By Myles Palmer
The Juventus team that stuffed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 last week were themselves hammered 3-1 at Highbury.
The Turin thrashing was Leverkusen’s first defeat of the season.
So Ballack,Schneider, Nowotny and Ramelow can think about that for the next 11 weeks before Arsenal come to town.
Arsene Wenger’s new defence might be solid by then.
Why did the manager prefer Upson to a fit-again Keown?
Because that made Sol Campbell the main man, the senior man, the defender who had to take charge and carry young Upson.
If Sol had been partnered by Keown he would have been the new boy, the junior centreback.
Group D was interesting when it was drawn. It’s more interesting now, though, because every team has won a game and lost a game.
Maybe by February Arsenal will have the confidence to go forward, to have a go, to play without inhibitions,in an away game abroad.
But I guess that depends on what is happening in February.
Football is a simple game made complicated by the fact that the circumstances of every game are slightly different.
No matter how often we say : This game will be like that game….it won’t be and it can’t be.
If Stuart Taylor had not saved Del Piero’s early shot, Juventus might have won.But if Del Piero had scored they might still have lost 3-1.
Man United looked good without Beckham tonight and beat Boavista 3-0.
Nobby Stiles would have been so proud of Paul Scholes, who crunched ankle after ankle.
Remi Moses and Norman Whiteside would have loved to see those studs flying.
Machoman co-commentator Ron Atkinson certainly did. As usual,Big Ron called it “earning the right to play.”
After the first goal Boavista just gave up, so the game was a yawn.
Roy Keane made a point of NOT passing to Veron, who was on the right, replacing Beckham, who was dropped, as The Sun had predicted.
Several times when Keane could have passed to him, and should have passed to him, he passed to somebody else.
The message was : I’m back, I’m the boss,I’m in charge, this is my team, superstar, and we will be playing it my way from now on.
It was the old Man United, the old 4-4-2.
Dwight Yorke didn’t do much. He needs six more games.
Maybe Veron is better as a flashy,roaming playmaker.
He needs the freedom to express himself rather than chores like marking players with half his talent
Veron is a far classier player than Beckham, but not as consistently effective.
The formation, with Butt-Keane, was an AC Milan template.
Like an Arrigo Sacchi team, with warrior-athletes in the middle, flanked by creators like Donadoni,Savicevic.
That is the kind of team that is equipped to win the Champions League.A team with plenty of stoppers.
Not that I think United will win it. But that type of side always has a good chance because it grinds opponents down.
Roma boss Capello said Liverpool are a boring, negative side.
A remark which was sure to motivate Liverpool to earn a 0-0 draw in Rome, which they did.
Houllier and Phil Thompson have a team of stoppers, so they have a chance too. They can win at home and draw away.(OK, Barca outclassed them at Anfield).
And they have the best keeper in the Premiership, Dudek.
He spilled a couple of shots tonight, but he has great hands.
Liverpool don’t lose.They only win and draw.
And that combination, that ability to keep clean sheets, is what wins European trophies.
5th December 2001.