Rocket to Russia

Today's papers are turning towards the Champions League final.

I'll start with this report card from The Guardian:

The season in five words

Glory, goals, Munich, harmony, Ronaldo

Also from The Guardian, Giggs is realistic about his chances of starting the Champions League final:

"I can't be sure I'll play," said a player who has started only 13 of Manchester United's 28 matches since the turn of the year.

Giggs was not complaining, just offering a realistic assessment of his chances and making it clear that, if he were restricted to the substitutes' bench, he would never take issue with the manager Sir Alex Ferguson. "It's about the squad," said Giggs. "The squad won it in 1999, when Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came on and scored the goals [against Bayern Munich]. The whole squad is together. And we'll need to be to beat a very good Chelsea team. We have a fit squad and the players will be kicking lumps out of each other over the next week to try to get into the team. We'll all be eager to get picked and to play well."

There's a good anecdote about Giggs from Sir Alex, contained in this Independent report (as well as elsewhere):

"I remember him playing a practice match at the Cliff," Ferguson recalled. "He came down with his father [Danny Wilson] and when he first came on he ran across the pitch. I don't think his feet touched the ground, he was so light. His head was up – he was like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind.

"We played him against Viv Anderson in a practice match and Viv was saying 'Boss, what are you doing putting this little kid against me?' But after Ryan had gone past him a few times he turned round and said 'Wow! Jesus Christ.' He was a phenomenal kid then and he is a phenomenal kid now. Of all the young boys we ever signed, I thought he was an absolute certainty."

The Independent also have the best round up of transfer talk:

Ferguson spent the aftermath of Sunday's Premier League title triumph at Wigan describing the agonies of selecting a team from his strongest ever squad and he said yesterday that "all but a couple" of the 26 players he took to the JJB will be around for the foreseeable future. But Gill said the challenge of competing in "the best league in the world" made further reinforcements essential for the champions, who retained their title at the weekend. "If we want to continue to be at the top we have to make sure we look at the squad and improve it," he said. "Like any club you assess what's gone well, what has not gone so well and where you feel you can improve. We will certainly be in a position where, if we can improve it, we will. Alex will never allow us to rest on our laurels."

A fuller look at Sir Alex's press conference is here from The Guardian:

Ferguson held court, a skilled raconteur with a story for everyone, eulogising his players and covering his face with his hands as he talked about how their desire to win sometimes boiled over in training. "There are Friday mornings when I find myself telling Carlos Queiroz, 'Come on, cut the session.' The players are so competitive I'm frightened that someone will get injured. But it's a measure of their desire to do well all the time. We've got a lot of different personalities but they all have that desire. That's the thing that pleases me most."

Matt Dickinson in The Times looks at the squad today against the 1994 team:

in the aftermath of a tenth championship triumph, Sir Alex Ferguson could not stop himself bringing up his first and, it must be said, true love as United manager. It is not claret that makes Ferguson go all wistful and misty-eyed but reminiscing about the 1994 vintage. As if it was not enough to beat all present-day opponents, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney must also compete against the ghosts of United past.

It is a battle that they can never expect to win. Ferguson’s first Double-winners are his favourite team and probably always will be, even if one Champions League victory in Moscow next week subsequently becomes two or three.

The criteria is not medals; it cannot be, or the 1999 treble-winners would forever be on the top rung. This is a test of personality and perhaps no English club team have ever combined so many charismatic, combustible and confrontational figures as the one that brought together Schmeichel, Bruce, Keane, Ince, Hughes and Cantona.

Tim Rich in The Telegraph looks at Sir Alex as manager:

Ferguson's preparations for this last game of the Premier League season were typical. First, he drastically economised on the truth - saying that Wayne Rooney's hip injury would, at best, allow him only a place on the bench. Wigan manager Steve Bruce found himself at 3pm confronted by a three-pronged attack with Rooney at its centre.

Then, Ferguson turned his attention to Bolton, castigating their players for a lack of professionalism in their preparations for Chelsea. In doing so, he was quite prepared to offend their assistant manager, Archie Knox, who had been his deputy at both Aberdeen and Manchester United. "I had a little nibble at them to keep their minds alert," he smiled in the afterglow of victory. "I've had a text message from Gary Megson [Bolton's manager] saying, 'Well done; your team talk was brilliant."

The final word goes to the *yawn* story of Ronaldo and Real Madrid, from, surprise, surprise, The Daily Mail:

Madrid, however, seem unlikely to abandon their move for Ronaldo despite his desire to stay.

"We are hearing there is still a possibility that Ronaldo will leave United," a spokesman at Real told the Daily Mirror. "Of course, it could still be a case of games being played, so that he can get the contract that he wants from United."

Real insiders are adamant that they have received soundings from Ronaldo's representatives that he is having second thoughts over committing himself to Old Trafford.

And Ronaldo's view? From The Times:

"I'm at the right club, playing with the right players and I learn things all the time," Ronaldo said. "That's what great about being at United. I improve all the time and I want to improve every season. I think I'm a better player now than five years ago.

"This season has been a great one for me - I've scored a lot of goals, the team have played very well and we're champions. It's amazing."