Reactions to Man Utd vs. Barca

The 2009 Champions League Final was a great occasion for Barcelona fans and neutrals alike. For United fans like myself, it was a bit like watching your younger brother get beaten up and not being able to do anything about it. How did this happen exactly?

This was the first time that I've really seen Barcelona play this season, and even from the first 15 minutes it was obvious they were a different team than the one we beat last year. They move the ball a lot quicker, their midfield is playing a containment game when they lose the ball rather than man marking like they mostly did last year, and they figured out that Messi shouldn't be constrained to the right wing where he has to play against Evra for 90 minutes. They made adjustments. United didn't.

Barcelona had both first choice full backs suspended and a defense so depleted that Yaya Toure, who moves like a shorter Greg Oden, had to play centre back. Their left back is so old that he probably found his first gray pube about 11 months ago. Why then did they have the least work to do all game? I love Ferguson, but he got it completely wrong today. Even though Park was the sentimental choice to start the game, there's no way he should have stayed on for 60 minutes, or even past the first 20. It really shouldn't be underestimated how bad the tactics were. I don't remember Toure having to do any defensive work whatsoever.

Guardiola set his team out perfectly. Granted, United helped him a great deal with the formation they were playing, but what he needed to do, he did exactly right. The containment game worked perfectly because United were playing so narrowly with Ronaldo down the middle, and once they got the first goal they basically did what United do and played on the counter attack.

The first goal made a difference, but the way things were going, United were not going to win this game. After halftime United were so bad that by the 65th minute mark I was trying to convince myself that Darren Fletcher would've made the difference and the only reason we weren't winning the cup was that stupid sending off.

Having said that, this United team is still the best in the world. To get to back to back Champions League finals and win the Premiership takes balls. With minor adjustments there's no reason why we won't be back there next year. And this time, Darren Fletcher will be the sentimental choice we try to shoehorn in.

Other thoughts:

Carrick's range of passing is actually quite a lot smaller than I realised before. If the short pass into the box or out wide to the right back isn't on, his only other move is to dink it over the top to the left wing. How come noone has figured that out yet?

Rooney is in danger of joining the likes of Cwebb and Ewing in becoming known as the least clutch great player of his time. He's basically football's answer to Lamar Odom. He hasn't showed up in big games that I can remember and today was probably his worst performance of the season.

Now can we get a new assistant manager? It's like if Clemenza replaced Tom Hagen as Consiglieri and everyone expected everything to be alright. Phelan's loyal, and a great at what he usually does, but he's no Quieroz.