PAST OR PRESENT?
WHAT WILL DECIDE THIS ONE NIGHT IN MOSCOW?
Champions League Final day is upon us, the culmination of an entire season’s work, every cone lapped in training, every early night, every time you chose grilled chicken breast over deep-fried wings, endured hot air on your face from a Fergie rant, or concealed a snigger when Avram chalked up a masterwerk on the tactics board. This is it, one night in Moscow, red versus blue, north versus south.
The United manager believes recent failures in the competition will spur his players on to victory in Russia this evening, but the Chelsea squad surely bear deeper scars. Take those inflicted on Claude Makalele and Florent Malouda when, shorn of their great leader, they succumbed to Italy in the World Cup Final of 2006; or those endured by Michael Ballack in 2002 when dreams of a great treble with Bayer Leverkeusen - the Champions League included - imploded within the space of ten days. Ballack led his country to the World Cup Final that summer only to miss the game through suspension. Germany lost.
Ok, Ferguson would counter, but we have experience on our side. Err, sorry Sir, but Chelsea boast more of that too. United will have four past winners in their ranks; Chelsea will have six: Anelka, Shevchenko, Makalele, Carvalho, Belletti and Ferreira. Not bad.
Past experiences aside, though, what could possibly decide the outcome of tonight’s game? Not, I believe, past failures or successes, and nor the intervention of either manager. No, once they set foot tonight on what’s rumoured to be some pretty unimpressive turf, it will be 22 players in charge of their own destinies, a case of here and now and each side’s capacity to conjure a moment’s creativity from the collective imagination. Only then will the predicted deadlock be broken. And if, as we all hope, it does depend on such moments of inventiveness, then perhaps Ferguson and his bristling young charges will prevail after all. He certainly seems confident…
A GLOWING FERGIE INFORMS THE WORLD’S PRESS THAT HE LOVES THEM ALL.
The United manager believes recent failures in the competition will spur his players on to victory in Russia this evening, but the Chelsea squad surely bear deeper scars. Take those inflicted on Claude Makalele and Florent Malouda when, shorn of their great leader, they succumbed to Italy in the World Cup Final of 2006; or those endured by Michael Ballack in 2002 when dreams of a great treble with Bayer Leverkeusen - the Champions League included - imploded within the space of ten days. Ballack led his country to the World Cup Final that summer only to miss the game through suspension. Germany lost.
Ok, Ferguson would counter, but we have experience on our side. Err, sorry Sir, but Chelsea boast more of that too. United will have four past winners in their ranks; Chelsea will have six: Anelka, Shevchenko, Makalele, Carvalho, Belletti and Ferreira. Not bad.
Past experiences aside, though, what could possibly decide the outcome of tonight’s game? Not, I believe, past failures or successes, and nor the intervention of either manager. No, once they set foot tonight on what’s rumoured to be some pretty unimpressive turf, it will be 22 players in charge of their own destinies, a case of here and now and each side’s capacity to conjure a moment’s creativity from the collective imagination. Only then will the predicted deadlock be broken. And if, as we all hope, it does depend on such moments of inventiveness, then perhaps Ferguson and his bristling young charges will prevail after all. He certainly seems confident…
A GLOWING FERGIE INFORMS THE WORLD’S PRESS THAT HE LOVES THEM ALL.
Can't believe Leicester City didn't make the final this year.
JT. Will you ever sleep again?