Resolve is a massive quality that great teams need to have to compete for titles. The ability to 'never say die' is what keeps great teams in matches, and gives them a level of belief that they can win.
Manchester United's 2-2 draw versus Aston Villa this past weekend gave credence to those who believe that United will continue to compete with Chelsea for the English Premier League title this year, and their resolve is something that is ingrained in the culture of the club.
Sandy Macaskill of the Guardian writes of the lessons learned by Aston Villa as they saw United's tremendous competitive spirit up close this past weekend.
This was Manchester United’s seventh Premier League draw of the season and might have offered more ammunition to those who claim the title is Chelsea’s for the taking, but this match demonstrated exactly why it isn’t.
Even at two goals down and with 14 minutes to play, United believed they could salvage something. For the young Aston Villa players this refusal to accept defeat was a lesson worth learning and, as their manager, Gérard Houllier, said afterwards, United “showed qualities that should inspire us in the future”.
Barry Bannan, 20, one of the young stars of the show, agreed that there was much he could take from the experience of competing against midfielders like Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick.
“You see how comfortable their two central midfield players are on the ball and how much space they have,” he said. “You are learning and you try and take it into the next game.”
The most important lesson he and his Villa team-mates – and indeed anyone ruling out United as title contenders this season – must take from the result, however, is about a special attribute which cannot be taught or learned any other way but through consistently experiencing victory: the eradication of self-doubt.
United beat Wolves last weekend with a goal in the 90th minute and had beaten Mick McCarthy’s side in the Carling Cup in October with another last-minute strike. Javier Hernández scored in the 86th minute against Stoke and Dimitar Berbatov rounded off his hat-trick against Liverpool in the 84th minute.
“It is part of the club’s history,” said Fletcher, who turned the ignition switch by rolling the ball to Federico Macheda to score with nine minutes left.
“It is the mentality of the manager and the players that you are never beaten until the last kick of the ball. We honestly believe if we keep going in the right way until the last minute we will be rewarded. When a manager has a history of doing it, you fall into it. No one gives in at this club. We go on to the end. It’s the United way.”
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