May 28
United Sleepwalk to Defeat
There’s been this nagging feeling at the back of my head; the press had built up United to be a monster that would just walk all over Barcelona. Even many fans were disturbingly over confident over our chances. Surprisingly, a good number of English non-United fans were also fairly confident of United’s chances.
With all the hubris surrounding the game and United in particular, there was one thought in my head: everyone is building this up with a chance of a spectacular fall lying in wait. That was a thought more due to my cynicism over any unduly gushing praise; even cockiness over a side that have been demolishing everyone left, right and centre — scoring well over 100 goals this season.
One may say this is hindsight talking, but I mentioned this prior to the match. I knew we were perfectly capable of beating Barcelona on our day, but I was also perfectly aware that it was foolishness to expect United would just walk all over them.
The first 10 minutes however, gave me the hope that United were really up for this and it could be our night. Ronaldo was in his elements, out to prove a point. And despite all the media shenanigans over the best player in the world, he was among the few players to emerge out of the match with any credit.
Samuel Eto’o's goal came, as they say, entirely against the run of play. There was no indication till then of Barcelona ever coming close to the ball till that instant. More shocking was the ease with which Eto’o turned Vidic, and whilst EVDS could have done better at his near post, the damage was done.
United were shell shocked, visibly, and chased shadows for the rest of the game. There is nothing else to say about this really. Ideally, my match report should end here. Full stop.
But it won’t, because I have to waffle a little longer because of the occasion. So, waffle, I shall.
There was a debate about Guardiola being a better coach than Ferguson. It’s hard to make that argument because of the gulf in experience and achievements between the two managers. But today, it looked like Barcelona were well coached and prepared for the occasion once they got their goals. The Barcelona coach was on the touchline belching out instructions even when they were ahead, and he was quick to spot moments of indiscretion from his wards — although they were few and far between.
It’s also hard to say that Ferguson got his tactics wrong. I think he put out the side everyone predicted. It could be said that Fletcher was missed, but I’ll again chalk this down to the first goal that knocked the wind out of the players. What was shocking was the lack of drive shown by the players to get their heads together, regroup and come back stronger. There was little fight, and only more frustration as Barcelona passed us to death.
Ferguson was absolutely right when he said we did little when we got the ball. Fletcher can help get the ball back for you, but when Carrick tried way too many Hollywood passes, and Rooney just got angrier and angrier, and Evra mishit everything after another foray, and Park fell down after being given the ball by Ronaldo (following much hard work by the Portuguese) there is little one can do but scratch heads vigourously.
So, how do I feel? I feel sick but in a strange way. I am not gutted by the defeat, as I would have had it been at the hands of Chelsea or Arsenal or Liverpool. But I still feel empty today. It was as if the day seemed blank. There is a weird curling feeling in the stomach, yet no grief.
We were extraordinarily poor today, and there is little disgrace in losing to an exceptional side. I only wished we gave them a bit more fight than we did today.
*
The obvious fan reaction will call for heads to roll, players to be sold etc. I’ll pass on that reaction, because it belittles a season’s worth of work. Yes, we have obvious weaknesses, but so does every club. So I’ll spare my readers my rant on which player needs to be sold or who needs to be dropped. I think I’ve either moved past that or can’t be too arsed to go through that ritual following a defeat. Doing that just feels like taking hindsight to the back of the truck and subjecting him to gross, even illegal, physical abuse.
The time will come when we take stock of the season — and that will come over the next few days. So watch this space.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd 2-0 West Ham: United Sleepwalk Past Hammers
- Manchester United throw the last game of the season
- Four League Wins in a Row for United?
- Perez would ‘welcome’ Ronaldo — that’ll be £70m, thank you.
