Man United should fear the Liverpool Effect

Simple, really: Sunday8217;s result, while not changing anything in Arsenal8217;s immediate future 8212; they would have won the league anyway 8212; could precipitate changes in United8217;s set-up. And that will be bad news for the Gunners.

Had United drawn, or even lost by the odd goal, yesterday, Ferguson would have been given the benefit of the doubt that is the hole in United8217;s defence. He could have blustered his way through, as he did on Monday, harping on the possibility of Ferdinand8217;s early return as a harbinger of United8217;s fortunes.

But those who control the world8217;s wealthiest football club 8212; and not all are Ferguson8217;s friends 8212; will be alarmed at the events of this season and the possible fallout. In public, they will support the man who has brought the club two Doubles and an unprecedented Treble. In private, they must already be dialling numbers in Rome, Milan and Munich.

They will need to act fast, to avoid the Liverpool Effect. Liverpool, too, were once as successul and powerful as this United team. It was unthinkable, in their pomp through the 1980s, that they could ever hit a period of decline. But they did 8212; and how! 8212; due to a combination of reasons, not the least of which was the refusal to look beyond the famed Boot Room for their managers.

Football is a cruel business, going simply by last weekend8217;s results. Liverpool are still feeling the effect of their decline, clawing their way out of it in a very gradual manner. What such a situation will do to a club like Manchester United 8212; where football is the product fuelling a billion-dollar enterprise 8212; is unthinkable.

Yet 8212; and this is why Ferguson is in trouble 8212; the first signs of the Liverpool Effect have already been seen at Old Trafford. Top players usually don8217;t pass up the chance to join a top club but, in the past year, Man United have lost out on three players they8217;ve been seeking. Harry Kewell left Leeds for Liverpool, wary of Ferguson8217;s control-freak reputation. Ronaldinho joined Barcelona, a club not even in the Champions League. And the most recent snub was Arjen Robben8217;s signing for Chelsea.

Those misses have left the team short of some essential requirements: a playmaker with flair, a star 8212; the Theatre of Dreams needs a lead actor with Presence 8212; and some leaders. The current flair players are Giggs and Solskjaer, both on the wrong side of 30, and Ronaldo, on the wrong side of 20. Their combined inadequacies have left United looking completely ineffective in midfield.

That is complemented by the fact that there are no leaders. Keane is a lion in winter and the Class of 8217;92 8212; Giggs, the Nevilles, Scholes and Butt 8212; don8217;t have the ability to take a game by the scruff of its neck. Too often in the recent past 8212; against Manchester City, against Porto 8212; United have lacked the swagger that, not so long ago, was worth a goal before the match started.

It8217;s no wonder that Ferguson himself rates as his best team the side that won him the very first Double: Keane, Cantona, Ince, Bruce, Schmeichel, Pallister, Hughes. Each a giant on the field. Today8217;s players were kids then and look like kids now. And, to paraphrase Alan Hansen, you can8217;t win big with kids.

Today, that swagger, that ability to inspire awe and fear, rests only with Arsenal. They have the style 8212; and Chelsea have the money. Man United have their yesterday; they don8217;t have today and, unless they do something about it, not much of a tomorrow either. The writing is on the wall: Ferguson has to go.