Barcelona 2-0 Man Utd.
Kudos to Barca. They were the much better team.
United started off brightly, and had maybe 3 goal-scoring chances in the first 10 mins with Barca uncharacteristically looking subdued and nervous. United fans were singing, Barca's were quiet. Cristiano Ronaldo looked to be a man on a mission, him alone causing all the trouble for Barca. However, against the run-of-play, Barca countered, scored with their first attack, and after that, it was all one-way in Barca's favour. The first goal was disappointing, with Anderson, Carrick, Vidic and Van Der Sar to be blamed. Anderson didn't close Iniesta down, Carrick allowed Iniesta to get past him, Vidic was outmanoeuvered far too easily by Eto'o, and a keeper of VDS's experience really shouldn't have been beaten on his near post.
The 2nd goal was also disappointing because Messi, probably the smallest man on the pitch,was left alone in the penalty box to score a looping header over VDS. I blame Rio Ferdinand and John O' Shea for this one, Ferdinand for not being aware of Messi behind him, and JO'S for having Messi in full view yet not doing anything about it. And the fact that both goals came at crucial times, Eto'o to stun United as early as the 10th min, and Messi to seal the game in the 70th min just as United looked to stage a fightback.
Tactically, United were unsound. The whole point of putting Rooney on the left wing was to help Patrice Evra track down Messi's marauding runs. Rooney of course, being able (and willing) to put in the hard miles of tracking back that Cristiano Ronaldo never will. However, once it became clear that Messi was dropping more into centre midfield, Rooney was left redundant and ineffective on the left wing. At this point Rooney really should be pushed upfront into his natural centre-forward position, and Ronaldo pulled back on the wings to exploit Barca's weakened defence. Paul Scholes should have been brought in earlier, him just being about the only United midfield player able to match Barca for radar-guided passes. In Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, Barca had about 2 younger versions of Paul Scholes, and that is simply unstoppable for ANY team.
Ultimately though, the fight and steely determination that characterizes Man United was simply absent this morning. No one fought to close down Barca and pressure them into making mistakes. Tactically, United are more flexible, they have much more options. United could have adopted the 'Whatever you score, we'll score one more goal than you' approach that served them so well in the 1990s, and defended from the front, with the strikers the first to close down Barca's defenders. After all, United have always believed that attack is the best form of defence. Or they could have done as they did against Barca in last year's semi-final, by soaking up all the pressure, piling up their defence and hitting them with the sucker-punch on the counter-attack. This morning, they were neither here nor there. United neither closed down Barca, nor tightened up their defence. Barca had only a Plan A, and no Plan B, for they only know how to play short, passing football. Had that been neutralized, United were on to something. But who needs a Plan B when you can execute Plan A so beautifully as Barca did?
Man-for-man, I believe United's players are much fitter, having been accustomed to the power and pace of English football week-in, week-out. But with Barca stroking the ball around so masterfully, United were left chasing the ball 70% of the time, and when all you do is chase the ball around all day, when you DO gain possession, you're too tired to do anything decent with the ball as your concentration falters. That explains why Man Utd gave the ball away so cheaply away last night in possession. From Rooney, Ronaldo, Carrick, Giggs, Anderson, Park... none of them could even string a few decent passes together.
Barca gave a masterclass of brilliant technical football. I've always believed that the hardest thing to do in football is not the fanciful tricks, but the ability to makes long passes with the ball on the ground. It's easy to pump long balls up high, but to make that ball travel on the ground while covering the same distance consistently requires supreme technical ability. And technical brilliance is something Barca excel in.
At then end of the day, as a fervent United supporter, I have to hold my hands up high and say the better team won. It was not even a match for the neutrals, with the game being so one-sided. I expected United to at least make a game of it, and give Barca something to worry about, but United didn't turn up today. They might as well not have turned up physically in Rome and let Barca win on the walk-over. At the very least, it's not a shame to lose to such a brilliant team. At least it wasn't Real Madrid.
Here's to next season.
Key:
Red - Manchester United
Purple - FC Barcelona
Green - United player
Yellow - Barcelona player
Cyan - Key points
White - Really Bad Team.
Team Cockup Habis with our 3rd place medals
Team Cockup Habis Official Team Photo
Posing with our 3rd place medals
My luminous lime green outfit was chosen to honour one of my goalkeeping heroes as a young boy, Mexico's legendary flamboyant keeper, Jorge Campos =)
Team Cockup Habis Official Team Photo
Posing with our 3rd place medals
My luminous lime green outfit was chosen to honour one of my goalkeeping heroes as a young boy, Mexico's legendary flamboyant keeper, Jorge Campos =)
.JPG)
