Home
I didnt know where to put it in European Cups or in the Prem board , anyway:
I think one thing that a side like us has to take out of matches like these is that the PL and the CL are two different entities that demand a different level of composure, class and squad to prevail in. You also have to prioritize. Focus on one or the other or come up short; unless you have a vast squad of players good enough to be rotated in and out of both competitions whilst keeping you in the hunt for both. What you simply cannot do is rely on a few players to carry you through both. After 50+ games, they get to May and they are fatigued and in desperate need of help from the rest of the team.
I think we learned a fair few things about this side once again via a European examination. I think we’ve seen who can and can’t cut the mustard in the CL whilst being perfectly apt for us in the melee of a PL campaign.
In Europe, your weaknesses are amplified. Any faults you have as a side will be exploited and exposed somewhere along the road to the final, unless you jacksy your way to the final and catch a host of teams at the right time. What I thought was ultimately obvious from our away game is that we are desperately…mild… through the heart of the team; tepid defensively and unsure offensively.
It is from the heart of your midfield that games are won or lost. There cannot be a doubt about this and it is probably the only definite you will see in every single CL finalist since the tournament’s inception. The driving force at the heart of the midfield determines the entire sway of the game. Mascherano was absolutely key for Liverpool in their SF, Gattuso was the deciding factor for Milan against us, not Kaka’. It is not coincidence that teams with the strongest central core make that push on. I very much doubt we would’ve got anywhere in Europe without Keano, we missed him in the final, and that’s why we ended up having to knick that game at the end rather than stomping Bayern out during the 90.
A strong heart buoys up the rest of the team. The players behind them become relaxed knowing full well that the guy(s) screening them give them every opportunity to organise themselves and discern when to make their own moves, rather than being forced along and subsequently out of position and into numerous mistakes. A proper DM or DCM will also control his men in midfield – he will never let them ‘sit’ on top of their own backline – therefore, a midfield with a proper organiser in it will never give the opposition the chance to pile pressure on the team because he will force the rest of his charges to stop midfield threats early and high up the pitch.
You nullify threats at their source, you do not give them time to build up a head of steam and we frequently saw our creative sparks being crowded out by 2,3 even 4 Milan players whilst those with no technique were allowed to ‘play’ pass after pass. I made note of Ronaldo’s dribbling and it was again evident that in Europe he is going to have to improve his conventional dribbling to really kick on and take his game up to the next level. What you saw repeatedly last night is that as soon as Ronaldo tried to ‘kick on’ the ball was taken off him without hesitation. This is nullification at source and it really frustrated the kid and left him perplexed with no other avenue to go down as he is not used to this kind of cancelling.
I’ve said it time and again that Milan have and still do have the best midfield in the world. It has all the ingredients for success in Europe. Familiarity of the highest order, technique, control and synergy; all of its pieces are ‘correct’ and each player has a clear and defined role to play. They have two weaknesses, one being they are ‘one-paced’ and aim to do all of their damage early and the second being a lack of stamina deep into a game (Which is why Gattuso is so vital to them) it’s no coincidence that about most of their Euro goals come earlier in games. In first halves and up to about 60 minutes they put on a display that few midfields can combat. If we want to get up to that level on a regular basis there can be no doubt that a huge upgrade is needed in midfield, an upgrade of cataclysmic proportion actually.
What we must all remember is that this European run has come early. I’m sure Fergie had no plans or aims for us to be anywhere near a CL SF this term; I’m sure the manager would have bitten your hand off at the start of the season if you’d told him we’d be 5pts up and oh so close to the PL title with three games to go – to hell with the cups..this year – so we have to take into consideration that this team wasn’t ready for the CL and was and still is a work in progress. The last time we won the CL our team, our squad, were complete. That season you couldn’t say ‘we need’ because we did not. We can be proud though, even though we’re a few tweaks away from again being ready to expect in Europe, we gave a solid account of ourselves and but for key injuries may well have gone all the way. This team was set up to compete for the PL first and foremost, and that is precisely what it has done. It’d be apocryphal to suggest it was intended to take us to European glory.
