Feet Of Wisdom

The most successful manager in English football’s history. The never exhausted ol’ machine gun that just never runs out of ammo. The phenomenon. He is the living and ‘kicking’ legend. He is Sir Alex Ferguson, probably the most prestigious and honored name in the managerial fraternity of football. A man who has made winning a routine habit just like his habit of chewing gums during match time, a daily obsession, or rather ritual.

One of the special and primary attributes of the legend’s coaching has been his ability to identify and nurture extraordinary talents of the sport and then carving stars of the game out of them and making them a force to reckon with. He has been doing it for Manchester United and, he has been doing it for ages. And a nice point to ponder upon is that, often these derby horses that come out of his stable turn the richest in their trade (ask Beckham or Ronaldo, or to some extent Rooney).

But, the tables have turned a little in the last year or so. Since the departure of CR7 to the cash-rich Real Madrid and thus becoming CR9, the Manchester United roster seemed to be lacking that zing thing or the usually ever-existent superstar who takes the standard of the team to a whole different ‘out-of-the-league’ pedestal. Sir Alex had faced a similar kind of dilemma when former England captain and world’s richest footballer, Posh’s Beckham decided to leave the club to become a Galactico in the land of Madrid in the year 2003. At that point of time, he found the perfect or even better solution in the form of young Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro for £12.24 million (which proved to be a minimal cost as compared to his later selling price; £80 million), who during his stint with the club reached unprecedented heights and went on to became one of the footballing greats of the club, his generation, and a heartthrob of many a woman. Now, Sire Alex again, faces the same problem of filling the void.

The 2009-2010 season proved to be the season of ‘void’ for the Red Devils as the trophy cabinet could feel the burden of emptiness striking its season desk harder and harder and so could the ManU bench which felt the pain of the lack of a superstar who could support and complement Rooney in his talismanic superman efforts to single-handedly salvage some pride for the club which, by the end of the season, could not land either of the English Premier League or the UEFA Champions League, which is a poor performance considering the club’s rich history in these competitions. But when in charge of things is the legend called Sir Alex Ferguson, you just can’t help but stop being cynical of proceedings.

It’s time for the new season, new expectations and inevitably, new signings to liven things up, necessarily. This was the time for him to spend the funds accumulated by selling off the world’s richest player (a move that made him richer, in terms of the moolah). It was time Sir Alex proved it yet again to the world that he still has it in himself to nurture a footballing genius out of a sensational talent. The results of his efforts shall be evaluated only after the end of the season but speculations and front page headlines have taken form at the very imminent start.

With Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen, both not living up to the expectations and the millions spent on them, Sir Alex had to find answers and quickly, with time fast running out. Berbatov’s performance in his couple of seasons with United has been lackluster to be defined precisely. And Michael Owen has been closer to the first aid box rather than the goal post in his stint with United so far, surely kept the physios busy.

The potential answer now stands with 3 goals in as many appearances for England’s and the entire world’s arguably biggest club. Popularly known as ‘Chicharito’, he is Javier Hernandez, a man who is being already touted as the next big thing, as the new wonder kid on the block. Standing not so tall at 5ft 9inches, Hernandez has blistering pace and great control on and off the ball. A healthy statistic on his ability to burst lungs is that he was the fastest player in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, reaching a top speed of 32.5 km/h (now that is some pace). And to add to all this is his ‘quick-as-a-flash’ ability to find the back of the net, is what the ManU manager will take as a bonus.

Everyone will remember his two goals in this year’s World Cup; the first against France by springing the offside trap, latching onto a beautiful through pass from Rafael Marquez, sidestepping Hugo Lloris and then a cool side footer into the net. The second one, a straight down the middle scorcher against the Argentinians, leaving Andujar with an open mouth. Already being predicted as the best buy of the summer, only time shall say Hernandez will live up to the hype and pre-performance praise showered upon him or not.

The difference in situations with Javier Hernandez and his present mentor is that time is a relatively closer friend of the former, and quite an enemy of the latter.

The new season has just kicked off, speculations are still ripe, the noose of questions will only tighten as the league table starts shaping up, and it’s all about who can still breathe, and not choke. Can he do it one more time or probably for the last time? Will Old Trafford again submerge itself in the glorious red? Only time shall say.