Where do United go now after their Euro mauling?
THE big question for Manchester United is: just where do they go from here? That one game, one result, has totally changed the dynamic of the United set-up for the whole summer, and it will certainly be interesting to see whether it has any effect on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez’s uncertain futures.
Ronaldo, undoubtedly, looked the most committed player in a Manchester United shirt throughout the 90 minutes, but his body language at the final whistle did not bode well for United fans. It was almost as if he was saying: “If I can lose at United, then I can lose at Madrid, and make £200,000-a-week.”
Sir Alex would have wanted a high-tempo start, and he wouldn’t have been disappointed. But Eto’o’s goal completely took the wind out of the United sails and they never recovered. In order for United to retain the trophy, they needed their big guns playing well. That simply didn’t happen. From the moment Eto’o scored, United looked anxious, like they didn’t know how to get back into the game.
With the exception of Ronaldo, the entire midfield and striker support left their ‘A’ game at home and Barca took full advantage in the way you would expect a team with such wonderful technique to do.
With Iniesta, Xavi and Messi at the heart of everything, Barcelona knocked the ball around intelligently and were meaningful in their movement. United, on the other hand, looked shell-shocked and were meaningless in their approach, while simple jobs, such as a 6ft 4in defender picking up a 5ft 7in for a routine cross into the box, were forgotten.
Rooney, in particular, was a major disappointment. Not once did he come off that left touchline and search for the ball to make things happen – and that just about summed United up.
HOW THEY RATED
MAN UTD
Edwin van der Sar (7)
Perhaps at fault for the first goal but redeemed himself with smart stops from Henry and Puyol.
John O’Shea (5)
Distribution was poor and offered very little going forward, while struggled to contain Henry.
Rio Ferdinand (6)
Positioning must be questioned when a 5ft 7in opponent, Messi, beat him in the air for Barca’s second goal.
Nemanja Vidic (6)
Turned too easily by Eto’o for the opening goal but otherwise his solid self and thwarted several attacks.
Patrice Evra (6)
One decent cross did not make up for the carelessness in possession that led to Barca’s second goal.
Anderson (4)
(Tevez 45”) Lively opening but failed to impose himself on Barca’s expert midfield and was replaced.
Michael Carrick (6)
Poor by his own high standards and uncharacteristically sloppy at times; overrun by Iniesta and Xavi.
Ryan Giggs (5)
(Scholes 75”) Captain could not lead by example, the veteran failing to keep pace with sprightly opponents.
Ji-Sung Park (4)
(Berbatov 66”) On right of forward three, his energy should have troubled ageing Sylvinho. It didn’t.
Cristiano Ronaldo (7)
Carried the fight in the opening period and unlucky not to score with one of several efforts; faded later.
Wayne Rooney (5)
Marooned on the left, Rooney was toothless and grew increasingly frustrated at his own failings.
Substitutes
Tevez 6: Injected energy but made little impact.
Berbatov 4: Utterly anonymous, failed to chase.
Scholes 4: Lucky to just get booked for horror tackle.