[quote=“Flano”]Ah I missed the 90’s part.
Laudrup then.[/QUOTE]
Michael?
He was more of a midfielder. Can’t really remember him for Barca, remember him for Real alright.
[quote=“farmerinthecity”]Ehhh - wouldn’t say that Pikie.
He came on in the final and had a big impact. Eto’o was their best player on the night in that game though. Scored a goal and was really on top of his game.[/QUOTE]
That’s why I said almost practically. I firmly believe though if he wasn’t introduced, Barcelona would not have won that final.
Cooooont :guns:
[quote=“farmerinthecity”]Michael?
He was more of a midfielder. Can’t really remember him for Barca, remember him for Real alright.[/quote]
Midfielder/Winger. Attacking player anyway. He was there for at least 4 years . He was part of the 1992 European champions team.
Maradona was in that Barcelona team that went to Old Trafford for a Cup Winners Cup Quarter Final holding a 2-0 lead. They got spanked 3-0, one of the great European nights at Old Trafford.
Gerard Pique was part of the Barcelona team that were underdogs going into a Champions League final against Manchester United in 2009. Barcelona spanked them 2-0 and probably should have won by more - thought the so called ‘greatest team in the world’ a footballing lesson they did.
Maradona didn’t exactly set the world alight in Barcelona I think but he was involved in one tastey schemozzle against the basques…
The English and the Irish must be one of the very few who use their fists in a row…spanish,south americans and Asians always seem to kick…
Is that the same Gerard Pique that would still be in the Man Yoo reserves were he still at Sold Trafford?
:guns:
No arguments here, just because the british press call them the greatest team in the world it doesn’t make it so.
Ferguson has failed to produce a decent midfield for 5-6 seasons now. All they say about Keane, they haven’t replaced him.
No use having the likes of Ronaldo and Rooney if you don’t have players to win the ball and pass it properly.
Ryan Giggs can hack it against the lesser lights of the Premiership, Paul Scholes legs are gone, this could be seen in last years final. I have said previously Carrick is too lightweight, Anderson is young and needs more experience.
Fletcher was a big loss, only for the fact that he would have tracked Iniesta and not given him time to settle on the ball like he did against Fabregas in the Semi.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea have players like Essien and Alonso who would not have allowed the Barcelona mid-field walk through them. Utd don’t have that type of player at the moment and that to me is Fergusons’ biggest failing.
I would have said Mascherano instead of Alonso, but yea.
cup winners cup:rolleyes:
Forgot Mascherano alright, but there is definately a dearth of quality midfielders at Utd.
It is total madness trying to accommodate Carrick and Giggs/Scholes in the same midfield against the likes of Barcelona in Europe or Liverpool in the EPL.
[quote=“Mullach Ide”]Forgot Mascherano alright, but there is definately a dearth of quality midfielders at Utd.
It is total madness trying to accommodate Carrick and Giggs/Scholes in the same midfield against the likes of Barcelona in Europe or Liverpool in the EPL.[/QUOTE]
says the man praising the utd team all season & one that predicted a utd victory:rolleyes:
Even more disappointing I’d say to think Utd could as easily have gotten Javi as Pool did.
Imagine, Javi couldnt get his game at West Ham.
Nuts.
It was a big trophy back then. Juventus won it I think that year, beat Utd anyway, Paulo Rossi did the damage.
Link please.
the point is that you are clearly an aftertimer in regards to this:rolleyes:
If you say so, but I have stated previously on the Michael Carrick thread that you started that he was too lightweight.
With regards to being an aftertimer, in every match against any team of decent quality this season, Ferguson has played Fletcher, Park etc in a 5 man midfield, hardly an indictment of trust in Carrick to run the show is it.
I heard Barcelona were playing on Wedensday, anyone know how that went?
[quote=“Mullach Ide”]No arguments here, just because the british press call them the greatest team in the world it doesn’t make it so.
Ferguson has failed to produce a decent midfield for 5-6 seasons now. All they say about Keane, they haven’t replaced him.
No use having the likes of Ronaldo and Rooney if you don’t have players to win the ball and pass it properly.
Ryan Giggs can hack it against the lesser lights of the Premiership, Paul Scholes legs are gone, this could be seen in last years final. I have said previously Carrick is too lightweight, Anderson is young and needs more experience.
Fletcher was a big loss, only for the fact that he would have tracked Iniesta and not given him time to settle on the ball like he did against Fabregas in the Semi.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea have players like Essien and Alonso who would not have allowed the Barcelona mid-field walk through them. Utd don’t have that type of player at the moment and that to me is Fergusons’ biggest failing.[/QUOTE]
Essien is a cracking player but if that final taught us anything the other night it was that there’s no value in filling a team with medicore cloggers in midfield. Neither Alonso nor Essien fit into that category (and Mascherano is reasonable on the ball) but you need to expect far more from your midfielders than just tracking runners.
United were content to surrender the ball to Barcelona while Carrick and Anderson stood there. To be honest I don’t think Fletcher would have improved them hugely if he was playing to the same instruction. Sure he’d have been in their faces a bit more but the match was lost for United by not having the ball, not by how badly they defended in midfield. You can have the best defensive midfielder in the world in there but if you never have the ball yourself then you’re fucked.
Now in fairness to Xavi and Iniesta they don’t just stand there when they lose possession and they certainly aren’t static when Barca have the ball. They consistently average over 10km in a game. Of course that doesn’t tell you a lot. Carrick tends to be United’s best player in terms of running distance (more than Fletcher) but he doesn’t seem to be running at the right times, at the right pace and in the right area.
I think United would be foolish to just buy a defensive midfielder in the hope that this will solve their problems. Far more important to them would be a guy who’s not afraid to get on the ball and keep it.