There were times when Lionel Messi, world player of the year-elect, had never looked so cornered, never so far from the centre of the football universe that has been increasingly his home in this season of brilliance and enchantment.
It was though he had taken a wrong turning in the immense shadow created by Cristiano Ronaldo in his destruction of Arsenal 24 hours earlier.
But then if Messi was less than we have to come to expect genius is surely sometimes allowed to spend some time in the shadows, and on this occasion, when the heavens fell in on Chelsea, when Didier Drogba for the second time in two seasons lost his head in the climactic stages of a Champions League campaign, Messi was one of the survivors.
When Michael Essien, an immense figure all night lost the ball on the edge of the box, Messi played the ball coolly to Andres Iniesta, drove Barça into the final – an act of extreme cruelty if you were considering simply some of the decisions of Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo and the weight of Chelsea's powerfully hewn opportunities. But Messi, and some aficionados of the game will always be grateful, had been given back the chance to rule a continent – if not the world – in Rome in the European Cup final later this month.So he was given the ball by an opposition player and passed it, after which Iniesta hit an amazing shot. Well done Messi... Oh, sorry, he did it "coolly". And look at this ridiculous paragraph:
United put Arsenal to the sword and Ronaldo produced one of the most devastating performances of his career 24 hours earlier but what we were seeing from Chelsea, as Messi raided desperately on the edges of the blue juggernaut, were long passages of pressure which reduced the beautiful team to one of almost winsome frailty.The two bits either side of the "but" don't go together at all. United/Ronaldo on one side Chelsea/Messi on the other. United/devastion enacted on one side Barcelona/ beauty thwarted on the other. If it was something like, United and Ronaldo were devasting in reaching the final but Barcelona and Messi couldn't play their beautiful game and were frankly a bit lucky to get to the final," then it would make sense, in James Lawton's version their is no logical connection between the two sides. What I think is that James Lawton is so used to putting the word "but" after descriptions of Ronaldo's genius that it has become something of a habit...
A much better view of Ronaldo is this from Kevin McCarra on The Guardian Blog:
There is no problem in coming up with footage in which he appears moody but opponents have every reason to protest that Ronaldo is much too reliable for their taste. He occasionally gets called a winger but there is nothing marginal about a footballer who is top scorer in the Premier League. In his supposedly fitful campaign Ronaldo has 25 goals for United in all competitions.
The total is puny by comparison with last season's 42 but he faced a challenge far more severe than any defender could present. His schedule last season, after all, dragged on until Portugal had been knocked out of Euro 2008 on 19 June. The following month Ronaldo had ankle surgery and did not start a league game for United until 27 September, when he broke the deadlock with a penalty in the 2-0 defeat of Bolton. His absences can be ominous and, without him, the club had opened its defence of the title with a 1–1 draw at home to Newcastle United.
Ronaldo, regardless of any petulance, is dependable in his fashion. Sir Alex Ferguson knew exactly how to deploy him against Arsenal. With the opposition compelled to attack, following the 1–0 defeat in the first leg of the semi-final, Ronaldo could feature at centre-forward without any risk that he would suffer from claustrophobia. There was scope to move and to run behind the Arsenal defence, as he did for Park Ji-sung's opener.
It can seem impossible for the Portuguese to be kept under control by opponents and United are looking equally ill-equipped to hold on to him. The club's approaches to Bayern Munich for Franck Ribéry might be designed to bring matters to a head. However, there is little indication that Ronaldo will see the sense in staying at current Champions League holders who could well retain the trophy.
If the view from Spain is to be given credence, he prefers mayhem there to stability and achievement at Old Trafford. ...
The trouble is that the pitiful state of Real may excite someone with Ronaldo's self-esteem. What could be better than being hailed as the saviour of what is arguably the most prestigious club of all? On a practical level he may count, too, on Pérez fulfilling his plan to bring in other outstanding individuals.
This in The Sun suggests I could be:
despite rumours persistently linking him with a move to Real Madrid, Ronaldo insisted he will stay on at United.My interpretation is a little different to The Sun's. He's happy at Man Utd and wants to stay and focus on winning the Champions League. What happens after the Champions League is over? Which is the earliest he could go anyway, he may as well be happy staying till then. I'm sure we can continue enjoying transfer speculation regarding Ronaldo for many weeks to come...
He said: “I’ve responded to this question many times. I am very happy at Manchester and I want to stay here. I am very focused on winning the Champions League.”
Sid Lowe on The Guardian Blog looks forward to the final:
strip away personal preferences and ask whether you could have picked two better teams. After all, Real Madrid are a joke, Atlético too, Jose Mourinho's Internazionale were unable to take their domestic dominance into Europe, Bayern were sliced to bits by Barça, Arsenal likewise by United, and Milan are not even in the tournament. Barcelona and United are closing in on the title in the two strongest leagues in the continent.It is the world's best team of last year – winners of the European Cup, the World Club Cup and the Premier League – against the side that many consider the world's best this year. Sir Alex Ferguson reckons this is his strongest team ever; Catalan commentators have described Pep Guardiola's Barcelona as the greatest of all time. Could any side other than Barcelona deny United their right to the tag of favourites? If the European Cup final is supposed to be between Europe's best two clubs, this is the right pairing.