It’s alarming to think we are always a few injuries away from total collapse though; Rio, Rooney and Ronaldo are relied upon too much for a club of our stature. Scholes and Giggs are here, but they are not ‘go to’ men anymore in Europe. Rather, they play their part as cameos who can do a marvellous job and take the team onto another level when we’re playing well. Indeed, Giggs was key piece in the destruction of Roma at home, both are and have been absolutely vital to our PL campaign, but I’ve felt that in Europe they’ve been a mixed bag overall. When Scholes was removed in Rome, we managed to muddle by without him. When he didn’t play the 2nd leg, we, well, you know.
There is going to be a creeping need for the manager to assess and address this from next year’s CL onward I feel. These two are still good for one or two more PL challenges and they are also able to play a large role in our exploits in the CL, but I think from this point onward we’re going to have to look to other sources for inspiration as we cannot have such a fractious line where reliance is concerned. We’ve effectively seen that without Rio here, there is no backline, if Ronaldo and Rooney have no supply we are impotent and with no leadership through the heart of the side we struggle, badly, away from home no matter if Giggs and Scholes are on the field or not.
Michael Carrick has finally gotten a taste of a true, top notch European midfield and I’m sure he’ll kick on and learn from that experience. We’ve learnt (if anyone needed convincing) that he is not a DM or a DCM, he has no clue with regard to pushing out, for example, and lends himself to always sitting on top of his defence. It’s no fault of his though because for a DLP he does a quite fantastic job of defending, working and intercepting plays. What he clearly shows, however, is that he is never going to have the defensive positional awareness or aggression to be anything like our last line of defence through the heart of midfield and absolutely needs to be complimented by somebody who is all those things that he is not. Milan worked hard to cut him down on both the inside and outside lanes and not only snuff out his outlet balls to the wings but snuff out the basic passes on the inside as well and Carrick was overwhelmed by this. Only two midfields in the world could have done that with such quality – Chelsea’s and Milan’s – and it’s simply a matter of him learning from this. I will say though that to face these teams head on, matching them quality for quality through the middle is paramount. Say what you want about Liverpool, but through the heart of midfield Benitez has got the 2nd best unit in England and one of the best in Europe which kind of makes up for the ankle weights he has on the flanks supporting them, which leads me to:
Darren Fletcher. Fergie’s got a big decision to make here with regard to Fletch. It’s really down to what he thinks we can get out of the kid in the short term if he believes we are to make a serious challenge for the CL whilst also wanting to do well domestically. Fletcher surprised me last night. I won’t say disappointed because there were far more older heads out there looking poorer than he did, but year, surprised. Fletcher, for me, was always our most important player in Europe. In this squad, and from what is here, he is our Gattuso – the player assigned with disrupting all and sundry from the opposing side, the thorn they can’t quite reach and the annoying fecker that makes life ‘unfair’ for the creators we face. In such a pivotal role it is essential that this player is always at the races, always there and a consistent annoyance, much like Gattuso was in both legs. Whilst the wide-eyed fans lapped up Kaka’s goals (rather than his performances) the more astute will note that it is Gattuso who determined both legs and it Gattuso that will decide where Milan’s chips fall in that final as he will be the one hammering away at Gerrard all game. This is exactly the same with regards to us. Whilst the mass media and wider-eyed fans where at their wits end trying to find superlatives for Ronaldo, the rest of the fans would note that it was Fletcher’s intrinsic base that got us to where we are and without him there’d have been no SF 2nd leg to concern ourselves with. That he was completely out of sorts in that game unsettled us as much, if not moreso, than Rio not being in the xi. Without him both Kaka’ and Seedorf ran riot for their allotted time of action (60minutes) and decided the tie.
Now for Fergie, the decision simply has to be whether he thinks that by next year Fletcher will be able to be our Gattuso on a full-time basis, or not. If he thinks he will be then going for an absolutely top notch DM or DCM will be a problem, as that hinders Fletcher’s development. If he thinks he won’t be, then we should go all out for a Daniele De Rossi*. I’m not quite sure what to think about Fletch because we can all see, in glimpses what he may kick on to become. So there’s no knee-jerking needed here, but certainly a decision for the manager to make.
