas at Anfield but I do know they haven't helped matters on the pitch. Nor did the sacking of Mourinho or the one-man decision-making process at Stamford Bridge help Chelsea's cause. On the other hand, things seem to have calmed down dramatically in the Old Trafford boardroom now that Malcolm Glazer operates very much behind the scenes. They say a tidy desk allows for tidy work and I suspect a tranquil boardroom allows for serenity on the training ground and full concentration on the pitch come match day.