Coach Pep Guardiola FC Barcelona denied Sir Alex Ferguson to reach mythical Liverpool's Bob Paisley last night at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. A victory of his team would have made Sir Alex Ferguson the most successful UEFA competitions coach ever with three wins by equalling Paisley's record. The defeat by hand of the Catalan means he has been also denied to be the first manager to successfully defend both the European Champions Cup and the FIFA Club World Champions title since ! the new format was launched 19 years ago.
(Lionel Messi , above courtesy of AP, the best player in the world, rise half his body height to meet Xavi cross for Barca's second goal of the night)
Shocking defeat
The win came as a shock for many given that the Sir Alex's Red Devils squad was! fresh of its third consecutive English Premier League title a! fter hav ing outclassed London's rival Arsenal in the competition semi-final.
Early tiredness
For the 'cognoscenti' however there have been rumours and clear signs of incumbent tiredness that popped out in the last two months of the Premier League campaign but most significantly during the competition quarter final home leg with Portuguese site Porto.
FIFA Club World Cup course
In that circumstance the team appeared to be 'legless' throughout the all game which ended with a two all draw a score that could have meant an early exit for the holders had not their star Cristiano Ronaldo resolved the tie with a incredible long distance shot. The extenuating number of high level matches sustained by the Red Devils in the last three seasons has undoubtedly taken their toll. Ironicall! y last night's FIFA Club World Champions fate follows AC Milan's one after the ''Rossoneri' Devils too conquered both trophies in 2007. The 'Milanese' collapse was so deep that the team has actually never returned to the rhythms and standards shown two years ago when they overwhelmed the Mancunians 3-0 in the competition semi-final at the San Siro.
History of dramas
Whether Man United will follow the same downhill track is hard to say now but it is a fact that football is more and more demanding than for instance the one played in the past and therefore streams of results or cycles are bound to be shorter. Furthermore a Champions League competitions require additional medical treatments that could quickly saturates the normal levels of body tolerances. These make unpredictable the players' psycho-physical reaction in particular when the first warm period of the ! year advance. A very famous collapse like the one of Man Unit! ed last night happened in 1967 when Helenio Herrera's Inter Milan who dominated European football scene in the previous lustre surrendered to Celtic in an epic hot Lisbon afternoon. Four days later a blunder of Inter's goalkeeper Giuliano Sarti saw the team incapable of reaction as they lost to AC Mantua 1-0 and so was that year's Serie A 'Scudetto' and with it the right to return in the European Champions Cup the following year. Amazingly since the 'Nerazzurri' have never managed to return to those European Champion Cup glorious days .
Gracious in defeat
The spectre of a similar downfall must have been in Sir Alex Ferguson's thoughts if the rude answer he gave at the post mach press conference when asked about his future commitment - could be explained. He was however gracious in defeat and with great fair play acknowledged Guardiola's team merits for the success
Shoddy Defending
Sir Alex had however words of criticism for his own defenders for something he defined 'shoddy defending' in the occasions of the Barcelona goals. In both the circumstances Rio Ferdinand fitness came into question. Despite his recent bout of injuries however Rio did not do something different that what he have been doing in Man United defence recently. In his case notably it is not the fitness but the positioning, called tactics, and it is performed by back four to take certain cover positions in determined phases of an opponents' attack. In the circumstance last night, it was the systematic and recurrent errors of the cover positioning of the back four and indeed in other events like the FIFA World Cup final, the! United defence lacked to cover the man closing down on the ad! vancing attacker.
Missing Cover
This cover is given by either a central defender or a double marking midfielder. On Eto'o goal both of them were missing as Evra broke the line by going too much forward, Carrick did not recover as required and Ferdinand did not cover Vidic on the incoming danger. On the Messi header again Ferdinand was called in question but it was O'Shea that should have been covering for him as he could see the man and the ball, in other words he should have seen the danger and therefore disregard Henry position far a field. In both those actions however Edwin Van Der Sar was not excusable as his reactions looked slowish and somehow resigned. And that could be true for all the team - it was not the usual reactivity.
Wrong Approach
Notoriously the reasons why northern teams poorly! perform and wilt in warmer latitudes has been explained as due to the heat and humidity that 'cut legs and reflexes' once the teams reach the pitch. An example was the 2001 FIFA Club World Cup in Brazil where the Red Devils were barely moving in the scorching afternoon temperatures.
