SAF speaking at Balon d'or about Barca and Messi

KingMinger22 · 12th January 2012, 05:23

In case so e of you missed this, Fergie speaking at the FIFA Balon d'or awards -

Video here http://www.firstpost.com/topic/perso...UlY-329-1.html

"It's not a crime or a weakness, just a plain fact that the Barcelona team now, particularly with Lionel Messi in the side, are just an extraordinary team. I can't see anyone taking a trophy from them this year – Real Madrid are probably the nearest to them."

The Scot said that Messi can now be judged alongside the greats of world football through the ages, even though he is still only 24. "I would agree with that completely," said Ferguson. "Critics have always questioned whether players like Pelé could play today.

"The answer to that is great players would play in any generation. Lionel Messi could play in the 1950s and the present day, as could [Alfredo] Di Stéfano, Pelé, [Diego] Maradona, [Johan] Cruyff, because they are all great players. Lionel Messi without question fits into that category."

Nothing too suprising there. Interestingly though, he appears to acknowledge Real Madrid are now the second strongest team in Europe.

He says he has three years left at United and would love to win the CL again. I wonder how he feels about his chances, as this Barca team seem to improve with big buys every season. It's difficult to see but I wonder if he has a plan to give it a go...

Any thoughts?

RedRonaldo · 12th January 2012, 05:35

All we need is to qualify from the group games, hope some team would defend like no tomorrow against them and somehow win it from penalty, and we win against that team.

Ramshock · 12th January 2012, 05:36

If he invested in top class talent we would still be in with a chance of making another final with them and competing. Whether its his own fault or not I imagine he privately thinks theres no way he can get us back to that level where we can beat Barcelona! Not if theres a three year window and if we dont invest heavily which we probably wont.

KingMinger22 · 12th January 2012, 05:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramshock

If he invested in top class talent we would still be in with a chance of making another final with them and competing. Whether its his own fault or not I imagine he privately thinks theres no way he can get us back to that level where we can beat Barcelona! Not if theres a three year window and if we dont invest heavily which we probably wont.

I feel similarly. Only massive levels of investment would give us a fighting chance of reaching that level.

I think he's a realist and will be thinking mostly about the next three years in the league with Shitty...

devilish · 12th January 2012, 06:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramshock

If he invested in top class talent we would still be in with a chance of making another final with them and competing. Whether its his own fault or not I imagine he privately thinks theres no way he can get us back to that level where we can beat Barcelona! Not if theres a three year window and if we dont invest heavily which we probably wont.

I agree which is a shame considering that we've got some great elements in the team. Unfortunately we seem reluctant in bringing those 2-3 players who would make us competitive even against these sort of teams

Mick1991 · 12th January 2012, 06:28

You lot are nuts. The Champions League final was what? 7/8 months ago? Huge investment over a short space of time just isn't realistically the way to go. A long term plan spanning over a couple of years and spending money on the right players while bringing through some youngsters and moulding a team (which is evidently in process) is the best way to fend off the threat from City and get back into the Champions League and performing (I'm no fool, we won't be able to fend off City forever but it's how we respond to their success that will show our mettle).

Real Madrid have spent a small fortune trying to create a team better than Barca's (leading La Liga by 5 at the moment but there is still a ways to go) and they still can't get the better of them when it really matters.

amolbhatia100 · 12th January 2012, 06:42

We have to look beyond barca, really. And acknowledge that their team right now is a complete one off. Mourinho has done a great job by getting his team 5 points ahead of them this season but we don't have those sorts of resources so the focus really should be about taking our football to the greatest level it fan get to within the relative restrictions we have on ourselves (unlike city and seemingly Madrid).

In fact, what we really should be aiming for this season is a consistently fluid footballing system as much as anything else. We've played absolutely goegeous football this season at times but also incredibly disjoint stuff on others. Hopefully at some point we can attain a level where the fluidity of passing and team work is consistently there and then its a case of the rest falling into place got results to go in our favour. But personally, id like to see able to play that way on a regular basis this season.

The thing about our early season football that really struck a cord with me wasn't the gung ho nature of it. Rather it was the completely unison the team had. We were almost as one living breathing entity. That's what we have to aim for.