- United Visit Basel for Crunch Champions League Clash
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (541)
Stephen (485)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
WOW!!! I’m reading some intriguing stuff here… not just the usual defeat post-mortem but some complete 360′s with regards to some of our players. We had an off-day at the office, that was all!! We were naively set-up tactically and once they stunned us with that first goal, we just could not recover (Fergie included). It’s not because our players, who have proved without a doubt their outstanding quality all season, suddenly became shit. Jeez, from what i’m reading here, we should sell half of the squad that got us to the semi-final or further in every competition we entered this season??? Truly amazing stuff
I’m not saying we don’t need some issues addressed, yes we do, but only a few tweaks here and there and maybe one major addition. I believe Fergie will stick with this 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation for some time as it seems to be the formation most of the big and successful teams are employing ( Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal ), especially in Europe. If this is the case, I believe we just need Hargo back to partner Cazza in midfield. Fletch and Ando are more than capable back-ups. Upfront, I suggest we stick Rooney in the middle!! Either as the supporting striker in a 4-2-3-1 or the forward in a 4-3-3. This is not rocket science. We have seen what he has done in his career whenever he is played upfront or beter yet, paired with a striker. If tevez leaves, and I really want him to ( seen his latest comments? and we thought Ronnie was a twunt
); we should get a striker to complete the quartet of Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov, ?????. I would prefer Benzema as we know he can interchange between all the positions.
Our defence is perfect, wouldn’t alter it one bit. Foster should be played all through the pre-season schedule to see if he can consistently perform at a high standard without injury or major lapses in concentration. Most importantly, I really hope this one loss would not put a grey cloud over what has been a truly great season for the club. I mean, four amazing trophies and within sniffing distance of the other three. The fans, players and everyone else should recognise that.
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@Gabriel: Surely this stuff does nor surprise you? We should take one of these articles and stick it on the dressing room at Old Trafford.
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I am still reeling from defeat. The truth is we never really learnt our lesson from Milan. At Milan we got unstuck because Carrick is lightweight and we do not have a Makele/Essien/Keane type to break up play. So Barca went through our midfield like a knife through butter.
To be fair Barca got their tactics right playing Messi as a support striker. That messed us up because with Park and Rooney on the wings we were set up to neutralise Messi out wide so he destroyed us through the middle the same way Kaka did for Milan. Also Barcas defence was way better than ours which amazed me.
Really we thought we could destroy them like we destroyed Arsenal and Inter. But Barca are a class above those teams and we should have focused more on neutralising them and hoped for a wonder goal a la Scholes last year. Putting Tevez on for Anderson was suicide. But we just didn’t have any midfielders on the bench. We needed after the break to gain some control over the midfield, get more possession and carve out a few chances to give us a hope of getting to extra time. Instead Barca were able to dominate possession 2nd half and Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney were bystanders.
What I would have given to have had Hargreaves to mark Messi out of the game. But even then Carrick and Anderson wouldn’t have dealt with Iniesta and Xavi. Chelsea always had a better chance of beating Barca because although they are crap out wide, they have a strong centre with Essien, Ballack, Lampard.
We are a seriously unbalanced team. Our central midfield is average, our central defence is (usually) superb, our fullbacks are a bit lightweight (if I was Fergie id have thrown Brown into the mix or at least Evans because Rio and Vidic just looked sluggish out there). We have one amazing winger who we have to use as a striker because he is the only player who can put the ball in the back of the net. Our other winger of choice this season offers nothing offensively and while he regularly plays out of his skin today he just looked average. We have never been able to find a way to get the most out of Rooney and he still doesn’t score enough for a striker which is a problem because aside from Ronaldo no-one else can seem to score.
This is my prescription:
Buy Valencia on the cheap. Anything more than 15 million do not bother. He is physical, good offensively AND defensively. Ribery would be nice but we have more pressing concerns up front and in central midfield.
Buy a proper striker to play alongside either Rooney OR Berbatov. Both Rooney and Berbatov need a proper striker alongside them. Rooney and Berbatov doesn’t make a good partnership. I cannot think of anyone in particular but Benzema may be as good as anyone.
Buy another midfielder. We cannot rely on Hargreaves and Anderson should be a squad rotation player not starting in the final against the best central midfield in the world. While a creative midfielder would be nice I think we really need some steel in midfield. I want Hargreaves, Carrick and ANOTHER to be our first choice midfield, with Fletcher and Ando as BACKUP. Again names escape me but I think we missed a trick not buying Senna three years ago. Unfortunatey he is too old now.
