Man Utd Thread:

[magpie seanie]

A tired, jaded and tactically inept performance. This away form in Europe is brutal altogether. My views on Queiroz' tactics are well known but the saddest thing for me last night was a great player like Giggs and his pitiful display. There were several others too. Anyway, I suppose it was obvious things would go this way. Milan were rested and keyed up and performed excellently - credit to them. That's 7 defeats in 9 European Cup semi finals for United.

I expect the bindippers to take the final (on penalties of course) as they will not allow Milan the time and space United did. Have one of the largest bets of my life on it. Hopefully my legendary bad luck with the bookies rises up again....

[maxpower]

Gutted with the result, and would agree with most sentiments on here about unted looking like a tired team.  as they have done for the most part of the season. 

United's success this year has been largely earned by the form of the wingers and last night both giggs and ronaldo were very poor

[An Fear Rua]

AIG

Almost in Greece

[Billys Boots]

I don't think it will be too hard to motivate Milan to beat Liverpool after the robbery of two years ago. 

[realredhandfan]

I just cant believe we are getting a second chance at those knaves so soon.   Id love to see Paulo getting another cl medal before he retires.

[Mentalman]

To quote Roy Keane in a recent interview :

"Once a fella can pass the bloody ball we're looking for character."

Sadly that character was found wanting in a couple of the Utd. lads last night. I think they badly missed the likes of Neville to give a bit of leadership and drive. Also thought the way the team was set out tactically was not up to scratch either. For me at this stage it's long been established that Rooney needs a striker to play off up front, his tendency to come deep means he's not ideal to lead the line. Against a side like Milan you've got to give your players the best chance to shine, so play them in the appropriate position, i.e. Giggs on the left, Ronaldo on the right. What was Fletcher doing out there? Contributed very little. Should have played Smith, I think himself and Rooney are a great combination. Anyway enough of the woulda shoulda coulda stuff. Will be sorry not to see Utd. in Athens, was looking forward to the crack with my Man U mates over there. Still the chance of a double though, it's not all bad.

[Mayo4Sam]

Looks like Moanihno isn't the only one not able to lose with grace, not able to blame milan, the ref, wenger ferguson has turned to ..........
I love the bit when he was asked for his views on the final


Ferguson attacks Premier League 
By Howard Nurse
BBC Sport website football editor, Milan 



Ferguson's side looked jaded at the San Siro
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson launched a scathing attack on the Premier League after their Champions League exit.

Ferguson's side exited Europe after a 3-0 semi-final loss at AC Milan on Wednesday, going out 5-3 on aggregate.

"Leagues in other countries would help their clubs no end so they can prepare properly for European nights, so there is a problem there," he said.

"We've not had much help from the Premier League."


United face Manchester City on Saturday after failing to get the derby game put back 24 hours.

He added: "Nonetheless we will be there at City on Saturday.

"The television company were quite happy to move the game to Sunday but the Premier League refused. It's an unfair decision to make us play on Saturday."

Ferguson called into question the integrity of the Premier League's policy as United's weary squad try to pick themselves up after their Champions League exit at the hands of a ruthless AC Milan side.


Victory for United at City coupled with Chelsea failing to beat Arsenal would hand Ferguson his ninth Premiership title.

"Like I said, the television was happy to move the game to Sunday but the Premier League said the integrity of the competition had to be paramount. You can work out what integrity means, but I think it was an unfair decision," said Ferguson.

"The same happened when Tottenham had to play so soon after a European match."

Ferguson, who was full of praise for AC Milan who ended United's bid for another Treble, added: "We had a gruelling test at Everton and had to run the extra mile to win that match and that wasn't easy.

"You have to learn to recover from disappointment. I think Louis Saha and Rio Ferdinand will both be fit for Saturday so there's a glimmer of hope on player availability."

Asked for his view on the prospects of a second Liverpool v AC Milan final in three years, Ferguson added: "Both teams will be fresh for the final, they will be able to rest players and prepare fully."

[Uladh]

United's legs were gone last night. rooney, giggs and ronaldo have played in every single game since the end of january and those are the guys united needed to turn the game.

[Maximus Marillius]

Fergie has a genuine point, but Utd could not win the champions league with Fletcher, O'Shea, Brown and then Saha, they do not have the overall quality. That needs addressed for next season or the same outcome will be seen

[full back]

Shocking performance last night
After failing to hold it tight for the first 20/30 mins we should have been aiming to concede nothing else till half time. But that 2nd goal, fcuk sake. On a night like that there is no way you should worry about playing it around at the back, but Fletcher thought fit to play it across the defence then Heinze put Vidic under pressure with Milan players in the close vicinity - stupid cnuts!!
Mind you, Milan passed it around Utd like we were a Sunday league side.
Disappointed that we had no cutting edge at all. Rooney & Ronaldo were both disappointing although the midfield were overran, giving them very few chances.
Gattuso was a giant in the middle of the park. Owen Hargreaves wouldnt put a patch on him.

No point in Ferguson complaining. He knew the fixtures & should have realised if we were going to get to the business end of competitions this season the squad wasnt near strong enough

[supersarsfields]

unfortunately that's the problem when your still in the running for so many comps at this stage of the year. I'd say the PL didn't help maters much but to be honest I'm not sure if changing the date would have made that big a difference. You'd need a massive squad to hope to keep things alive in all comps at this stage. And far play to United they kept it going for long enough.
From my point of view as a Liverpool supporter thought Milan were very good last nite. You could see they were well rested and full of running unlike United.
Kaka has unbelievable skill and vision. Where as Ronoaldo just had a bad day at the office last night. Still don't believe there's much between them.
United really lost out not having a aggressive defensive Midfielder. Why o why they never looked at Mascherano I don't know. They would have had a bigger need for him that Liverpool! ( No bending the rules jibs here please!!   )
But should make for a good final. I don't think I could have  watched a united Liverpool final.

[magpie seanie]

No bending the rules jibs here please!!

Why not? Cork City are in the same position with 2 players and guess what - the rules were adhered to and the guys can't play.

Don't see a whole lot wrong with what Ferguson said and don't think its about being a bad loser. He has a point. As for what he said about thew final - what's wrong with that?

[supersarsfields]

Well I wouldn't blame Liverpool for that. As far as I know they went and checked first if they could sign him and play him and it was ok'ed, then they signed him. There was nothing stopping Sir Alex doing the same if he had the cop on. Which he didn't!!

[magpie seanie]

Who told them it was ok? Brian Barwick I suppose!

And, for the record, Sir Alex doesn't conduct the transfers so try another tact to have a cheap shot at the/one of the most successful manager(s) of all time.

[Goats Do Shave]

As I said before Rick Parry was the best signing Liverpool made over the last 10 years! 

I wouldn't want Mascherano at United!