Overall Verdict:
Overachieved. See Injuries.
Biggest Factor: Injuries
Around 17 players missed a month or more. Owen's recovery was frustrating, Rio and Vidic hardly played together,Gazza/Brown/EVDS were out for a non-trivial spell, Anderson and Rooney towards the business end. We suffered some setbacks (Fulham) while playing 3 midfielders at the back and a 2nd choice GK. The numbers we had out would have made it difficult for any squad to cope. We did pretty well to push this race to the last game of the season.
Players of the season
Patrice Evra & Wayne Rooney
While enough has been said about Rooney, the contribution Evra made this season just can't be ignored. Not only did he play every league game, his threat going forward was often the difference in games where we were lacking spark. And there's no doubt had Rooney been fit for the title run-in, we would have nicked it from Chelsea. (Think Blackburn game and that was the title lost right there)
It's not difficult to guess which camp I belong to wrt to Berbatov. Fergie has categorically said today he won't sell Berbatov this summer. So I'll end it at that. Carrick had a miserable season. He was mediocre at best and very poor in our biggest game of the season and hardly played since. Rumors of a swap deal sending him back to Spurs shouldn't be surprising. Anderson is still a mystery. But I guess it's a risk worth taking - I think there's a good chance he'll come good. Rafael needs mental maturity. He just can't get away with stupidity and hide behind the "too young" excuse. It doesn't count when you play for Man United.
3. Losing to Leeds in the FA Cup.
