or to join or start a new Discussion

15 Comments
Article Rating 5 Stars

Fergie Failed Tactically

Alot can be said about how great Barcelona are and how amazing Messi was, but I feel United could have been better equiped for the game.

The major obvious mistake was playing with two in midfield (Park and Carrick) who struggled against the tricky trio of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta. This was evident in the first goal which saw Busquets and Iniesta pass their way through the midfield to find the extra man in the middle, which was Xavi who slipped through Pedro to score.

Fergie opted with two upfront with Rooney and Hernandez, but both were stranded. Rooney seemed refluctant to listen to his manager, while Hernandez seemed to lack experence or most importantly strength. What United needed up top was possesion, and one man that sticks out is Berbatov. The guy didn't even make the bench, and its strange to think that he could have been vital. He doesn't have speed like Hernandez, but he can hold that ball up. Berbatov also has an advatage in height compared to the Mexican, something that could have been used against Mascherano.



posted on 29/5/11

>>Fergie is not a tactician and never has been

agreed

He's a man manager. A brilliant one.
I don't rate his other attributes as anything remarkable or beyond what would be expected of a generic top4 manager. Which means very good still but compared to his peers not special.

comment by (U4922)

posted on 29/5/11

His mistake was playing Giggs (too old n slow) Evra he was completely out of position for 2 goals and Barca made every attack down the United left as they knew he was useless. You gotta be glad Van de sar is retiring as he made a pigs ear of Messi's goal ,straight at him ! Carrick again was slow and incompetent. Hernandez was weak inferior and a complete non entity. Valencia was a headless chicken and lucky to stay on the pitch. Ferdinand too slow and immobile. Scholes ??? Park worked tirelessly but was on his own. Rooney worked his socks off with no support. Vidic was a loan capable defender. Should have gone 5 midfield with Rooney loan striker. Incompetent performance made Barca look far better than they actually were. Remember Arsenal beat them a few weeks ago. I am a Villa fan and could see why you want Young,you had nobody with any pace or crossing ability. On that performance though, Gabby agbon would have been better than Giggs !! Bad management who showed no passion, knowlege or interest in his clubs biggest game ? Very strange !!

posted on 29/5/11

Fergie seemed determined to play the team and formation which served them well in the league.

It appeared that he was focussed on not playing a formation which would have stifled Barca's passing game which he attempted to use in the last final.

This was a mistake and played into their hands. Being outnumbered in the middle of the park was a a glaring tactical error.

A great man manager but tactically naive at times.which cost his team last night.

comment by nolhman (U1545)

posted on 29/5/11

Comment Deleted by Site Moderator

posted on 29/5/11

I was at the game and I have to say that whichever players you played would have made no difference last night, such is the gulf between the two teams.

I reckon you are at least 7 players short of having a team which could compete with Barca.
The question of course is, assuming the cash was available to buy the required players where would you find 7 players that were up to the job? Who could you buy to close the gulf?

comment by Beeb (U1841)

posted on 29/5/11


LFC failed "tactically" to even qualify for the freakin' competition so Ssssshhhhhhhhhh!



posted on 29/5/11

r madrid packed their midfield, had world class players but also failed to beat barca, so maybe you should just accept that rather than fergies tactics, barca are clearly the best team in europe and near unstoppable at the moment, regardless of whatever tactics they come up against

comment by I (U4566)

posted on 29/5/11

There is no doubt in my mind that including Berbatov would have made a lot of difference - not necessarily a MUFC victory but it would have been more competitive.

Playing Giggs and either of the twins was also a bad error of judgement. Should have packed the midfield with energy - a three man CM of Park, Rooney and any of Carrick/Anderson/Fletcher would have done the trick.

This plus two wingers, Berbatov up front and a RB that knows what he is doing, doesn't act recklessly or go awol and they might have stood a chance.

Shame it is all too late now but, hey ho, there is always next year.

posted on 30/5/11

Utd were worse than Barca were good, regardless of how every paper is dressing it up.

posted on 30/5/11

The biggest mistake was trying to grab a goal in the first ten minutes. You are better of trying to survive the first half and hit them in the second. United's team has done this so many times this season and it worked for Arsenal (twice) at home and, but for a RVP sending off, you might have seen it again.

Sign in if you want to comment
RATE THIS ARTICLE
Rate Breakdown
5
0 Votes
4
0 Votes
3
0 Votes
2
0 Votes
1
0 Votes

Average Rating: 5 from 3 votes

ARTICLE STATS
Day
Article RankingNot Ranked
Article ViewsNot Available
Average Time(mins)Not Available
Total Time(mins)Not Available
Month
Article RankingNot Ranked
Article ViewsNot Available
Average Time(mins)Not Available
Total Time(mins)Not Available