ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Manchester United - Barcelona 2

Posted by Mark Payne on 05/30/2009

There has been an elephant in the room all season. It was easy to ignore it while United were winning and throwing silver cups over their shoulders back onto the pile. Now we must face up to the reality. The team has not put in a really good performance all term and finally we have been shown up for it.

In truth I always hoped it would be just around the corner but it never arrived and, spectacularly, any hint of it vanished without trace on Wednesday evening. Barcelona fully deserved their victory and frankly made us look like stone-age mugs.

This was not the neo-tactically adept Fergie at work. The team looked like a series of doodles on a piece of paper followed by the words “that’ll do”. Who can blame him. We have won so much this season without hitting anything like top gear, why not think it could work one more time in Rome. It didn’t. At all.

I feel very much like I did after the spanking we received in the San Siro two years ago at the paddled hands of AC Milan. Without any positives to dwell on. But, you know what, I am wrong.

Much like in that game United faced a team of great players putting in the performances of their lives. We have won the league, which I think we would all have picked as the most important trophy at the start of the season, and, well, we have our health.

Barcelona were outrageously good and our players just didn’t turn up. I think we all still feel, despite the recent success, there is a Roy Keane/Bryan Robson shaped whole in the midfield. Hargreaves should be back next season and that will help things along enormously. He, maybe more than any other, is the player we really missed in Italy.

This is not the time to change jobs, leave the wife, sell all the players and start again. Simply, we have been beaten by a better team. In all honesty I felt our players were getting a little hubristic in the build up to this one so maybe this jolt will do them the world of good.

The season is over, we have done well, now it is time to start ignoring those Ronaldo headlines.

Comments

Posted by Sango on 05/30/2009

Good article. There is nothing to be ashamed or unhappy about. Barca was far superior than Man United on the night. The midfield was generally very poor both in defense or attack. Maybe Hargreaves will solve that problem. However this is still a decent season by any standard for Man United.

Posted by Chuma on 05/30/2009

Thanks for the good cheer Mark. It's so refreshing to see someone put it as succinctly and accurately as you always do. Good to hear about Hargreaves too. We really missed him on THAT DAY!

Got a couple of questions though.. Would a different team selection( ergo Tevez) have made any real difference? Do you think we need the major overhaul in midfield and defence that the media is yapping so much about? Are we going to see some major spending/ movement come summer?

No matter what happens guys lets get behind the team. They need our support now more than ever.

Posted by nino on 05/30/2009

Foot ball is a game that depends on the fortune also.All nights team cant put same performance,that night Barsa have done better than manu...But its only for that night...not for ever...We all know alex and his boys can pick the silver cup next time...Now lets go and get our own EPL TROFFEY

Posted by ramay on 05/30/2009

i totally agree .... culdnt beleive at first glance, but now that i've pondered my thoughts over the results .... its makes sense....

we'll come back strong next season ....

Posted by Moey alrusty on 05/30/2009

yh good article and i think we lost because of ronaldo and Ferguson cuz ronaldo didn't do his best and Ferguson but people in wrong places ronaldo shouldn't have played striker Rooney should have played striker. but don't get me wrong it wasn't entirely fergie and ronaldos fault football is a team sport and i reckon every one should have gave in 100%

Posted by DohaRed on 05/30/2009

I felt exactly the same thing all season - that we have not been that good. A few times we have been shown up.

We have never replaced Roy Keane (not easy) or Ruud. Not sure Hargreaves is going to do the job, especially after such a long spell out. Not sure about Berbatov either - lets see next season, but he is no Ruud.

Our midfield got played off the park, we couldn't get the ball back, and it all went from there. The midfield is the key to it - how old is Roy's son?

