Stoke v Manchester City will be a different FA Cup Final.
Fun for their fans and refreshing for everybody else.
What we saw in Saturday\’s semi-final is that Yaya Toure can be a matchwinner.
Used as a holding midfielder at Barcelona, he was way down the pecking order. Busquets replaced him, so he got sold.
Now Roberto Mancini has given Yaya an attacking role where he can use his power to break through defences. He can be a game-breaker, a goal-maker, a goalscorer.
Why was he so dangerous on Saturday, so powerful, so dominating? Because he was playing against Carrick and Scholes? Yes, but also because Carlos Tevez was missing.
The absence of the Tevez allowed the presence of Toure, gave the big man the opportunity to take charge and win the game. In football, you can only play a bigger role if others play a smaller role.
If your captain is a stocky little striker who demands every ball, and he’s also your main goalscorer, then you might have a problem. Tevez hogs the middle, hogs the penalty area, hogs the ball, performs small miracles with tiny steps and colossal determination. He wants everybody to knows he’s the main man.
Without Tevez, the penalty area was a vacant lot, so when Toure anticipated a sloppy pass by Carrick, he was able to explode beyond Vidic and score the only goal of the game.
After about half an hour I thought : United are missing Rooney in midfield !! Without Rooney’s belligerent energy, his physical presence, his 30-yard passes, his ability to vary the play, United became dire after the half hour, after Berbatov missed two early chances.
The format simply didn’t work because Valencia and Nani were unable to get the ball in the right areas/circumstances. It’s all about where and how the wingers get the ball, and what the support is, what the movement is.
Crucially, United never got at City’s fullbacks. Right back Zabaleta was off the pace and Kolarov should have been turned inside out. But he never was.
At his best, Tevez was a one-man army but it’s time to let him go.
At 27, he’s an injury-prone mercenary who doesn’t want to be there. Since he handed in a transfer request in January, Tevez has only scored one goal in open play.
Sir Alex isn\’t too bothered. He was keeping Giggs and Hernandez for more important games.
The FA Cup Final?
As Dave Sexton said in another century, it\’s a great day in the British way of life.
His 1970 final against Leeds went to a replay at Old Trafford.
Yes, the FA Cup Final is diminished now. But Stoke and Citeh fans won\’t care about that. They will agree with Dave.
City have won nothing since the League Cup in 1976. I was there that day but can\’t remember the goalscorers.
Chris Wright took a few of us to Wembley. Robert Plant was sitting quite near us but I didn\’t see him till Wolves scored and Percy jumped to his feet and went mental.
A big, big moment for Wolves fans. But they lost 2-1.