To raise funds, first don’t buy Tevez, secondly sell Nani, thirdly sell Campbell (he is promising but we need a striker who can score 20 goals a season RIGHT NOW to take the pressure off Ronaldo) and if we can get £10-15 million for Evra Id take it! O’Shea can fill in at left back until Fabio is ready and Brown can resume service at right back.
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@Traverse: exactly! He really thinks hes that good, the stupid moronic twat thinks hes the best player at united, fucking park and evra(2 other annoying shitty players) seem to think this also. Fuck me, im done with the 3 of them, they think they’re above united, tevez would struggle in the stoke team, park isnt a good enough winger for hull, and evra is as over-rated as abidal, he has the control of a drunk man, and the crossing ability on par with park. Hes not even a great tackler, hes the skinned sausage!
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@Gabriel: Agree, major changes are not needed and to be honest i dont think everyone on here has been calling for a complete over haul but we have to be honest, there are a few players here that do need to be shown the door so we can bring in 2/3 more players.
In my opinion neville, scholes and giggs are well and truly finished. Im sorry they are legends and all but should they be kept because of this. Neville in my opinion is behind brown, rafael, even oshea, is it worth it having him as a 4th choice RB, im actually surprised by neville, infact all of them wanting to continue even though you would have thought they would realise most of their performances have been below par and what is expected at this club.
Scholes will do a job for the likes of the wigans at home and the teams who basically come to us and sit back all game. For away games though he gets people in his face and hes not the right pick for these kinds of games, so in my opinion say 10 games a season is all hes good for and is it worth having him for that? I hope the stoke rumours are true with him cos i think it would be best.
Giggs has won the PFA award this season and most people would say hes done excellent this season, he hasnt been excellent hes been ok imo. The guy still has a bit to offer, but as a sub player. When i look back and see that he was picked in the arsenal games, liverpool at anfield, chelsea at home (fair play he had a good game there) and against barca i cant help but feel in these big games hes not the right choice. Apart from the chelsea game i cant remember a good performance against one of the top teams, what im saying is 30 odd games here and there is fine against the little teams but he should be no where the teams like barca and chelsea and the game on wednesday proved this.
Also out needs to be kuszcak, park and a few of the players like simpsons, gibsons etc. That sounds alot of players out but its mostly squad players, the first team would be very much the same. Tevez out for benzema, a top quality central midfielder and we would be sorted. Of course if ronaldo goes we need a few more replacements but looking at it with ronaldo staying the squad would be unchanged really looking like this:
FOSTER OR EDWIN
BROWN/RAFAEL RIO VIDIC EVRA
CARRICK HARGREAVES NEW SIGNING
RONALDO BENZEMA ROONEY
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@edwin: Mate, I wouldn’t mind the articles, but some of the comments are hilarious at best. Like I said, we just had an off day. We started confidently and we were stunned with a killer goal. What I believe was our undoing on wednesday night was the lack of that strict, rigid shape we have employed all season. It’s like Fergie told them to go out and turn on the style, thinking our defence would keep out the strikers and our midfied trio would stifle theirs. Where was our usual shape?? Evra was caught in no man’s land for both of the goals, no one was tracking Messi for the second… it was truly amazing stuff. Fergie’s substitutions were not much better either. I mean, how did Giggs manage to last that long on the pitch? And why wasn’t a possesion player like Scholes or Berbatov introduced sooner seeing as we needed to keep the ball a little bit more?
We picked the wrong day to leave our footballing brain, courage and ethos back in Manchester. Why Fergie abandoned the style of footy that got us this far in the competition is beyond me!! (On a side note, I believe Carrick needs to be tested for drugs after every match. Yes, he doesn’t look the type, slow and unergetic, but that is because the lad must be on Valium!! Nobody is that lead-footed and languid, not even Berbatov)
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Scholes to Stoke??!
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_5353740,00.html
I say celebrate his legacy and give him the coaching job .. Did he have his testimonial?
