Still Following the Trawler

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My final reflective piece looking back at our final in Rome two years ago, is my overly emotional (but highly justified) piece the day after. 29th May 2009 was a dark day, full of disappointment and 'what if's' as we failed to rise to the occasion and in turn got taught a lesson by the best team in the world. Many people's perception this time round is that we'll all be feeling exactly the same on the 29th May 2011. But call it raw passion, loyalty or belief - I think it'll be different. Very different. Anyway. I know we'll step up this time round and avoid this... the day after... Posted by   The Cockney Red THURSDAY, 29 MAY 2009 I don’t really know where to begin. I don’t really know why I’m even bothering with this to be honest. But I’ve hidden away from it all day and as much as I thought it would help to mentally remove myself from the realities of last night, it really hasn’t. So here it is. It arrived, and then, somehow, we forgot how to play. Nothing...

Jonathon Wilson, the Guardian , on how to stop the unstoppable, almighty, incredible, best team in the entire fucking Universe that is Barcelona. The Telegraph's Henry Winter reckons Bob Paisley taught Fergie a thing or two Soccerlens'   match preview Stretford End Arising analyses are best XI and how they  can win us the Champions League But according to Surreal Football , United haven't got a hope in help

Part two of my build-up to Saturdays final looks back at my reaction to 2009's utterly controversial Semi-Final second leg clash between Chelsea and Barcelona at Stamford Bridge, where Barca edged the win and secured their place in the final against United...   Wasteful Chelsea, lucky Barca...'IT'S A F**KING DISGRACE!' Posted by   The Cockney Red WEDNESDAY, 6 MAY 2009 Well there you have it: after about 75 clear-cut penalty shouts and 1 single, stinging shot on target for  Barca , Chelsea are out. Am I happy that they lost? Definitely. Am I happy that we have  Barca  in the Final?  Hmm . I celebrated like a psycho when  Iniesta  belted it into the top corner (an absolute beaut), but is this what I, and therefore Man United, actually wanted? At least the extra motivating agenda of 'Chelsea and John Terry getting revenge' is wiped out, but then Chelsea we know. As a result, we know that we can beat them. In terms of the way they line-up, they are ...

With a United-free couple of weekends, I thought I’d take the opportunity to look over an issue that I’ve touched upon at various points this season and last season: the worsening state of the Premier League’s elite… …Or, as the argument progresses, perhaps it is the heightening levels of understanding and overall improvement by the ‘other’ teams in the League? So, in order to analyse, let us look back to the way things were…  A few seasons back, the Premier League was undisputedly the best league in the world. In Ronaldo, Drogba, Torres and Henry, we had four of the best players in the world playing for arguably the four best teams on the planet. And on the Continental stage, we thrived. An English side took up at least one of the Champions League final places every season from 2004/05 to 2008/09, and three of the four semi-final places from 06/07 to 08/09. But something happened after 2008/09. As United aimed to make history by securing our second European Cup in as many years, havi...

I don’t really know where to begin. I don’t really know why I’m even bothering with this to be honest. But I’ve hidden away from it all day and as much as I thought it would help to mentally remove myself from the realities of last night, it really hasn’t. So here it is. It arrived, and then, somehow, we forgot how to play. Nothing happened, nothing went right, a performance didn't even occur; and then we lost. Convincingly. Dethroned and embarassed. But it was all unquestionably our fault, and only our fault. I fully, completely and utterly deny any talk of Barca being ‘amazing’, ‘scintillating’, ‘incredible’ and ‘spell-binding’ (all words I’ve read describing them last night). Barca were good, at best, but the big difference was that Manchester United were awful. That is why they looked good and that is why they are European Champions. Not because of Xavi’s passing or Iniesta’s outstanding vision and play-making, and certainly not due to Messi’s God-like football presence (NB: I...

This is it. 10 hours to go till our boys line-up like gladiators in the Colosseum. Hungry, prepared and ready for battle. The ultimate decider. The ultimate prize. The European crown. This is it. I am already feeling sick with nerves, but i have faith. Good luck my stars. Millions of Reds are with you tonight. This is your time to shine. This is the one. 'Sent to me from heaven...you're my world'. BELIEVE.

Well there you have it: after about 75 clear-cut penalty shouts and 1 single, stinging shot on target for Barca , Chelsea are out. Am I happy that they lost? Definitely. Am I happy that we have Barca in the Final? Hmm . I celebrated like a psycho when Iniesta belted it into the top corner (an absolute beaut), but is this what I, and therefore Man United, actually wanted? At least the extra motivating agenda of 'Chelsea and John Terry getting revenge' is wiped out, but then Chelsea we know. As a result, we know that we can beat them. In terms of the way they line-up, they are almost identical to the team we annihilated at Old Trafford (minus Alex, who would have missed the final). But Barcelona can pull out all sorts of unexpected stops. They can pass, keep the ball and shoot better than anyone (2 out of 3 of those were proven over these 2 legs); but then again, so can we. It'll be interesting; probably not exciting, special or spectacular. Just interesting.  Possession w...