That was Easy

So, we beat Hull, easily. There's a little confusion as to just how experienced our team was: The Telegraph give us two versions, Jason Burt saying:

It was a strange afternoon. United rang the changes – 10 in all with only Darren Fletcher retained – with Sir Alex Ferguson choosing not to risk Rio Ferdinand and handing league debuts to two young tyros in Lee Martin and Ritchie De Laet. It looked even more callow than expected, despite the presence of six full internationals, and surely this represented a real opportunity for Hull to define their fate?

While Mark Ogden goes for:

Without the senior pros, the average of the other nine was marginally over 21, by no means a bunch of callow youngsters still wet behind the ears.

Ritchie de Laet, the 20-year-old Belgian left-back, was the only member of United's starting line-up making his full debut for the club.

It was the bench that resembled a nursery class waiting for the latest episode of the Tweenies.

Tom Dart in The Times agrees:

United’s win defused the controversy surrounding Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to field reserves before the Champions League final on Wednesday. There was so much hysteria about their “weakened” lineup that it seemed as if the top scorer of United’s under14s might be in with a chance of a game, but Ferguson picked a more experienced team than predicted.

However experienced the team was, we were still easy winners. Ian Ladyman in The Mail:

We had feared that this might turn out to be men against boys. We were right. But as it happened, the boys were wearing black and gold.

Daniel Taylor in The Guardian, along with praise for us, is (as are most of the papers) pretty scathing of Hull:

Even with Gary Neville and Brown in central defence, it was a raw, inexperienced side, and yet one that still looked a measure above their opponents. This might have been only the supporting cast but United's superiority ought to have brought them more than Gibson's wonderfully taken shot, 24 minutes into a game in which virtually all of the notable penalty-box action took place at the end where Boaz Myhill was in goal.

For long spells it seemed as though Hull's only tactic was to rely on no further goal updates from Villa Park. They got their wish but it was still faintly shocking to see the vibrant, effervescent side of late 2008 looking so inferior against a team made up from United's reserves and youth-academy graduates. ...

Hull may need to reinvent themselves because, on this evidence, they have kept their place in the league almost by default. Brown must have been disconcerted by the manner in which his players seemed to freeze.

Or maybe that is being unfair on the quality of the young players emerging from Old Trafford's seemingly endless conveyor belt of talent. Macheda and Welbeck, 17 and 18 respectively, are now trusted members of Ferguson's squad. Gibson will surely play more games next season and De Laet, a Belgian defender, did not look like a player who was struggling to get into Stoke City's reserves until his surprise transfer in January.

The future at Old Trafford radiates with brightness. Hull, and Brown, will like to think the same applies to them.

Ian Herbert in The Independent has praise for the depth of our squad but ruins everything by having an unnecessary dig at Nani:

the gulf was painful yesterday. Ferguson reached so far into his reserves that his left back Ritchie de Laet, signed on a three-year loan from Stoke in January, was not even listed in the match programme and Federico Macheda, 17, and Danny Welbeck, 18, were the combined age of Nicky Barmby, the one shining light for Hull.
You know a United side is shorn of its creative talent when Nani is asked to be its prime playmaker...

The Daily Star report points to the future that keeps Sir Alex hungry:

Ferguson was only too aware that defeat here would, in his words, mean “we’ll be slaughtered” on Monday.

You can bet that young men like debut-making left-back Ritchie De Laet, Rafael, Lee Martin and Darron Gibson were made painfully aware of the consequences if they didn’t perform – and produce a positive result.

That is exactly what they did, producing a display that will have consolidated Ferguson’s opinion that he has to stick around for as many years as possible to watch them mature into famous United players.

Gibson scored the goal – a cracking shot from the edge of the box – that took champions United to a 90-point total

Sir Alex's comments on the game:

"It's just what I expected. There was a lot of speculation about what team I'd pick but I was always confident the one I played would do well.

"We really do have a great bunch of young players and what they need is opportunities like today.

"Some of them have played in the League Cup and FA Cup this season, which has been good for them, and they showed the extra maturity they've gained in terms of being able to handle the type of game it was against Hull. They all played their part and hopefully a lot of them will get more chances next season."

Elsewhere the most interesting thing is this - Jose Mourinho on the Champions League Final, he really is quite funny - this, slipping in a little dig at Arsenal while praising us, is genius:

Sir Alex has made a super team. Three Premier League titles in a row and two Champions League finals – that is really top. They have quality and experience, with Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

They have absolutely everything as a team in this moment: strength, mentality, speed, magic, solutions. Beating Arsenal in the semi-finals didn't impress me too much. It is normal. But three Premier League titles and two Champions League finals – you need no more words to explain how strong they are.