Posted by Danny on 05/30/2009

As Giggs has said,remember what we have achieved over the season.We may have a dip in performance in the CL final,but we have won a hattrick in BPL,the League Cup and the World Club Cup.
Moving toward a new season,we should look to rebuilding the team spirit and keep fighting to win the BPL four times in a row and try for the CL final again.
Lastly,I hope Ronaldo and Tevez will be sold during this summer.I am getting sick of these two players showing disrespect to the team and the manager.MU has achieved much in the past 20 plus years because of SAF.Waving goodbyes,cupping ears in front of grandstand,criticizing SAF's tactics are way off the line.Ronaldo and Tevez may be talented,but they are nothing compared to SAF.They may not agree with him,but they must show respect for he is Sir Alex Ferguson,and he is the manager.

Posted by eidels on 05/30/2009

Give a hand to Chelsea as their ( 9 men in the box and kick the shit out of anybody with ball) strategy almost paid off. Why are they so despised? Real Madrid tried the same thing early in the season and only lost 2-0. Iniesta not Xavi was my man of the match as only Rooney has aknowledged. Barca is showing you the future. The days of filling the midfield with rugby players with no intelligence and scoring 1 out of 1000 chance balls and playing for a crappy 1-0 score just plain sucked.The closest you ever got was with Tevez getting consistent playing time in the starting 11 but I guess it was too scary for Fergie. Time to look for a new brand of hero!!!!!

Posted by Rich on 05/30/2009

I'd say performances against Chelsea at home & Arsenal at the Emirates in Champs League were good performances.

You should feel worse after this performance though, considering that Barca had a second string defense and that Utd's players were supposedly on form coming into the first leg; whereas Eto was not and Messi had never performed well against an English side. Utd lost to Milan away at the San Siro with a second string defense - so the recipe for a heavy defeat was always likely.

Utd just didn't show up - and the gap between Xavi, Iniesta and Messi in the midfield was cruelly exposed. Pique was a rock at the back and Busquets, Puyol, Toure and Sylvinho also performed admirably. No one on the Utd side performed up to their potential - which was part Utd and part Barca shutting them down - but Barca's stars outshone Utd's on that night, plain and simple.

Maybe in a series of games Utd may have come out on top - but in a on off - Barca were simply the better team on the day.

Posted by adex from nigeria on 05/30/2009

I felt exactly the same thing all season - that we have not been that good. A few times we have been shown up.
i no that man united doint play well in Rome this session
We have never replaced Roy Keane (not easy) or Ruud. Not sure Hargreaves is going to do the job, especially after such a long spell out. Not sure about Berbatov either - lets see next season, but he is no Ruud.

Our midfield got played off the park, we couldn't get the ball back, and it all went from there. The midfield is the key to it - how old is Roy's son?

Posted by emmanuel on 05/30/2009

Posted by Kamal Yusoff on 05/30/2009

The current team has great potential to be the strongest United team under Ferguson but I think that the trebel winners of 1999 would have fought right up to the edge against Barca and not just be a spectator watching the Barcelona team outclassed them for 80 minutes,especially if Roy Keane is playing.In my view, had Keano and Scholes been available in that final in 1999 Bayern Munich would not be able to run things the way they did for most of the match,although United eventually won in the dying minutes.United really and badly need a strong leader in the mould of Keano or Cantona to boss the game and strike fear in the hearts of any and every opposing team.The current team is not yet the final product of Ferguson's work to become his STRONGEST TEAM EVER although it has achieved great success in the last three years.

Posted by Eric on 05/30/2009

Why is everyone blaming Ronaldo for this loss? I am no super-fan of CR7 and will readily acknowledge that at times he acts like a whiny little baby on the field, but were you watching the same game I was? Within the first ten minutes alone I think Ronaldo had more shots on the goal than the rest of the team did for the entire game. People expect that he's going to be some sort of Superman every time he touches the ball, and will only accept perfection. Well, that's just not going to happen, sorry. Quit blaming the man for a good performance against a better team.

Posted by Aziz on 05/31/2009

The game is over & now is the time for MU to prepared for the next session especially with our Midfielder strategy / players.

The team must always be together in every situation. Respect the tought given by Giggs & Ferdinand. Those players who thinks differently, pls share your concern in the dressing room rather than make it in the public.

Posted by mann on 05/31/2009

Don't worry lads. we've been through worse than this & came back stronger & we will. For the last time this season:-

WIN OR LOSE WE ARE UNITED!

