findus

May 25 2011, 10:37 AM

Gary Lie-nay-krr showing off his Barcelona spots: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/football_focus/13527939.stm

Other than this Catalan brain-fart, why does Lineker get so much stick about Match of the Day and such? I think he's great.

Setenza

May 28 2011, 11:30 PM

Was a bit one sided.... which is a shame as Man U start well. If only they had midfielders who weren't asleep.

Naebody

May 29 2011, 11:40 AM

I was going to call Man U the Motherwell of Europe but, on consideration, that'd be doing Motherwell a disservice. They were humped, hosed and humiliated by a team doing nothing more complicated than passing to each other before they got kicked into the air. Man U were an embarrasment, a team of plodders and shirkers. The cost of shaming Manchester -- an otherwise blameless city, in most respects --should be expulsion from the Football League. Oh, and Chelsea can f*ck off as well.

Cobardon

May 29 2011, 12:33 PM

Again with the excess of negativity. Life must be hard when everything is so joyless.

Naebody

May 29 2011, 12:55 PM

If this were boxing, it would've been stopped inside five rounds.

Setenza

May 29 2011, 01:13 PM

Overall, I think Man U started ok, but Giggs and Carrick in midfield was the problem. Valancia and Park although not as skillful, at least stopped them playing at times. Giggs just floated around, and Carrick's need someone else beside him to do some dirty work. A Scholes / Fletcher midfield would have made it a closer game. At least for an hour until they faded.

The Eggman

May 29 2011, 02:05 PM

Setenza

May 29 2011, 01:13 PM

Overall, I think Man U started ok, but Giggs and Carrick in midfield was the problem. Valancia and Park although not as skillful, at least stopped them playing at times. Giggs just floated around, and Carrick's need someone else beside him to do some dirty work. A Scholes / Fletcher midfield would have made it a closer game. At least for an hour until they faded.

They said the same in 2009. Managing to hustle the other side for 10 minutes and stop them getting into their stride, while not making any chances yourself, is a bit weak for a 'good start'. It says a lot about the inferiority complex.

Valencia did indeed stop them playing at times, but by fouling (and not just wee niggly fouls, either). The ref was far too lenient, allowing him to commit foul after foul. Four bad fouls by Valencia he let go without a booking (then booked Alves for his second, and similar level foul), before finally booking Valencia after his fifth foul. Then Valencia continued to foul.

Scholes would've been far off the pace, and just done his fouls like he does when he gets frustrated. Fletcher's a poor man's Makalele. Neither would've had much impact.

Setenza

May 29 2011, 06:20 PM

The start was more than just hussle, Man U kep the ball well enough, and importantly, Barcelona weren't doing much. As well as kicking them of course.

If there's any other approaches to beating them, would be good to hear it. Can't really out pass them with the Man U side. But scholes can retain posession well, and play good direct attacking passes, which might be been an option. Fletcher isn't great, but can stick to a role well enough. Nani would have been an attacking option, but would have make things worse defensively.

Overall, I'd rather try that than go out with a whimper.

Setenza

May 29 2011, 01:13 PM

Giggs just floated around, and Carrick's need someone else beside him to do some dirty work. A Scholes / Fletcher midfield would have made it a closer game. At least for an hour until they faded.

Skeletor

May 30 2011, 01:52 AM

Making a couple of these changes would have given United a better chance but ultimately Barce would probably still have won.

The Eggman

May 29 2011, 10:21 PM

Setenza

May 29 2011, 06:20 PM

The start was more than just hussle, Man U kep the ball well enough, and importantly, Barcelona weren't doing much. As well as kicking them of course.

If there's any other approaches to beating them, would be good to hear it. Can't really out pass them with the Man U side. But scholes can retain posession well, and play good direct attacking passes, which might be been an option. Fletcher isn't great, but can stick to a role well enough. Nani would have been an attacking option, but would have make things worse defensively.

Overall, I'd rather try that than go out with a whimper.

So what did they do with the ball?

What was quite apparent after half an hour was the amount of 'direct' balls Man United were playing when they did manage to get the ball. Midfield was bypassed.

The Man United players couldn't outpass them. True. Then they should have different players, that can at least compete. Scholes is too old and slow, and would be caught too often. Fletcher wouldn't have done much better than Carrick. Giggs was never going to be on the pace.

Having watched Man United and Barca throughout the year, before the match, it was surely clear that Man United would be unable to handle them, and so it proved. Not even the most tactical genius could have stopped them. Last season Inter managed to beat them 3-2 on aggregate (and thanks to a wrongly allowed goal in the first leg at home, and a wrongly disallowed goal in the second leg), but that was with a set of players who are better than Man United's current set. Inter had better defensive midfielders, better attackers.