He also looks at the areas which could win us the game, pinpointing the lack of Alves for Barcelona and our quality at set pieces:

Daniel Alves is out of the game, suspended, so it is easier for Sir Alex to decide who to play in the attacking positions. Alves is crucial for Barça. His width and Lionel Messi going inside are automatic for them. I feel sorry for Alves, he's a super player, and I also think the game will lose something without his dynamic.

I think against Alves, Ji-Sung Park for sure would have been used by Ferguson to control him. Without Alves, a United winger can now just be an attacking winger. So, on the left it will be Rooney or Ronaldo. But, of course these are opinions. The decisions are for Sir Alex. And normally he decides well. Very well. ...

I know from experience how good this Man United team is from when we played them in the Champions League in February. Against them I think, especially at Old Trafford, we did very well because we controlled their transition, we closed the wings very well, we had control of the game with ball possession, we created some difficulties for them by playing in between the lines.

But at set pieces they are very strong. And Barcelona are even weaker than my Inter in this area. This could be a key point.

There's praise for Michael Carrick and some words from him on the final in The Telegraph:

Michael Carrick is an anomaly. A Geordie who came through the West Ham academy, Carrick is different. He plays with an unhurried continental elegance alien to many of his compatriots, indulging arguably the finest range of passing since Glenn Hoddle. ...

"We just have to play to our strengths. You have to respect their strengths and do something about dealing with that. You have to believe we are here for the same reason and play our game. We'll believe if we play our best game we'll win the game. That's the challenge really.

"The way Barcelona play they can have the ball for a long time and you've just got to be patient, defend well and concentrate. It's a bit of a mental battle I think. At times against Barcelona shut up, as Chelsea showed, and then attack them at the right time. You can't defend for the whole game because you're asking for trouble. There are obviously times when you have to do that."

Van der Sar talks about past finals as well as Wednesday's Final:

Moscow proved to be a blur for the 38-year-old, though, and the moment passed all too quickly for United's No 1.

Van der Sar said: "It was a great night. The first time I won it [with Ajax] I was a young player in a team that was winning prizes left, right and centre and at the time you can't see an end to it.

"But when you're coming towards the end of your career, you really cherish everything you win, especially the big ones.

"It's the whole team that wins the trophy, but to be the one who stops the last ball, or in this case, saves the last penalty, is something that you dream about. ...

Van der Sar admits that United are determined to emulate the greats of Milan and Ajax.

He said: "That's the big talking point. We know that the talk is about us winning it last year and that nobody has defended it. We just have to make sure that we do it.

"Ajax were a legendary team in the Seventies, but if you win and succeed on a certain level for a long period of time, then you get a lot of recognition and that's what everybody wants.

"You want recognition for certain things and facts that you achieve during your professional life and, if we can do it on Wednesday, that will be great.

"I've tried to erase the memory of playing in Rome with Ajax 13 years ago. I want to forget 1996 and just win it there with United. Let's hope I can put the record straight from last time."

Martin Samuel argues that Ronaldo should stay with us for a long time:

why should he not wish to do another year at Old Trafford. Indeed, why would he not do another 10? This time last season, the speculation was that Ronaldo wanted to go out on the high of winning the first all-English European Cup final, as if nothing could beat that.

Now here we are, 12 months on, and Manchester United stand on the brink of an even greater achievement: to be the first club to retain the trophy in its modern, Champions League, format. First, they must overcome Barcelona, who have been laying waste to their own record books in Spain.

Top that? Well, incredibly, United could if next season they become the only English club to win four straight league titles. ...
For this team, at this unique moment in history, there is always a new milestone to be passed. In the excitement at theprospect of United retaining the Champions League, it has almost been overlooked that this season they have become the first club to win three consecutive league titles over two periods in history. ...
football clubs are about more than black and white columns in books on dusty shelves, they are about people and passion and the emotion Ronaldo clearly experiences when he thinks of Real Madrid.

Yet he may wish to consider why he felt that way, as a boy growing up in Funchal, on the island of Madeira; why he was bewitched by a club that played in a foreign league, in a foreign city, over 900 miles away. And the answer would be that he fell in love with their history, with their achievement, with the legends of special players and special football.

And, if he would only realise, that is what he is creating at Manchester United now. It is why Ronaldo’s work is not yet done, even if he leaves Rome triumphant once more.

And Gary Neville returns to the England squad.