Utd - no midfield, no big ears

It must rank as one of the most unusual substitutions ever by Sir Alex Ferguson.

To take off a midfielder for a forward, when his team were struggling most to stay in the game...in midfield.

I applauded the decision to bring on Carlos Tevez as Man United struggled to keep up with Barca in tonight's Champions League final - but at the expense of Anderson?

Surely, if Anderson had to come off at half time, and, true. he did have a bit of a stinker, the ready-made replacement would have been Paul Scholes?

As it was, it meant United had to try to cope with Iniesta, Xabi and Bussets with just one recognised midfielder...Michael Carrick. Sure, Giggsy was still out there, but he was playing somewhere between the front and the midfield.

It was a gamble and it didn't work. United as we know them simply did not turn up - too many of the big names froze or did not get into the game. It was as if they were flatlining - even Fergie and Mike Phelan were slumped on the bench whenever I looked, rather than getting to the touchline and urging their men on.

Barcelona were good, but United did not give us a normal United showing. It is hard to take defeat when there is no battling and no determination or grit to turn things around. From the pitch to the bench, Utd seemed floored after the 10th minute goal by Eto, who I believe is not the player he was.

I heard that both Ferdinand AND Vidic (Utd had apparently tried to keep it quiet about the Serbian because there were already doubts over Rio) were not fully fit - and it showed.

The defeat also showed two other things - Berbatov is not worth £30million (he blew over a header he should have scored) and Utd need to invest in two quality midfielders as a matter of urgency. One enforcer and another creative player. Yes, I know they have Owen Hargreaves coming back and Darren Fletcher to return from suspension, but it makes sense to strengthen an area where they are clearly not full of alternatives.

Berbatov needs to be told he has to set Old Trafford alight next season - or he is out, £30m flop or not. No doubt Spurs would be buy him back for half that money, they do have a habit of bringing back strikers who left them in the lurch (cue Keane and Defoe).

But Utd lost in Rome because they had no midfield to claw them back into the game. Barca - for all their arrogance - were worthy winners of old Big Ears (the nickname for the CL trophy). But I still don't like the way they set themselves up as the perfect team - and I am sure that if the real United had shown up, they wouldn't have had it so easy.

Next post will be on Darren Fletcher...how the boy who suffered more abuse and insults at United than anyone in recent memory became the man the club now can't do without. Amazing turnaround - football, eh, bloody hell...

The arrogance of Barcelona

You know, I used to love Barcelona. They were my fave team from abroad and it helped that I also loved the city and the unique character of the locals. But this year the football club has done itself no favours in terms of its frequent bleatings, declarations that it is the best in the world and that any rivals are limited and pedestrian in comparison to their great selves.
Okay, the football they have served up in La Liga has been breathtaking at times - but so what? Real Madrid ended up second in that league - and they were battered 5-0 by Liverpool, which gives you some idea of the oppposition they have been facing week in, week out.
But the regular pronouncements coming from the Camp Nou leave a bitter taste.
Particularly the stuff about Chelsea being crap and defensive.
Truth of it is this...the great Barcelona should not even be in the Champions League Final. Yep, it should be Chelsea - who outwitted them and outplayed them, and who are only at home in West London right now because of the incompetence of a referee not fit to legislate on Hackney Marshes.
I think, like all bullies and big heads, Barca will get their comeuppance tonight against Man Utd in Rome.
1-1 or 2-2 after 90 mins, Ronaldo or Rooney to grab the winner in extra time.
Only then will they be in a position to learn something they haven't got...humility.
It's time for the club who think they are the most perfect in the world - and who you sense feel they are entitled to win just by turning up - are brought down to their true size...against the real biggest club in the world.
Come on United!

Big weekend at the bottom...Moyes and Strachan

Massive weekend at the bottom of the table - in my eyes it is either Newcastle (cue headlines Newcy down) or Hull who will join Boro and West Brom in the Championship. Newcastle have the better goal difference (six better) so you would think that if they could get a draw at Aston Villa they will stay up. After all, you would assume that Man Utd would win at Hull.

But it's not that clear cut, is it? Newcastle are a very poor team. I am not sure about Shearer as a manager - he may be all bluster and no tactical nous - but he was hardly handed a dream team when he took over the job, was he? Certainly, even if they stay up they will struggle again with the poor selection of players on their books. Are they good enough to get a draw at Villa? On a normal day, no, but with passions running high and Villa's players already on the beaches of Miami in their heads, yes.

