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Let's Not Get Carried Away
Amidst all the gloating and laughing at Terry and Ronaldo, what did last night tell us about the weaknesses of the two teams?
Eventual victory shouldn't stop Fergie from being worried about how his midfield was overrun in the second half. Carrick was a passenger, as he usually is against decent opposition. He's not a bad player, and is probably good enough for Tottenham, but he's simply not good enough to be the lynchpin of a team that aspires to be the best in Europe. It's easy to understand why Fergie wanted to play Scholes, but playing Scholes and Carrick together was a mistake. It was noticeable that United only started coming back into the game in extra time once Hargreaves had gone into the middle. The truth of United's season is that an outstanding defence and an outstanding attack have allowed them to get away with a midfield that's not as good as Chelsea's, Arsenal's or even Liverpool's.
United also need a new keeper. The big Dutchman's been a great player, but there was something unsatisfactory about him making the winning save, given that he'd screwed up the rest of the shoot-out. For more than one kick, he positioned himself bizarrely off-centre, then dived half-heartedly towards the other side of the goal - leaving a massive area of empty net to aim at.
For some reason Anelka put the ball the other way. Not quite a Paul Robinson level of penalty shoot-out incompetence, but not far off.
Meanwhile, Chelsea's problem is that they have too many top-class midfielders. Lampard and Ballack were always going to struggle to fit in the same side. Ballack's been great recently, but went back into his shell
with Lampard alongside him. But worst of all, accommodating both of them forced Grant to put Essien at right back, which ultimately cost Chelsea the match. People say that this kind of problem is a nice one to have, but that's only true if you have the guts to relegate one of your galacticos to the bench. Grant didn't.
And Chelsea fans who are keen to see the back of Drogba are deluding themselves. He has been absolutely essential to Chelsea's success and style of play over the last few years, and there's no-one else who can do that job. He may be loathsome, but he's probably impossible to replace.
Finally, much as it was a great game, with both teams being admirably willing to attack, it didn't look to me like the players coped very well with the pressure. At least five players could have got themselves sent off for really silly things. Even Ferdinand, who's usually quite cool, lost his head - what on earth was he thinking when he launched that head-high studs-up tackle on Cole in the penalty area? That should have cost them the game if the linesman hadn't bottled it. Makelele behaved like a stroppy teenager for most of the game. And was it Hargreaves who actually shoved the referee quite hard in the back? No-one had a truly outstanding game, and concerns have to be raised about the players'
temperaments.
Still, it was a terrific couple of hours of entertainment.
GP, London
Cruel World
What a horrible, horrible day. I have to watch that final and see that really not very nice person Ronaldo get a champions league winners medal (although Rooney being muck and Drogba getting sent off softened the blow a little) then turn around to leave the pub to go and watch the new Indiana Jones movie but see it is lashing rain. I have to walk through droves of drunk, topless Manchester united fans, mooning cars and pulling faces in the rain. I stare at my wet feet and quicken the pace. I console myself that a two hour dose of my favourite hero will cheer me right up. Football has let me down, he will not. How wrong I was. United are champions of Europe AND Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is rubbish. What next God, you cruel son of a bitch. WHAT NEXT??
Arse Biscuits!!
Ed
It Was Terry's Fault
Just a quick note on something which seems to have skipped everyones attention. I am no Drogba fan, would find it a tough call between who I despise more between him and Terry, but why has nobody mentioned that it was Terry and Lampard who caused the row which led to Drogba's red card by charging over to confront Tevez for knocking the ball out to return possession to Chelsea - the same as Chelsea did twice previously in the match. Drogba's an idiot for what he did - equally so are Terry and Lampard and they take equal blame in the hilarious defeat. Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch!!
Mark, Ireland
Bobby F**king Charlton
After reading the mail from Rob Doolan, I feel compelled to ask... Am I the only one sick of seeing United wheel out that geriatric tool Bobby Charlton every time the club does something mildly interesting/important? What purpose does he serve? He's just there all the time in his gammy Davy Crocket hat, radiating some sort of intense annoying energy. And he's "too humble" to get a medal? Why the f**k should he get a medal?
Glad I got that off my chest.
