Let's get the only sour note out of the way early doors so we can concentrate on the glory: Darren Fletcher's sending off. Firstly, whether or not one considers it a foul or not, did the ref really have to send him off? The game had long been over as a contest, it wasn't cynical, he got the ball (even if he got the man as well - we'll come to that), we're told that referees had instructions to be judicious in their use of cards because UEFA didn't want the best players to be missing on showpiece occasions, and yet he couldn't show any leniency? Show a yellow and give the penalty and let everyone move on? Even those reports which suggest that the decision was correct (which I have some sympathy for, if it had been at the other end I'd have been screaming for it) admit it's cruel and harsh, even Wenger actually saw the incident and thought it harsh. My only point is this: what the people who say the decision is correct argue is this, from the pen of Graham Poll:
When commentators and former players say: ‘He got the ball, it can’t be a foul,’ they are wrong.
Even though Fletcher got a slight touch on the ball, Rosetti felt it was impossible for the Manchester United midfielder to avoid taking his opponent in the follow-through. Therefore, he had no option but to dismiss the Scot.
To err towards leniency in all such cases would be a charter for violent tacklers and cheats, because it would license players to affect the outcome of semi-finals without fear of punishment.Which, given the non-cynical nature of the challenge I don't really think applies, it's just a case of taken each incident as it comes, this being an incident that definitely deserved leniency, a leniency which is impossible to apply retroactively.
So anyway, onto the glory.
There's some great descriptions of our dominance today. My favourites: top of the list goes to Evra, who gives a remarkablely honest assesment for a footballer:
Evra delivered a damning assessment of Arsène Wenger’s team. “It was 11 men against 11 boys,” the defender said. “They’re just too young to compete. Chelsea and Barcelona are on another level compared to Arsenal. The difference wasn’t just experience, it was quality, too. It’s not just about playing pretty. We’re pretty too, but we also score goals and we also defend well.”The simple but effective from Kevin McCarra in The Guardian:
[Man Utd] made this a prolonged night of suffering for Arsenal, who were incapable of competing.Martin Lipton in The Mirror:
It was more than a beating, more than a lesson. This was a demonstration of effortless quality, orchestrated by Cristiano Ronaldo.Oliver Holt in the same paper:
It was the night they shot Bambi down.
Arsene Wenger's wide-eyed young team, full of hope and potential, never even saw it coming. But their demise at the hands of Manchester United was fast and, oh, was it brutal.
Skipping around on skittish legs, Arsenal were defenceless and naive prey hunted down by big beasts.
United were so merciless with them that it was the kind of stuff that made you want to hide behind your hands.
It wasn't just a beating. It was a humiliation. The heaviest defeat Arsenal have suffered here on the biggest night in the Emirates' short history. And it may also have marked the death of a dream.
In reaching the Champions League final in the Eternal City, the European champions did to Arsenal what Manny Pacquaio had done to Ricky Hatton, devastating combinations smashing through naïve defending, bringing an early knock-down. Arsenal were out cold, out of the competition that so obsesses Arsene Wenger.
This was not men against boys, this was skilled professors against callow pupils, a mismatch that the referee, the appalling Roberto Rosetti, must have been tempted to step in to spare Wenger’s young charges further punishment. Arsenal’s suffering was that bad. United were that good.
After all that talk of penalties at the end of what was supposed to be the ultimate encounter between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, Arsenal lasted about as long as Ricky Hatton.
Two blows, 10 minutes, game over and dream, for Wenger anyway, at an end.
This is why Manchester United are the champions of England, Europe and the world and why they are now within touching distance of becoming the first team successfully to defend the European Cup in the modern era. Not to mention why they could be celebrating an unprecedented quadruple if an 11th Barclays Premier League title comes before their appearance in Rome..
Ronaldo continued to terrorise Arsenal, playing much as you might expect Didier Drogba to should Chelsea again reach the final. Whatever Ferguson wants, the Portuguese phenomenon can provide: right wing, left wing, off the front, centre forward. This performance, which neither Drogba nor any other centre forward could have bettered, suggested Ronaldo was tired of all the talk of others winning the awards on which he has established a near-monopoly.
The crowd vented some of its frustration on him, unfairly accusing him of making too much of challenges. Typical was the honest attempt Alexandre Song made to halt one of his runs. Song went for the ball, but Ronaldo was too quick for him and his jabbing studs caught the United man’s near foot. As Ronaldo fell, Fàbregas fell on top of him. And yet he was booed for not immediately leaping to his feet with a watermelon smile.
Daniel Taylor praises Ronaldo highly, but still brings in old accusations:
If that sounds unappreciative of Ronaldo's gifts then it is unintended because, love him or loathe him, what cannot be disputed is his unerring self-confidence to shoot from such a seemingly impossible angle and distance in the first place. Ronaldo was, in short, phenomenal. The criticism of him not performing well in United's most important matches was a legitimate one 18 months ago, but after his goal here and the 40-yarder he also scored at Estadio do Dragao it is now a redundant issue.And after his goal against Roma last year, and his goal in the Champions League final (and official man of the match award) I'm fairly sure it was already a redundant issue.