I think one thing that a side like us has to take out of matches like these is that the PL and the CL are two different entities that demand a different level of composure, class and squad to prevail in. You also have to prioritize. Focus on one or the other or come up short; unless you have a vast squad of players good enough to be rotated in and out of both competitions whilst keeping you in the hunt for both. What you simply cannot do is rely on a few players to carry you through both. After 50+ games, they get to May and they are fatigued and in desperate need of help from the rest of the team.
I think we learned a fair few things about this side once again via a European examination. I think we’ve seen who can and can’t cut the mustard in the CL whilst being perfectly apt for us in the melee of a PL campaign.
In Europe, your weaknesses are amplified. Any faults you have as a side will be exploited and exposed somewhere along the road to the final, unless you jacksy your way to the final and catch a host of teams at the right time. What I thought was ultimately obvious from our away game is that we are desperately…mild… through the heart of the team; tepid defensively and unsure offensively.
It is from the heart of your midfield that games are won or lost. There cannot be a doubt about this and it is probably the only definite you will see in every single CL finalist since the tournament’s inception. The driving force at the heart of the midfield determines the entire sway of the game. Mascherano was absolutely key for Liverpool in their SF, Gattuso was the deciding factor for Milan against us, not Kaka’. It is not coincidence that teams with the strongest central core make that push on. I very much doubt we would’ve got anywhere in Europe without Keano, we missed him in the final, and that’s why we ended up having to knick that game at the end rather than stomping Bayern out during the 90.
A strong heart buoys up the rest of the team. The players behind them become relaxed knowing full well that the guy(s) screening them give them every opportunity to organise themselves and discern when to make their own moves, rather than being forced along and subsequently out of position and into numerous mistakes. A proper DM or DCM will also control his men in midfield – he will never let them ‘sit’ on top of their own backline – therefore, a midfield with a proper organiser in it will never give the opposition the chance to pile pressure on the team because he will force the rest of his charges to stop midfield threats early and high up the pitch.
You nullify threats at their source, you do not give them time to build up a head of steam and we frequently saw our creative sparks being crowded out by 2,3 even 4 Milan players whilst those with no technique were allowed to ‘play’ pass after pass. I made note of Ronaldo’s dribbling and it was again evident that in Europe he is going to have to improve his conventional dribbling to really kick on and take his game up to the next level. What you saw repeatedly last night is that as soon as Ronaldo tried to ‘kick on’ the ball was taken off him without hesitation. This is nullification at source and it really frustrated the kid and left him perplexed with no other avenue to go down as he is not used to this kind of cancelling.
I’ve said it time and again that Milan have and still do have the best midfield in the world. It has all the ingredients for success in Europe. Familiarity of the highest order, technique, control and synergy; all of its pieces are ‘correct’ and each player has a clear and defined role to play. They have two weaknesses, one being they are ‘one-paced’ and aim to do all of their damage early and the second being a lack of stamina deep into a game (Which is why Gattuso is so vital to them) it’s no coincidence that about most of their Euro goals come earlier in games. In first halves and up to about 60 minutes they put on a display that few midfields can combat. If we want to get up to that level on a regular basis there can be no doubt that a huge upgrade is needed in midfield, an upgrade of cataclysmic proportion actually.
What we must all remember is that this European run has come early. I’m sure Fergie had no plans or aims for us to be anywhere near a CL SF this term; I’m sure the manager would have bitten your hand off at the start of the season if you’d told him we’d be 5pts up and oh so close to the PL title with three games to go – to hell with the cups..this year – so we have to take into consideration that this team wasn’t ready for the CL and was and still is a work in progress. The last time we won the CL our team, our squad, were complete. That season you couldn’t say ‘we need’ because we did not. We can be proud though, even though we’re a few tweaks away from again being ready to expect in Europe, we gave a solid account of ourselves and but for key injuries may well have gone all the way. This team was set up to compete for the PL first and foremost, and that is precisely what it has done. It’d be apocryphal to suggest it was intended to take us to European glory.
