ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Manchester City- Champions League Thoughts

Posted by Wallace Poulter on 05/28/2011

Watched the game, made some tea, kicked around the odd thought and I'm just not seeing the same game that apparently everyone else is.

The general consensus seems to be that this was a "classic" and that Barcelona were brilliant in out playing a United side that came to play. In whose universe? Barcelona were good, exceptional even, but United played afraid.

Now regular readers know I don't bash United just for the sake of it. While most of the pundits out there were writing off Old Purple Nose and his team this year, including some that said they'd finish outside the Champion League places, I was predicting that they'd win the league. I did so because United have a good team and a great squad that is built to win championships. They don't have the best starting 11 in the world, not even in the Premier League. But regardless United always come to play.

Except tonight. Certainly United harried, particularly in the middle of the field, but at no point did United play their game. Instead they reacted to the play of Barcelona. And in that they did a competent job in the first half even if there was a troubling inability to close down the overlapping Barcelona full backs. Rooney's goal was well taken and United were good value for the draw at half time, but only in that they had reacted to Barcelona's play. At no single point in the match did I think United were in control or even threatening to take control.

Yes of course, a significant amount of that is down to Barcelona controlling possession, but when United got the ball they did little with it and were generally wasteful. Were Nani and Scholes on the bench because of their temperament, because United missed Nani's wing play and Scholes passing ability and instead looked as if they all they were doing was trying to absorb the Barcelona pressure? There didn't seem to be a Plan B for when United had the ball.

Even at 1-1 United didn't look like they ever thought they could win, but rather accepted the "fact" that Barcelona were the better team. Honestly never thought I would see that from an Alex Ferguson side. City support aside, I recognize the ability of the United manager and it just didn't seem there tonight.

Meanwhile a note on referee Viktor Kassai... In a word, impressive. Not perfect, but he kept his cards in his pocket until later in the game and where most referees would have been inclined to stamp their authority on the game with early cards for so-so tackles the Hungarian resisted the temptation with an occasional strong word.

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Comments

Posted by Stan on 05/29/2011

You're spot on, Wallace....ManU looked terrified of being over-run, and were fortunate to go into halftime level. When Barca stepped up the pressure, ManU had no answer. For a squad loaded with midfielders, ManU looked bereft there. Carrick was once again exposed, and Valencia looked like his long layoff finally caught up with him --- though I'm sure that most of that was the result of Barca's quick, slick passing.

Wallace Reply Carrick seemed to give a reasonable effort, but I'm not sure what Valencia did all night.

Posted by perry on 05/29/2011

I don't think that United played a bad game, rather Barcelona exposed United. As you have said, united won the league because of their quality in depth. They do not have an intimidating 11 to field. Plus, I thought the ref let valencia get away with entirely too much during the first half.

Wallace Reply I'm going to disagree with you on the ref and Valencia. Given Barcelona's disgraceful performance against Madrid I thought the ref erred on the side of caution (or technically not! ha) in not giving Valencia a card.

Posted by Tim on 05/29/2011

Right on all points. Well said.

Posted by Dextersmart on 05/29/2011

I have always insisted that the fear factor plays an important role in soccer. The premiership sides always fear United especially at Old Trafford. Barca just went a long way to convince the world that United are not so classy. I predicted three consecutive losses in Wembley for United.

1, Man City beats United FA Cup Semi-Final

2. Barcelona Beats United Champions League Final

3. The CITIZENS beats United in the Community Shield match.

MANCINI'S MAN CITY A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN!

Posted by Thomas on 05/29/2011

U have made a few good points!But d problem was that united could not have played their natural attacking game against barca becoz if they had,they would have lost by 5 or 6 goals.Against barca,teams have 2 play a good & effective counter-attacking game to stand any chance.(eg:inter last year)But man utd tried 2 play a long ball counter-attacking game which was very ineffective yesterday & so they were never in control.To be fair to them,they did show enough grit yesterday and did not surrender like rome.

Wallace Reply The only issue I have with this is that if you are playing a long ball counter-attacking game then Scholes needs to play. Still one of the better long ball players in the game.

Posted by At the sound of the ticking clock on 05/29/2011

Given that Uniteds goal was offside, that was their only real contribution to the game. I think in a sense you are right, United were timid and even Taggart seemed to take defeat graciously which just goes to prove there is a first time for everything.

Rather than focus on the "history boys" though, I thought Barcelona played some superb football last night and how Valencia didn't get sent off will remain a mystery to me and no doubt countless others. Maybe the referee was just being chartable to poor old washed up United.

Messi was immense. Took everything that United (at times literally) threw at him and just got up and got on with it. As for his goal, hit with such power but he hardly broke stride to release the shot.

