Manchester United F.C. season 2007–08

Infobox Football club season
club = Manchester United
season = 2007–08
manager = flagicon|SCO Sir Alex Ferguson
chairman = flagicon|USA Joel & Avram Glazer
league = Premier League
league result = 1st
cup1 = FA Cup
cup1 result = Sixth Round
cup2 = Carling Cup
cup2 result = Third Round
cup3 = Community Shield
cup3 result = Winners
cup4 = UEFA Champions League
cup4 result = Winners
league topscorer =
Cristiano Ronaldo (31)
season topscorer =
Cristiano Ronaldo (42)
highest attendance = 76,013 vs West Ham United (3 May 2008)
lowest attendance = 73,652 vs Roma (2 October 2007)
prevseason = 2006–07
nextseason = 2008–09The 2007–08 season was Manchester United's 16th season in the Premier League, and their 33rd consecutive season in the top division of English football. The season was regarded as a success, despite the team's slow start in the league, as they claimed their third European Cup title and a tenth Premier League title; the European Double. The club was not as successful in the domestic cup competitions, however, losing to eventual FA Cup winners, Portsmouth, in the Sixth Round, and losing to Coventry City in the Third Round of the Carling Cup.

In February 2008, the club commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, as a result of which eight United players and three members of the coaching staff lost their lives. The club held a memorial service at Old Trafford on 6 February 2008, renaming the central tunnel as the "Munich Tunnel". This was followed on 10 February by the Manchester derby. United took to the field in a retro kit reminiscent of the kit worn by the 1958 team, abandoning squad numbers in favour of a 1-11 numbering system.

United's players were also successful on an individual level in the 2007–08 season, with three players in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, while Cristiano Ronaldo picked up six individual awards, including the Premier League Golden Boot for his 31 league goals.

Pre-season and friendlies

United began their pre-season in July 2007 with a tour of the Far East where they played Urawa Red Diamonds, FC Seoul, Shenzen FC and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical. Their next game took place back at Old Trafford, against Internazionale, followed by trips to Doncaster Rovers and Peterborough United, managed by Alex Ferguson's son Darren. The next two matches were played simultaneously with first team coach Jimmy Ryan taking one squad to Scotland to play Dunfermline, while assistant manager Carlos Queiroz took another group to play Glentoranin Northern Ireland.

In August, League champions United contested the Community Shield against Chelsea, the winners of the previous season's FA Cup. The game finished 1–1 after 90 minutes, United winning the game on penalties.

In January 2008, Manchester United played Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in a testimonial match for Sami Al-Jaber as part of a mid-season training camp, hosted by the Saudi royal family. [cite news |author=Communications Department |title=Reds to enjoy winter break |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=512991 |publisher=ManUtd.com |date=2007-12-07 |accessdate=2008-01-21 ] United lost the match 3–2.

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

FA Cup

The draw for the Third Round of the FA Cup paired United with Aston Villa for the fourth time in seven years. [cite news |title=FA Cup third round draw |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7123366.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2007-12-11 |accessdate=2007-12-23 ] The match was played at Villa Park on 5 January 2008, [cite news |author=Adam Bostock |title=Date set for Villa cup tie |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=511340 |publisher=ManUtd.com |date=2007-12-02 |accessdate=2007-12-23 ] United winning 2–0 with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. United were given a home draw against Tottenham Hotspur in the Fourth Round and won the game 3–1. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7197729.stm |title=Man Utd 3-1 Tottenham |date=2008-01-27 |accessdate=2008-01-27 |publisher=BBC Sport ] After going a goal down to a Robbie Keane strike, United drew level with Carlos Tévez, before Cristiano Ronaldo scored the other two goals; one a penalty after Michael Dawson was sent off for a deliberate handball.

The Fifth Round draw was held on 28 January 2008, with United facing the possibility of drawing one of five other Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. As it was, United drew Arsenal, pitting the current top two teams in the Premier League against each other in the only all-Premier League tie of the round. [cite news |title=Clubs await fifth-round Cup draw |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7212285.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-01-28 |accessdate=2008-01-28 ] The match was played on 16 February 2008, [cite news |title=BBC to show Man Utd-Arsenal tie |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7218101.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-01-30 |accessdate=2008-01-30 ] with United running out as 4–0 winners, the goals coming from Wayne Rooney, Darren Fletcher (2), and Nani.

The draw for the Sixth Round took place on 18 February 2008, and drew United at home against Portsmouth. [cite news |title=Sixth Round draw |url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/FAC6_drawdetails.htm |publisher=The FA |date=2008-02-16 |accessdate=2008-01-16 ] The tie, which was the only all-Premier League tie of the round, was played on 8 March 2008. [cite news |title=Barnsley face Chelsea in FA Cup |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7249824.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-02-18 |accessdate=2008-01-18 ] United went into the game with the prospect of another Treble still on the cards, and started the match full of confidence. However, when the referee, Martin Atkinson, failed to award the Red Devils a penalty in the 7th minute after Sylvain Distin clearly bodychecked Cristiano Ronaldo, it was clear that it was not to be United's day. United continued to produce the better of the chances in the first half – Portsmouth's best effort was a swerving 25-yarder from Pedro Mendes that tested van der Sar to the extent that the Dutch keeper injured himself and had to be substituted at half-time.

United's chances continued to flow thick and fast. Michael Carrick rounded the goalkeeper only to be tackled on the line by Distin, whilst Patrice Evra had a shot turned onto the post by David James before things went from bad to worse for the Manchester side. With 12 minutes to play, Portsmouth counter-attacked down the right hand side, forcing a two-on-two situation. The ball was squared to Milan Baroš, who was felled by Tomasz Kuszczak in the box. The referee had no hesitation in sending Kuszczak off, despite both Rooney and Anderson having gotten back behind the ball before the foul. Nevertheless, referee Atkinson's decision meant that United had no recognised goalkeeper available for the remaining time. Wayne Rooney offered his services, but that would have left United without a recognised centre-forward, so Rio Ferdinand was given the responsibility of attempting to save the penalty. However, although he dived the right way, Ferdinand was unable to get a hand to the ball, and Sulley Muntari gave Portsmouth the lead. United fought hard to get their deserved equaliser, but even Ronaldo's free kick was off-target, and United were knocked out of the FA Cup.

Transfers

In

Loan out

ee also

*Manchester United F.C. seasons

References