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@Matt: simpson might leave, gibson wont, im sure of that.
Another striker that popped up in my head is aguero, he would do the business, but might be more expensive the benzema. Also villa is an option, we could get him for £30mil, valencia need the money.
To be honest, i think saf will stick with nani and give him more of a role next season, the same way he did with park last season.
Neville needs to retire, end off. Scholes can become a player coach HERE instead off at sunderland. Thats a semi-retirement i guess.
Giggs, back up, only back up, should never be considered when the likes of anderson, fletcher , hargreavs and carrick are all fit.
I really think this could be a big summer for us!
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@NicoQB: That site isnt known as ABU365 for nothing mate. Scholesy would never do that.
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With Tevez on the leave and rumours about Park’s future, will that lead to Evra’s miscontent if it happens that his two buddies are off?
I would love it if we could get the Evra of 2007 back, but this season he’s not been exactly sound…
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@Dan: Do you really think that? I seriously believe it could be our quietest summer for a while, with very little commings and goings.
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@edwin: there is a lttle momentum to that storey, but find it hard to believe that it, you are right about ABU365.
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@edwin: Its not F365, they are just reporting the Daily Mail.
In any case I always felt that F365 is fair and balanced to all teams when it has to diss Epl teams. Their mailbox is infamous for its legions of paranoiac mersysiders…
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@NicoQB: It also states that Citeh and the Dippers have agreed the fee with Tevez’s advisers with regards to his transfer, so we will wait and see.
RIPOSA IN PACE 39 BIANCONERI.
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@Dan: I really dont rate gibson at all, fair play he has an excellent shot on him and hes not the worst player ive ever seen but in my mind there is absolutely no way he is united quality at all.
A player we have i do rate is young possebon, i know im only basing it on reserve football but i honeslty believe given a couple of games next year and a bit of time he could be a quality player for us.
Just the way he stands, the way he can find a pass so easily, this kid reminds me of scholes now, not a very attacking player but a guy who can spot a pass and deliver a precision pass to them, excellent stuff to watch, i prefer possebon over gibson any day.
As were on the topic of midfielder who do you all think we need more, a midfield general like a keane, or a more creative midfielder who can keep the ball and can score a few himself.
These midfield generals are pretty hard to come by, de rossi the stand out choice for me along with gattuso and senna but thats about it.
As for creative midfielders i guess you could throw arteta, hamsik, moutinho, fellaini (as someone mentioned) etc.
Im under the opinion a creative midfielder would be of more use, we have hargreaves and fletcher who can do the DM job, although hargo should be given a final season if his fitness was not to improve de rossi would be my choice for next season. I feel though we lack a genuine goal threat from our central midfield. Iniesta is an excellent passer and also gets a few goals a season too, if we had an iniesta, gerrard, lampard we would be unstoppable. Whilst i realise these players dont grow on trees there are players who have similar qualities.
Moutinho has been spoken about as being identical to scholes in his prime, but i dont think his goal record proves this and i havent seen much of him tbh. Arteta is a good player, good passing, excellent free kicks, and gets a few goals, would be a good choice, fellani the same but much more expensive.
Any others any1 can think of, i think this kind of player is needed badly. Try for benzema, forget valencia and go for someone like i mentioned or someone with similar qualitites. Gutted we didnt try for gourcoff cos he would have been quality here im sure of it.
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@Matt: im sorry, but the sooner we get rid of possebon the better, gibson is miles better then possebon, and the only thing that lad has going for him is the fact hes brazilian, playing for italy. Trust me mate, hes shite.
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@Matt: A lot does stem from if Hargo comes back to his best, if he does then the midfield enforcer is there, and if we play 4-4-2 then he and Carrick are fine I suppose. The issue is if we play 4-3-3 then we need a top class creative player who can chip in with goals and they are hard and expensive to come by.
I am worried about Hargo I really hope he comes back to full fitness but there is a lingering doubt in my mind that he won’t, but I am keeping my fingers crossed.