Wrong logistics
Furthermore into this complex equation comes the logistics included the facilities in which you prepare the game and they needs to be considered too. In the Premiership champions case the choice of an hotel in the town centre like the Exedra in Rome's Repubblica Square must not have been the right choice to prepare such an important event. A quieter, fresher and less crowded environment perhaps in the fresh hills surrounding Rome could have done a for better mental preparation in terms of night sleep and overall recovery and rest.
Turning point
Surel! y Barca looked rattled in the first minutes of play as Pep Guardiola admitted 'We were rocked by their high pressing with four men on our back four which stifled the our first pass at the restarts'. 'After we went ahead Messi came back in midfield and we outnumbered them and started to build up from there'. Had one of those three Ronaldo shots be more precise and ended in the back of the net or had Park be more ready on that rebound from the goalkeeper on Ronaldo free kick after just a minute in the game we would be here probably chanting lauds to Sir Alex's men prowess and glory. Although this theory is still to be proven as Barca did show at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea that they can be trailing with ten men but their play and determination did not suffer.
Wrong Line up
In the new midfield situation created after the first goal, Barca got the upper end as there were four men (Iniesta, Xavi, B! usquets and the dropping off Messi) versus two (Anderson and Carrick) being Park and Giggs more keen to pressure the Blau-Grana back four than instead of support their midfield. Sir Alex did not envisage the danger and did not consider making any change albeit tactical to counter this situation. Symptomatically though that turned out to be the turning point as Barcelona increased its precise passing play and in contrast Man U from there started losing their belief and confidence to overcome the result.
Missing Tevez and Berbatov
To avoid the midfield trap Sir Alex start up formation should have included Tevez in place of Park and played the Bulgarian as a pivot striker to whom Rooney should have play in support as he does efficiently for England. Anderson or even the benched Nani should have been kept on as their passing and ball control skills were more needed to team up wit! h Tevez and Carrick and maybe having Ronaldo dropping off in s! upport t hat could have counter the Spanish team's possession. At half time if someone should have be substituted that should have been Park but Ryan Giggs unfortunately was not up for the night. Sir Alex initial tactics were perfect then as Barca was vulnerable by missing three of their four regulars full back however that tactic should have been achieved without conceding two player to the opposition at the start. Clearly the requisites of English football are notoriously for skipping ball possession and accurate passing and finishing but these qualities at the end come always to haunt it whenever a skillfully team cross their path. As it was rightly said by the BBC Sport Editor to win game and titles you do not need to play football hundred miles an hour; it is only required you are good in keeping and passing the ball.
The referee
From the beginning he always had an eye of regards for! Man United as he poorly directed sometime in disregard of the Laws and Rules of the Game. He waited the 78 min to caution an United player after failing to impede the regular unpunished clamping down of Messi and Iniesta that went on for all the game. Some English media called even for Pique to be sent off when he allegedly blocked Ronaldo. Given that was the Portuguese to jump on the defender who stood in his position, even the yellow card must be considered harsh enough.
Disrepute
From that moment the Lugano's referee was in a continuous avoidance of applying impartially the laws. There was also a penalty call at the start of the second half when an O'Shea push sent Messi rolling and missing a clear chance. The nadir of Massimo Busacca performance came when he yellow carded Paul Scholes for a vicious and safety threatening challenge on Sergio Busquets The worldwide audience must have considered that lenient decision as a! n act of bringing football in disrepute. It was only unfortuna! te it wa s an UEFA official doing so.
New interpretations
The Swiss press was outraged last year at the Euro 2008 as they cried scandal for the Italian referee Rosetti - culpable to their eyes to have not awarded a penalty to Switzerland for an unintentional hand ball in their opening game with the Czech Republic - to be awarded the final. The claim was for Busacca despite the criticism the Ticinese referee had been made object following the indecision and blunders in the semi-final between Germany and Turkey
Confused
It is a situation which it is not of help for the Swiss official who had a very good and steady build up of his international carrier during these years. Furthermore he has been well appreciated throughout the Continent for the consistency of his decisions. Somehow however - perhaps the subtle ch! anges of interpretations of the rules introduced last year on the eve of the EURO 2008 with the consequent relaxation of the yellow card offences - must have unbalanced his previously perfect and strict judgment.
World Football Report - From the Publishers of 1st Interactive Journal. Established 1992