The Geek
Spot-On Sir
Last night should finally convince those that still believe penalty shootouts to be a lottery that they're very, very wrong. We've witnessed an intriguing study in psychology, preparation and guts. Philip Cornwall has dealt with Ronaldo's penalty nicely. Cech had obviously done his homework and didn't fall for the old psyche-out-the-goalie-by-checking-your-run trick. Advantage Chelsea.
And then John Terry. What a centre half was doing taking the crucial fifth penalty with Kalou and Anelka nowhere to be seen we'll never know. Did Terry's arrogance mean that captain fantastic needed to be the one to win the game? Maybe he was the only one man enough to step up to the plate when Anelka bottled it (more on that anon)? Whether Terry deserves criticism or praise for taking it, nobody really knows. Either way it was a terrible kick and all of a sudden United had a lifeline.
Anderson's kick straight afterwards won't get much coverage in the press, no doubt. But as an indicator of things to come, it was extremely important. He hit it hard, it went in - no fuss there. But to see the youngster follow it up to smack the ball into the net again, screaming, with fists pumping, you just sensed that the momentum was properly with United and it was going to be their night.
The real 'big-game bottler' of the night is our anti-hero: Nic Anelka. Edwin van der Sar must have been delighted to see a nervous striker step up for the seventh penalty. If Anelka had any confidence in himself, he'd have been in the first five (ahead of any of the three defenders that did take one). He didn't even take the sixth. In fact, the only other players who hadn't yet taken one were the goalkeeper, a centre half and a midfielder who has stated he'd never taken one because his mum had a heart attack the last time he missed. Anelka bottled it - he cowered behind his team-mates until he was finally forced to step up and then hit the typical lacklustre kick of a guy with no confidence or desire to be there. He'd almost started hanging his head before it was saved, such was the inevitability of it. And so United are champions. Largely because a sulky Frenchman tried to abandon his responsibility, and got what he deserved.
Lottery my a*se.
Dave Lillis, Dublin
The Club That Sir Built
When are people like Nick Smith going to get the following into their heads
Manchester United
United were on their knees and languishing without a title for 19 years when Ferguson took over. The money the club has earned since the inception of the boom of the Premiership is down to Ferguson building a great team to flourish at this time. The money was generated by the clubs success from fans and from endorsements. The Glazer takeover has continued this trend with season tickets and sponsorship on the up. During this time there has been no outside investment into players. The net spend (it's nice to throw big numbers around but Fergie has made over £50m on player sales in the last 2 years) on players in the Glazer era is a very modest 35m over 3 seasons (give or take 5m either way pending on the fees for Nani & Anderson which vary depending on what you read) and this is all self financed. This is also the Liverpool, Arsenal model albeit on a larger scale.
Success = Money
Chelsea
Were a top 6 side with an ageing side and huge debts until they were inexplicably bailed out and GIVEN in excess of £400million pounds to spend on players and wages by Abramovich. This gross injection of cash allowed them to spend gigantic amounts of money for 3 summers running and attract Mourinho and his aura of success to the club. It also allowed Judas Kenyon to use his insider knowledge of Fergie's scouting to make inflated bids for Essien, Robben and Mikel at United's expense and sign other players just to stop opponents having them (SWP and Arsenal for example). None of this money is earned and nobody truly knows legally ethically where it came from save that Abramovich seems quite keen to keep it out of Russia.
So when people say Fergie has done a great job to overturn Chelsea he has. Since Abramovich arrived Fergie is nowhere near matching Chelsea's spending and this trend will continue.
Jimmy (Would Keano of cried on the telly?) A
What The F**k Have You Been Smoking?
As a genuine neutral, who couldn't decide who he wanted to see lose more, that was a pretty unsatisfying way to end a good game of football. Ronaldo, Terry and Anelka may individually be twats, but missing a penalty in a Champions League final is a pretty harsh punishment, even for a twat.
Can I be the first to revive the best idea Sepp Blatter ever had? The best way to settle a drawn cup game is for each player to have to withdraw one outfield player every five minutes in injury time. This tests both the tactical acumen of managers and the skills and finesse of players. And it also retains what is integral about football - one group of lads trying to score a goal against another group of lads.
