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ManUtd 1-0 Espanyol (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Testimonial): Clean Cut Kid

August 2, 2008

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Paul James

It felt like an honour to be at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s testimonial on Saturday; one of the few occasions when it seemed right to be forking out of our pockets to pay tribute to a rich young man who has just landed a remunerative and rewarding post-retirement job.

It was not just that he scored a goal the memory of which tens of thousands of people will carry with them to their graves, nor that he refused to leave the club for greater stardom and wealth, nor that he worked so hard against all the odds to recover from a series of potentially crippling injuries, nor that he scored 126 goals in 216 starts and 150 substitutions, nor that he was the only player who acted as if he was a fan when the Glazers took over, nor that the money we paid to honour him would be going to charity, much of it to Angolan schools.

Occasionally there are players whose contribution outstrips the statistics. It is no coincidence that one of the best terrace chants and two of the best terrace songs to emerge in the last twelve years have been inspired by the quiet Norwegian, nor that they are so readily taken up by one and all, young and old, when they are begun.

The match was never going to do justice to the occasion. There is no history, no warmth, no special understanding between United and Espanyol; it is the first time the clubs have met. Neither are Espanyol especially good. Their only claim to fame is that they come from Barcelona. It was as if they were the only ones available when the testimonial committee got round to telephoning.

In terms of honouring Ole their behaviour was exemplary; they joined in the public appreciation sportingly and gave him a memento, they applauded Ole on to the pitch during the game, they responded to his good nature while he was on the field and went up to him at the end and warmly congratulated him.

There was nevertheless something a touch unfriendly about the match itself; though it might have been good for our players’ fitness that Espanyol played as if it was the away leg of a vital European tie.
Francisco Chica in particular put himself about like Joey Barton in a nightclub but, despite a serious and sustained challenge by Paul Scholes, Daniel Jarque won the bad tackle competition with his late and violent assault on Carlos Tevez just before half time.

Both sides ended with three yellow cards and the Espanyol approach led to a loss of United effectiveness. Where have we seen such tactics before? One could extrapolate from the clues in the programme. Espanyol are the other club in a second city. Their fans resent the fact that Barcelona are universally regarded as the Catalan club. Their club has a Catalan spelling and more Catalan players. They have their own history of trophies, including two Copas del Rey and a UEFA Cup final. Their fondest recent achievement was the day they scored twice at the Camp Nou to deny Barcelona a la Liga title.

The article did not actually use the words “bitter” or “massive” but you got the drift and they played as if improving on Barcelona’s result at Old Trafford would make their season before it started.

Van der Sar was back in goal with Ferdinand and Vidic in the centre of defence and Simpson and Evra at fullback. Gibson, Fletcher and Scholes were in the middle of the field and Nani, Giggs and Tevez up front. Nani looked fit and sharp. Everything United did went through Scholes. Tevez had a belter of a first half. It ought also to be recorded that Danny Simpson had a pretty good match too, because within two days of it he was loaned out for the season to Blackburn.

The Catalans looked good on the ball and were not without speed and guile. They began with a flourish, won a few corners and had this trick, taking it short for Albert Riera, who knows a thing or two about playing with massive clubs jealous in the shadow of true greatness, to drive in a low, hard, diagonal cross-shot. One of these went quite close.

Once we had adjusted to the rhythm of an attritional local derby, however, the meaningful attacks in the first half were all towards the Scoreboard End goal, behind which Tom and I were handily placed to witness United’s inability to put anything in the net until Ole himself came on.

Nani sent a free kick high and wide, Scholes produced a lovely chip which hit the left hand post; Nani provided Fletcher the opportunity to miss by a mile from the middle of the area, then floated in a clever cross which the defence did well to clear from the line.

Tevez produced a great run, a one-two with Simpson, before shooting narrowly over and then an even better dribble, surviving a kamikaze challenge, just staying on his feet, dribbling into the heart of the defence, releasing Nani on the right only to see Nani’s splendid little ball into the six yard box toe-poked by Scholes and rebound to safety off the unwitting Chica.

Giggs took his turn to curl a free kick wide of the goal and on the cusp of half time whilst Tevez and Jarque were wrestling over the latter’s nasty challenge, Paul Scholes blasted another one over.

At half time Kuszczak came on for Van der Sar. He has always been a good shot stopper but seems to have learned to catch the ball. Silvestre came on for Evra and did well; Brown came on for Rio and was coolness itself; is he at last fulfilling his potential? Campbell came on for Nani.

Vidic missed a clear header from a Giggs corner and we had a couple of good moves, but the supply to Campbell dried up, the visitors imposed themselves, Tevez and Scholes were forced deep and into unwise tackling and the crowd went quiet. It was as if Espanyol had softened us up and then brought better players on to finish the job. O’Shea came on for Gibson, and the excellent Evans for Vidic but United attacks became rare.

Then, in the 68th minute, on came the great man himself. It took him a few minutes to get to the pace of the game and he tired, but in between we were treated to our last few minutes of vintage Ole. Campbell retrieved a free kick leaving the defender a heap by the left corner flag and centred perfectly for Ole to take the short pass and curl one in which goalkeeper Alvarez touched at full stretch around the post.

From the corner Scholes’ drive was blocked and Ole showed the trickery of his quick feet in the area and put in a stinger of a low drive from around the same place. Alvarez fumbled it and Giggs was just too slow to snap up the rebound.

One of their attacks down our right broke with the ball ricocheting off Scholes. Fletcher gave it to Giggs in the middle of his own half, and he produced a dummy so extravagant that his challenger was left on his backside to a great cheer. Up the middle he went, releasing a weighted pass up the inside left channel. Fraizer Campbell judged his run superbly, clearly onside and then accelerating and cutting in. He had little space but controlled it with one foot and then lifted it coolly over the oncoming goalkeeper with the other; as the ball gently bounced into the net the rain stopped and the sun came out; 82 minutes 1-0.

That, by and large, was that. They had the ball drifting across our goal, Giggs hopelessly misfired from close range and we were into the hand shakes.

We had a short speech from Ole and a lap of honour with his three children, his elder boy lapping it up, the baby cradled in his arms like a glass trophy more precious than all the baubles he has won, and his happy little girl skipping and dancing around the pitch in a replica of her dad’s kit, in her own little world, utterly oblivious to the fact that 68,868 people were standing and honouring her father.

It seemed appropriate, really; sanity and reality amid the adulation. It was as if he never did really know what the fuss was all about.

Copyright © Paul James

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