i was actually pretty neutral in this match, but i really didnt like the side that saf put out there. once you push rooney out wide and start berba and tevez on the bench, that really decreases the effectiveness of 75% of your best attackers. too much pressure on carrick in my opinion
but iniesta/xavi seemed like 4 guys out there, along with the always brilliant messi. congrats to barca, when they fire like that they are a treat for a neutral to watch
It wasn't so much the squad (although the inclusion of Anderson reminded me of how badly I want to Hargreaves career not to be over), it was that he basically announced what he was going to do weeks in advance. I watch every United match, but at least once a week SAF throws a curve ball in the lineup that causes other managers to try to figure out what he's doing. I was very worried when I saw that I had predicted the lineup exactly. Barca must have known what they were going to do and it showed:
Rooney was completely stifled out wide, something no Premiere League team had done all season.
Evra and O'Shea were not able to come forward because when they did, Barca was usually left with a clear chance to score.
Anderson was completely out of his league, and with he and Park not really being a threat, Barca were able to cut down the space afforded Carrick and Giggs.
Tevez provided some hope and Berbatov was a last ditch effort, but it was quite clear that United were rocked by the first goal. Ronaldo was United's only hope and I think in hindsight, Giggs took that free kick early in the first half thinking Ronaldo would get another chance. Credit to Barca's discipline that United never had a free kick in range after that. Barca were the much better squad and deserved the title.
