Can’t wait for tonight’s football drama.
In the first leg, Sir Alex defended and allowed Barcelona to build form during the game instead of going for the jugular.
His formula was : contain Messi, get a 0-0, go home, job well done. And they achieved that.
But Sir Alex wholly disrupted United’s shape and rhythm against a Barcelona team that is weak, divided, conflicted, sliding into break-up. United let Barca play their way into the game by making it their type of game, which suited Messi, the little wizard who is finding his feet again after injury.
Rooney on the right was kamikaze because it made him impotent and irrelevant. Alfredo di Stefano could not have played wide on the right in that game. Rooney was a fish up a tree because Sir Alex put him where he could not affect the play.
You don’t make radical changes to your team, your way of playing. You make small changes. You tweak it, you modify it slightly. If Rooney’s fit, use him. And don’t assume he will be fit for the second leg.
Man United can’t do cagey. Rafa can, Mourinho can, but Fergie can’t. If United played five holding midfield players, they can’t do cagey. If they park the All-Blacks scrum in front of their back four, they still can’t do cagey.
It’s not in their DNA to do cagey and that’s why I invariably say that the best thing about Manchester United is that they always come to play, home and away. When Sir Alex does tactics, it’s usually a horror show and I look through my fingers. And if I don’t like what I half-see, I hide behind the sofa.
What we saw in the Nou Camp was an attacking team that tried to defend and thereby allowed Barcelona to have the ball. If you play a pass-and-move team like Arsenal or Barcelona, you have to deny them the ball because that breaks up their rhythm and flow. If you let them have 65% possession, you will struggle.
On Saturday at Chelsea, Sir Alex had a very bad day at the office and the score was Ballack 2 SAF 0.
Basically, he picked the wrong teams at the Nou Camp and Stamford Bridge and so he drew 0-0 and lost 2-1.
Rooney carried an injury to Chelsea, where Giggs should never have played, and where Avram Grant wisely went with Mikel, the big young bruiser, rather than Makelele, the tiny old assassin.
It was United’s biggest game because winning would clinch the title. But Sir left out Cristiano Ronaldo for a game that he himself said was ” unquestionably the biggest game of the season.”
We have seen half a game between Barcelona and Manchester United.
Tonight we see the other half and I can’t wait. When Rooney went off with a groin strain after scoring the equaliser at Chelsea, it looked like something you might recover from in five or six days. He did not train on Monday and he will not have a pain-killer. His absence would put a helluva lot of pressure on Ronaldo to deliver, following his early penalty miss in the first leg
My view is that this Barcelona is a shadow of the team that played Arsenal in Paris in 2006. In fact, it’s a photocopy of a shadow of the team that played Arsenal in that final. But Barcelona have experience and might remember who they used to be.
Tonight Frank Rijkaard will say to his team : Don’t defend the box ! Get the ball and keep it and keep it and keep it- and then score a goal. Don’t sit back, don’t defend deep and let them pound you !
Messi is magic, Xavi is busy, Deco is tenacious, Zambrotta is superb, Yaya Toure has been carrying a hernia injury and a calf injury all season, Puyol is a slow old warrior now.
SO ATTACK THEM DOWN THE MIDDLE !
IN A NUTSHELL : The most penetrating line of attack that Manchester United have is quick ball from Anderson to Tevez, who plays it to a running Ronaldo or Rooney. That is Momentum United and Momentum United win games. Tactical United don’t.
Myself, I don’t think a team in decline can win the European Cup.
Sir has made a lot of basic errors lately, so I’m hoping he doesn’t blow it again. I reckon Rio and Vidic can restrict Eto’o to shots from unfavourable angles or from distance. He won’t play Ryan Giggs or Darren Fletcher, will he ?
On Monday morning I walked round the corner to buy my Guardian and I saw John, my Gooner greengrocer. He whispered, so I knew it was one of those don’t-tell-the-wife bets.
“I fancy over two and arf goals, Derby-Arsenal. Six grand to win four. Whaddya reckon? I think Derby might score but I don’t care.”
John has bottle and sometimes I talk him out of his riskiest gambles.
“Good bet ! Ever since Derby lost 4-0 at Spurs I said they’re the worst Premiership team ever. And I’ve been proved right on that.”
Arsenal won 6-2 to guarantee third place.
But third is nowhere.This squad may be the weakest Arsene has had since he arrived in 1996 . He must somehow acquire four more players as good as Sagna. But how can he do that for only £25 million?
Have you seen the new Guy Ritchie Nike commercial ?
Players dressed up as cowboys and indians? It’s garbage. It is really, really embarrassing garbage. I’ve never regretted leaving the ad industry but when I saw it, I thought, “I could direct a better football commercial than this, even now ! I’ve got camcorder home movies that are livelier than this !”