Barca Weren’t Brilliant In Rome…They Didn’t Need To Be

So the eulogising over FC Barcelona has begun in the wake of their magnificent, all-conquering 2008/2009 season. Sports writers across the globe have been scratching their heads for superlatives, fumbling around for new ways in which to express the sheer sporting excellence of Pep Guardiola’s band of brilliant brothers.

And rightly so. They are exceptional. The Times’ Hugh McIlvanney describes this Barça side as ‘a heartwarming reminder of how beautiful football can be.’ Paul Hayward in The Observer thinks Guardiola has ‘put the finishing touches to a new Dream Team who radiate beacon light.’ While in the News of the World, Andy Dunn proclaimed that, ‘in terms of fluent possession football, Barcelona make Arsenal look like Stoke City.’

All this is more or less correct. Just how well Barça have played this season is well-documented. You need only look at their incredible goalscoring feats to realise that, or to their unrivalled treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League – as remarkable an achievement as it is unique.

But as the dust settles on events in the iconic Stadio Olimpico and the songs of irreverent praise flying Barcelona’s way fade to echoes in the night, behind this season’s Champions League final one simple truth remains.

That truth is that, in actual fact, while the Catalans captured the cup with the big ears and sailed off into Rome’s cool early summer’s night to celebrate, they did so not by virtue of any breathtaking performance or show of extraordinary endeavour befitting their season. Ultimately they did so because, simply, their opponents failed to show up.

They did so because Manchester United, champions of England for three successive years, a club with an unblemished record in European Cup finals, European champions a mere twelve months earlier, somehow managed to forget these aforementioned facts and resorted to a display demonstrating all the nervousness and inexperience of a spotty teenager attempting to seduce a worldly, mature woman.

When the time came for cool heads United wilted. Where composure was needed, panic reigned. When the moment came to bite there were no teeth. And, sadly, in a game that was billed a battle for supremacy between the world’s two finest club sides, questions over who is better were never really answered because one of those two great teams did not even show up.

So why did Manchester United underperform so drastically?

Well, principally there are four main reasons.

1, Poor administering of tactics

With the greatest respect to Sir Alex Ferguson, a man with more major trophies than years at Old Trafford, on the night he got his tactics wrong not just in the starting lineup but throughout the game.

The first XI chosen were identical to those who started the blistering 3-1 win at the Emirates in the semi-final, minus Darren Fletcher. That is Cristiano Ronaldo upfront on his own, Ji-Sung Park and Wayne Rooney either side in support and a three man midfield hassling Cesc Fabregas and co. But while it worked in London, it was completely ineffective against Barça.

Bear in mind that, because of injury and suspension, Guardiola was forced to play two defenders out of position and a reserve left-back in Rome. The onus should have been on hammering such a makeshift defence, putting it to the test at every opportunity. Instead Ferguson played only one recognised striker. On the left wing. The system had a doubly detrimental effect in that Ronaldo became completely isolated. Played down either flank he would have had opportunity to run either Carles Puyol or Sylvinho ragged.

United also craved someone upfront to hold the ball up, win possession further up the pitch and bypass Barcelona’s impeccable midfield. But the only man capable of doing so, Dimitar Berbatov, did not appear until the 67th minute, while Carlos Tevez came on at half time and played attacking midfield!

Likewise, the decision to play an aging Ryan Giggs against a side whose ball retention requires Olympian levels of midfield running to close down was questionable. United would have been far better off with Park in that midfield three, Ronaldo frightening the life out of Sylvinho down the right and Berbatov keeping possession and linking play up top.

2, The absence of Darren Fletcher

It says a lot about the remarkable progress of Darren Fletcher this season that his absence can be listed as a decisive factor in a Champions League final defeat. But it is true. Once a mild irritant to United fans, several of them wore Fletcher masks in Rome and his name was bellowed out both in city streets and in the stadium. Really he should have been playing and had he been available Ferguson would surely have picked the Scotsman in place of Giggs. His boundless energy, positional awareness and closing down were valuable assets sorely missed in United’s midfield. Indeed, a midfield of Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves might have yielded different results altogether.

3, Lack of leadership

Though domestically things went well for Manchester United this season, one element that needs urgent addressing this summer is the captain situation. Gary Neville’s leadership qualities were conspicuous by their absence in Rome and it is commonly accepted that Ryan Giggs is a leader by example rather than a leader of men. When that first Barcelona goal went in after 10 minutes nerves kicked in big time for United, and they nearly fell apart. How the situation cried out for a Roy Keane. For too long Ferguson has juggled the captaincy between Giggs, Neville and Rio Ferdinand. Perhaps now is the time to make a definitive decision, because against Barça nobody seemed willing to grab the game by the scruff of the neck.

4, Lack of concentration / Big game players disappearing

Perhaps the biggest reason of all for United’s failure on the night was the overwhelming lack of concentration that seemed to afflict the players, particularly after the first goal. Immediately after Samuel Eto’o’s strike, Nemanja Vidic assumed possession in his own half, with nobody around him, and hit a backpass out for a corner. In the passage of play that followed, Carrick hoofed the ball into the gut of his own player, before Anderson hit a fresh air pass which missed the ball completely. Whether nerves or a lack of concentration, it was stunning to witness from a side with so much big game experience.

And speaking of big games, where were Manchester United’s big game players? On at least 3 separate occasions Rooney, pressing down the flanks, ran the ball out of play under no pressure. Vidic appeared to have seen the ghost of Torres past. And Carrick misplaced so many passes it would have made a League Two midfielder blush. Andres Iniesta’s pass completion rate was almost 95%. Carrick’s 74%, which with 59 passes played means 15 misplaced passes – a staggering amount at this level. For United only Edwin Van Der Sar, John O’Shea and Ronaldo came out with any great credit.

In the end therefore, while Chelsea could feel aggrieved at the outcome of their clash with Barcelona, Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United had nothing to hide behind other than the shadow of their own incompetence. Barcelona are an incredible football team, of this there is no doubt. But in winning their third Champions League title, they barely had to show it.

Champions League, Europe, FC Barcelona, Manchester United