RyanGoggs · 12th January 2012, 08:22

I don't think he out and out acknowledged real Madrid as the 2nd strongest team in Europe, he just said he felt they were the only team to stop Barca winning everything in sight. That seems pretty true in the Spanish competitions, and since we are out of Europe the same can be said with the European Cup. Although other teams can stop them, Madrid are beat equipped. I'm sure SAF still sees us above Madrid as the second best team, at least judging by the last four years in Europe.

kps88 · 12th January 2012, 08:24

I think we can easily build another world class team to compete with Barcelona over 3 years. We're only a couple of players away from a real quality squad. Barcelona haven't looked all that away from home this season, I'd fancy them over two legs.

steeeb · 12th January 2012, 08:29

Does the video actually work? Or am I missing something?

Godfather · 12th January 2012, 08:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyanGoggs

I don't think he out and out acknowledged real Madrid as the 2nd strongest team in Europe, he just said he felt they were the only team to stop Barca winning everything in sight. That seems pretty true in the Spanish competitions, and since we are out of Europe the same can be said with the European Cup. Although other teams can stop them, Madrid are beat equipped. I'm sure SAF still sees us above Madrid as the second best team, at least judging by the last four years in Europe.

Disagree. He knows they are second best atm as well as we all do

adexkola · 12th January 2012, 08:43

The team at Wembley is one competent midfield away from giving this Barcelona side a run for their money. They're not invinvible. I don't believe all this bollocks of "oh we have to rebuild, they're a one off, it'll take 3 years..." Inter, us, Arsenal, Chelsea, Real, have managed to get the better of them in recent years. All one needs is the right personnel in the middle of the park, who can get the ball to Rooney, Nani, Valencia, Hernandez, and others.

We're not going to out tiki-taka them with some magic youth players promoted.

Hal9000 · 12th January 2012, 08:48

It's a shame that he's gone from talking about rising to the challenge, to accepting that Barca will win everything they gaze there eyes at.

Scrumpet · 12th January 2012, 08:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hal9000

It's a shame that he's gone from talking about rising to the challenge, to accepting that Barca will win everything they gaze there eyes at.

In fairness he says 'this year' when talking about expecting Barca to win it all and it's going to be reasonably difficult for us to put a stop to them given we're our of the CL. I don't think we need to worry about Fergie giving up on a challenge.

DevilsOwn · 12th January 2012, 09:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by kps88

I think we can easily build another world class team to compete with Barcelona over 3 years. We're only a couple of players away from a real quality squad. Barcelona haven't looked all that away from home this season, I'd fancy them over two legs.

we are a couple of players away from a real quality squad, provided our youngsters develop they way we want them to.

over the next 3 years we have to replace:

Defence+GK Rio, Evra, VDS, maybe Vida (depending upon how he comes back after this injury.

That puts a lot of pressure on Fabio, Rafael, Smalling, Jones and Evans to make a back 4 like we have been used to.
And then the whole question about De Gea being able to take his keeping a couple of notched above, esp in air and commanding his area.

In the midfield,

In the wide areas we are pretty much settled.
in the center of the park, Giggsy will go and scholes well..

so to have that bare min of 3 quality mid fielders, we only have Carrick as a sure shot bet.

For the other two slots we need two of Ando/ Cleverly/ Jones (?) / Pogba (long-shot) / Gibson ; to develop.
More possible than the defensive issue.

Upfront Berba will go in a few years if not sooner, we need to replace him to have the 3/4 strikers that Fergie likes to have.

Welbeck is the best bet for the 3rd striker slot behind Rooney and Chicharito.
But he is still not the final polished gem.

To sum it up, over the next 2 to 3 years, most of these youngsters have to fulfill their potential. We need atleast 6-7 European level stars from this lot.

Them lot with the likes of Rooney, Chica, Carrick, nani, valencia, young will make us a quality team.
Then maybe 2 or 3 top signings over the next few years get us to a position where we are really formidable in Europe. Formidable as in near Barca/ Madrids level

RyanGoggs · 12th January 2012, 09:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godfather

Disagree. He knows they are second best atm as well as we all do

My point was more that he would still name us as the second best (at least in the media). Whether he truly thinks we are is another matter. If you look at recent European statistics, only Barcelona have been more consistent than we have.

