Snow, as Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Richard Wilburnoted, has a remarkable ability to mask ugliness. In Wilbur’s poem“First Snow in Alsace,” it covered the scars of war. In Englishsoccer, it is throwing a temporary shroud over the depth ofproblems at Manchester United.Because of wintry conditions, United was spared the test ofplaying crosstown rival City in a League Cup semifinal onWednesday, as Britain dug itself out from its heaviest snowfall inthree decades. The postponement means a wait until Saturday, whenUnited faces a tough Premier League trip to overachieversBirmingham, to see whether Alex Ferguson’s side can rebound fromits painful start to 2010.But even snow can’t hide the fact that United is a troubledteam, on the field and off. The fast-approaching business end ofEurope’s soccer season, when league titles will be won and lost,will show whether United’s recent shakiness is nothing more than anuncharacteristic dip in form or, as some are starting to suspect,the beginning of a longer-term and potentially corrosive declinethat the club may be ill-equipped to arrest.The biggest cause for alarm is the state of United’s finances.Newspaper reports last weekend that the club’s American owners, theGlazer family, are considering raising funds with a $963 millionbond issue were a stark reminder of…