United Blameless in Loss… Again

Did you hear? United lost this weekend. And it’s the refs’ fault, or maybe Arsene Wenger’s. Whatever the reason it has nothing to do with United’s inability to score. Although last I checked it was still impossible to win without putting the ball in the back of the net, something United failed to do.

But that’s an inconvenient technicality, a foul called on Darren Fletcher led to a Chelsea free kick that led to a Chelsea goal. Of course the foul never should have been given and, according to Fletcher, probably wouldn’t have been if not for Arsene Wenger (who, if somehow you don’t know s**t about the game, doesn’t manage Chelsea, wasn’t in the stadium, and had f**k all to do with the 22 players on the pitch Sunday).

“It was clearly not a foul. I knew at the time and I have watched it again on the replay. I back-heeled the ball and Cole just jumps up in the air and the ref gives a foul… I think we are starting to see Mr Wenger’s comments starting to influence referees which is a shame really. Now we have to raise our game and ensure these decisions are not affecting the game.”

The comments Fletcher are alluding to came after United beat Arsenal 2-1 earlier in the season. Fletcher went studs up late and straight through Arshavin in the box and somehow managed to avoid a PK or a card or even a second thought from the officials.

Now, clearly the above video of the incident was posted by a United apologist. As an aside, I wonder how far SAF’s cock has to be up this young man’s un-lubed ass to produce such a mass of tears so as to blind him completely from seeing what’s actually going on in that video. To be that far detached from reality one almost has to be a Limbaugh Republican.

It was a dangerous challenge in the box. And if Fletcher had been a half second quicker he might have Eduardo’ed the Magic Pixie™ as he would have made solid contact with his left ankle right as the bulk of his weight was coming down on it.

The shame really, is that there was no whistle on that play. About as stone cold a penno call as you will ever see (even Ferguson later admitted as much). After the match Wenger made some comments about United players being anti-football with their defensive tactics.

Funny thing is Wenger never mentioned Darren Fletcher (or any United player) by name in his comments. If that non-foul foul is not anti-football, why would Fletcher even infer Wenger’s comments were about him? Or that the whistle on Sunday had anything to do with Wenger’s comments?

Never mind that SAF has never influenced a ref by tapping his watch while the United goal is under siege in stoppage time and he feels enough is enough. Never mind that he alone seems to be able to berate refs with impunity while issuing non-apology apologies. Sure what Wenger did or did not say isn’t really relevant to how much sway Ferguson may or may not have on the refs. But if you’re keeping a balance sheet on “Gifts To United from Referees” and “Costs incurred by United by Referees” that thing is so black that light can’t escape it.

Perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson was sensing he had already pushed the limits as much as possible with regards to the comments criticizing officials that he’s able to get away with this season, so he had his minions do his bidding this time.

Don’t be stupid.

In what’s becoming a weekly staple, Ferguson himself couldn’t resist a swipe at the officiating as well, saying, “It was a bad decision, but there’s nothing we can do about it. You lose faith in refereeing sometimes, that’s the way the players are talking in there – it was a bad one.”

You know what’s bad refereeing? When Johnny Evans pounds his cleats into Didier Drogba’s chest and Drogba somehow gets carded.

And for his criticism of Martin Atkinson, what punishment is the FA going to hand down this time?

None of course.

Full disclosure: I didn’t see the challenge, I had to leave the game in the second half to pick someone up at the airport so was relegated to listening to the call on XM. But the game announcers never even mentioned that it mightn’t be a foul. They did spend about the next ten minutes of match time wondering whether or not Drogba was offside on the goal. So maybe SAF just picked one particular decision to whine about. The point isn’t the call itself, but about the bitchfest fallout.

Half of me hopes that the refs get sick of it and start issuing ridiculously anti-United calls whenever the f**k the feel like it out of spite. But really, that will A) be unfair to the game and B) only give SAF and United fans more grounds on which to whinge, worse, it would be justified in such an instance.

What would be ideal is if the refs simply enforced the rules uniformly and without exception. That way every reckless tackle by the petty thug Vidic would be met with a sending off, so that he could dutifully be trotted out every fourth game to receive another straight red and another three game suspension. And a Wayne Rooney with no captain’s armband wouldn’t get special exception to berate the ref without repercussion. And blah blah blah, etc.

United bitching about the refs is gone from irritating to laughable back to irritating. But now it is sweet f**king music.

I’m sure this is exactly what SAF wants. It keeps people focused on him, his comments and the refs, while continuing to obscure the fact that his side isn’t near as good this season as it was last. They have played the other three of the Big 4 and have one win and two losses (and even in the win, they were thoroughly outplayed by Arsenal, needing the strangest own goal you will see this season and a PK given on a ball Wayne Rooney put into the mezzanine).

Moreover, United are currently averaging 2.9 goals per game, below the league average of 3, trailing West Ham and level relegation fodder Hull and Wolves. Granted that’s only half the story (you do have to defend, and United does this quite well even with a makeshift backline) but at some point a couple of wins are going to require United outscore an opponent that they fail to stop.

Maybe karmic justice only comes in the form of United struggling to maintain a top four spot as the season wears on. Heresy now, but the more kvetching I hear from SAF and his players the more I’ll be convinced United is no threat for the title and might have bigger problems than can be fixed by a favorable whistle here and there.