Cina · 12th January 2012, 09:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by amolbhatia100

We have to look beyond barca, really. And acknowledge that their team right now is a complete one off. Mourinho has done a great job by getting his team 5 points ahead of them this season but we don't have those sorts of resources so the focus really should be about taking our football to the greatest level it fan get to within the relative restrictions we have on ourselves (unlike city and seemingly Madrid).

In fact, what we really should be aiming for this season is a consistently fluid footballing system as much as anything else. We've played absolutely goegeous football this season at times but also incredibly disjoint stuff on others. Hopefully at some point we can attain a level where the fluidity of passing and team work is consistently there and then its a case of the rest falling into place got results to go in our favour. But personally, id like to see able to play that way on a regular basis this season.

The thing about our early season football that really struck a cord with me wasn't the gung ho nature of it. Rather it was the completely unison the team had. We were almost as one living breathing entity. That's what we have to aim for.

Agree with this. Consistency should be our top priority, it's what wins you leagues and it's been the key factor in our success. Look at last year, we kept winning and playing solidly in the 2nd half of the season, where as Chelsea kept faltering.

The difference this season is that we have a team against us who have, for the most part, looked very consistent (not to mention Spurs too), and we're not quite matching them in that aspect yet.

Sarni · 12th January 2012, 09:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedRonaldo

All we need is to qualify from the group games, hope some team would defend like no tomorrow against them and somehow win it from penalty, and we win against that team.

Like we could have done in 2010 had we managed to hold onto that 3-0 lead against Bayern at Old Trafford.

Ish84045 · 12th January 2012, 12:38

a) no players were available (contractually or financially) which we could have signed to get us anywhere near Barca's level currently. (Modric, Sneijder, Schweinsteiger).

b) Barca's dominance will end somewhere along the line

c) SAF has probably recognised the above and put his faith in a 2-3 year plan with the signings of quality youngsters like Jones, Smalling, de Gea. Hopefully 1 or 2 quality midfielders become available in the next 2 years (Goetze!!!) (fingers crossed Pogba or Morrison reaches the high standards everyone is setting for them)

Imagine the thought of our youngsters with the potential of de Gea, Cleverly, Jones, Smalling, Welbeck, Fryers, Rafael/Fabio, continuing their successful development and in another 2 years can successfully merge with established stars like Vidic, Rooney and Nani...(hopefully Anderson!) - add in 1 or 2 signings and we could be in for something really special.

And I believe that this is SAF's blueprint for his final shot at UCL glory.

Eyepopper · 12th January 2012, 12:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mick1991

You lot are nuts. The Champions League final was what? 7/8 months ago? Huge investment over a short space of time just isn't realistically the way to go. A long term plan spanning over a couple of years and spending money on the right players while bringing through some youngsters and moulding a team (which is evidently in process) is the best way to fend off the threat from City and get back into the Champions League and performing (I'm no fool, we won't be able to fend off City forever but it's how we respond to their success that will show our mettle).

Real Madrid have spent a small fortune trying to create a team better than Barca's (leading La Liga by 5 at the moment but there is still a ways to go) and they still can't get the better of them when it really matters.

Bang on.

Zen86 · 12th January 2012, 12:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingMinger22

I feel similarly. Only massive levels of investment would give us a fighting chance of reaching that level.
I think he's a realist and will be thinking mostly about the next three years in the league with Shitty...

I think it's more a case of waiting for Barca to come back down to everyone elses level.

finneh · 12th January 2012, 12:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zen86

I think it's more a case of waiting for Barca to come back down to everyone elses level.

The problem is the likes of City & Madrid won't be waiting for this to happen.

Zen86 · 12th January 2012, 12:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by finneh

The problem is the likes of City & Madrid won't be waiting for this to happen.

They can spend all they want but they'll never get to that level, you can't simply buy a great team like Barca's. If City or Madrid become the dominant force in football it'll be because Barca are in decline, which will happen sooner or later.

