United fortress breached too often

[TAREK®]

Asking where Manchester United FC's season has gone wrong recalls the possible apocryphal waiter who allegedly put that very question to George Best as he delivered champagne to the Old Trafford legend on a hotel bed adorned by thousands of pounds of casino winnings and a Miss World.
High standards
After all, this is a team leading the Premier League by a point and still in contention in the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup. Yet such are the high standards set by last season's English and European champions – who, don't forget, added the world crown in December – that the question has to be asked. A month ago, United were about to dispose of Serie A leaders FC Internazionale Milano in the UEFA Champions League last 16 before facing Liverpool knowing that victory would open up a ten-point gap at the Premier League summit. Inter were dismissed but Liverpool duly stunned Sir Alex Ferguson's team, the 4-1 defeat United's heaviest at home since 1992.
'Eased off'
Displays since suggest they are still reeling from that blow. Speaking after the 2-2 quarter-final first-leg draw with FC Porto, defender Nemanja Vidić suggested United had been "guilty of easing off" before the Liverpool game – and had paid the price. Patrice Evra, meanwhile, cited "a lack of concentration" and said the whole team had suffered as a consequence of the sudden defensive fragility that has produced ten goals against in United's last four games.
Fewer goals
"Everybody talks about the Manchester United forwards, but for me the base is the defence and if the defence aren't on top form we can lose matches," said the Frenchman. Certainly United's defence has been their strong suit during a campaign where they have failed to replicate last term's attacking fluency. Cristiano Ronaldo – notably ineffective against Porto – has had an up-and-down season and the result is fewer goals: United are down from 2.1 to 1.7 per game in the Premier League last season, and five down on their total at this stage of the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League.
Mitigating factors
In mitigation, injuries and suspensions have not helped. Central defenders Rio Ferdinand and Vidić have not played together since 14 March, holding midfielder Owen Hargreaves has barely featured at all, and United have been without a recognised right-back due to injuries to Wes Brown, Gary Neville and Rafael. Neville returned last weekend but shaking the ring rust at 34 is evidently not easy.
Tiredness
Anderson and Dimitar Berbatov were also absent against a Porto side who looked sharper than opponents who had played Aston Villa FC 48 hours earlier. Even before that game, however, Carlos Tévez had admitted "we feel a little bit worn out". Vidić elaborated on the subject when he said: "I don't think it's that the players don't have confidence. Maybe it's also that we have so many games – Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday. We have a few players injured as well, and when at this stage, you need all your best players to be ready and playing."
History
Another, less mentioned, factor against United is history. With the margins between success and failure so narrow, it is not always the best team that wins a cup competition – luck plays it part – and it is telling that no club has retained the trophy since AC Milan in 1990. That, of course, is not United's concern. All they can do is get back to what they do better than just about everybody: winning matches. But it will not be easy in Porto, as Vidić acknowledged: "We can't go there with all guns blazing. We need to be clever. They have some good players – they have quick forwards and they're going to be waiting for our mistakes."