Posted by Cody on 05/29/2011

the weird thing is, I actually feel we (City) match up well against barcelona. I think our style of play or playing them like we play chelsea would work. Im not saying we'd win necessarily, but I think our structure and formation would make it difficult on barcelona to break us down and score

Wallace Reply Yes and no. I think de Jong, Barry and Yaya would frustrate Messi and prevent Barcelona coming through the middle. However, Barcelona's attacking full backs would certainly cause issues. But it's a good point

Posted by Ged on 05/29/2011

Three things:
1) Best team won by a country mile. A victory for the neutral, not just for Barca and us City fans.
2) United played with fear. 'Deer in the Headlights' springs to mind. After all the talk of Taggarts mastery of always finding a way...I think he sent them into last nights game to try and not get hammered. Look at the argument with Rooney during the first half. Usually he allows his big names to play with freedom, last night he'd his best players not to go out and play but to contain, so when one of them tried to play he got a rollicking.
3)Lots of cracks in the 'arogant' United armour showed tonight. I sense a sea-change. United and their manager rattled. Anyone else think Fergie time is ending? Maybe the noisy neighbours have been a bit noisier than he expected.

Wallace Reply I believe Mourinho has one more year at Madrid before he moves on. To where is the question... timing may be interesting.

Posted by Sam on 05/29/2011

Nice assessment of the match. Personally I am not one of these Barca boys who preach the joys of their game. I would much rather see a match between two teams going at it rather than one team control possession, slow the game down and often pass sideways or backwards, just me I suppose. That said Barca were all over Man U last night except for maybe the first ten minutes.
Once Barca settled Valencia, Carrick and Giggs all but disappeared from the game. Evra proved himself incapable of tracking players and generally they fell apart. Giggs showed he is no longer able to get back and defend, allowing Barca to run riot down his wing.
For me Fergie got hung up proving he could play attacking football against Barca rather than playing to win like Mou has successfully done against them. United have awesome counter attacking footballers but they were not set up to utilise them. Where were the slick one touch passes like in PL? At least Barca didnt get any gifts from the ref like in QF and SF.

Posted by JoeUSA on 05/29/2011

I agree with your analysis. The reason it was such a "classic" final is because the world got to see another superb Barca performance. United were only on top for the first 10 minutes, but it is a bit harsh to say that they played afraid because, as with all of Barca's opponents this season, they didn't have a chance to play at all. United were positive on the rare occasion when they won possession.

Also, the ref (though he had a great match) was too lenient with Valencia. Perhaps no one of his fouls warranted a yellow card before the one that got him the card, but he had already committed about 6 fouls before that. He had gotten his "last warning" about 3 times and deserved to be booked for persistent fouling.

Posted by AARON MARK HENDRIX on 05/29/2011

that barcelona would win was never in doubt.there's just no team at the moment who can cope with barca.any city fan who watched the game & thought 'we could do better' is delusional.fact is if the opposition & barca both play at 100%,barca would always win.United came out strong & barca were on the ropes for what,7-8mins..once they got to grips with their game,it was just a question of when & by how many.united though only have themselves to blame.that's 2finals where they didnt turn up against barca.macherano should have been attacked & exposed but without the ball there aint much to do.Anyone notice how barca had double the passes utd made throughout the game.utd have done brilliant to reach this final,but with this squad,or rather against barca,were never gonna win.not enough brlliance & matchwinners.only rooney had a game..

Posted by Alex on 05/29/2011

Who cares. Yes as a life long season ticket holder I was pleased manure got stuffed to be kind to them...but why oh why are so called city fans having a debate on it? Jesus.come on lads...Obsessed are some blues about united.Wish they were half obsessed about supporting our own team at home in cup ties etc and then not moan when they cant get a cup final ticket!!!

Posted by Andreas on 05/29/2011

I think that you were somewhat right, except on two points.

1. I think you were wrong to say that at no point did MANU dominate the game. I would say that in the first 15 minutes there was only one team on the field and that was ManU. Their inability to score in the opening ten minutes lost United the game.

2. The player who I thought was useless was Ryan Giggs. He was inept in defense and didn't contribute much to the offense.

Had the team been: Carrick, Fletcher Scoles in Mid, Valencia/Nani, Park (who was phenomenal) and Rooney, perhaps the game could have gone another way.

So I guess I agree that Fergie lost them the game...

Do you think playing Five in defense would help curb the overlapping runs of Dani Alves? Arsenal essentially used Rosicky and Nasri as their fullbacks at the Nou Camp with some effect (until that Fabregas backheel).

Wallace Reply Attack is the best form of defense I suspect in dealing with Barcelona's full backs.

Posted by James W. on 05/29/2011

Hey Wallace, was there any way United could have won? I think United lacked a real defensive midfielder that could at least try and stop the link-up play between Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi. I'm sure it didn't appeal Ferguson to see Valencia and Giggs "trying" to chase the ball on defense. Do you think a certain player could have made a difference for United?

Wallace Reply I can only presume that Scholes was considered too reckless to play the full 90 minutes. I'd have played Scholes, Fletcher and Park in the middle.