Who wouldn't have loved tonight's game to be whittled down to Terry-Carvalho-Ballack-Lampard-Anelka against Ferdinand-Vidic-Ronaldo-Carrick-Tevez over a wide open Moscow pitch?
Does that not retain the beauty of one side trying to put a goal past the other (while obviously making it more likely a goal will be scored)? Or did everyone just dismiss this idea the first time because it came from Blatter?
Paul, Dublin
Half-Cut
Since my gut is already sizzling from the alcohol consumed last night, I figured I would let some bile out to ease the pain. I'm wondering - just wondering - whether it would have been worth seeing Chelsea lift the CL in order to see Ronaldo disgraced for his penalty miss. That save was great, but not really a great surprise. As I watched Ronaldo walk to the spot, I turned to the person next to me and said (or rather yelled over the noise) 'He'll stutter on the run up, and he'll put it right...there' as I pointed to the exact spot he would take the penalty. If I can do that half-cut, you think that Cech (without denying him any credit) wouldn't be able to make a good guess at where the ball was going to go?
We've seen it before. We've even seen him retake penalties in the exact same way because he is an arrogant prat, and thinks that his trademark penalty is better than any goalkeeper in the world. Predictable in his arrogance - that's a pretty damning indictment.
JS
A Few Points
As a Liverpool fan, I was a little disappointed that Manyoo won last night, however not that bothered as the losers were Chelsea.
However there are a few points i would like to discuss.
1) Was Chelsea's ball return just random poor sportsmanship, or intentional gamesmanship?
2) Was Van Der Sar's celebration when Terry hit the post, just a little embarrassing as he went the wrong way and was poor all game?
3) And here is the big one, Am I the only one who saw Owen Hargreaves shove the Ref in the back during the handbags, in full view of the linesman. How did he get away with this? I for one liked Hargreaves during his Munich/England days, now the more I see of him, The more I think he has settled in to the Man U family quite nicely. (i.e. Whinging and moaning and generally being a s**tbag).
Ian Prime L.F.C
Brave/Stupid?
Amid all the euphoria of United fans winning the Champions League and the neutrals laughing at Terry, I just had to add this in. Drogba has always been labelled as a diving, cheating coward who goes down a little to easily when given the slightest of nudges.
But come on, how brave (or foolish) was he for slapping Nemanja fucking Vidic?! He looked pretty composed after laying his palm on Vidic's face but I know that deep down he's shitting his pants! Just look at Vidic when he came to realization, started to lunge for Drogba and had to be held back by several players. I'd take a pretty huge wager that Vidic wasn't doing the "hold me back" routine.
I don't know about you but Nemanja Vidic is one of the last few people on Earth I would want to offend. Drogba has gone up this high in my estimation. Brave, maybe, stupid, definitely.
Chee Meng (can you print this so I can finally make my mailbox debut?) Ng, Malaysia
Heroism
Can anyone explain to me why Van der Sar is a hero? Bit of a shakey game, fell over to allow chelsea a tap in and saved one penalty out of seven (and it was a pretty poor penalty).
Heroism shouldn't be given by default.
Jon M, Durham
...To Joe Freeman, Chelsea - John Terry is a hero?
Two years ago Man Utd lost the FA Cup on penalties to one of their biggest rivals. The only player to miss his penalty was Paul Scholes. Was he as disappointed and devastated then as John Terry was last night? I'd say absolutely, after all, his team had just lost because of his missed penalty (whereas Terry wasn't the only Chelsea player to miss). Compare the reaction of Scholes then to Terry last night. Did Scholes cry incessantly? No. Did he need consoling with a big hug from his manager? No. Scholes simply took it on the chin and moved on.
The thing about heroes is, when things go wrong, they don't need a big strong shoulder to cry on.
I hope that Capello feels the same way when deciding on the next England captain - he needs someone with character, not someone who cries when things don't go his way.
Martin Wilson
Chuffed
Absolutely chuffed after last night. As so many have said the auld Karma worked its charm last night.
Drogba sent off.
Ronaldo p***king about with the penalty and missing
Terry missing and crying (learn where to put your feet, mate!)
