Roma 0-2 ManUtd: A victory for Socialism?
April 4, 2008
It is dangerous when commentators describe our draw as easy; first because of the English Sporting Press’ penchant for underestimating foreigners and second because players who read the papers might start believing it. Roma have not faltered in any home fixture since we took a point off them before Christmas; their only defeat in the champions League was 0-1 to us. The first target for United was to score, and the second to avoid an irredeemable defeat.
With Van der Sar thankfully fit again Ferguson started with the full defence. He played with three central midfielders, the Scholes Carrick combination which many (including me) used to say could not play together well, backed by Anderson and, it seemed, with Park and Ronaldo on the flanks and Rooney as a lone striker. In fact, Rooney played wide left with Ronaldo much more central.
Roma are unlike other Italian sides; they operate a fluid attack of the kind which McLaren thinks we have copied and improved upon, and they can be exciting in the English style. I have admiration for their football but it is difficult to like their fans much. It was a relief that the scenes which accompanied the last two United visits were not repeated; there was, apparently, some missile-throwing, but there were no baton charges in the ground or in the streets, and as far as I know no further cases of potential miscarriage of justice.
The full build-up in the stadium (which was not covered on ITV but was on MUTV, who took the ITV pictures and avoided advertisements) looked impressive. Romans do not, it seems, do group stage matches since the crowd was over 50,000 bigger than for the December game. When they turn up, they can be impressive, and though it is stereotypical and un-PC to suggest that the Roman anthem with the smoke and the flags had overtones of a fascist rally, it did (though no more than your average visit to Elland Road).
Ronaldinho out of possible United battle
April 4, 2008
Ronaldinho is set to miss Barca’s potential Champions League tie with United.
United beat Roma 2-0 away from home while Barca managed a 1-0 win over Schalke. But Ronnie has been ruled out for six weeks due to a thigh injury.
ManUtd 4-0 Aston Villa: Poetry in the time of the Flood
April 2, 2008
I nearly drove with the roof down on Saturday because it was a lovely sunny spring day when I left after breakfast. By the time I had reached Stafford the first spots of rain were falling. By the time I parked in Rusholme for lunch there was a good old fashioned Manchester drizzle.
By the time I parked at Trafford Bar it was throwing it down; cold and grey and miserable, the puddles in the waste ground turning into ponds, the tyres of the passing buses throwing great waves of oily water. At least Arsenal were losing. By the time I got to the ground I was wet through my coat and my jumper and my tee shirt, and Arsenal had won. I wrung the sleeves of my coat and the water spilt from it as if I had put it in to soak.
How would it be possible to play football on such a day? Villa should have won at Stamford Bridge and The Emirates, surely the prospect of Rome on Tuesday would distract United and the weather would do the rest. And Kuszczak in goal! Oh dear. At least we were starting with Tevez and Rooney back together up front.
Mark Lawrenson and Lou Macari said that what followed was a one-sided lesson in football mastery but what do they know about football? The Sunday Times had it as “a romp past hapless Villa” but it did not look that way to me, especially at the start. Perhaps the tension of the run-in is warping my judgement.
Aston Villa looked a far better team than Liverpool. Fast, skilful on the ball, not a hint of the rough house about them, they set off to play football, gained territory and possession and looked likely to cause us difficulty; three or four early Scholes passes were charged down, Kuszczak looked jittery.
Giggs started brilliantly up the left and Tevez had one of his tiger days; all over the pitch, closing down every Villa player, hunting, harassing, tackling, the back of his shirt after half an hour looking as if he had been playing Rugby League in the days that was a winter sport.
