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Sir Alex Ferguson's finest European team ever? From The Sunday Times March 1, 2009After dominating Inter Milan, the current Manchester United side look the pick of Sir Alex Ferguson’s European teams by Jonathan Northcroft
Even in a career as encyclopaedic as that of Sir Alex Ferguson, there is still room for new entries. At the San Siro last Tuesday he did something unprecedented. Two minutes from the end of Manchester United’s draw against Internazionale, Wayne Rooney received a glaringly unjust booking. On the touchline, Ferguson cornered the assistant referee. You waited for the hairdryer blast. Instead came a gale of Govan laughter and a playful pat of the official’s cheek. Ferguson has had plenty golden European nights, but few when he enjoyed himself so.
It was no wonder. In Milan, United afforded their architect a pleasure few managers are privileged to taste. They should have achieved a superior scoreline to the 0-0 that makes them favourites to progress, but, in terms of performance, you can hardly be expected to do better than exert comprehensive control over one of the world’s top teams in one of the most hostile arenas. “There was overwhelming evidence of the technical and tactical superiority of the European champions,” was the verdict of La Repubblica newspaper. At the Colosseum the Christians aren’t supposed to dominate the lions.
It is rare enough for a side to travel to the home of a major domestic rival and, for most of the 90 minutes, dictate the game and direct its most penetrative moves. In Europe it almost never happens.
When did Inter last host foreign opponents who by half-time had already made 11 attempts on goal? It was United’s 20th consecutive unbeaten game in the Champions League, a record. There is a case for arguing that this is Ferguson’s best European side. His 1999 team performed great feats on continental grounds but achieved things in seat-of-the-pants style. His champions of last season were more in control, yet still, on trips to Lyons and Barcelona, required luck and a defensive mindset to survive. United’s 2009 edition can meet a fixture such as Inter (away) head-on.
Their authority on Tuesday was reminiscent of that which, before their decline, Carlo Ancelotti’s Milan exuded. United’s previous two trips to the San Siro had involved taking beatings from that side, something Ferguson recalled as he reflected on his team’s progress. “You saw a team that’s grown up together. They took on board how we failed the last time we went there, and we got right about Inter from the start. The only thing to contend with was the atmosphere. It was the kind of atmosphere you love to be involved in. After that, we just went and played.”
It was the “just going and playing” element that was the most significant component in United’s performance. Trips to Europe used to demand that they adapt their appearance and style; now they travel in the comfort of their own clothes. The mode of football they use in the Premier League is now identical to that required for Champions League success: counter-attacking, fluid in formation, flexible in tactics and with an addiction to clean sheets.
The education he has given young footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney has been in the disciplines that players need in the tight, chess-like matches seen at this level of European competition. They know about swapping positions, when to make the transition between defensive and attacking modes, and how to go, as modern parlance would have it, “between the lines”, into those pockets of space not covered by the opposition’s tactical set-up.
Ronaldo, at just 24, will make his 50th Champions League appearance in the return leg at Old Trafford. “Inter are a very experienced team, except for [Davide] Santon, their left-back. You’re talking about a team of absolutely top experience, who’ve been in World Cups and European Cups,” said Ferguson. But, despite their youthful average age, he could have been describing his own players.
Dimitar Berbatov, like Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic before him, is a signing who improved, in a key area, United’s technical proficiency. Ferguson once had performers who struggled to transpose domestic form to a European setting. Now he has players who appear born to play in Europe. And not all are European. Michael Carrick, man of the match in the Italian press, defends with clever positioning rather than fierce tackling, and hurts teams not through being dynamic on the ball but via the weight and angles of his considered passing. He is much more a midfielder in the continental tradition of Andrea Pirlo than the English one of Steven Gerrard.
Ferguson too has evolved, becoming more subtle tactically. Received wisdom said that his former assistant Carlos Queiroz was the strategist who made United’s way of playing “more European”, and some people fancied that Ferguson would struggle when Queiroz left last summer. Well, ask Jose Mourinho. Clever Clogs was made to seem a little dumb as United, with Berbatov, Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Ji-Sung Park continually switching from frontline to midfield positions, flitted between the lines of Inter’s static 4-4-2. “Where Giggs played would have been a surprise because I think he [Mourinho] thought Ronaldo would play through the middle,” Ferguson said with a smile. Omitting Rooney from the starting lineup proved shrewd: “I was worried about Inter’s height.”
