MOYES WINS HIS BATTLE WITH RVP
United chief hauls off his feisty striker and lets club’s big stars know who is boss
WHEN the board flashed up his number, Robin van Persie pretended not to notice. He looked the other way, drifted behind a group of players, began a conversation with a colleague. But the light flashed unblinkingly. And so, with an extravagant show of reluctance, he had to go. There was a brief handshake with his manager, a slap of hands with the substitute Danny Welbeck and a retreat to the bench. David Moyes had established his authority and made his point.
That 62nd minute may prove a significant moment in United’s season, certainly it was a critical moment in the match. For the previous 10 minutes, Van Persie had been a walking red card. Booked for an ill-timed lunge on Morgan Amalfitano, he dived in recklessly at Steven Reid five minutes later. The fans screamed for his blood, the referee, Jonathan Moss, contemplated his options, and Moyes held his breath as United’s one-goal advantage suddenly seemed perilously thin.
Moss, probably correctly, decided that the offence was not worthy of a second yellow, but, by now, Van Persie was searching for another argument. Moyes’s mind was made up. ‘I told him earlier that I was going to take him off,’ he explained. ‘One more foul could have led to something else. He made my decision easy.’
A minute later, the impressive Rafael crossed and Wayne Rooney discovered immoderate space at the far post to head the goal. Vindica- tion was complete. The United manager has endured his share of miserable weekends this season but this morning he will feel that he has taken on one of his senior players and demonstrated both his nerve and judgment.
Albion’s Pepe Mel will surely envy Moyes his serenity. He clutched at every straw that was offered. Through his interpreter, he insisted that the Van Persie tackle was clearly a second yellow card and he added: ‘With a red card for Van Persie, the game would have been completely different.’
Perhaps so, but he is acutely aware of the inadequacies of his side. He appreciates the increasing hopelessness of their plight, and with a Premier League record which reads: Played 7, Drawn 4, Lost 3, he seems quite unable to affect their destiny.
Before the game, the announcer made great play of a coming event: ‘An evening with Pepe Mel — meet the manager over a pint and a curry. Only £25. March 25.’ It must have seemed a good idea when it was suggested. Now it smacks of twisting the knife.
‘I hope the players react well to playing under pressure,’ Mel said. ‘The trainer (manager) certainly does, because he’s used to it.’ He is well respected and handsomely rewarded. Yet, at that moment, you could have cried for him.
For the fact is that United, after a nervous, edgy start, were perfectly adequate but no better than that. But adequacy is all that is needed to subdue Albion. Moyes’s team were urgent and committed, qualities they have not always revealed these past few months, but their timing was fallible and execution inadequate.
Some of their better players rose to the occasion. Juan Mata conducted a masterclass; playing a whole stream of astute passes and finding space where others found only chaos. Rooney worked as hard as ever, but increasingly his efforts seemed capable of being rewarded. And at full-back, young Rafael was a bundle of cultivated energy, a constant threat from the wide areas.
By contrast, West Brom were confused and confusing. The midfield was solid with bodies, leaving Victor Anichebe to fend for himself at the front, while the central defenders were forever on the brink of an expensive mistake.
United were repelled until the 34th minute, with Moyes growing frustrated in his dugout. Then Chris Brunt cynically clipped Rafael, Van Persie drove the free-kick from the right and Phil Jones rose almost unopposed for the scoring header.
In 43 minutes, the Albion keeper, Ben Foster, seemed to handle the ball outside his area while under pressure from Van Persie. A huge shout went up, but Moss waved it on, and again he was probably correct. The loss of the goalkeeper would possibly have ended West Brom’s season there and then.
But came the second half, came Van Persie’s little drama, came injuries to key Albion play- ers like Brunt, Reid and Claudio Yacob, and the match took its predestined course. The admirable Mata, tracking back diligently, had deprived Brunt of a tap-in goal which would have given them equality. But the Rooney goal was almost decisive and a third United goal was simply revenge for this season’s home defeat to Albion.
And a terrific goal it was, the product of endless passes, all short, all played with a purpose. It ended with Rooney, who had decorated the move more than once, infiltrating a killing ball into the heart of the Albion area, where Welbeck fixed the keeper then steered his scoring drive into the far corner.
The Albion fans left in droves. We must doubt that they will be around for Pepe’s Q&A. But Pepe himself could be flying back to Spain by then, his unhappy experience far behind him.