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@Dan: You really think so, well ok mate im appreciate your opinion but i wouldnt agree with that. Gibson does have a few good qualities, he not a bad tackler, and has a good shot, his passing isnt bad but for me i dont like his positioning.
Playing in the CM position your positioning has to be spot on and when ive seen him he always seems to be in the wrong place, when the opposition are pressing forward hes nowhere to be seen. I dont know maybe its just me that notices that but it was one of the things that i saw about him and i didnt like.
I admit though what ive seen of possebon he seems to have gone backwards a bit after that pogatetz foul on him but i dont think we should get rid. In my opinion he has everything gibson has plus more, better passing, great shots, not sure about his tackling but i wouldnt say possebon is worse than gibson. Maybe cos gibson has had more 1st team chances than possebon i dont know, but i hope to see possebon given the chance gibson was before we ever considered getting rid.
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@Stephen: What do you think of danielle de rossi, in my opinion he is the man i would break the bank for if hargo didnt recover from his injury. I will given hargo another season but you have to say anything less than 25/30 games next season from him and we should cut our losses and break the bank for de rossi, he is a bloody monster, reminds me of roy keane the more i watch him imo.
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@Matt: I would love him mate, he is hard and can use the bsll well, I was at the 7-1 game and he was there only ray of sunshine in the game and scored a great goal, but he is ROma through and through.
We need a nasty player and he would be ideal, I have already previous brough up Flamani as a cheaper option, simply because of the fact that he is very realistic and would not cost the earth.
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@Stephen: Flamini is or was being left out of the team for that jankulovski or who ever he is called, what the hell was ancelotti thinking there. Also i believe gattuso was out cos he had a bad injury, if gattuso was ever available i would snap him up in a minute.
As for de rossi, hes a very loyal player and his loyalty is admirable but roma have been struggling recently and maybe if they werent making enough progress he would consider joining us, maybe not.
Your right though hes a quality player and the goal in the 7-1 was pretty sensational. I wasnt there but i remember when that goal went in the united fans were applauding that cos it was so special. Good thing about him is he can also play as the CM, and ive seen him a few times even as the AM sort of role.
Maybe unrealistic but i would love him to join what a player.
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@Matt: Me too I think he is superb, Gattuso is good but he is 31 and Fergie doesn’t buy midfielders of that age another who falls in the 30′s catorgary and who I would love to see and would be a punt but is only 30 is Riquelme, but unrealistic I suppose.
Also I like Cambiasso, who is probably not gettable, if that is a word, but really I would like to see Hargo fully fit.
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@Matt: Agree with you there. I feel strange saying this but, aprt from scoring regularly, i don’t think Gibson does much.
Possebon, lest we forget, also has a good shot from distance and better technique on the ball.
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@Stephen: Just wondering from your point of view cos you seem like a guy with a lot of knowledge about the game, if you have the say £30 million budget what would you do?
Would you buy tevez, buy a replacement or give the kids a chance.
And if you were looking for a creative midfielder who exactly would you rate enough. The likes of artetas are good but i just look out there and dont see anyone, so im always interested to hear other peoples views.
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to be honest it upsets me when people say possbon is better then gibson, i honestly think its a latino Vs irish thing, people expect possebon to be better because of where the players are from. If gibsons name was gibinaldo and possebons nam was potters, then gibson would get the recognition he deserves.
Gibson is in a no win situation, i have no doubt in my mind hes better then potters.
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How can people say ‘get rid of Anderson’, but in the same breath ‘hold on to Gibson’. Even if Anderson never fulfill his potential, in this season (an off season for him), he is still miles better than Gibson (or even Possenbon). I’ve seen the 3 of them playing together and believe me, Anderson is way better than them (and younger too).
On another note, if Tevez cannot be kept happy with his role in the side, what would make us believe that Benzema will be?
I would like to propose a solution that is actually very inexpensive and easy to implement.
“Screw this Milanese football and play the Manchester United way”
We used to approach games (especially against Barca) of “we will score more goals than you”. We abandoned that approach. Barca didn’t. Guess what…Barca came up tops.
