Its tough being an MU Fan

The deciding match of the BPL season was played last Sunday between Manchester United, the team I have been supporting since the early 70s when George Best was playing for them and Chelsea, the team bankrolled by Russian petro dollars.

Frankly, it was not much of a match but more of a game to showcase the capabilities of the champions in waiting. A first goal when the match was only 36 seconds old ensured that the Old Trafford faithful were in for a treat. With Park Ji Sung in the form of his life, winning balls and intercepting them at will and Antonio Valencia terrorising the right flank, it was just a matter of time before United score again. And they did it again in the 23rd minute when captain Nemanja Vidic headed home a goal from the evergreen Ryan Giggs.

Going into half time with a two goal lead looks like enough. At the restart United continued with its attacking ways and they are at their best playing this way. It therefore made me wonder why they were so defensive in the FA Cup semifinal against neighbours City a few weeks ago and against Arsenal last week. The chances continued to flow but nobody seems wanting to score the third goal and secure the proverbial final nail to Chelsea's coffin. Even Howard Webb whom some would say is a fan of United, decided to make live miserable for United fans. He brushed aside what looks like two perfectly justifiable penalty claims.

When Lampard stuck his foot to steer a header from Alex to score a goal with just over 20 minutes of play left, the United fans began to feel "Here we go again". The TV people must be the most ardent fans of United this season. After all which team ensures that the fans are glued to their TV sets until the final whistle is blown. United just refused to win (or for that matter lose) any game with more than 20 left on the clock.

As Sir Alex Ferguson said after the match:

"We should have been out of sight. But that is the nature of Manchester United. We take it to the wire all the time. We give these poor souls in the stands heart attacks. They are sitting on the edge of their seats and biting their nails. I was one of them."

It may not be mathematically over yet but I am looking forward for them to end the season next week when they play against Blackburn. I really hope they do not prolong this agony by waiting for the final game of the season against Blackpool at Old Trafford to secure the one point they needed just to take it to the wire, again.

It is tough being an MU fan. Apart from having to endure the final minutes of every game before securing the vital points we have to put up with the taunts from disgruntled Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and City fans who are so frustrated that their teams still cannot do better than a "mediocre United team". I am already preparing for the encounter with Barcelona at Wembley at the end of the month when the best team in England play against the so-called best team in the world.