Posted by manu4ever on 05/31/2009

I think European Cup finals come down to tactics and I think we got our tactics wrong on the night, which is pretty hard to excuse in a cup final.
What was most dissapointing was fergusons response at half time in bringing on another striker and dropping a midfielder as you probably would in a premiership game. The decision seems strange when we were finding it hard to get hold of or keep the ball in midfield. The substitution also meant we had one less man giving their midfield tri even more space!
We should have been able to do more with the players we had. I have a feeling that the man we missed most might have been carlos queiroz.
btw, not begrudging barca at all here and I think pep did much better with the resources he had.
I hope we learn from our lessons!
Here's to next season.

Posted by geoffrey phiri on 05/31/2009

sar,please do your business very quickly-go for two strong midfielders,one winger (valencia),one striker(bezima),one stronge goalkeeper.the assistant coaches should help you not just agree with you.please do your business quickly so that you can enjoy your holiday.please,please do not sell berbatov and nani.

Posted by navin k on 05/31/2009

Barcelone was really too good on this day. We cannot look for excuses. We must be proud of our team regarding the whole season. Expectations were very high for this final, unfortunately we could not get hold of the match. Cristianio was very good, but how could he alone turn off a team like Barcelone. I appreciated Wayne on the left. How can we blame them after having giving us lots of hope. We cannot evaluate these players upon only this final. It was Barcelone day. Congratulation to them. To all fans of Man Utd, we must not forget how our team manage the whole season, it was really mind blowing. We must accept this defeat and learn from this match.

Glory Glory to Man Utd. We have always something special.

Posted by Erik on 05/31/2009

All i gotta say is dat for a team to go against barcelona lose 2-0, and we still had alot of chances i say we di pretty good..still with a lot of problems in the team..but nothing dat a manager who has won 12 titles cant fix..we need to get rid of Park Ji Sung and Nani....we need a goalscores on that wide left..and someone in the central midfield...Roy keane son o something..

Posted by Tego (Mauritius) on 06/01/2009

Thank you Mark Danny for your wonderful coments:
MARK:"The team has not put in a really good performance all term and finally we have been shown up for it."
DANNY:"Waving goodbyes,cupping ears in front of grandstand,criticizing SAF's tactics are way off the line.Ronaldo and Tevez may be talented,but they are nothing compared to SAF.They may not agree with him,but they must show respect for he is Sir Alex Ferguson,and he is the manager."
End of quotes.This is not Man U I knew since childhood 40 years ago from the days of George Best through Charlton and Cantona.Remember how we were not ashame when we lost 0-1 to Dortmund in a CL semi-final we should have won by 6-1 after a scintillating performance. Our worst rivals acknowledged our superiority in that CL which SAF regretted till today to have lost.
Where was Evra when Eto picked the ball? Where was Vidic? Where were Rio and Oshea when Messi jumped so high and scored?The only slip of SAF was to play Rio n Giggs FTime NOT his tactics

Posted by Andrew on 06/01/2009

I thot on the night fergie got his tactics wrong, knowing how fast and good barca are at keeping the ball, i thot playing giggs was ill advised as he doesnt have legs to play a fast game no longer. And when he took out Andreson for tevez instead of giggs, Barca were attacking united with no resistance what soever for the first 7-10 minutes or so. we could have played two strikers instead of one to put barca underpressure, with maybe berba or rooney as more advanced and with CR just off the advanced striker. Ronaldo has given us goals but realying on him for goals when you've natural striker wont help us much. the game was won in the field and i think that's the area we need strengthen. the defence did bad too, i still thot we had a chance until messi was allowed a free header. at this level that's unacceptable. Fergie is a good coach but he should take the blame, he need to play natural strikers as strikers if they arent good enough let him sell and buy the likes of villa and benzema.

