Charlton: It's A Blessing In Disguise

Sir Bobby looks on the bright side of life, if there's any such thing after a 4-1 home defeat at the hands of Liverpool. He believes this sobering loss might have come at the best possible time.

'I think there was just a little bit of stress, because we kept on winning matches.

'It helps to maybe turn the gas down a little bit, and a lot of pressure's maybe eased. I'm hoping we're going to do better because of this result.

'It wasn't a result anybody at Manchester United could be proud of, but you have to say Liverpool played really well and deserved to win.'

With all due respect Sir Bobby I disagree. Winning all those games did not increase stress and pressure, on the contrary: we have become a bit complacent. A less courteous man than Sir Bobby would possibly say that the players need a kick up their backside.

They got that from Liverpool and no doubt they got that from Fergie who, I repeat, must analyse his own mistake and his own complacency: had he prepared for this game as meticulously as for the one at the San Siro we could have avoided this embarassment. It looked like he simply did not devise his tactics carefully enough: he trusted Carrick and Anderson to do a job but gave them no special instructions when it was clear that one of them should occupy the space in which Gerrard operates.

So, the defeat might be a blessing in disguise, yeah, if A) Benitez gets a new contract and B) Fergie and the lads get back on the ground and start approaching games with more attention to detail. No radical action is needed, this team is still one of the finest in Europe and definitely better than Liverpool.

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