So that puts it all down to Man Utd really. If the Purple One plays a team of boys, they could still win, but could just as easily lose or draw. A real tough one - maybe Phil Brown can sort his own head out and get his players to fight to the death in front of their home crowd. He seems to think he is the new Jose Mourinho but he reminds me more of the old Villa boss John Gregory (remember him!!) - all poses and pouts for the cameras.

So what do we reckon, then? Two draws...and Shearer to return to the TV couch.

Which could bring Gordon Strachan in at St James and David Moyes to Celtic...or maybe it will be a Moyes/Strachan swap between Celtic and Everton?

We shall see...

Benitez, Ferguson, Hodgson and Wenger

Old Rafa is a grumpy bugger and a bad loser for not having the civility to congratulate Alex Ferguson for another Premier League title win. It's do or bust for Benitez next season - he has to win the league or the Kop may find it hard to take his whingeing, excuses, poor transfer buys (Mascherano and Torres honourable exceptions) and blaming others (like Ferguson) for his self-inflicted problems.

In comparison, look at the job done by Roy Hodgson at Fulham on a shoestring. A great season and only second to Ferguson in the Manager of the Year stakes. If Capello walks out after next year's World Cup amicable, wise old Roy will be a fine candidate to step in as England boss for a year or two.

Meanwhile, Arsenal fans will have only themselves to blame if Arsene Wenger walks away to manage Madrid. Who could blame him after all the abuse and criticism he has had to swallow as he builds another fine Arsenal side? The old saying is you only really miss someone and realise their worth when they are gone - how true that would be at the Emirates...

The Shield - the greatest TV show ever?

Tonight on Five USA...the final episode of The Shield, the greatest Tv show ever in my mind - along with Patrick McGoohan's excellent Prisoner of the 70s.

Vic Mackey gets his comeuppance in tonight's show, I won't spoil the ending for you, but I have seen it already and it is a cracker. Don't miss it...essential viewing

PS I know many pundits go on and on about The Wire, but for me it is too earnest, too slow and too clever by half - like playing chess while in comparison The Shield is like the most wonderful big dipper ride you'll experience.

Is Berbatov Ferguson's new Juan Veron?

Like most football fans I love a bit of speculation and gossip - especially about possible transfers. The Man Utd situation with Carlos Tevez is hotting up and my info and feeling is that the Argentine warrior will end up at 1. Chelsea or 2. Man City. Liverpool? No. I think he has to much respect for United fans to join their bitterest rivals.

I like Tevez. He is a great battler and a busy player - a lot like Rooney. If Sir Alex Ferguson hadn't splashed out £31million for Dimitar Berbatov last year it would seem there would have been no question of keeping Tev. But with hindsight it is surely the case that Ferg opted for Berba rather than Tev.

Was it the right move? Well, it seemed so at the time - Berba had done the business at Spurs and was a centre forward in the true Cantona style so adored at OT. But he has not consistently delivered at United - he has been much like Juan Veron, whom Ferguson signed in 2001 and played time and again (often instead of David Beckham) in the hope he would finally turn on the style.

Veron never did and it seemed to me that Ferguson felt he would be scoffed at for spending a fortune on him if he dropped him. Indeed he once lambasted the Press corps when he was asked why he was playing Veron instead of Becks, claiming the journalists were f***ing idjiots (sic). Is history repeating itself with Berba?

My own feeling is no: that Berba is class and will come good and deliver a world class performance he owes Utd...very probably in the Champions League final in Rome!

And would I have Berba or Tevez given the choice? Berba..

The Damned United/Cass

Saw The Damned Utd at the cinema - it is excellent (as is the book by David Peace). Not simply a film about football in the 70s, although it is truly magical in that sense too, but a comment on life and relationships.

Also watched the DVD of Cass and really enjoyed that too. The story of former West Ham firm (ICF) lad Cass Pennant. Again, not just a film about football or football violence, but a defining tale of a lad who rose above it all and eventually found himself after half a lifetime of not really knowing who he was or why he was. Cass is now a publisher of books (as well as being an entertaining author himself) - good on him.

Tom Henning Ovrebo costs Utd dear too

The incompetence of Norwegian ref Tom Henning Ovrebo is far reaching...gallant Chelsea suffered defeat after he refused three blatant pen calls, and now Man Utd are suffering, too. UEFA have today turned down United's appeal for Darren Fletcher to be allowed to play in the final after he was wrongly sent off against Arsenal.

My feeling is that the decision has been made because, if he had been let off, UEFA would also have felt duty bound to let Barca's Eric Abidal off the hook.

He was also wrongly sent off - by Ovrebo - and that incompetent decision has now had implications for Fletcher as UEFA did not want to open the floodgates.

I still fancy Utd to win the CL final in Rome - 3-2, or with pens if it ends up 2-2.