Shadow of a doubt

Following on from yesterday's last post, today I'm starting with this article by Clive Tyldesley in The Telegraph which, in its criticisms of Ronaldo and Drogba, is so far so seen-it-all-before:

Between them, Drogba and Ronaldo had a trio of penalty appeals rejected this week. None of them was clear-cut, but the fact that none was upheld may have had something to do with the identity of the claimants. Certainly, the lack of any sympathy for either player owes much to their 'previous'. When they plunge to the ground, their reputations land before them.

I'll disagree with the "none of them clear-cut" - the only doubt on the Drogba one was that it was outside the box, but it was certainly a foul; and as for the Ronaldo ones, well ...
The truly awful thing about the article is this:

It is not so much the diving as the umbrage that follows. At least when Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney take a tumble, you can detect a coy smidgen of embarrassment in their protests, but Drogba and Ronaldo would have you believe that they have had their credit cards taken during the assaults on their person. Their outrage knows no bounds. And you thought the Pakistani infield could appeal.

Could someone show me evidence of this alleged embarrassment Steven Gerrard shows after he's dived? I've certainly never seen it (and I've seen him dive about enough). As far as I'm concerned his usual reaction is to go on at the referee at great length afterwards. And if he ever gets given a free kick against him his usual reaction is to demand a card for the opposing player.
Clive also says, "Drogba also has the pain threshold of someone with severe sunburn", which may well be true, but the grossest example of feigning injury in the game on Tuesday was from Torres who rolled about like a big idiot when John Terry had grazed him with his leg.
All of this just goes to show why I'm always forced to turn the commentary off when Liverpool play on ITV - the bias is unbelievable (and having ex-Liverpool player Jim Beglin in the box as well doesn't help).

The analyses of the Barcelona game take a more sober turn today. Kevin McCarra in The Guardian is still praising our defence:

The emphasis put on containing Barcelona was not so very odd. Preferring to suggest United had really wished to be cavalier, the manager spoke regretfully afterwards about a lack of speed and accuracy when his team sought to make the transition from defence to attack. Quibbles will always exist, but the truth is Ferguson's priority was to stop Barcelona.

but is slightly more cautious when looking at the second leg:

Everything rests with the wisdom of the manager's verdict on Barcelona. They had almost nothing in the middle of their attack against United, with Samuel Eto'o sluggish as he toiled to unsettle a sharp Rio Ferdinand. Ferguson's assumption surely is that United, next Tuesday, can contain Barça once more and score on their own account.

The most dismissive report comes from Ian Ladyman in The Mail:

Apart from the scoreline, had it actually been a much better display than the 3-0 Champions League semi-final defeat in Milan a year ago?

Yes. It had. We defended better and thus didn't concede 3 goals. You really can't separate the display from the scoreline like that, especially as Barcelona barely had anything that could be seen as a great opportunity - some half-chances yes, but nothing that you would say was a horrible miss.

The Telegraph urge caution with this round up of previous 0-0 first legs in the Champions League:

Six teams returning home for the second leg have failed to "convert" goalless draws into triumph in the Champions League era, United being the only team to have done it twice.

Richard Williams in The Guardian takes a scathing look at the quality Premier League football, citing us as an exception:

No, the evening didn't feature two teams covering every square inch of the pitch at top speed and driving their first-time passes with the sort of power that used to be reserved for long-range shooting, as if kinetic energy were the only kind that counted in football. And, true, the symmetry of its scoreline wasn't achieved via a melodramatic error in the fifth minute of injury time, another Premier League speciality. The match between Barcelona and Manchester United at Camp Nou on Wednesday night may have ended in a goalless stalemate, but at least it featured players - and coaches - using their brains in an attempt to produce something other than a tussle for physical supremacy. The contrast between the draw in Barcelona and the 1-1 match that preceded it in Liverpool is both instructive and troubling to those who care about preserving such things as variety and nuance within football. The bleakest verdict would be that it showed us the past and the future of the game, although not in that order.

It is a year since Jorge Valdano, the Argentinian World Cup winner turned football philosopher, watched a European Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Chelsea and made his famous remark about Anfield and, by implication, the current state of English football. "Put a shit hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium and there are people who will tell you it's a work of art," he said. "It's not. It's a shit hanging from a stick." There is no reason to think that, 12 months later, he would have had a different reaction to a match between the same clubs in which all the salient characteristics of the Premier League were writ large.

There's a comment on our game by Pepe Reina in this Guardian report:

Reina, who began his career at Barcelona and has developed a reputation as a specialist penalty stopper who studies his rivals closely, said: "Ronaldo always goes left from the penalty spot, his penalties are invariably low and left. Even against Arsenal the other day when he was made to take the penalty again, he still went low and left on both attempts - and scored them. Against Barcelona he tried to surprise them, he changed his style and got it wrong."

Reina was taking notes in case of a possible Liverpool-United final. "I was disappointed with United," he added. "They went out there with lots of forwards but in fact Ferguson made most of them play in midfield. Barcelona showed great heart and I would love to meet them in the final in Moscow."

I guess they get asked the questions but I always find it rather distasteful when players from other teams comment on our games. Obviously he'd rather play Barcelona because he knows we'll just kick their ass.