Posted by Brenden on 05/29/2011

I agree United played scared, which is something they're certainly not used to.For once their goonish play did them no good,their one offside goal was more brute than beautiful.
As far as City v Barca, if we are fortunate enough to play them in Europe things could get interesting. Hart, Kompany and DeJong would have as much to do with the outcome as Silva, Toure or Tevez (If the skipper stays.). I am a believer in the Mancinian style that is developing and if City's end of season form is any indication of where we're headed than happy days indeed. Who they bring in this summer is a huge unknown but definitely intriguing. Playing in the CL will make City an easy sell for someone great. United may be playing us scared next season.

Posted by Rome on 05/29/2011

Wallce, come on hurry up and tell us who you want to see at CITY next season?

Posted by Rome on 05/29/2011

CITY is the new BARCA (or hopefully will be in a couple of years time)

Wallace Reply The club has a long way to go before it even gets mentioned in the same sentence...

Posted by Mike on 05/30/2011

Barcelona's defense is unbelievable. I'm a Liverpool fan, so I was rooting against Man U, but by half time I was just hoping Man U would go ahead 2-1, so Barcelona wouldn't beat them like 6-1 and it would make it interesting, and maybe I even felt sorry for United. You can try and play long ball all you want, but it's 4 defenders against Chicharrito, not a great ratio. United would win the ball occasionally, but they would be swarmed, and Man U wouldn't know where to go, as they're not used to it, and it would bounce off their shin, or they'd step over wrong and lose it, the opposite of what they needed to do. I just think United weren't used to playing a team that will capitalize on every little mistake they made, they are used to being the feared team, by reputation

Posted by Evan on 05/30/2011

Hey Wallace what do you think about the whole Gary cook and brain mar wood fued with mancini? I hope it doesn't en up with us changing managers again I really think mancini has a really good thing going and were never going to be able to build a team if we keep changing manager......... I think we should get rid of Gary cook and Brian mar wood arnt they the one that tevez was talking about when he turned in his transfer request..... He said they had kept promises or what ever....... Do you think if we got rid of them then tevez might stay?

Wallace Reply So far all I've seen is press talk about an issue, but nothing of substance. The Red Tops generally have nothing better to do than stir up trouble for City so at the moment until I hear something that makes sense I just think it's press bs.

Posted by The Kufi Smacker on 05/30/2011

Dead on today with that post. I just thought if Alex really wanted to win he should've started Nani, Scholes and maybe Anderson in...they would've been more threating in my opinion. Having Valencia and Carrick start cost them the game. I blame this mostly on Carrick though because he had the most important role and was exposed and ineffective. BTW Mascherano looked alright starting no problems at all. Lastly looking at that match I think City would've matched up extremely well with Barca by the way we play.

Posted by micky-2-times on 05/30/2011

Hi Wallace,
it was a great game but Old Purple Nose put out the wrong team, should have started with Scholes, Nani, Anderson, and Park in midfield (assuming Fletcher was injured/not fit).

The whole team had to track back when Barca had the ball, including Rooney and the Pea. Any team with 67% possession, there can only be one winner. You can beat Barca, like Real did in the cup but the only way is to get in their faces to stop their passing game and defend then counter attack.

What about Aguero from Atletico?

Posted by Adithya on 05/30/2011

Hi Wallace,

I'm a huge fan of your blog, and this is the first time I'm posting. What do you think of the news some time back that City were linked with Ronaldo? I think he'd strengthen the squad massively. He could be a top class winger when City play 4-2-3-1, and partner Balotelli or Dzeko as a striker when they play the 4-4-2 diamond. I feel he's ideal for City and would be deadly if he combined with Silva well. If you could get him for 100 million euros, wouldn't it be a steal?

Wallace Reply I can't stand Ronaldo. His constant falling over and complaining is everything that is wrong with the game today. He also happens to be one of the better players in the world. Even as ex-United I'd accept Ronaldo at City... I wouldn't under any circumstances accept the cheating, diving Ronaldo.

Posted by Francisco Silva on 05/30/2011

It is very easy to be a critic after the game. I believe he made a mistake selecting Giggs and maybe Chicharito and should have had Fletcher and Nani instead, but then Barca would have won anyway and we'll be saying he got it wrong for playing too defensively. Truth is, Barcelona made them look worse than they really are. The high pressure was too much and Barca had their best game of the season at the right time. I think Valencia was not that bad, he just wasn't allowed to play his natural game becasue he had to help a lot more in defense and he was double teamed a lot, obviusly Guardiola didn't want him to go one on one against semi-fit Abidal which says a lot about the respect thay had for him. To beat Barca you need different players in midfiled a one on one mark on Messi like Pepe did and a lot of reducer fouls to stop their tempo, like Real did, but you risk of course red cards. I think Fergusson was right to be more open and not park the bus. It was good for the game.

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