Once again, Sir Alex Ferguson decided to adhere to what Leo Durocher, the old baseball coach, used to say about "show me a good loser and I'll show you an idiot". This time it was a Stan Boardman moment, deriding Bayern Munich as "typical Germans" for surrounding the referee to campaign for Rafael da Silva's red card. Typical Ferguson, you could say. The habit of trying to influence, or deceive, match officials is practised in every country – even Ferguson's beloved Scotland, judging by the way Darren Fletcher was flailing his arms at Mike Dean and beseeching him for a nonexistent penalty against Chelsea last Saturday.
By now, we have grown accustomed to this kind of response from Ferguson, whether it be questioning whether Italians can be trusted or calling the Dutch "arrogant", as he did after a 3-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in 2000. The shock factor has diminished over the years, replaced by a knowing roll of the eyes from those who know him best. Nobody works the levers of the media better than Manchester United's manager and, like a conjuror, these little outbursts can succeed in misdirecting his audience from the shortcomings of his own team. Those Germans: they bombed our chippie, you know.
What Ferguson did not want to consider on Wednesday night was the notion that his team had come up short. Bayern, he said, were "lucky". In fact, he used that word half a dozen times and, in fairness, with a little justification on the basis that, 11 versus 11, United did look the more likely winners. It has been a galling week for the Premier League champions but there were mitigating circumstances, among them Wayne Rooney's injury, and the lesson of history is that we should desist from the kind of knee-jerk reaction that had another newspaper's website posing the question at 8am today "Has time got the better of Ferguson?"
The hair may not be so chestnut any more, the bags under his eyes seemed supersized on Wednesday and his voice was laced with unmistakeable sadness, but do not question his longevity. Bill Shankly left Anfield at the age of 60. Brian Clough relinquished his powers at Nottingham Forest at 58. Bob Paisley lasted until he was 64 and Sir Matt Busby closed his reign at Old Trafford when he was 62.
Time caught up with them all. Even Busby. On one coach journey, a sheet of paper was passed around United's players showing a caricature of Busby, drawn with great skill and care in ink, depicting him with his nose as a penis and his cheeks as two testicles. The caption read "Bollocks Chops". Eamon Dunphy, one of United's players of the time, remembers it illustrating "the depths to which Busby's stock had sunk among a faction in the club". Can you seriously imagine the class of 2010 treating Ferguson with so little respect?
Even so, there are legitimate concerns for United supporters. One is Michael Carrick's regression and his seemingly fixed inability to influence big matches. Rio Ferdinand is now 31 and troubled by recurrent back problems. Rafael da Silva has shown that, while talented, he is still very raw. Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and particularly Gary Neville are in decline. Edwin van der Sar will retire at the end of next season. And the replacements for this illustrious cast of thirtysomethings do not always inspire confidence.
The French winger Gabriel Obertan has vanished almost without trace since the 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Leeds United in January. Darron Gibson is a splendid striker of the ball but lacks the mobility and passing range of a really top midfielder. Ben Foster has endured a dreadful year. A £10m deal has been put in place for Fulham's young central defender Chris Smalling but, since then, he has looked error-prone to say the least.
Then there is the issue of Dimitar Berbatov and the overwhelming sense that Wednesday demonstrated he has not worked. Berbatov was on the bench despite Rooney's patent lack of fitness. After Rooney was withdrawn, with the team needing another goal, there were 25 minutes when Ferguson moved Nani, a winger, into the centre-forward's role. Berbatov has now started only six out of 22 Champions League games since becoming United's most expensive player at £30.75m from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2008. He was introduced with 10 minutes to go.
Ferguson will deny it, of course, but even the most trusting disciple could be forgiven for wondering whether the manager can ever be believed again after the Peculiar Case of Wayne Rooney's Right Ankle. Ferguson also denies that the ruling Glazer family have kept from him the £80m that United received from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo but, again, can we take his word for it?
This is the true problem for United: they need a better class of replacement for their older players and that will require their owners to flex some financial muscle. Everyone in football knows that is not going to happen.
