Flying winger off to a flyer

SINGAPORE - l MAN UNITED: David de Gea, Patrice Evra, Phil Jones, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley (Javier Hernandez 71), Antonio Valencia, Shinji Kagawa (Ashley Young 65), Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck (JuanMata 60)

l NORWICH CITY: John Ruddy, Russell Martin, Steven Whittaker, Michael Turner, Martin Olsson, Bradley Johnson, Robert Snodgrass, Jonathan Howson, Leroy Fer (Alexander Tettey 80), Nathan Redmond (Gary Hooper 69), Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Johan Elmander 57)

MAN UNITED 4

(Wayne Rooney 41-pen, 48, Juan Mata 63, 73)

NORWICH CITY 0

Giggs, as the old terrace chant goes, will tear you apart. And so it proved for poor Norwich.

The teenage starlet turned interim manager hit the ground running with a thumping, and much-needed, 4-0 win yesterday morning (Singapore time) in an emotional outing at Old Trafford. In the opposite dugout, Neil Adams, also an interim manager, albeit of rather less repute, could only curse the timing.

If the last man had been in charge, Norwich might have had a chance. With Ryan Giggs making his managerial bow in front of the supporters who have watched him as a player for over 20 years, the Canaries were always on a hiding to nothing.

And yet this game wasn't always as one-sided as the scoreline suggested. Norwich had an opening goal disallowed in dubious circumstances in the first half and provided obstinate opposition until Steven Whittaker's tug on Danny Welbeck gave Wayne Rooney the chance to break the deadlock from the penalty spot.

STEP UP

In the second half, United stepped up a gear and another goal from Rooney, with two more from Juan Mata, put the result beyond doubt.

Giggs certainly made a statement with his first-team selection and that statement was: Back to the good old days.

Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, neither of whom is expected to be at the club next year, formed the defensive pairing with Tom Cleverley and Michael Carrick in the middle and Wayne Rooney up front with Danny Welbeck.

Like many of the teams Giggs graced, this was 4-4-2 with a licence to attack.

Juan Mata, who had started every league game since arriving at the club in January, was dropped to the bench.

Marouane Fellani, David Moyes' sole summer signing last year, didn't even make the match-day squad.

While Moyes was in charge, rumours that Giggs disapproved of his methods were rampant. This team selection, with his predecessor's only signings banished, certainly made you wonder.

But, while Giggs had called on his players to remember that they played for Manchester United and to play with verve and vigour, returning the sluggish, despondent team to their best is easier said than done.

Though there was far greater ambition on show than in recent months, United were largely incoherent and flat before the break.

Had David Moyes been watching, and you rather hope he has taken a long holiday somewhere where the Premier League is ignored, he would have given a wry chuckle. It's not as easy as it looks, this management lark.

But when Norwich shipped the first goal, their resistance crumbled as quickly as United's belief grew.

You could sense that they no longer believed they were capable of achieving anything.

DEVILS REBORN

With Welbeck moving out to the left to allow Shinji Kagawa to roam behind Rooney, United finally began to look like their old selves.

Giggs claimed only to have told his men to, "increase the tempo." It certainly worked.

In truth, little can be taken from this result, even with the impressive margin of victory.

After all, even Moyes' United had scored four goals in two of their last three league games and Norwich, like Aston Villa and Newcastle, made for unworthy opponents.

The future remains unclear for United. While one Dutch newspaper insisted that Louis van Gaal had agreed terms to replace Moyes next season, Sir Alex Ferguson told guests at a dinner that he believed Giggs and a "Class of '92" coaching team should take the helm.

Elsewhere, senior sources told journalists that United needed a "star player" and the name of Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani was dropped liberally into conversation. With so many voices providing such contradictory information, someone clearly needs to take control.

For now, Giggs will have to do.

Honestly, I'm just looking forward to Sunderland now. That's where my focus and concentration is on. I'm not looking any further ahead than that. - Man United interim manager Ryan Giggs refusing to be drawn into the possibility of being given the post on a full-time basis.

This article was published on April 28 in The New Paper.

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