Haunted United must cast off bad spell

Manchester United must get it right against lowly Leicester City at Old Trafford this Saturday if the premier league champions are to dispel the impression that they are a giant about to take a tumble.

United have had a shaky start to the season, but Leicester's form has been atrocious, meaning Alex Ferguson's side must win or face a great deal more flak than they have taken already.

Leicester are fourth from bottom after conceding 23 goals and scored only seven, leaving them with the worst goal difference in the league.

United, who are sixth, have scored 28 goals -- more than anyone else in the league. But the statistic that has raised eyebrows all over England is that in just 11 premier league matches they have let in 20 goals.

Last season, they had not conceded that number until the 31st game.

So there will be no room for error from the United back four, or goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, when they take on the Foxes, whose last win at Old Trafford was in January 1998.

Barthez, a mainstay of France's World Cup-winning side, made himself unpopular with United fans after some bizarre blunders, including two that handed a 3-2 victory to Deportivo Coruna in a Champions League match last month.

Complaints about the Frenchman's performance got louder after he was beaten to a cross by Liverpool's Emile Heskey, leaving the United goal unguarded for Michael Owen to nod the ball home during Liverpool's 3-1 home win.

HAUNTED BY ERRORS

United's defeat at Anfield caused Ferguson to publicly criticise his players, a rare reaction from a manager who usually shows unbending support for his team.

"The individual errors that have haunted us all season continue but more worrying is the feeling that some players are maybe taking success for granted," Ferguson said after that match.

A week later, he was still brooding over the defeat. "I didn't enjoy what happened at Liverpool. I never want to see a Manchester United team go down as easily as that," he said.

"We have to say to them (the players) now -- do they want to go on, do they want to show people why they won all those medals in the past?...That is the question that was asked by Liverpool."

Even Sir Alex, despite his awesome record as the man who took United to seven league titles in nine years, is not immune to criticism over his team's recent shoddy displays.

Liverpool fans taunted him with chants of "There's only one Jaap Stam" during the Anfield clash and the sale of the Dutch defender remains one of Ferguson's most controversial decisions.

Stam fell out of favour at United because of doubts about his fitness after he returned from injury and at a time when his autobiography caused controversy, but the loss of his skills has left a gaping hole in the United back four.

Worse, Ferguson's judgement has been questioned from within as defender Mikael Silvestre stated publicly that the manager's assessment that all the problems lay with the defence was wrong.

"I have sat through videos of our matches with the manager but I don't agree with the theories he puts forward," the France international said.

"I believe the goals have been coming through the middle of the field. But it is me who has paid the price and I am very bitter," he said, adding that he still wanted to stay at United.

In the last campaign before he retires, Ferguson must have hoped for better things from the team he has so carefully moulded. A convincing victory over Leicester might be just the spark to light a fire under their season once again.