Posted by ife on 06/01/2009

i rily wanna bliv it wuznt d united squad i knew dat played dat match... for crapssakes, we wuz outplayed at rome... thumbs up 2 guardiola

Posted by Lekan Salami on 06/01/2009

it is no doubt that Barcelona outplayed utd in Rome. this is not enough for the utd players to be down especially cris Ronaldo who is contemplating of leaving. we have tried and out class other clubs this season except Barcelona. Carlos Tevez should think of what he can do 4 utd next season in lieu of thinking of going to man city. i know that utd shall bounce back next season with seasoned players like Hargreaves and others. Tevez shoud be retain while we let Huntelear be.

Posted by jake on 06/01/2009

The only player that showed up for the game was Ronaldo,seems like all the rest of the team Rooney ,Giggs, Tevez..ect.stayed in England or were asleep ,Don`t blame him if he wants to leave for Madrid now

Posted by Cshainoan on 06/01/2009

First of all, Ronaldo tried to win the game by himself in the first 7 minutes...He had two opportunities to play in Park and Rooney but elected to take the shot which either went begging or push away by Valdes...
Second Carrick cannot be the holding midfielder as he is not a strong tackler...That is where Fletcher was missed. Rooney and Berbatov should ahv been the pairing at the top with Ronaldo playing the wing against Puyol which is a better matchup for Ronald because isolated against Puyol he would have had many opportunites to play provider, which is what he should have done. Park was fine for me gave his usual honest strong work..But still cant understand how Vidic got turned inside out on that Eto' goal when he Eto' didnt really show him a fake. Terrible defending after that Barca just play pass around and well more pass around and United didnt even take a hard foul to prove a point or disrupt they just rolled over and showed their bellies..

Posted by Mulumba Isaac on 06/02/2009

I don't blame fergie, coz he used the same tactics against Arsenal and we won, its the players to blame coz they didnot show up, may be they were asleep. The defence was terrible. Just look at how Messi was left alone in the box and you wonder where was Vidic and Rio. let us forget and focus on next season.

Posted by Primordial on 06/03/2009

Another big HOLE (not 'WHOLE' Mark =P) we have is between the sticks. The Dutch stopper has been one of the better ones to fill the gianormous boots the the Great Dane (long live Schmeichel!). That's quite depressing and worrying.

Other than that, I'd say we had a fantastic season. Having played close to 70 games this season (almost 2 every fortnight!), our boys have worked their socks off and done us proud!

Posted by Vince on 06/03/2009

Beaten by better team on day sure, but could our team have been better, I think yes. Why Ronaldo bye himself in centre stage, why not the fire power of Rooney and Tevez up front from the start with Ronaldo seriously threatening from wing, we missed Scholes hard hitting approach in mid field, he's the next best thing if Hargreaves is out, Scholesy/Carrick beat Barca last time!

Posted by mei on 06/03/2009

First of all, you guys should have done better if all the rest of the team Rooney ,Giggs, Tevez..etc.didnt sleep or stayed in england. And also Fergie should rebuild his squad by bringing in someone like benzema. i agree that not all the nights we put in the same performance...sometimes its just for once and not forever. i hope that fergie will sell ronaldo and tevez. i am sick of their childish behavior and also disrespectful for the club.

Lets forget the defeat and get on with the next season.

Posted by mei on 06/03/2009

Lets forget the defeat and get on with the next season.

Posted by JJ on 06/03/2009

I agree with you. I have watched gud and bad MU matches. I understand what SAF wants from players (or the Assst Manager)- loyalty, strength to run for 90min, and desire to win. He beleives players with that he can use anywhere and they can do the job. Unfortunately, this time(meaning this season)the players did not have stamina. They played one half and not both. There were glimpses of hope in some games but that could not be maintained. Therefore playing players out of position was not the way to go. For players to give you 100%, play them in their comfortable positions and give them specif tasks if you feel the other team has unusual talents or capibilities. But don't let the world expect a classic and give us what MU did. We needed to see the best MU lose the final than a scrapy team. The assitant coach, what exercises are done at training? The stamina is not there, players will struggle to pick up form. Ronaldo? Let him go if he wants to. Tevez? He is loved by all - keep him.