I think the lesson learnt from the final for Fergie should be “you don’t have to betray who you are to make your mark”.
Somehow I doubt he will learn that lesson because that would mean having to admit that you were wrong.
Sadly though, Think about it, we won the CS, CC, WCC, PL, ended up finalists in the CL and just about missed the FAcup final.
Added to this, we finally equalled Liverpool’s domestic record.
What exactly in this scenario will make Fergie or the Glazers believe that we need to change the team?
Realistically, I don’t foresee much changes really (neither signings, nor tactics).
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@Matt: i would buy ribery with that £30mil, and give welbeck and macheda extended runs in the team.
Id also sell the likes off park and evra, to raise funds and buy lahm.
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Jesus you really know when the summers coming cos these bloody ronaldo rumours go full swing. Just heard that muppet perez guy saying they have an agreement in place which will cost £80m. If im honest im sick of this crap and i really have grown tired of it. £80million would buy us 4/5 top quality players so if im honest and this comes true i aint over concerned. Ronaldos a great player but if he wants to go he should.
The team should be built around rooney anyway and if ronaldo was to leave we could start to do that.
Buy ribery, get a world class CM, benzema and were sorted.
Feel a little sorry for madrid though, they dont live in the real world. According to that idiot perez they want ronaldo and kaka, god hope they have £150m then, idiots.
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@Dan: Wow your tevez hate has completely consumed you. If you ignore the headline and actually read his quotes, it’s not bad at all. He just questioned the tactics just like ronaldo and most fans for that matter. You are way over reacting. I can’t help but wonder if tevez would have gotten to the ball when valdez spilled ronaldos freekick. Tevez is far from being a clinical finisher but he has a knack for scoring scrappy goals like that.
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@Dan: I disagree about the Gibson being hurt cause he is Irish, I think it’s the opposite. For the most part, players from the UK are usually over hyped and over inflated. Ask yourself this question. If Gibson was American would he be in the team?
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@Gabriel: Great teams are judged by what they do and how they perform on the big day, not the whole season. Two years ago in America an undefeated 16-0 New England Patriots team went into the Super Bowl against a rag tag bunch of overachieving misfits known as the New York Giants who barely got into the playoffs with a 10-6 record. They went on to win three playoff games against better clubs and then shocked the world by beating the seemingly invincible Patriots 17-14.
The Patriots weren’t just undefeated. They had broken NFL record for most points scored, most touchdowns and their star quarterback Tom Brady broke several major NFL passing records. So how could this happen? There is not reason that is logical other than the team took the other one lightly and was not mentally prepared for the game. What’s surprising about that is that New England wasn’t some newbie in the Super Bowl scene. They had won three previous games over the past seven seasons.
My point to all this is nothing is ever written in stone and there are no assurances when playing sports. The other thing learned from this is what you do the whole year means jack shit when you lose the big game. In twenty years from now nobody remembers who lost the Super Bowl or the CL final. They only remember the winner and so this old saying does come into effect when we speak of Manchester United. “What have you done for us lately?” To all those who say that we just had a bad day, I say blow out your ass. We choked on the big day and played like assholes. We were worthy losers and chumps. We couldn’t even win the Premier League title with any real class or style having to back end our way to celebrations with a 0-0 tie at home to a demoralized Arsenal.
To say I am down on this team is a major understatement. Part of me says get over it and stop panicking. The other part of me says that in order to beat Barcelona and recapture European glory, major changes and housecleaning have to be made. But what are Fergie and Gill going to provide us. Stubborn and stoic resolve with a don little attitude as they calmly go on their holidays and let the world collapse around them like they did last year.
Already the noise has become. To Hell with Tevez,let him go, but Ronaldo and Madrid have already started their campaign of rumors and disinformation. Already we have to read and listen to Florentino Perez claim that he is buying Kaka, Ribery and Ronaldo and that Ronaldo is furious with Fergie and wants out. Already we have to be subjected to this bull shit and garbage and rather than put an end to all of this crap, Fergie and Gill will do nothing for God knows how long while we poor bastards who pay their salaries stew in our own juices wondering not only if we will lose Ronaldo, but if there will be anyone left to buy after he is sold. United has a manner of dragging it’s ass in off season business that really irritates me to know end.