SittingBull · 12th January 2012, 12:51

I think Fergie realises that we cannot compete in terms of buying the biggest name in football, thus cannot realistically compete with Barcelona for the next 2 years. However, he had gone for another route which should be all too familiar to us. He's got for youth with worldclass potential, eg Smalling, Jones, De Gea, Cleverley, Rafael, etc. This is a transition period for Manchester United, and i'm pretty sure we will be dominating Europe in a few seasons time, like when we did with blooding Rooney, Ronaldo and Nani. The question is, can the fans be patient enough to see the fruits of his labour?

That'sHernandez · 12th January 2012, 12:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramshock

If he invested in top class talent we would still be in with a chance of making another final with them and competing. Whether its his own fault or not I imagine he privately thinks theres no way he can get us back to that level where we can beat Barcelona! Not if theres a three year window and if we dont invest heavily which we probably wont.

I don't think a couple of top class players would have made a huge difference to our Champions League performance, we would have still rotated and I think because of our league form at the time we were complacent.

Treble · 12th January 2012, 12:56

The end of Fergie's career isn't going to be indifferent. If he manages to build a team that wins the CL in the competiton of Barca and Real, words would be lacking to express what most fans would feel about him. However, if we play Barcelona once again and get spanked for a third time, well, it's going to be a sad day...

The thing with Barcelona is that most of their players are under 30. Only Puyol is about to retire in the next 1-2 years. Messi and Fabregas are only 24, imagine if they get better in the next years! Busquets and Sanches are younger than them, they've got rising stars like Thiago Alcantara, their academy regularly produces great talents etc. Real are buiding a great team, too. The challenge is huge, in fact, the biggest in Fergie's career thus far.

WeasteDevil · 12th January 2012, 13:17

The doom, the gloom, how long ago was it when we finished at the bottom of a CL group, and then what did we go on to become?

ArmchairCritic · 12th January 2012, 13:19

It takes time people, if you think this Barca side just happened overnight it didn't.

#07 · 12th January 2012, 13:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Treble

The end of Fergie's career isn't going to be indifferent. If he manages to build a team that wins the CL in the competiton of Barca and Real, words would be lacking to express what most fans would feel about him. However, if we play Barcelona once again and get spanked for a third time, well, it's going to be a sad day...

The thing with Barcelona is that most of their players are under 30. Only Puyol is about to retire in the next 1-2 years. Messi and Fabregas are only 24, imagine if they get better in the next years! Busquets and Sanches are younger than them, they've got rising stars like Thiago Alcantara, their academy regularly produces great talents etc. Real are buiding a great team, too. The challenge is huge, in fact, the biggest in Fergie's career thus far.

I agree. I've no qualms with what Sir Alex said. It was all true after all. Why should he not accept how good they are? He used to regularly admiringly comment about the strength of Lippi's Juve back in the 90s. Barcelona are the benchmark and matching them won't be a quick thing. Real Madrid have spent hundreds of millions trying and still cant get the ball off of them for the majority of the match.

People saying we should spend like sailors need to identify who it is we could buy to outplay the midfield diamond of Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi? There are no better players on earth in those positions. Its not defeatism to say so its simply an acceptance of the magnitude of the challenge and the fact that to overcome it will take time and patience. We need to develop a side that has the instinctive awareness of each other's game and the 2 touch football to exploit that before we can talk about Barcelona.

If Sir Alex's last act is to leave in place a foundation for that, a squad of players who can press and play in the way required to match Barca, even if he doesn't win the Champions League that will rank next to the Treble as an achievement.

Red Pavan · 12th January 2012, 13:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zen86

They can spend all they want but they'll never get to that level, you can't simply buy a great team like Barca's. If City or Madrid become the dominant force in football it'll be because Barca are in decline, which will happen sooner or later.

Later being more likely as the core of their team is still very young except Xavi but they have bought Fabregas to compensate for that, as well as having Thiago Alacantara and others who will step up once Xavi retires.

Hoof The Ball · 12th January 2012, 13:35

That is assuming, of course, that Barcelona will drop back down to a level lower than the one that they are performing at right now. However, taking into consideration that the system of play and footballing mentality is fully integrated by years of careful implementation from the youth teams all the way to the first team, what's to say that the system itself hasn't become the benefactor behind their continued future success at this level?