United’s greatest development is in the strength of their squad. Ferguson’s 2009 first XI (if such a thing exists) is not better than his 1999 lineup but the pool of talent is far deeper. He remembers how, when Milan thrashed them 3-0 in 2007, United arrived at the San Siro “fatigued”. On Tuesday his players were “fresh and dying to play”. The difference is rotation. Inter were outplayed without Vidic, Rooney, Paul Scholes and Carlos Tevez in the starting lineup. “I could have picked two teams the other night, in fact two or three, and they’d have been in the same vein,” said Ferguson.
Talk has started of United winning a Quintuple of the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, Carling Cup and Club World Cup – something Ferguson wants to play down. “I don’t think it will be done. In cup football you can lose a game quite easily so I’ve got to look at the sensible options – the Premier League and Champions League.”
Only once have a British club won four trophies in a season: when Celtic scooped a domestic Treble and the European Cup in 1966-67. Out of reverence for Jock Stein, not to mention loyalty to his home city, Ferguson says it was really a Quintuple because Celtic also won the Glasgow Cup. “I’d be happy winning just one thing this year,” he said with a shrug. “The Champions League.” More than an 18th league title to equal Liverpool’s record? “Yes, definitely.”
CHASING THE BIG FIVE
The odds on Manchester United winning an unprecendented ‘quintuple’ of Club World Cup, Carling Cup, Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup have been slashed to 14/1. If United pull it off they will make history. Only Celtic have come anywhere near that achievement. In 1967 they won five trophies, including the European Cup, but included the Glasgow Cup among their haul. United’s 1999 Treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup is the next best achievement
Dec 21 2008, Club World Cup United’s first trophy is in the bag, Wayne Rooney scoring in a 1-0 win over South American champions Liga de Quito of Ecuador
Mar 1 2009, Carling Cup Holders Tottenham, who beat Chelsea in last year’s final, stand in the way of United lifting their second trophy of the season at Wembley today
May 24 2009, Premier League United were seven points clear yesterday morning and it would take a catastrophic loss of form to blow it now
May 27 2009, Champions League United should dispose of Inter Milan next week to reach the quarter-finals – and a possible clash with English opposition. United are fancied to become the first to win the Champions League in successive seasons
May 30 2009, FA Cup Three more matches and United could have trophy No 5 in the bag. First, however, they must beat Fulham in next Saturday’s quarter-final and then win a semi-final on April 18/19
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle5822415.ece__________________________________________________-
Sir Alex Ferguson has publicly hailed him as the truly outstanding Player of this Season.
Now Ryan Giggs has received an astonishing, historic tribute from Jose Mourinho, the Inter Milan coach.
Mourinho saw Giggs at close quarters in the San Siro last week as Manchester United visited on Champions League duty. The Special One's verdict on the 35 year-old Welshman is euphoric.
"What can you say about a man who has won ten Premier League titles? The proof is in his medals," said Mourinho.
"Yes, maybe we are talking about the greatest Premier League player of all time.
"At the very least no player has contributed so much to a single Premier League club as Ryan Giggs has to Manchester United."
Mourinho guided Chelsea to back-to-back titles during his time at Stamford Bridge and is well aware that in saluting Giggs he is placing the United star on a pedestal above the likes of Alan Shearer, Eric Cantona and Gianfranco Zola.
But it's the way Giggs has revealed a new talent this season as a central midfield schemer that has particularly impressed Mourinho.
It may be 19 years in December since Giggs made his League debut for United as a flying left winger but the way the player has blossomed in so many different roles
Mourinho explained: "He has found new life in central midfield this season, and I think that has been very important for United’s season.
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"At 35 he is going to have lost some of his pace of course but Sir Alex has been very clever playing him in a new position and like we have seen in the past with players like Zola, Bergkamp and Zidane- quality shines through beyond age."
It's easy to forget that there have been times - in the not too distant past - where some people around Old Trafford have questioned Giggs' future. It's a matter of record that former assistant manasge Carlos Quieroz questioned the player's long term future at the club in the days when David Beckham was moving on.
Many United stars of the day werer astonished by Quieroz's criticism. They knew Giggs, like any player, might have his off days but they were honest nightmares!
There have also been days when Giggs has been the target for terrace catcalls..
That criticism never degenerated into a sustained anti-Giggs campaign. He always resdiscovered his best form to silence them, often by reinventing him in a new role.
And even when boss Fergie has left Giggs waiting in the wings there has always been a return to action. Giggs has never let his manager down. That's why he's heading towards 800 first team appearances for the club and has overtaken the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton with most appearances for United.
Mourinho recognises that this could be a momentous year for United - and Giggs - as they chase unprecedented honours.
He ended: "They have their young, wonderful players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney but who knows, maybe it will be Giggs who makes the difference for them in the Premier and Europe this season."
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Manchester United Supporters' Association, Fergie's Red Army
