Yesterday, as his team were undone by Didier Drogba's late winner and a dreadful Wembley playing surface, Wenger could justifiably savour triumph regardless of the result.Quite...
Ahead of today's game there's an interesting comparison between Sir Alex and David Moyes by Gabriele Marcotti in The Sunday Herald:
it's probably unfair to compare anyone, let alone Moyes, to Sir Alex. The Manchester United manager is a one-off, what a statistician might call "an outlier". Much of what he's achieved defies conventional wisdom: it worked for him, there is no reason to believe it would work for anyone else. Take the oft-repeated (by the managerial fraternity) mantra that "managers need to be given time" because "Sir Alex won nothing in his first three-and-a-half years at Old Trafford and then went on to win everything". It's a compelling argument until you consider that while it applies to Sir Alex, you'd be extremely hard-pressed to find any other manager who underachieved and won nothing for three years only to turn into a world-beater in year four. The fact is that Sir Alex is a freak: the managerial equivalent of a Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, somebody so ahead of the curve there is little point in using him as a benchmark.There's an interview with Vidic doing the rounds today, seems to have originated in The Independent, he speaks on several things, the Torres goal:
"Always when you do a mistake and the team lose a game you find it hard. Sometimes if you take it the right way, it's good to put your feet [back] on the ground. Then next game I need to be strong, to focus more with concentration and take that mistake out so it doesn't happen any more. Obviously when it's a big game like Liverpool and you make a mistake you're never going to forget. But that mistake can help the player as well to make sure it doesn't happen any more. I like to look back, when I play good and when I play bad, I like to watch the games and improve every part of my game.
"That game obviously I'd like to have cleared the ball straight away [for the Torres goal]. When the game is finished you know these things but you take these things and try next time not to do the same thing."
"When I first arrived here I remember people comparing me to Steve Bruce because of how I attacked the ball. It is a nice thing for people to say – but no one should ever believe that I like getting my nose broken! I try to be myself. I can only be Nemanja Vidic. I make tough tackles, I sometimes have to put my head in a hard place and that is easy for me. It is natural for me because I want to win the ball and I don't want to lose challenges. I am a physical defender. It is my job to take the ball off opponents."And one quote that, strangely, isn't in The Independent's version, on almost being called up to the army, from The Mirror:
"It was only because I could play football that I didn't go to war.The story about how David Moyes almost became assistant to Sir Alex is featured in most papers this morning, from The Mail on Sunday:"I went for all the medical tests at the army training headquarters and it was only because I was able to produce some paperwork to show that I was a footballer with Red Star Belgrade that I was sent home.
"I was 18 and eligible for National Service, but people like students and footballers were not sent to fight."
Vidic added: "But Serbia was being bombed, and life was hard because the country was still recovering from so many years of troubles.
"I wouldn't say it was a good education..but maybe it did make me stronger, make me realise how hard life can be."
And Sir Alex also has some words on the linking of Moyes to his job, from The Daily Star:Ferguson is a close friend of Everton manager David Moyes and even once talked with Moyes about becoming his No 2 at Old Trafford.
But the United manager has vowed to let the Glazer family and chief executive David Gill appoint Ferguson’s successor without any interference from the manager. Ferguson said: ‘I don’t like talking about my successor because I have no plans to retire. It’s not my decision anyway. Definitely not my decision. That will lie with with David Gill and the owners so why should I get involved in it?
‘I did bring David Moyes over to the house one day and spoke to him about the job. But I felt maybe at the time he was a fraction young.’
... Moyes said: ‘I always felt I would be a No 1. I spoke to Alex about being an assistant there and I would have enjoyed learning from the best. But I didn’t actually get offered anything and things have worked out. Preston were on the rise and then I got my chance at Everton.’
“I brought him to my house for a chat.As to the actual game, The Mail on Sunday looks at the juggling act needed to keep going in all competitions:
“At the time, I was torn between David and Steve McClaren.
“I eventually went for Steve – I just thought David was a fraction young then and I’m not getting into whether he could be my successor one day.
“That’s not my decision – it’s up to David Gill, our chief executive.
“Anyway, it would not be fair to David to talk about it.
“People are always getting linked with it – last season it was Roy Keane and he hasn’t got a job at the moment.
“The situation’s that I have no plans to retire and nights like we had at Porto on Wednesday make me pleased I didn’t retire.
But Ferguson, who is even considering handing teenager Federico Macheda his
first start, knows he must juggle the need to rest players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick, and possibly Edwin van der Sar and Dimitar Berbatov.Rio Ferdinand could be rested to make a full recovery from his back problem and there will be places for Carlos Tevez, Ji-sung Park, Gary Neville and Jonny Evans.
‘I’ve got to look at all my options,’ said Ferguson, who will leave his team choice until as late as possible. ‘This is only the first of a programme of big matches. I will be picking a team to win the game, there is no question of that. Winning is important
and we have to make full use of our resources. I am happy we will be able to cope.‘When I pick my team, no matter what it is, there will be critics voicing a concern about me not playing my strongest team. Not everyone agrees with changes. There are some supporters who want me to play my best team every game.
‘That’s impossible. If you look at Wednesday’s game you are off your head to think I could play the same team again. I’m in a difficult position because we have so many
hard games coming up. Somewhere along the line I have to make changes.’
And The Mirror quote "A source close to the United player":"It is a great feeling and I love to play here," the Portugal superstar told Setanta Sports.
"I am very happy here. I want to win more trophies here. At the moment I think I am at the right club.
"And I want to win trophies next season as well."
“Cristiano has no immediate desire to leave United while Sir Alex is the manager.“And Cristiano has made that abundantly clear to him. In the event that situation was to change, he would undoubtedly reconsider his position.”
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