When Xavi, Puyol and the rest move on, who (at this point) would bet against ready made replacements to continue exactly what is taking place here?

Cold_Boy · 12th January 2012, 14:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hal9000

It's a shame that he's gone from talking about rising to the challenge, to accepting that Barca will win everything they gaze there eyes at.

This.

KingMinger22 · 12th January 2012, 14:49

Barca are so unbelievably set for the next few years. They have a far younger team than any of the other big teams in Europe. They also have, by a country mile, the best youngsters. There is also no possibility that they will lose any of these players unless they want to offload.

We should aim to nick some of the truly most exceptional talents in Europe as part of a medium term plan, e.g. Goetze, Hazard type talents.

I would be extremely happy if we a considered the second best team in Europe in the next season or two.

Adzzz · 12th January 2012, 14:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cold_Boy

This.

We can't rise to a challenge that isn't there. We're out of the CL.

davisjw · 12th January 2012, 15:07

Barca are a wonderful team, but we've seen wonderful teams crash out against lesser teams in a Cup. I don't think they do the CL this season. Some team will find a way to frustrate them.

My money is on Bayern.

Funny how Fergie didn't mention C. Ronaldo in his list of greats.

SteveJ · 12th January 2012, 15:08

I'd rather read of SAF's diplomatic response to the Barca challenge than the grudging reply certain big-name managers might have given. And besides, you can bet your life that he'll still be thinking of ways to rise to the challenge, no matter how tough it appears to be.

davisjw · 12th January 2012, 16:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveJ

I'd rather read of SAF's diplomatic response to the Barca challenge than the grudging reply certain big-name managers might have given. And besides, you can bet your life that he'll still be thinking of ways to rise to the challenge, no matter how tough it appears to be.

There's always pre-season friendlies to win!

prateik · 12th January 2012, 16:24

lucky Fergie

Vidic_In_Moscow · 12th January 2012, 16:29

The only way SAF will win the CL again is if he throws money at the team on some big, and I mean BIG stars.

Fergie has always built his success on a mean defence and some superstars in front, we don't have a mean defence any more and we certainly don't have any big superstars who can do it by themselves any more despite what people may think about Rooney or Nani. Fergie must live and die by the sword though metaphorically speaking, his methods have gained trophies, but also makes the team vulnerable when it loses a key player or two.

The team is lost in purgatory until a big star can run the show again, but this time it looks like we are all out of emerging big stars from within the club - and hell bent on not spending over the odds on the big stars from external sources.

The only solution I can see in the next three years is to spend big, but I haven't the slightest clue to suggest that will happen, but as always it's just a temporary fix - I'd rather see a more effective long-term strategy put in place but sadly I don't think it will happen under Fergie's regime.

Fortitude · 12th January 2012, 16:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zen86

They can spend all they want but they'll never get to that level, you can't simply buy a great team like Barca's. If City or Madrid become the dominant force in football it'll be because Barca are in decline, which will happen sooner or later.

That's quite an ambiguous statement.

Later could be 5 years, 10.. or the cycle may simply go full circle.

It's not unfeasible to think they could go on for a seriously concerted period of dominance more akin to Real Madrid of the 50's early 60's than Liverpool of the 70's and 80's or us in the 90's and 00's.

They have all the pieces in place, and more importantly, a system with rock-solid foundations, to really put their marker down as the greatest club side of all time factually rather than aesthetically.

As others have said, the core of their team is young, and more importantly, those who wish to challenge are a long way off having a side who are even close to being par with them. I'd say there's more likelihood of them reining for a long time yet, than them falling off or being usurped.

It's going to take something very special for any side to be able to knock them off their perch in at least the next 2-3 years. I'm inclined to say 5, but that's too long in football and opposing stars not currently on the map may well have emerged by then.