Posted by Eric on 06/03/2009

I agree, we have not hit top gear all season. Looking back, there were too many 1-0 wins and last minute winners. But I do not think that the situation is as grim as you put it. United in the first 10 minutes have shown they can humiliate barcelona just as much as they have to us. I think most of us agree that the first goal was crucial and that both teams can retain possession just as good while the other chases the lead. A little bit of misfortune but the quality is definitely there (albeit a ball winner in the center, i.e. hargreaves or fletcher).

The bottomline is this, you do not win the EPL, CC, WC, CS and get to the final of the champions league with kids. Congratulations on a successful season. Despite the defeat I am pride of United.

Posted by Mujtaba Marashi on 06/03/2009

We were beaten in the midfield with Xavi and Iniesta.We need Ribery who can take care of such important matches and win games.
Next time Ronaldo should have palyed on the flanks and could take care of Puyol.Rooney failed misreably in this position.

Posted by Peter on 06/03/2009

You knew we were in trouble when days before the game Ronaldo was that Fergie was his papa. That told you that Fergie had caved and was going to give Ronaldo the platform he needed to be his wonderful self.
Get rid of Ronaldo, give up on Hargraves and admit it is money lost, hire Hiddink, put up with two years of building a team, and get ready for the real Man U in August 2012

Posted by greg on 06/03/2009

I am glad I am not the only one who feels we really missed Hargreaves this season. Not just in Rome, there have been games where teams have played right through our midfield, and it was only a matter of time before we got seriously exposed. I also beg to differ with those who claim Carrick can play that role of containment, I think Hargreaves does that much better and Carrick's strengths are elsewhere. Anyway, I don't think the game in Rome was as bad as the loss to Milan at the San Siro, but it came pretty close, oh and yes there is no way you can blame the Rome loss on Ronaldo, whatever his other failings are.

Posted by irving on 06/03/2009

I almost forgot we had Hargreaves since he played next to no part in this season. In rome, we lost to a better side. The name of the game is containment. We used to be good at that. I think United are a little guilty of believing in themselves too much. You would think that was a good thing but against barca who contain and hold the ball so well, it's no the right mentality to have. The best team won on the night so I have no complaints. We simply weren't good enough. Don't do a Rafa... .

Another person I think we missed was Carlos Quieroz. With all due respect to Mike Phelan, we do need a continental tactician on the bench. A subtle tweek here and there would have helped us. The most obvious was moving Ronaldo out from CF to a deeper role allowing him to run at the Barca defence. Tevez needs to stay. His willingness to run for the cause is matched only by Park's insatiable energy. If anyone needs to go, it's Berba. He's not going to be the next Ruud or Cole... .

Posted by ali bindah on 06/04/2009

i live,sleep and dream man-u. let as all unite and move foward as a family. UNITED!!!!!!

Posted by Vana on 06/04/2009

No point crying over spilt milk. Lesson learnt. Time to move on. Maybe Ronaldo should move on to Real Madrid and make way for more mature players like Franck Ribéry. Ronaldo should not be under the notion that the whole team is under his feet, if he did, defeat is imminent.She is just a another player with great skills. BBut it takes a a whole team to win a match, not just one player.

Posted by josef on 06/04/2009

viva man u viva!!!!

Posted by Joseph Soh on 06/04/2009

Hey guys, well we lost in Rome but still we have what it takes to become a finalist again! I think Tevez is leaving but will be sad to see him go. He has been great at Manchester United unlike the lazy Dimitar Berbatov. Although I have a hunch about him as being an important player next season. Although he maybe abit lazy, he may be the next Muler of Germany although this time it is Berbatov of Bulgaria. We still need to find a replacement for Tevez though and Benzema or Huntalaar are PERFECT replacements!! If you would like to find out my insight on Benzema, Huntalaar and the other united players, you may go to my own blog. huawui.blogspot.com

Posted by Joseph Soh on 06/04/2009

Posted by Baz on 06/04/2009

We lost in Rome because we were beaten by a far superior team, who did not give the ball away everytime they had possession. How many times were we guilty of that?...There is far too much pussyfooting around with the ball. When were MU the most potent in the past?.. I'll tell you, when we had the likes of Beckham and Best & kanchelski running down the wings, and sending the ball across the goal for people like Cantona, Sparkey and Ruud to wallop it in...Far too much one touch football, lets get back to the basics with wingers and real centre forwards who know how to score goals. Otherwise we are going to be chasing Liverpool all next season..