Elsewhere The Mail typically ignores the romance and looks at the hard cash:It will certainly be the most eagerly awaited final in recent years, with delicious battles all over the field, not least the coming together of the world’s finest footballers, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Manchester United will be hoping that Ronaldo’s defining performance did not come against Arsenal on Tuesday; Barcelona that Messi does not have another Champions League game as underwhelming as his last two.
It is difficult to work out who will have been more excited by Ji-sung Park's opening goal against Arsenal, manager Sir Alex Ferguson or the club's host of commercial partners and sponsors in Asia.
As Manchester United's South Korea midfielder scored in the eighth minute, the sound of cash registers ringing in Seoul, Busan and beyond was almost enough to drown out the cheers of United's away support. ...
In Korea, 250,000 United followers hold club credit cards. When United played in Seoul during pre-season two summers ago, 98,000 fans went wild when a picture of Park was shown on the big screen.
Park has scored important goals for United before, but his strike at the Emirates would appear to have earned him a starting berth in the Champions League final in Rome on May 27.
If there is a distinction to be made between Ferguson's current success and the relatively lean recent years of Wenger, it is that on Tuesday, for all their relative ability, Arsenal were tactically out-thought. The deployment of Wayne Rooney on the left was a masterstroke by Ferguson; so too Ronaldo's role as a lone striker. By contrast Arsenal looked stale. Theo Walcott was not switched to the opposite wing to test John O'Shea when he was shackled by Patrice Evra. Robin van Persie drifted around in areas where he never seemed likely to damage United.
A thought occurs: in his 22 and a half years at United, Ferguson has employed a series of bright young coaches on his staff. From Brian Kidd to Carlos Queiroz and on to one of the current incumbents, the well-regarded Dutchman Rene Meulensteen. Even dear old Steve McClaren, in the seat from 1999 to 2001, must have given him a different perspective. Ferguson might be dictatorial in some respects but he evidently enjoys being surrounded by young coaches with fresh ideas. Wenger has stuck with Pat Rice and Boro Primorac, an old managerial peer from his days in France, and while these are evidently two venerable servants of the club, would the Arsenal manager not benefit from such fresh input? He is ever willing to give a chance to the youngest players in his squad, how about doing the same among his backroom staff?
This isn't to say that Gibbs is a bad defender – he looks anything but, being blessed with great pace and a sound positional sense, as he proved in keeping Ronaldo relatively quiet at Old Trafford. His problem is not a deficiency of talent or, to use Ferguson's faint praise, "potential", but that he has been asked do his growing up in the most glaring public forum.
Those who remember Evra's arrival at Old Trafford, will recall a similarly foal-ish defender, albeit one who had already played in a Champions League final, for Monaco, and for France. Yet such are the resources at Old Trafford that Ferguson could afford to offer his £10m purchase shelter from the storm created by his own initial mistakes.
The outcome of such nurturing is the defender of solidity and verve who has acquitted himself exceptionally this season, a defender who made a baby out of Theo Walcott on Tuesday. And what is true for Evra is also true for Darren Fletcher. It will also be true for the likes of Jonny Evans, who has as much potential as Gibbs but who surely would never find himself as exposed as Arsenal's young Englishman has become. Such is the luxury afforded Ferguson, and by extension his players; such is the unhappy lot of Wenger.
"It is totally different to what happened with me," said Scholes. "There weren't too many complaints about the yellow card that ruled me out. But this was never a red card, as simple as that. Even if he did make a foul, we were 4–0 up on aggregate with 10 or 15 minutes to go. It just seems very harsh to me. Even with my own experience, I don't think there's anything I can do to help Darren feel any better if the decision still stands. You just hope the relevant people will come to their senses and that there won't be any more consoling to be done.""Never a red card", even if it was a foul, about sums it up for me. Referees are allowed to use common sense.
The Daily Star has a good round up of quotes, these from Rooney:
“It would be amazing and, hopefully, we can do it. We set out at the start of the season to retain the title and be the first team to do it. We’re so close now to doing that. To be honest, I don’t really think about these things that much.And The Sun has quotes from Anderson:
“You have to take each season as it comes.
"It’s only when people actually talk to you about doing it that you realise what an achievement it would be.
“I think the team is a lot better than when I first joined when I was 18, Cristiano Ronaldo was 19, Darren Fletcher was 20.
“We had a lot of young players but over the last few years we’ve got the experience that’s helped the team to progress.
“When Roman Abramovich went into Chelsea and all of that money was pumped into them and they won the two league titles, it looked hard to beat them.
“But fortunately we stopped them from winning the league for a third year running and we have really kicked on as a club.
And with a nod towards the strength in depth, Rooney said: “Look at the bench we had at Arsenal. We had the likes of Ryan Giggs, Scholesy, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov. Unbelievable.”
“This United squad can create history.“I can see us winning two consecutive Premier League titles and two successive Champions League trophies because I believe this team is one United’s best of all time.
“Ronaldo is the key. When he finds his rhythm it is impossible for any opponents to stop him.
“Nobody can doubt he is the No 1 player in the world and it is such a pleasure to play alongside him.”
And with that the paper round is going on vacation... I'm away over the weekend and I really won't get a chance to do it (or the match preview), so for the first time this year there'll be a few days off, normal service resuming on Tuesday. I will (hopefully) still be around to tweet on the game on Sunday (here), and for anyone interested in quality music I'll be mainly tweeting from ATP Fans Strike Back over the weekend (lots of good bands on - Beirut, Sleep, Grizzly Bear, Pink Mountaintops...) at my other Twitter account.
Till Tuesday...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment