New faces, same United spirit
If supporters arrived at Wembley hoping to see the end of an era they were sorely disappointed as Nani’s goal four minutes into injury-time completed a remarkable recovery that brought back memories of so many glorious victories of the past but also hinted at continued success to come.
United may have been without Paul Scholes, Edwin van der Sar and Gary Neville — all retired — and missing the rested Ryan Giggs but the spirit of those players was very much in evidence in the shape of young replacements such as Danny Wellbeck, Tom Cleverley, Chris Smalling, Ashley Young and Phil Jones, who all provided impressive performances in a pulsating match that whetted the appetite for the new Premier League season.
Even the more experienced contributors — such as Nani and Wayne Rooney — were players signed at a young age and carefully nurtured — in stark contrast to City who have spent £1bn on building a squad to try and crush the United dynasty.
So after two goals from Nani and one from Smalling cancelled out City’s 2-0 half-time lead, secured by Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko, it was no surprise to see Ferguson revelling in his ability to yet again build a new team from the ashes of their predecessors.
“For us, I think it just confirms what I thought about the squad,” he said. “People have been saying we’re not the best United squad and things like that, but you’ve got to remember we have a lot of young players who will improve.
“We’ve brought Cleverley and Wellbeck back from loans and these boys will improve. We’re very confident with this group of players and the additions of Jones and (David) De Gea give us a good future — the two are outstanding.
“And Ashley Young is only 25 and new to the type of challenge he is getting at United.
“We hope it bodes well for the season because I thought our performance throughout the game was very good in terms of the football we played. We had 13 players under 23 out there, and then you have the likes of Chicharito and Valencia as well. It’s great for our squad.”
The emergence of Nani from the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo, too, is a wonderful example of the way United plan for the future and the winger scored two outstanding goals at Wembley to secure victory against the odds.
The winner, scored right at the death, saw him race onto a volleyed clearance from Rooney and run 60 yards with the ball, past a sleeping Gael Clichy and Kompany, to round goalkeeper Joe Hart with ease. But his first, which made it 2-2, was even better — a truly classic team goal full of quick, clever passing.
“He was only in Ronaldo’s shadow simply because he’s Portuguese. That’s the only link I could see,” insisted Ferguson. “Some players take longer to mature than others. Ronaldo was different; he was an incredible footballer and matured immediately. But Nani was excellent last season and you can see his form in pre-season and today — he will start the season.”
The victory was all the more remarkable because City took the lead when David Silva’s free-kick was headed home by defender Lescott, ghosting in between Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic seven minutes before the break. And City’s second, on the stroke of half time, came when new keeper De Gea reacted too slowly to keep out a low, speculative 30-yard effort from Dzeko.
At that stage Roberto Mancini must have been tempted to believe in all the talk of a new blue era in English football and the possibility of overseeing not only the start of a new chapter in City’s history but also the end of a United dynasty that has lasted for the best part of 20 years.
But, like so many before him, he started singing too soon.
Ferguson’s United are legendary for their powers of recovery and by the 58th minute the score was 2-2.
Their first goal was created by an excellent free-kick from Young and an even better finish from Smalling, who lost his marker and turned to side-foot a volley past Hart from close range; but the second was magical.
A series of swift and clever passes, flicks and close-range one-twos on the edge of the City box eventually saw Rooney back-heel to Cleverley, whose perfectly-weighted touch was ripped into the net left-footed by Nani, who had made a long diagonal run to meet it.
City did respond — with Adam Johnson forcing a fine save from the improving De Gea — but United’s deserved winner came in injury-time and sealed a wonderful comeback.
So although there is meant to be a blue moon rising in Manchester right now, what we really learned from a thrilling and pulsating Community Shield is that the current champions are certainly not on the wane.
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