But two points:
1) I thought the ref was excellant. I was a bit sceptical about a Slovakian ref as I wasnt sure if he had experience for the big matches. But in the end it was a master stroke because it seemed like he was oblivious to reputations. Ronaldo didnt get a free everytime he went down. Ballack harrassed the ref at every chance but the ref waited and carded him when it got out of hand. Scholes stops Makelele on the break and gets a card where some refs might have not done so having seen the blood from Scholes afterwards. Drogba cheats and dives all night and gets sent off deservedly.
2) As much as I'ld love to have a go at the not-so Bionic man Terry for truly messing up, it must be pointed out that after Drogba slapped Vidic, Vidic was going straight for the dirty git and would have decked him. But Terry held him back. Had he not it would have been even for the remaining few minutes. I am still debating about what is nicer, having the champions league cup or seeing Vidic rip into that dirty git Drogba. Tough one to call!
Great match, great result.
Cathal (please ban all Samba dancing celebration, espceially if you're Nani), Dublin
Pushy
Did no one else notice Hargreaves' quite blatant shove on the referee during the fracas in the second half? He should have walked for that - and therefore wouldn't have been around to take probably the best penalty of the evening.
Jonny Franks, London
A Purging
So this is how it must feel to cheat on a partner. I've washed and I've washed and I still feel dirty. How could I support the Mancs? Well the fact is they're more tolerable than Chelsea. It is built into my genetics to hate the Scummers - I'm a Liverpool fan - it goes without saying. At the end of the day though I have no (ir)rational dislikes for any individual United players, whereas with Chelsea I have several.
I still am glad that United won, but I am equally glad to have woken up this morning still thinking that they are c**ts.
Here's some titbits that went through my mind last night in no particular order:
1) Dare I say it - Lampard is a big game player.
2) Wayne Rooney is not and is utterly useless.
3) I'm thirsty, I better have another beer.
4) David Pleat is senile.
5) Clive Titsley and Steve Ryder have recently attended drama school with the aim of developing the penchant for the dramatic with every sentence. If anyone would have to commentate on the end of the earth I hope to god I wouldn't have to listen to those plebs.
6) I've always thought John Terry has that 'just got out of bed look'. At the end of the game he looked like one of Rhyl's finest bedsit dwellers whilst upset - scary thought.
7) Didier Dogs**t really really is such a t**t.
8) The linesmen and referee gave too many marginal decisions in favour of the Scummers.
9) Despite Chelsea's efforts to squeeze the life out of the game in the middle of the park, it really was rather an entertaining game.
10) Please Liverpool - don't buy Malouda.
11) Gosh I'm thirsty, I better have another beer.
12) I'm pleased for Ryan Giggs.
Thank you for listening. I feel a little cleaner now.
David
One We All Missed
Just watching a highlights re-run of the game and just saw something that has been missed in the laughing at Bionic Girl.
If it had occurred at any time other than in the last minute of extra time in the first half, Filthy Carvalho's shocking studs up attack on Ronaldos planted left leg would have been a straight red.
The ref was surrounded (surprise, surprise) by a haranguing posse of offended Chelski players led by the indignant Makelele (who was obviously incensed that given that there was no break there should be no foul) and the ref bottled it.
There'd have been no penalty shoot out with Dicky in the showers and Chelski down to 10 men.
Ruairi (And I wouldn't have chewed my fingers to the bone). MUFC, Melbourne
Who Said Chivalry Was Dead?
Imagine the scene: 7pm, Champions League coverage just been turned on in my flat, I'm settling down for a night of footballing entertainment. Suddenly news reaches me that my girlfriend has suffered an injury in Boxercise (no, I wasn't really sure what that was, either) and had to be rushed to A&E. Being a gent as I am, I vacated my seat and my beverage to be with my love.
Not only was I forced to sit in a hospital waiting room for over an hour, but I had to fork out 6 quid for the taxi fare! Of course I suffered this without a word of complaint, all the while maintaining an air of concern for my poor wounded girlfriend, while praying fervently that Scholes wouldn't make a twat of himself.
The first text from my mate (who gallantly remained by the telly) comes in, reading along these lines. "Scholes is bleeding and booked." Needless to say I texted back detailing what a muppet I thought he was, and asking exactly how it had happened. The next text began as a coherent explanation, then as I pressed the down arrow my eyes met with "RONALDO!!! header."