Yes it’s been a long tiring season but their is no Euros or World Cup this year and there is also plenty of time to take a long vacation. Get the business of buying and selling players out of the way now, before you go on holidays. For once make the off season anything but a bloody hell for your loyal supporters all over the world. I do not and will no tolerate a month of will Ronaldo go or will he not. I don’t care if he goes, just make it happen now rather than later. And make sure that if he goes, either Kaka or Ribery are coming to OT.
Now that Barca are kings, Real Madrid will be more bent out of shape than ever. They may break the bank and sell the King of Spain’s jewels to fund a new Galacticos revolution. And what are we going to do while this is happening? Sun ourselves in the South France like last year Fergie. If you are too damned old and you can’t put in the overtime to right the ship right frakken now. RETIRE and sun yourself until your last days. I want action and I want it right frakken now. I’m so tired of the procrastinating and stalling and all that bullshit. Either sell Ronaldo or issue a warning to him to put a fucking sock in it right now. I am not relishing another Summer of the Sun and Marca cavalcade of bull shit taking up all our time and patience.
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@NicoQB: I hope he goes because he clearly isn’t good enough anymore to play for us. Greatly respect him but was never a major convert of the Ginger Ninja. Still, I’d like to see him do well but I just don’t see him as a manager or coach. This guy is shy as Heck and is afraid of hi9s own shadow. Hardly the temperament or personality one can see becoming a successful manager. I bet you his wife wears the pants in the family too. Still, I could be wrong and I do wish him well. I have a feeling though that he may turn this offer down. He is after all, United through and through.
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@Stephen: Go read the online papers mate. The shit storm has already begun, especially for Ronaldo and those pricks over at Real Madrid.
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@Matt: I agree with you about Possebon but I wouldn’t cancel out Gibson quite yet. I think the lad has great tools and with experience he will get better. Remember he and Possebon are still very young and so too much should not be expected or projected of them quite yet.
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@Stephen: Even if Hargo comes back, we still need another game defining take charge midfielder. I mean forget Iniesta and Xavi for a second. Barcelona doesn’t have one, not two, but three quality DMF’s. Busquets, Keita and Yaya Toure are all great and only one of them can play per game. That’s depth in a pivotal role. If Hargo goes down next season, who takes over for him without giving United the same old look that got them thrashed in the CL final? Who? We need to buy another great midfielder who is box to box and who is also known for his pace. We are far too slow in the center of midfield and we need to get somebody who can cover distances and move quickly
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@Matt: I’d break the bank for him even if Hargo does recover. Problem is, I don’t see him leaving Roma.
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@Matt: The problem with Flamini is I find him slow and he is also ex Arse. I want nobody whi is ex Arse.
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@Grognard: It is going to be a long summer…………
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@Matt: Tevez I would never buy, because he is a full of himself GOBSHITE. His claim of today, is that the loss was down to Fergie and wrong tactics. He said United would of won if they had played him from the beginning
. Sure they would Tevez, and you proved that when you came on and did shite all didn’t you!
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@Dan: Possebon is better on the ball and has far more composure on the ball than Gibson. Gibson has the shot because everyone has seen it. Then you must admit that so does Possebon because you watch reserve games. They are both good and I wouldn’t slag one over the other. Lets promote both of them and be glad we have both of them. Hopefully they will both pan out for us in the end.
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@Matt: Mate I know very little about football but like everyone I have an opinion
I would not sign Tevez, I would try and buy Arteta, he has Premiership experience, a good passer and can chip in with goals also. Ribery has pretty much signed for Real so that is out of the question, personally I would love De Rossi but that could be just a dream.
I would love simply to Macheda, Welbeck, Anderson, Gibson, Possebon, The Twins ect a chance to prove themselves Barca had seven players start against us and with a level of loyality to the club players tend to perform.
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@Craig Mc: Exactly! the stupid prat talks to much and thinks hes the next maradona!