Posted by Ovie on 06/04/2009

Well,am quite impressed by your comments,it was a well deserved victory for Barcelona that should never be argued,they turned up for the game,we never did,we also had our moments which we never got into,a season by all standard that was far from the very best the team can offer in rome,it was coming all the way,it was only a matter of time,the when,where and the who and unfortunately it came on a big night,what more,time to wake,we missed Hargreaves or fletcher,but more to Hargreaves,i think he has tremendous energy.so good article,stay well all and lift your dampen spirits,it is all good.

Posted by David Virag on 06/05/2009

I completely agree to those claim-Ronaldo is not the same player as the year and injury-before.And,-I guess, if he gets back completely-again.I think, it is time for him-to ...go, so Berbatov and Tevez, can take leadership in the team over from Ronaldo, and the team should adapt to a new game-that is less reliant on a form of a single player, as we did for too long.It is time now-I think, for making celebration of good by and thanks
for Scholes and Gibbs-their time is UP and over, and
to build in new talents as Rafael, Evans, Marcheda and if can Ribery, Ibrahimovics in the team. If Ronaldo leaves, SAF should give leading role for Berbatov together with a warning,-the effort he was shown last season,-is less than satisfying. If Ribery chooses Barca,-or else but not our team,-SAF should go-for Trochowski from
Hamburg-what a wonderful talent he is, a type of midfielder, MU misses badly, can defend, can bring the ball up-and not last to mention, can SCORE either by head and kicking.

Posted by David Virag on 06/05/2009

What a huge mistake; letting DIEGO to Juventus.
To me-DIEGO is the best player in the World the past
two years, the player that turns matches around at
will. How many times he did that at Werder Bremen ??
Ronaldo is a student or apprentice to him only-and he will play Juve-instead MU. Huge mistake. Watch him next year at Juve,-the Juve with him will cause huge surprises !

Posted by lsaac on 06/06/2009

Ofcourse our team didn't play well but We just need to understand that days aren't always the same guyz,it wasn't our day.Let's look forward to the future and put behind what happened in Rome.Let's rally behind our team coz blasting them is not a solution.Let's appreciate the effort they put to reach the Champion leauge final coz so many teams have failed to do that.l salute Fergie and his troops for a tremendous job this season and l am looking forward that they will surpass those standards in the coming season.

Posted by Baldev on 06/06/2009

The team MU did not play. Ronaldo played for Nine minutes and had he scored one during that time it could have been a better game.

Vidic only makes mistakes when playing along Ferdinand. Evans should have been given the opportunity to play over Ferdinand who looked as if was doing light training. Ronaldo may be right in saying that the tactics were wrong as the MU did not play very well. Next year could be very interesting again for MU as they can only do better.

Posted by Azizah on 06/07/2009

Admit it and don't make all kinds of excuses. SA was fortunate to have won the previous two finals. This time they have been out.
MU may sweep all before them in the epl but the cl is a different thing, The referee unlike the ones in the epl are unlikely to be intimidated by SAF.
It aint going to be esy to win in 2010 as all teams are strengthening.

Posted by Said Gullam on 06/08/2009

Manchester failed to handle the chalenge of Barca players.

Posted by Rajen on 06/28/2009

It is a known fact that Alex Freguson is so defensive minded person when they are in the championship final. The last 3 cup final saw united losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich before coming back with late goals. Last year, the same when United only drew with Chelsea and won via penalties and this year they lost because being too defensive. United is an attacking team and they play well offensively.. Freguson should change his strategy from defensive to offensive. Players like Tevez should be playing in the first 11 but Freguson does not think so. He need to see a bigger picture..

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