Good praise for him in The Telegraph from Ian Chadband:
there could surely be no argument after this match-winning tour de force that the bloke is very much more than the pretty-faced flat-track bully his critics love to portray him as. For in a game which saw what Sir Alex Ferguson felt was a consummate team performance, even he recognised that, ultimately: "They could never handle Ronaldo. He made the difference". With enough nuggets of genius that by the end, even the home fans were applauding him. Now that really was a new one for him.As for United's fans, even those who've never really taken to the Portuguese, the idea that Franck Ribery might replace him next season must have suddenly felt quite heretical.
Could there be a more remarkable strike than the 40-yarder Ronaldo smashed in to subdue Porto in the previous round. Well, here was something even more outlandish. An equivalent moment but with a dead ball at his feet. And 41 yards out, apparently. Preposterous.
Only his second was even more fabulous, starting and finishing a team goal which, executed from deep inside his own half, really epitomised United's magnificence on the night – stout defence, invention on the break and rapier finishing. It was a team goal so breathtaking that it would have been purred over as sublime if it had been scored by Messi and Co at Barca.
"It was a maturity of team performance," Ferguson said. "Ronaldo was the difference but then you could see the running and movement of [Ji-Sung] Park or [Darren] Fletcher and had to ask yourself who were the star men."Henry Winter makes a similar point:
Once again in this season of gathering glory, Ferguson got his game-plan absolutely right. He flooded midfield, worker-bees called Anderson, Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick buzzing around, harrying Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and company.
Arsenal could hardly breathe, let alone move. Fletcher was typically assiduous in hunting down opponents like Theo Walcott. United rose to the occasion. Arsenal shrank.
Out wide, Wayne Rooney and Park kept tracking back to help form a five-man midfield shield in front of a defence adroitly marshalled by Rio Ferdinand and lent muscularity by Nemanja Vidic. Arsenal could huff and puff all they liked in midfield but United’s backdoor was locked firm. It was like trying to break into Fort Knox with a spoon.
Ferguson’s tactical masterstroke was using Ronaldo’s pace through the middle, meaning that if Kolo Toure and Johan Djourou tried to push up, their high line was vulnerable to the type of speedy counter-attack United specialise in.
Not knowing whether to stick or twist, Arsenal’s backline folded. Ronaldo, the high-speed raider, was involved in the build-up to all United goals, even finishing off two of them as they accelerated towards Rome.
If Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Old Trafford this summer Manchester United will reduce their debt by a small amount, but only Lionel Messi could replace the Portuguese satisfactorily. Racing into the channels, Ronaldo was the difference last night, his pace a constant concern for Arsenal's centre-backs, who lacked cover in the full-back positions.The match was fairly equal in terms of possession but the contrast between the two main strikers was considerable. While Ronaldo tore between Johan Djourou and Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Adebayor battled vainly against Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. Ronaldo occasionally risked the assistant referee's flag but he never stopped stretching Arsenal's back line.
I am bored of hearing about how brilliant Arsenal's kids are and how great they will be in a couple of years. What about the here and now? I look at them and just see a soft touch. What use is technique without character? After Manchester United's first two goals, Arsenal petered out, which tells you exactly what this team are about.
When the chips are down, they can't transform their fortunes, they can't make things happen. That's what champions do - that's what United do. Just look at their 5-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur last month, when United recovered from 2-0 down at half-time.
Yes, they had a slice of luck in that match when they were awarded a dubious penalty, but they still swarmed all over Spurs, responding to adversity with skill, determination and fury. ...
Cristiano Ronaldo is an automatic first choice of course, and we saw a glimpse of the future last night when he was selected to play as a centre forward. Long term, I think that's where he will play if he wants to. He can do all the things the best strikers can do, so why leave him out on the wing?
He takes so much criticism, but Ronaldo is all you could want in an attacker. He can hold the ball up, head it, shoot, create, he's tough, he has superb movement, wins a ton of free kicks, can dribble for miles or finish with one touch, as he did for his second goal last night. Why not play him down the middle instead of out wide, where he's more likely to drift in and out of matches.
"Yes, you could say Ronaldo was excellent but when you look through the team it's difficult to identify who the star men were – they were all fantastic. I've said many times before that we haven't won the European Cup enough times and this is an opportunity for us to put that right. We have the quality and the energy and the ambition. It's a hungry team, we have shown that tonight, and when the chips are down they don't let me down."We're certainly capable of winning it in Rome. The team have got such drive and energy and they have shown they can play under pressure too. We coped with Arsenal well, played some really good football and had Ronaldo up front. When you can leave out Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, it's a measure of the players who played."
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