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@Karl: How can one say it? Easily mate, read carefully. GET RID OF ANDERSON, HE IS A USELESS AND TALENTLESS GIT.
Hows that? And further more Possebon and Gibson have more raw talent than Anderson who other than his ability to dribble at pace and protect the ball with his fat ass, is incapable of doing anything else constructive on the pitch. Especially against big clubs where he is exposed for the overrated fraud that he is. Fuck Anderson. I’m sick at the site of him and would love him well away from United and England for that matter so I never have to see him and his ugly hairdo again.
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@Grognard: How long do we have to keep shouting this before somebody at OT GETS IT Grog
. Fergie has to forget Nev, Giggsy and Scholesy NOW. No more sentimentalism, just ruthless cutting of a squad. Thise 3 players have served United so well, and we will always love them for it, but they have had their time and day. Giggsy is already talking about playing and winning everything next season again, doesn’t he realise that he played total shite, and gives the ball away far too much. Times up Giggsy. But probably lots of Giggsy fans will not appreciate these comments 
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@Grognard: Hes better then marin
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@Karl: It doesn’t matter what style of football we played on Wednesday night mate, we would have lost. Unlike many who think it was our tactics that made us lose, I counter and disagree 100%. It was not a tactical loss, it was a loss caused my a players malaise and loss of confidence and courage. As soon as we gave up the first goal, the team went into a panic and immediately hung their heads collectively. Up to that moment Barca were scared at the sight of us and for ten minutes never even crossed midfield. Once they broke us down for the first goal, their fear went away, their confidence and swagger came back and being up one goal, they were able to now play their typical ball control keep away game. We on the other hand had nobody to combat their center midfielders in both class and pace and that is where we were exposed and where we lost.
Not having an answer for Xavi and Iniesta and not having the skill and the smarts to exploit Sylvinho was a telling problem. God knows Park wasn’t going to embarrass Sylvinho. Instead we concentrated on Puyols who to his credit played the game of his life. Sure there were errors in our tactics, but only because we never had the players to change the tactics to serve our way of playing. And all because our depth in center midfield was awful and because the players as a team, just didn’t show up for the biggest game of their lives. In theory, the very same tactics we used against Arsenal should have worked against Barcelona. The reason they didn’t is quite obvious. Barcelona are a cut above Arsenal in class and Man United is also a cut below Barcelona in class. The truth hurts.
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@Craig Mc: He wasn’t the only one on Wednesdat mate.
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@Matt: Ribery is a great player mate but he isnot the answer believe me. Look at the Bayern Munich roster. They have great player in the their back four, quality wide players and were three deep in world class striker but were humiliated by Barcelona. Why? Because like us, Bayern are only average in the center of midfield. The European game is not won with wingers and won wide. It’s a continental game of slow short passing buildup up the middle. Teams with strong central midfielders will usually dominate. Look at only one team that was able to handle and tame Barcelona and you will see a team that has no wide players of any quality but who are stacked with world class central midfielders. I am talking about Chelsea. They have Essien, Ballack and Lampard and even Mikel. And we know how thoroughly they handled Iniesta and Xavi for two full games while getting royally screwed by a referee who was out of his depths.
Chelsea is the blueprint on how to become Europe’s best. Strengthen the center of the park. Not with just Hargo and Fletcher but buy buying a world class DMF or talisman who can orchestrate and run the club from that position. We need a Roy Keane or Bryan Robson badly. Otherwise we are going to continually meet up with this problem unless somebody does us a favor and eliminates Barca.
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@Craig Mc: How is Giggs supposed to realize the game is up when the clowns vote him PFA player of the year? Giggs can still offer up a lot as a sub but as for Scholes and Neville, retire already. And what really pisses me off about Neville is his lack of class and true leadership. He should have given up the captain’s armband last season and placed it on a worthy successor rather than hang onto something he doesn’t deserve or warrant anymore. Selfish and greedy is what I say about your beloved Red Nev.
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@Gabriel: If you think Evra is PERFECT, specsavers is down the road Bro
.
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