EVER since a team of reserves and survivors from the Munich Disaster fought their way to the 1958 FA Cup final, Manchester United have been a club most inspired when their backs have been pushed most firmly against a wall.
This result was not on that scale of heroism, but that a side deprived of 13 first-choice players and with just one regular defender should overcome the champions of Germany on their own sodden turf was remarkable.
That Michael Owen should be the man to have turned the night on its head was equally so. When he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer he was depicted as a footballer whose best days had been left behind in Germany when his knee gave way in Cologne during his brief, disastrous appearance at the 2006 World Cup finals. His contribution to Newcastle's struggle against relegation last season had been negligible.
United’s achievement last night cannot be underestimated as Fergie’s men took on the German champions without 14 recognised senior players, including eight defenders.
Owen’s performance stole the show in the Wolfsburg Arena, but the magnitude of United’s victory, which consigned the German champions to the Europa League, cannot be overestimated.Of course there's always one, with Kevin McCarra in The Guardian being unable to stop himself trying to put a dampener on things:
This match, a curmudgeon might object, was designed for Owen. Wolfsburg neither defend well nor acted as if it could ever be a priority. ...I've picked out all the worst bits there, yes, he gives us praise in places, but always offset with this sort of stuff. Take his praise of Owen, where he feels the need to devalue the role he's played for us upto now:
They had been obliged to pick a makeshift team in which several individuals were out of position, yet they recorded a victory even if they also had to display a gift for riding their luck. ...
While the noise levels rose steeply, the quality of the game fluctuated. That was an indication that Wolfsburg, for all their intent, lacked the quality to belabour even this United selection for long. It also assisted Sir Alex Ferguson's men that the final ball from their opponents was sometimes loose enough to release the pressure.
Michael Owen has often been a fringe figure at the club but there will be a surge of acclaim for this hat-trick. It is going be enjoyable to see if Fabio Capello is ready to check the praise for an eminent striker.A "fringe player?" Did we sign him as anything else but an impact substitute? He's now on 7 goals for us, and given his time on the pitch and the importance of the goals he has scored such talk of him as "fringe player" seems a touch ridiculous.
Here's what Sir Alex had to say on Owen:
"Michael Owen is one of the very best strikers around in terms of his positional play and finishing..."
Asked if he had staked a claim to begin games on a more regular basis, Ferguson said: "Absolutely. The real evidence of ability is always found on the football field and Michael has given us plenty of that tonight."Michael has improved steadily in training since joining us but, in some games recently, we've chosen to play just one central striker. We had a different system featuring two strikers tonight, Michael's proved his worth in it and we're delighted."
Owen played down his display. "Me getting three goals will probably grab the headlines but it was a great team performance," he said. "I was playing deep with us having so many players out and we were trying to protect the [defence]."A better look at the game from The Guardian is on their blog by Louise Taylor:
Naturally the defence rode their luck at times but they also proved that finely tuned football brains can compensate for more orthodox defensive attributes as the German champions found themselves outwitted if not outmuscled as Michael Owen scored a hat-trick.Not altogether sure what to make of The Times' verdict, which appears to want to cover ever base imaginable - they were rubbish, we overcame injuries, bizarre Ronaldo reference and the usual "lucky" tag, all in one sentence:
But disappointing though the German champions were last night, United deserved huge credit for overcoming a crippling injury list to upset all the odds. The loss of Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer may have hurt Ferguson’s team, but they retain that remarkable knack of winning when it matters.Elsewhere Adem Ljajic blames work permit problems for the collapse of his move:
"Stories about stagnation in my football development are nonsense. If Manchester United were really not satisfied with how much I've progressed in this year, I would not have been with [Sir Alex] Ferguson two months ago at the end of my last cycle of mandatory training at the club before moving to England."The reason for the transfer not happening is that I couldn't get a business licence [work permit]. Who knows what I will do next? I have heard already that clubs are interested and that Partizan want to sell me. We'll see."
And finally, not a Man United story, but I couldn't believe these words from David Ngog are taken seriously:
Last month, the Liverpool striker was caught up in controversy when he went to ground and won a late penalty against Birmingham. ...Yet Ngog insisted: "I know criticism is part of football but it was unfair because I'm not that kind of player.
"I just tried to jump him and not to be touched. It happened so fast and I didn't think of getting a penalty.
"But I don't really think about that now. I just try and stay in a positive frame of mind to improve my game."
He's not that type of player?! How can we judge what type of player he is but through his actions? And his actions suggest he's a bit of a diver. Whatever next, Steven Gerrard not a diver stories...
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