[KevieG]

Bit off topic but this is a nice article about how Ginsoak is an insecure bottler when it comes to the top competition in Europe. If they fuck this up he'll be torn to shreds



By Dion Fanning

Sunday April 27 2008

When Alex Ferguson sounds like the keynote speaker at a Uefa conference in Nyon rather than the man who learned everything about football and life in Govan, it is time to worry.

Commentators, players and managers are promising a different Manchester United when Barcelona play at Old Trafford on Tuesday night but there is no reason to believe that United will abandon their domestic attitude and play a game that is not governed by fear.

Ferguson turned into Gerard Houllier last Wednesday, commending his team for controlling the spaces in which Barcelona attack, talking to the coaches' conferences rather than the hard men of football which is where he learned the game.

Fear is what the bully feels when he moves beyond his comfortable environment and fear is what Ferguson shows whenever United are asked to move outside the zone of their domestic domineering.

Arrigo Sacchi accused United yesterday of betraying English football. "Manchester United arrived in great form and played a game that betrayed the English culture and its history. They thought only to defend with everyone back, attacking with few players. There was no action." Sacchi's charge will only stick if United freeze this week.

At Old Trafford on Tuesday night, Ferguson may shed the work angel mantle and become a house devil again; that is the expectation but there are as many reasons for United to be apprehensive, if not more, this week.

United might feel that they have done the difficult job, but they went to the Nou Camp at a time when the home side were so forlorn they were almost seeking confirmation that they have blown the opportunities they once had. A swaggering United display would have left Barcelona remorseful and shattered, a side without hope. But United retreated to their 18-yard line and left town having handed over possession and confidence to Barcelona.

United's defence has been outstanding this season but now they will feel the pressure not to concede as each goal counts double.

It makes their collective decision to retreat in the Nou Camp more baffling. Ferguson may have talked up Barcelona before the game, but he knows the reality of their recent form and he knows, too, their pedigree. It matches Manchester United's as a catalogue of European failure.

Like United, Barcelona have only won the competition twice, too few times for a club of their stature, but an indication of some sort of institutional loss of nerve. But United lost theirs last week and dressed up this failure of will as a tactical triumph, a line those who consider themselves purists were prepared to go along with.

It was nothing of the sort. United should still qualify for the final but they have raised the level of anxiety which now is a factor as potent as the skills of any of the players on the field.

Barcelona have no pressure now; they do not have to go to Manchester and search for a goal. They can wait.

Their away form is a comfort for United too, but the chance for Ferguson's side to announce themselves as the most assured in Europe was wasted last Wednesday.

Instead, Ferguson retreated behind the coaching speak that seems to afflict him in Europe.

There are teams that would play as United did in the Nou Camp and it would be a triumph, although Liverpool, widely regarded as the most tactically restricted side in the competition, went there and won last season. But it is not what Manchester United are supposed to be about under Ferguson.

On Tuesday, it will be established definitively if his commitment to the attacking game over the past 20 years was a deep-rooted belief or solely an expression of the unhealthy and aggressive dominance he has exerted over every other side in the English game.

Ferguson shrinks in Europe. He turns up at every press conference, a man eager to please, keen that his credentials as one of the game's intellectuals be applauded.

It was hard to believe Ferguson's statements that he was disappointed by the attacking side of his side's display in the Nou Camp, not when Wayne Rooney was asked to play on the right-hand side of midfield and Ji-sung Park remained on the field offering superb market penetration in Asia but little impact on the field.

Ferguson had hoped for something of the Spirit of Turin but it is hard to summon that when Michael Carrick, not Roy Keane, is the central midfielder and the man who comes closest to matching Keane's heart is a marginal figure.

Ferguson's misuse of Rooney is one of his greatest follies and indicates aspects of the bully too. Fearful that any day Real Madrid will take Ronaldo away from him, he has made no attempt to turn Ronaldo's occasional individual talents into a diligent and more productive force for the team. Instead, Ferguson panders to him and asks Rooney, the most gifted player in England today, to perform as a shift worker while Ronaldo is indulged and indulgent. He played on Wednesday night with the classic mixture of narcissistic outrage and paralysing fear that prevent him being what he is hailed: the world's greatest player.

The penalty miss gave United an out. It was spun that they had been jolted by Ronaldo's miss and that the player himself took some time to recover from it. In reality, Ronaldo would probably have missed in the 89th minute too.

Ferguson returned home and started complaining about the fixture list, like the timid office worker who walks in the door of his house and starts whinging about his dinner. He is on sure ground, confident that nobody can attack him after a lifetime getting worked up about trivialities.

The side that won in Turin nine years ago was marshalled by Keane who might have been fearless in a way it is now apparent Ferguson is not. United, also, had no option then, their backs were to the wall and they had no choice but to fight or take the flight home.

Since then United have been timid away from Old Trafford and the scoreless draw away from home is the result they fear. They have not converted from this position before and if they do not score quickly then they may begin to worry.

A lot will depend on Barcelona's attitude. Messi will benefit from the hour he had at the Nou Camp when he demonstrated the heart, the skill and the willingness that make him the best player in the world. Others will need to match it or at least try. When Samuel Eto'o stayed on his feet as he was fouled by Rio Ferdinand, he was hailed by many, Ferdinand prominent among them, for his sportsmanship. But it is the sign of the non-trier when he is applauded for some spurious act of sportsmanship that is detrimental to his own team. Paolo Di Canio, on one of his rare trips out of London with West Ham, was applauded for another noble and meaningless gesture at Goodison Park one December afternoon in 2000, while Harry Redknapp seethed, if publicly commending his generosity of spirit.

If Barcelona can shake off their apathy and play at Old Trafford with enthusiasm, they will discover if United's failure to play football was, as Ferguson insists, just a surprising failure on the night or indications of a deeper fear.

But this is Ferguson's greatest opportunity. To have reached one final after 15 years in the European Cup is the great regret of Ferguson's career and he knows it. Barcelona provide, even now, the most difficult obstacle to a second triumph, for Ferguson would not be so timid if he faced Liverpool or Chelsea.

He knows them, he has dominated them and even with Rafael Benitez's record in Europe he would surely not manage by fear.

Chelsea celebrated at Anfield on Tuesday night and it made sense. They had been outplayed and out-thought in a game which, if it had finished 1-0, would have been harsh on Liverpool. Instead, Chelsea got the equaliser and an away goal but they will be nervous too.

Grant transmits no confidence to his team and it remains staggering that he managed to convey such assurance to Roman Abramovich that he got the job in the first place. Liverpool know the statistic that they have not scored at Stamford Bridge since Benitez took over but they went there without Fernando Torres this season and he is unlikely to miss the chances he missed last Tuesday again.

Torres may yet get another chance to face Manchester United this season. But while Liverpool know what they have to do and will play in keeping with the instincts of their manager, United will have to decide which side of their personality to display.

At home, they know no fear. Ferguson went against domestic instincts again last week. He will be more sure of himself at Old Trafford. United need their bully back. They need Ferguson's commitment to raging glory.