It’s alarming to think we are always a few injuries away from total collapse though; Rio, Rooney and Ronaldo are relied upon too much for a club of our stature. Scholes and Giggs are here, but they are not ‘go to’ men anymore in Europe. Rather, they play their part as cameos who can do a marvellous job and take the team onto another level when we’re playing well. Indeed, Giggs was key piece in the destruction of Roma at home, both are and have been absolutely vital to our PL campaign, but I’ve felt that in Europe they’ve been a mixed bag overall. When Scholes was removed in Rome, we managed to muddle by without him. When he didn’t play the 2nd leg, we, well, you know.
There is going to be a creeping need for the manager to assess and address this from next year’s CL onward I feel. These two are still good for one or two more PL challenges and they are also able to play a large role in our exploits in the CL, but I think from this point onward we’re going to have to look to other sources for inspiration as we cannot have such a fractious line where reliance is concerned. We’ve effectively seen that without Rio here, there is no backline, if Ronaldo and Rooney have no supply we are impotent and with no leadership through the heart of the side we struggle, badly, away from home no matter if Giggs and Scholes are on the field or not.
Michael Carrick has finally gotten a taste of a true, top notch European midfield and I’m sure he’ll kick on and learn from that experience. We’ve learnt (if anyone needed convincing) that he is not a DM or a DCM, he has no clue with regard to pushing out, for example, and lends himself to always sitting on top of his defence. It’s no fault of his though because for a DLP he does a quite fantastic job of defending, working and intercepting plays. What he clearly shows, however, is that he is never going to have the defensive positional awareness or aggression to be anything like our last line of defence through the heart of midfield and absolutely needs to be complimented by somebody who is all those things that he is not. Milan worked hard to cut him down on both the inside and outside lanes and not only snuff out his outlet balls to the wings but snuff out the basic passes on the inside as well and Carrick was overwhelmed by this. Only two midfields in the world could have done that with such quality – Chelsea’s and Milan’s – and it’s simply a matter of him learning from this. I will say though that to face these teams head on, matching them quality for quality through the middle is paramount. Say what you want about Liverpool, but through the heart of midfield Benitez has got the 2nd best unit in England and one of the best in Europe which kind of makes up for the ankle weights he has on the flanks supporting them, which leads me to:
Darren Fletcher. Fergie’s got a big decision to make here with regard to Fletch. It’s really down to what he thinks we can get out of the kid in the short term if he believes we are to make a serious challenge for the CL whilst also wanting to do well domestically. Fletcher surprised me last night. I won’t say disappointed because there were far more older heads out there looking poorer than he did, but year, surprised. Fletcher, for me, was always our most important player in Europe. In this squad, and from what is here, he is our Gattuso – the player assigned with disrupting all and sundry from the opposing side, the thorn they can’t quite reach and the annoying fecker that makes life ‘unfair’ for the creators we face. In such a pivotal role it is essential that this player is always at the races, always there and a consistent annoyance, much like Gattuso was in both legs. Whilst the wide-eyed fans lapped up Kaka’s goals (rather than his performances) the more astute will note that it is Gattuso who determined both legs and it Gattuso that will decide where Milan’s chips fall in that final as he will be the one hammering away at Gerrard all game. This is exactly the same with regards to us. Whilst the mass media and wider-eyed fans where at their wits end trying to find superlatives for Ronaldo, the rest of the fans would note that it was Fletcher’s intrinsic base that got us to where we are and without him there’d have been no SF 2nd leg to concern ourselves with. That he was completely out of sorts in that game unsettled us as much, if not moreso, than Rio not being in the xi. Without him both Kaka’ and Seedorf ran riot for their allotted time of action (60minutes) and decided the tie.
Now for Fergie, the decision simply has to be whether he thinks that by next year Fletcher will be able to be our Gattuso on a full-time basis, or not. If he thinks he will be then going for an absolutely top notch DM or DCM will be a problem, as that hinders Fletcher’s development. If he thinks he won’t be, then we should go all out for a Daniele De Rossi*. I’m not quite sure what to think about Fletch because we can all see, in glimpses what he may kick on to become. So there’s no knee-jerking needed here, but certainly a decision for the manager to make.