Struggling to maintain a degree of decorum (and not alert hospital staff to the switched-on nature of my phone) I danced a quiet jig of delight in my plastic chair. About then, a nurse told us to move into a different room, where a further half hour passed before a doctor turned up. Just about long enough for news of "Fat Lumplard"'s equaliser to reach me, and my face to reach massive levels of concern just in time for the doctor to see how worried I was about my girlfriends wrist.
Having patched her together, we grabbed another taxi (another 6 quid) home, and reached the tv at just about the 60-minute mark. At this stage Chelsea were dominating the game, and things looked grim. I'm sure the actual match will be covered in mindnumbing detail by every other mailboxer for the next week, so I'll keep my summary to delight at the best team winning, sympathy for John Terry coupled with mild amusement at the duration of his sobbing, and amazement that Paddy Evra remained on the pitch after a fairly blatant elbow to the face of Joe Cole.
If I were Giggs, I would retire gracefully over the summer with a fistful of medals and other records, rather than spending next year sitting on the bench while Nani learns how to deliver an end product, and similarly Scholesy should wander off to Oldham with his head held high. Anderson's first goal (sort of) should boost his confidence, and the future looks bright for the best club in the world.
Congratulations to the whole squad, and hard luck to Chelsea. There's always next year, boys.
Seb (Darren Fletcher = David May) Goffe, Lancaster
PS: My girlfriend's wrist is just sprained, nothing much to worry about. I'm sure you're all relieved.
Here All Week
- Crying
- Fighting
- Bitching
- Arguing
- Cheating
- Smug rich bellends with more money than sense everywhere you looked.
- And at the end of the day the slimy arrogant greaseball got away with f*cking up and the toff(s) went away missing out on the big prize.
Yep The Apprentice was great again last night.
Not sure why ITV1 had it on during their primetime slot as well though.
Steve (just glad Frank Redknapp-errr-I-mean-Lampard didn't win a medal last night) Sanders, NCFC
Go For It Chief
I'm a scouser teaching in a rural school in Cumbria. Today a whole class of Year 8 kids (that's 2nd form seniors to us tradionalists) sat in my lesson chanting "glory glory man united" in thick Cumbrian farmer accents. Would it have been wrong of me to steam in and start headbutting the gloryhunting little toerags? I did ask them all if they had ever been to OT. As it turns out one of them did have an uncle who had thought about going. Figures!
Guy B
'Do You Know How Much A Jazz-Mopper Makes?'
I am writing to see if your readers would like to join me in organising a whip-round, to raise money for the poor Russian cleaner who had to wipe up Clive Tyldesley's sp*nk from the commentary box this morning. That odious little tw*t truly makes watching Man Utd play a sickening experience.
Adam (Looking to patent the 'Chelsea Head-shake' - as done by JT and FFL whenever they leave the pitch after losing a match) Stokes
PS: To the topless Chelsea yob in the face-mask (from your pictures pages) - your ingenious disguise is somewhat ruined by your tattoos, mate.
More Fluid
Just a thought to all you doubters out there regarding Chelsea's "Bionic Man" John Terry.
Tears? Tears?
I think you'll find that it was hydraulic fluid leaking from his head gasket.
Yours proudly
Mark (Still Chelsea) Kelly
Yes!
Forget all the hounding the ref, the diving, the handbags, players being labelled as bottlers etc. The most annoying thing last night was surely the Chelsea players names on their shirts being spelt out in only lower case letters.
Andy (a pedant at heart) P
And Now To More Important Matters
Now that all that Champions League palaver is over can we focus on the weekend and some fascinating Play Off finals? I'm from Hull originally so I'm biased, but the Champiosnhip play off is between two very evenly matched teams that promise a corking match which (obviously) I want The Tigers, and our really rather wonderful attacking vim, to win. But even beyond my Hull related myopia, even I can see how big a game Donny and Dirty Leeds is, and I also so want Rochdale to go up and break that (I believe I'm right in thinking, correct me if I'm wrong Dale fans) never ending stint in the bottom league (I'd call it League 2 but it may change names before the weekend).
All the best for a captivating weekend (yes, even you Leeds fans),
Come on you Tigers!!!!
Mark
