Season Report Card

The season's ended and we won the Premiership. It's that time of the year again to give out grades to the lads who performed well, and those who did little.

I thought we did really well this season, given that I didn't give this team a chance in hell, let alone be chasing on three fronts in April and almost repeating 99. Had it not been for injuries coming thick and fast during the run in, we might just have pulled it off.

What's most gratifying for me this season is to see players like Ronaldo and Rooney mature and take on leadership roles. They still defer to Giggs, Scholes and Neville but their time will eventually come.

The team as a whole, showed plenty of character, hunger and perseverance. Let's hope winning the title this season doesn't diminish their desire for next season, which is why new blood is always needed to inject hunger as well as to push the current players to greater heights.

Before I go ahead, here's the mid term report card.

Edwin Van der Sar (Grade B+)
He had a solid first half of the season but I thought he performed poorly during the run in. Probably it's fatigue or nerves that finally got to him. Apparently from what I've read, Ben Foster will be taking over him next season. There's also some rumours that the players were blaming him for the goal conceded in the FA Cup finals. In any case, he's a been a solid performer for most parts of the season.

Tomas Kuszczak (Grade B)
He didn't get to play much, but whenever he was called upon, he did well. If Ben Foster does take over the no. 1 jersery next season, we have an able deputy.

Gary Neville (Grade A)
Missed a huge part of the run in due to injuries. But he's been stellar before that. He's not exactly the most vocal captain, preferring to let his feet do the talking.

Wes Brown (Grade B+)
When Rio and Vidic went down, he was the most natural replacement. Ideally, I would love to have him paired with Vidic in the heart of defense. He's also the guy who replace Neville during the run in.

Rio Ferdinand (Grade A)
Never liked giving Rio an A, but gotta give credit when it's due. He's been pretty damn good beside Vidic. Along with Kentona and Ly, I believe this has got to do with playing along side an accomplished defender like Vidic. Notice how little he screws up for England when Terry is around? Same theory applies.

Nemanja Vidic (Grade A+)
Broke his collar bone at the end of March and by May he was back in the team. Absolutely awesome. Simply a top class player.

Gabriel Hienze (Grade B-)
He's never been the same since returning from injury. Something seems to be lacking in his play. He doesn't seem as assured as back in 05. Let's hope it's because he hasn't fully recovered. I'm looknig forward to see him return to the 05 form.

Patrice Evra (Grade C+)
Bad. Brilliant. Awful. That sums up his season. He was pretty bad when he joined us and it continued into the beginning of this season. Then during the Spurs game, someone turned a switch on and he was brilliant for a really nice stretch. But with Evra, you know it's not going to last. The thing with him is that when he's bad, he's usually downright awful. Seriously if Hienze cannot find his form, we really need to either bring up a youngster or dip into the transfer market for help.

Mikeal Silvestre (Grade C+)
Dislocated his shoulder, which ended his season. Otherwise a largely forgettable season for Silves.

John O'Shea (A)
The ultimate utlity man. Whenever holes appeared, he plugged them. Hell, he even played as a stand-in keeper this season. Anyone who scores the winner against Liverpool automatically gets an A.

Paul Scholes (Grade A+)
Without doubt one of the stars for us this season. He's everywhere, doing everything. How are we going to survive without him in the centre of the park is the burning question for the next couple of seasons. When we find the answer to that problem, we would have truely built another dynasty.

Darren Fletcher (Grade A)
Didn't get to play in the centre of the park much, where he's at his most comfortable. But whenever he's called upon, he was outstanding. I would have loved to have him playing regularly.

Michael Carrick (Grade A)
Nope, your eyes didn't deceive you. Yes, I know I've been giving him a really hard time the entire season but hear me out first. True, he's been Mr Invisible for many of the games we played. While alot of us would love to see him don the Superman costume week in week out, it's just not humanly possible for someone who has played 60 games for us this season. That's right, he played 60 whooping games this season. If my sources are right, he's probably the outfield player who has played the most games for us this season. Another thing going in his favour is that he won the title playing in his first season for us. 60 games and a title....damn he's gotta be doing something right! Showed the greatest improvement in grades, jumping from a C to an A.

Park Ji Sung (Grade B)
This has to go down as a lost season for him. He missed out the bulk of the season thru injuries. Just when he was finding his feet in the middle of the season and scoring goals, he got injured again. Let's hope he recovers well for next season.

Ryan Giggs (Grade A)
He was really good in the beginning of the season, but the season is a long one and with injuries afflicting the squad, he's probably played more games than Fergie had intended. And it showed. By May, you could tell he was visibly exhausted.

Christiano Ronaldo (Grade A+)
Star pupil! The best performer in the squad by a long long shot, although he did look tired at the end of the season. He has matured tremendously from the spoilt and immature boy of last season. I'm looking forward to see him grow into a leader in the coming seasons, when the class of 99 (Giggs, Scholes, Neville) finally retires.

Louis Saha (Grade B)
He goals have been important in the beginning of the season, but I would like to see more of him. I can understand why people are getting impatient with him. For some reason, he never seems to get fit. He's fast becoming a tease and someone you can't count on when the chips are down. I'm personally souring on him as well. Chances are that he probably wouldn't be wearing a United jersery next season.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Grade B)
He may not have played much this season, but he's a legend and an icon. He's the perfect locker room veteran, the type of guy every team needs.

Wayne Rooney (Grade A)
Went thru a dry spell in the middle of the season, but he returned to scoring form when we needed it most. Together with Ronaldo, he's matured alot this season. There is still a long way to go before he grows into the leader I would love to see.

Alan Smith (Grade B)
You can't expect much from Smith. I think it's pretty apparent to everyone that he doesn't have the pedigree to really play for us in the big matches. But you cannot fault his sheer willpower and determination. For that alone, he's getting a B. Not to mention the wonderful and heart warming story of him fighting for his place after returning from a horrendous injury.

Henrik Larrson (Grade B+)
True professional. Came in and did what he was supposed to do. Would have loved for him to stay the entire season though. The burning question here is....did he get a Premiership medal?

Kieran Richardson (Incomplete)
Didn't play enough games to make a lasting impact. Moreover he's pretty well hated anyway, so no sense in me making it worse for him.

Sir Alex Ferguson (Grade B+)
Don't get me wrong, I love Fergie to death and think he's a superb motivator. He's probably one of the best managers in the world, especially when it comes to coddling young players. However, he's also one of the most stubborn managers around too. He's shown time and time again to be tactically naive, playing that 4-5-1 formation away in Europe. For 7 years that has failed and he still persists on playing that way. Maybe it's the players are not bright enough to carry out his instructions or maybe the blame can be put on Carlos Queiroz. But whatever the case is, we failed in Europe once again and that squarely falls on Ferguson.