Just let football do the talking

IT IS not the match of the century, as the ludicrous hype in some quarters has suggested.

And Manchester United’s encounter with Chelsea at Old Trafford tomorrow will not decide the destination of the Premiership title.

It is still November, the season has two thirds to run. Who knows what injuries might occur, what transfers might be hatched, what drama might unfold?

But after a week of unsavoury football headlines and ridiculing of referees, it can be the match which sets an example to English football.

Around 500 million people are estimated to be watching around the globe so how about a match in which referee Howard Webb does not have to brandish a red card?

In which there is no diving or play-acting, no managerial squabbles. In which there are no wild-eyed footballers — a la John Terry and Frank Lampard with Graham Poll — haranguing Mr Webb over every major decision.

Alex Ferguson has already called for the referee to be strong. Well, it’s time the players and the managers played their part and recognised their responsibilities to the game.

And gave us a match for the connoisseurs rather than the con-men. A pipe dream? Perhaps, but there is no doubt Old Trafford will be packed with enough talent.

If, like me, you want to see the title race go down to the last kick, however, then you should be hoping Ferguson puts one over on Jose Mourinho. A win for Ferguson would be a victory for football played with panache. It would send United six points clear at the top of the Premiership and for the first time Mourinho might begin to feel pressure.

Not before time considering the last two Premiership seasons have seen the title virtually decided by Christmas.

Chelsea have been too strong, their pockets too deep and the opposition provided by United, Arsenal and Liverpool almost embarrassingly weak. For a league so often referred to as “the most exciting in the world” that is unhealthy.

United need a cushion. Ferguson needs to take advantage of a Chelsea side which has not been at its best of late, even though both teams lost 1-0 in the Champions League in midweek.

Much on tomorrow might depend on the current mental and physical state of the two main strikers, United’s Louis Saha and Chelsea’s Didier Drogba.

Quite what tricks United’s defeat against Celtic at Parkhead have played on the nervous system of Saha remains to be seen.

Strikers live and breathe on confidence and right now Saha’s conviction must be somewhere around his bootlaces.

The miss with only Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc to beat was bad enough. The penalty which Boruc saved left him apologising to his teammates and lamenting: “A thousand sorries won’t change anything. I just need to try to survive this.”

Saha’s tone did not suggest he would be getting over Parkhead any time soon. Drogba, by contrast, could hardly be in more buoyant mood as the Premiership’s leading scorer with eight goals. So long as the ankle injury he suffered against Werder Bremen is healed, the United defence will be in for a tough afternoon.

Nevertheless, there is so much to admire about United’s football these days.

Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs have found a fresh lease of life in midfield while Cristiano Ronaldo is the Premiership’s trickiest runner, even if the end product still does not match the flamboyance.

And they score goals, 29 in 13 Premiership matches, compared to 23 by Chelsea.

As for Chelsea, the “too pragmatic” criticism is perhaps a shade overdone, although the Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard midfield diamond is geared to solidity first and foremost.

So who will win?

It is almost too close to call, though home advantage and desire to make up for Parkhead may give United the edge.

When United played Chelsea at home last season they were 10 points behind. Tomorrow they could be six ahead. Progress. Let’s hope the same can be said for the Premiership.