Some of the things I predicted happened, some of them didn't. Here is what I got right:
Xavi and Iniesta ran rings around the United midfield.
Carrick wasn't up to much.
Giggs was an unnecessary luxury. Or just plain unnecessary.
It sounds a bit churlish, but apart from his goal Eto'o was poor in possession.
Vidic was culpable for a goal.
Messi, while not at his best, was influential enough to rubbish any short-sighted claims of big-game bottledom.
Here's some of what I got wrong:
O'Shea was arguably United's best player on the night.
Rooney was dreadful.
Anderson didn't score, but that of course was the least of his woes.
Puyol was rarely beaten.
Busquets did what he had to do admirably.
Park was irrelevant, but try telling that to the Asian community who just witnessed their first representative in a Champions League final. One wonders if Ferguson now wishes he made the second hardest decision of his life tonight - dropping Ji Sung Park again.
I haven't fully processed this game (it was quite a tactically complicated game), but suffice to say that Andres Iniesta is the greatest player in the history of world football. Seriously though, isn't he just something else? Anderson is no slouch, yet Iniesta just breezed by him on a numer of occasions. I'll try and form a less hyperbolic summary of events tomorrow, but in the spirit of hyperbole here is a question to ponder: Is this the worst Man Utd midfield in the last 15 years? I said at the start of the season that I didn't fancy them, and in most of the big games this season my doubts have been justified. If I'm right, then what needs to happen?
Xavi and Iniesta ran rings around the United midfield.
Carrick wasn't up to much.
Giggs was an unnecessary luxury. Or just plain unnecessary.
It sounds a bit churlish, but apart from his goal Eto'o was poor in possession.
Vidic was culpable for a goal.
Messi, while not at his best, was influential enough to rubbish any short-sighted claims of big-game bottledom.
Here's some of what I got wrong:
O'Shea was arguably United's best player on the night.
Rooney was dreadful.
Anderson didn't score, but that of course was the least of his woes.
Puyol was rarely beaten.
Busquets did what he had to do admirably.
Park was irrelevant, but try telling that to the Asian community who just witnessed their first representative in a Champions League final. One wonders if Ferguson now wishes he made the second hardest decision of his life tonight - dropping Ji Sung Park again.
I haven't fully processed this game (it was quite a tactically complicated game), but suffice to say that Andres Iniesta is the greatest player in the history of world football. Seriously though, isn't he just something else? Anderson is no slouch, yet Iniesta just breezed by him on a numer of occasions. I'll try and form a less hyperbolic summary of events tomorrow, but in the spirit of hyperbole here is a question to ponder: Is this the worst Man Utd midfield in the last 15 years? I said at the start of the season that I didn't fancy them, and in most of the big games this season my doubts have been justified. If I'm right, then what needs to happen?
1 comment:
That's crazy Decie, I thought I was the only one who noticed how good O'Shea was. Carrick was a fuckin fraud out there. I mean for a man whose sole purpose is to be a creative spark he was extremely efficient in killing any moves United had going. I've never seen him live up to this hype the English media give him. He's a waste of space and exceeded his station when he left spurs. Xavi's a genius and I didn't think Rooney was that bad, he had a thankless task.
P.S. Thank god I'll never here Canada analysis again. You know who does that in Canada??? Shaka Hislop! All is forgiven Andy Townsend.
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