Lifestyle > Sports & Entertainment
Champions League Final Tonight: Manchester Utd - Barcelona
Elano:
http://www.youtube.com/v/si641o4iUJY
Meho:
a) Messi is way better than Ronaldo this year. Last year Ronaldo was the best, no doubt about that but to say that he's also the best this year is reaching. He was on and off this year and yeah he did score against Arsenal and Porto but that was from freekicks or long distance shots. Which were both crazy and he definetly got that game on lock but as far as everything else on the pitch he was pretty average.
b) Manchester was lucky to get to the final anyways. First real opponent they had in the whole CL and they got owned.
Episcop Cruel Cvrle:
what a bunch of retards, celebrating their teams win by demolishing other peoples proprety, instead of finding some good piece of ass so they can also score that night.
ps. they need to be sent to working camps to use they energy for sth positive.
Elano:
‘We lost to best team in the world,' says Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney praised Barcelona last night as the best team he has played against for club or country.
The Manchester United forward, who was once compared to Pelé by Sven-Göran Eriksson, the former England head coach, conceded that he has never been given such a footballing lesson and admitted that he was happy to defer to Andrés Iniesta as the best player in the world after the defeat by Barcelona.
"I've never played against a better team than this," Rooney said. "They're a brilliant team. Iniesta for me is the best player in the world, he's incredible. They're a great team, they pass the ball well and if you don't take your chances, they punish you, which is what they did tonight.
"It's disappointing, but I thought Barcelona were the better team and deserved to win. They scored a good goal early on and [lionel] Messi's was a great goal at a difficult time for us. We're still a young team and can come back, I hope."
Sir Alex Ferguson believed that the game was decided by Xavi Hernández and Iniesta rather than Messi, who underlined his status as favourite to win the Ballon d'Or by dominating his personal duel with Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Messi wasn't as much of a problem as Iniesta or Xavi," Ferguson said. "They can keep the ball all night long. This was our 66th game [of the season] and we showed resilience and courage. Next year we will be better. That's what this club demands."
Rio Ferdinand, who was dragged out of position for Messi's headed goal, conceded that none of his team-mates had performed close to their potential. "Not one of us can say we played well tonight," he said. "It's a shame. We created five or six chances, but they were the better team."
Did Sir Alex Ferguson get his tactics wrong?
It is difficult to question the tactics of a manager who has won more than thirty trophies, but it looks like Sir Alex Ferguson got it all wrong in Rome last night.
Chelsea - and United in the past - have proved that the best way to play against Barcelona is to be physical and strong. Give Barcelona time and space and they will destroy you.
For some reason, Ferguson decided to try and play Barcelona at their own game in the Stadio Olimpico and United's fate was sealed when Samuel Eto'o scored after only ten minutes.
To make matters worse, Ferguson gambled at half time by bringing on Carlos Tevez, switching his formation and making the game even more open.
United did not turn up last night. They did not compete. There was no passion. There was no fire. There was no spark.
Ferguson does not owe United anything but if he had taken Barcelona more seriously last night the result could have been very different.
Elano:
Wayne Rooney threat was wasted against Barcelona
Manchester United deserved what they got. If you cannot expose that vulnerable Barcelona back four with all the attacking talent at United's disposal in Rome, something is badly wrong.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side simply didn't gel. They underachieved from back to front. Cristiano Ronaldo was frustrated and no wonder. United cannot expect Ronaldo to win games for them single-handedly all the time. He needed others to chip in. But where was Wayne Rooney? Defending, mostly — one of the greatest attacking talents on the planet was modelling his game on Park Ji Sung.
Ferguson was understandably desperate to nullify Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, because you cannot allow them to take on defenders one on one. An early example of the danger came when Messi got half a yard on the defence and blasted narrowly over the bar.
So Rooney found himself doing defensive duties. He's more willing than most forwards to track back and help out — perhaps too enthusiastic. He struggled to get into the game and didn't offer enough up front. There are times when a player must ask for help from a team-mate and say: "You keep an eye on him, I've got to push forward." On such a big stage, United couldn't afford Rooney drifting in and out of the contest. He needs to learn to be braver.
There comes a point in a match, if your team are losing or you're anonymous, when you have to make your own mind up. Great players make great decisions. They don't need to rely on a manager telling them what to do on the touchline. Rooney should have placed less focus on his defensive duties early on, even if Ferguson hadn't given him permission to do so.
It was especially frustrating because Barcelona looked so vulnerable at the back. Carles Puyol was a red card-in-waiting if United had only run at him more often.
There was nothing fundamentally wrong with Ferguson's tactics — after all, United started strongly — but they were knocked out of their stride by Samuel Eto'o's goal and lost confidence, appearing to be panicked because they were looking to get rid of the ball too quickly at the back.
The main problem was that United stood off again and again. Without the suspended Darren Fletcher and the injured Owen Hargreaves, they did not have a protector to patrol the space and make tackles in front of the back four — the role that Michael Essien performed for Chelsea in the semi-final against Barcelona.
Still, it was strange after the terrific season that United have had for them to be showing an opponent so much respect. And bizarre that they did exactly what everyone knows you mustn't: give Barcelona's playmakers the time and space to pick their passes. United will look back on last night with huge regret.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version