"Don't worry son, you'll sign for a big club one day"
High hopes. Great expectations. Manchester United fans went into the game at Wembley looking to get one over on their blue neighbours.
The pre-match discussion largely based around the fact United had been there and done it before whereas City were relatively inexperienced when it came to the big occasion. The big question of the afternoon: Who would be missed more, Carlos Tevez or Wayne Rooney?
The answer would come from a tense tie that left the United faithful disappointed, as Mancini’s men capitalised on an inability to clear the ball at the back, allowing Yaya Toure the opportunity to get an easy finish, and get the goal that would prove to be decisive in sending City through to the final, leaving Sir Alex Ferguson’s hopes of a treble as merely a dream. With that, here are five things that could be taken from the game.
1) Manchester City were the better team
For parts of the game, United looked threatening and dangerous, trying to impose themselves on the game early on and take the lead and with that a couple of opportunities presented themselves that, had they been taken, may well have altered the outcome of the game completely, and the red side of Manchester would be making yet another trip to Wembley come the end of the season.
Alas, United were left to rue what might have been, because despite patches where they looked to be in control, City were simply better for most of it. The towering presence of Toure, combined with De Jong and Barry meant City were dominant in midfield in a way that meant United were unable to take control.Toure in particular was a real threat, getting forward and providing a defensive headache that earned him a man of the match award for his exploits. As well as this, Balotelli seemed to take up the role that Tevez could not provide and Joe Hart provided his own heroics in keeping a clean sheet.
2) Wayne Rooney was sorely missed
The thought that United are reliant on Rooney, and unable to perform as a unit without him is a fallacy and Saturday afternoon gave reason to believe this was the case, with United creating enough of their own opportunities to see themselves make their mark on the scoresheet. However, it would be false to say Rooney’s absence had no impact either.
With a 5-man midfield set up that was spearheaded by Dimitar Berbatov, United seemed to lack an attacking edge that Rooney’s presence would have added. Rooney’s energy up front, particularly of late, has meant he has become a nightmare for defences, and allows other attack minded players such as Park, Nani and Valencia to have more freedom and providing greater creative opportunities. As Rooney often ges involved in every attack, a great threat is seen up front that was possibly missing today, with United going for large periods without creating a clear cut chance. The possibility of this was probably diminished by City’s dominance in the middle that hindered United in taking control.
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i disagree with some of your views i.e shitty being the better team, scholes should be ashamed of himself he let the team and the fans down any chance of us getting back in the game was ruined at that moment should now retire and berba should go he does nothing at all hernandez ran more in the short time he was on than berba did and don’t get me started on the miss.Get rid
I think City were the better side for most of it. United simply weren’t good enough.
I still think Berba is of use to us, he just had “one of those days”. And looking at our fixture sheet, a game every 3 days is going to be tough to get by; thats if Berba has another “one of those days” and gives us a comfy GD at St. James Park
We also learned that Mario Balotelli isn’t a hothead. He’s a cucumber-cool wind-up merchant.
Celebrating a win within the confines of the pitch, then Anderson et al were shrieking at him like angry baboons, teeth bared. He just carried on walking, with just a wink at Rio.
If our players were trying to get Balotelli in trouble with the FA, it’s backfired spectacularly
Glad to see a red admit that City bossed it, we were on form yesterday and United weren’t, but I still fancy you lot for the possible double.
@bigl
Are you seriously trying to suggest that United were the better team then?
Berbatov and Carick messed United up. If Berba had scored the two goals any average goal poacher could have scored with ease, the story would have been different. Carrick has no business in United first eleven. He is not mobile, creative and passes the ball to opponents too often. He has made the same mistake too often. He must be replaced next season.
Considering the contract he recently signed, I’m not sure I see that happening. He had a bad game yesterday, certainly.
Agree with you totally. City got their goal and sat back and played their game. The only thing I will fault them for is allowing United to take the attack to them in the dying minutes. They could have killed the game off, but they opened it up. If they make the CL next season, that sort of mentality will cost them.
what a load of crap, and i mean fergies substitutions. time the jock moved on! how in god’s name did park stay on for 90 minutes, worst united player for united, in a long time, carrick, slightly better than gibson..slightly, and he’s CRAP!!!
i knew we were in deepshit the min i saw berba as a long striker. i wonder… how many times has that worked?
I totally agree. I personally feel like we played the wrong formation. a 4-3-3, wasn’t too smart a thing to do. City had pace, we didn’t; until Fabio and Anderson of course. Park and Valencia couldn’t run up and down the flanks like we usually see em do. City were indeed the better team, Scholes quite let us down with that tackle, and Carrick just seeped into bad books.