Friday, January 10, 2003 ESPNsoccernet: May 8, 1:41 AM UK
Au revoir, Larry White?
Boxing Day 2002 saw Manchester United all but slip from the title race foothold that they'd clambered up to with successive wins over Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Laurent Blanc: End of the line? (MatthewAshton/Empics)
Dire defending from a back-line that had been rock-solid throughout that winning run cost United as Middlesbrough ran out 3-1 winners. For United it meant that their struggle to regain the title was made all the harder but for one of their players, it perhaps signalled one of the last acts of a glittering career.
When Mikael Silvestre, such a success after his emergency switch to the centre of defence, pulled out of the match with a slight injury, Sir Alex Ferguson had no compunction about returning Laurent Blanc to the starting line-up.
On the bus back from Teesside, the thought that Blanc had spoiled his new-look defence's balance must have drifted through the knight's mind.
In John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Mikael Silvestre and Rio Ferdinand, Ferguson has a group of defenders that could be the bedrock of United for years to come and stands out especially for its versatility.
And the future could be now after Blanc was cruelly exposed by Boro's often goal-shy attack of Szilard Nemeth, Joseph Desire-Job and Alen Boksic at the Riverside. Far too often the United defence was caught lingering far too deep to compensate for the veteran's lack of pace, giving Boro time to run and create. It may have come as a relief to United fans that Blanc picked up a knock and missed the following league games against Birmingham and Sunderland.
Though he returned for the FA Cup game against Portsmouth, the Frenchman appeared by virtue of squad rotation. The following game, the Worthington Cup semi-final against Blackburn, saw him relegated to the bench. In what is his last season as a professional, the 37-year-old has all but waved au revoir to his status as a first-choice centre back, a move supported by the legions of pundits who have tried to bury the man from the moment he arrived at Old Trafford.
Time, as Ryan Giggs may just be starting to find out, waits for no man and neither does a manager for whom sentiment is easily cast aside.
When Sir Alex Ferguson staked his reputation by selling bionic man Jaap Stam and replacing him with a 36-year-old retired international, many scoffed at his folly.
Laurent Blanc, for all his honours and experience, was reaching the end of a glittering career and his greatest weakness, lack of pace, would surely only become more of a problem. The media, always happy to find a scapegoat, blamed him for United's collapse in form during October and November 2001.
The acronym 'B-L-A-N-C', probably dreamt up on some message board or other, was pinched and wheeled out by several newspapers to point out the teams that had beaten United (Bolton, Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Chelsea) though the hilarity subsided as United also lost to West Ham on December 8th. Blanc bore the brunt of the blame as United fell far too far behind in the title race they would eventually lose to Arsenal.
But, in truth, United's defensive problems had manifested themselves a long time before the man known as 'Larry White' to the United faithful arrived. His predecessor, Stam, had been a shadow of the imperious figure of United's treble-winning season and had missed a great section of the 2000-1 season after an achilles operation.
Whatever the truth of his clouded departure from Old Trafford, his performances in the 2001 Charity Shield and the season opener against Fulham certainly give some credence to Ferguson's comment at the time that the Dutchman was sold for football reasons.
United's best defensive performances in their 2000-1 stroll to the title had been with Gary Neville partnering Wes Brown in the middle. But in Europe, United's real objective, defensive mistakes saw them lose to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final. A lack of organisation was the diagnosed problem.
Wembley 1992: Blanc strides across the hallowed turf (PaulMarriot/Empics)
It was for this reason that Blanc was bought by Ferguson. His lack of pace didn't deter the Scot. In terms of bringing the ball out of defence there have been few better in world football. Many English observers got their first sight of Blanc when he captained France at Wembley in February 1992. As a defender, Blanc's skill on the ball was a very rare sight, this being the Graham Taylor era.
But, as first Alan Shearer and then Gary Lineker scored, many scoffed that for all the prettiness of his play, Blanc, then at Napoli, could not defend and suffered from a lack of pace. A decade of success at club and international level and a tour of some of Europe's top clubs suggested that on the continent at least some saw past these shortcomings.
When analysed closely, Blanc's performances in 2001-2 were far better than the negative hype suggested. Only at Newcastle, where Craig Bellamy ran him ragged - and Blanc was not alone in receiving this treatment - and at Middlesbrough, where he combined with Fabien Barthez to gift the first goal to Noel Whelan as United crashed out of the FA Cup, was he totally fallible.
United's best defensive performances, which came when United put together a long winning run in a desperate and ultimately vain attempt at the title, came with a back four of Silvestre and Phil Neville at full-back and the elder Neville partnering Blanc at the back.
In Europe too, Blanc linked well with Ronny Johnsen in the Norwegian's all-too rare returns from injury as United fell just short of reaching the final. It is at this level that Blanc, with over a decade's experience of the European game, still excels. In Europe, while forwards may be quick, attacks build up slow only for forwards to pounce into action.
Anticipation is the name of the game. And even at his advanced age, Blanc remains one of the best around at cutting out a threaded ball and setting up a quick counter-attack. And he has a happy habit of nodding in set-pieces in Europe, where defences are usually more susceptible to the crossed ball. If his Premiership career seems to be all but over, Ferguson would have little fear in returning Blanc to United's team in Europe where his canniness remains a significant advantage.
What also cannot be dismissed is the influence he has had on United's young defenders. While Rio Ferdinand was certainly bought as Blanc's successor in the libero role of bringing the ball out of defence, he has himself acknowledged the value of Blanc's unmatchable experience.
John O'Shea: The future (JohnWalton/Empics)
Mikael Silvestre has impressed as a centre-back in a way few thought possible after his error-strewn shows there a couple of seasons ago. The improvement in his anticipation bears all the Blanc hallmarks, and he can add an electric pace that Blanc has never possessed.
Wes Brown is finally turning into the no-nonsense stopper with an edge of class on the ball that Ferguson had always expected him to be. And in John O'Shea, the youngest of the group, United have a player as comfortable in any defensive position as he undoubtedly is in possession of the ball. Training and learning from Blanc can only have benefitted a young man who, when all the hype surrounding Wayne Rooney is cast aside, should be Young Player of the Year for his consistent quality this season.
Despite recent whispers of his joining the French national team set-up as a coach, Blanc is unlikely to leave Old Trafford before the end of the season, the chance to lift the European Cup that has so far eluded him will see to that. Yet he is likely to remain a bit-part until then.
Often unfairly maligned in his time in England, his legacy as one of the classiest defenders to have played the game should not be dismissed. There's been plenty of pacy defenders over the years but few have had the footballing gifts that Blanc possesses, the very reason that Ferguson enlisted the Frenchman in the first place.
But Blanc, of all people, knows the cruelty of the football game and must realise that his playing career, save for the odd cameo appearance, is now all but over.