12th January 2012, 05:23	#1 (permalink)
KingMinger22 City >>> United Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Banbury Posts: 2,883	SAF speaking at Balon d'or about Barca and Messi In case so e of you missed this, Fergie speaking at the FIFA Balon d'or awards - Video here http://www.firstpost.com/topic/perso...UlY-329-1.html "It's not a crime or a weakness, just a plain fact that the Barcelona team now, particularly with Lionel Messi in the side, are just an extraordinary team. I can't see anyone taking a trophy from them this year – Real Madrid are probably the nearest to them." The Scot said that Messi can now be judged alongside the greats of world football through the ages, even though he is still only 24. "I would agree with that completely," said Ferguson. "Critics have always questioned whether players like Pelé could play today. "The answer to that is great players would play in any generation. Lionel Messi could play in the 1950s and the present day, as could [Alfredo] Di Stéfano, Pelé, [Diego] Maradona, [Johan] Cruyff, because they are all great players. Lionel Messi without question fits into that category." Nothing too suprising there. Interestingly though, he appears to acknowledge Real Madrid are now the second strongest team in Europe. He says he has three years left at United and would love to win the CL again. I wonder how he feels about his chances, as this Barca team seem to improve with big buys every season. It's difficult to see but I wonder if he has a plan to give it a go... Any thoughts?

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12th January 2012, 05:35	#2 (permalink)
RedRonaldo First Team Sub Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 5,305	All we need is to qualify from the group games, hope some team would defend like no tomorrow against them and somehow win it from penalty, and we win against that team.

12th January 2012, 05:36	#3 (permalink)
Ramshock poster of nonsense Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Four Green Fields Posts: 10,350	If he invested in top class talent we would still be in with a chance of making another final with them and competing. Whether its his own fault or not I imagine he privately thinks theres no way he can get us back to that level where we can beat Barcelona! Not if theres a three year window and if we dont invest heavily which we probably wont.

12th January 2012, 06:28	#6 (permalink)
Mick1991 First Team Sub Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ireland Posts: 6,071	You lot are nuts. The Champions League final was what? 7/8 months ago? Huge investment over a short space of time just isn't realistically the way to go. A long term plan spanning over a couple of years and spending money on the right players while bringing through some youngsters and moulding a team (which is evidently in process) is the best way to fend off the threat from City and get back into the Champions League and performing (I'm no fool, we won't be able to fend off City forever but it's how we respond to their success that will show our mettle). Real Madrid have spent a small fortune trying to create a team better than Barca's (leading La Liga by 5 at the moment but there is still a ways to go) and they still can't get the better of them when it really matters.

12th January 2012, 06:42	#7 (permalink)
amolbhatia100 Has excellent taste in women Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: india Posts: 27,701	We have to look beyond barca, really. And acknowledge that their team right now is a complete one off. Mourinho has done a great job by getting his team 5 points ahead of them this season but we don't have those sorts of resources so the focus really should be about taking our football to the greatest level it fan get to within the relative restrictions we have on ourselves (unlike city and seemingly Madrid). In fact, what we really should be aiming for this season is a consistently fluid footballing system as much as anything else. We've played absolutely goegeous football this season at times but also incredibly disjoint stuff on others. Hopefully at some point we can attain a level where the fluidity of passing and team work is consistently there and then its a case of the rest falling into place got results to go in our favour. But personally, id like to see able to play that way on a regular basis this season. The thing about our early season football that really struck a cord with me wasn't the gung ho nature of it. Rather it was the completely unison the team had. We were almost as one living breathing entity. That's what we have to aim for.

12th January 2012, 08:22	#8 (permalink)
RyanGoggs tasted George Michael Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 3,835	I don't think he out and out acknowledged real Madrid as the 2nd strongest team in Europe, he just said he felt they were the only team to stop Barca winning everything in sight. That seems pretty true in the Spanish competitions, and since we are out of Europe the same can be said with the European Cup. Although other teams can stop them, Madrid are beat equipped. I'm sure SAF still sees us above Madrid as the second best team, at least judging by the last four years in Europe.

12th January 2012, 08:24	#9 (permalink)
kps88 First Team Sub Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Coventry (SM) Posts: 8,712	I think we can easily build another world class team to compete with Barcelona over 3 years. We're only a couple of players away from a real quality squad. Barcelona haven't looked all that away from home this season, I'd fancy them over two legs.

12th January 2012, 08:29	#10 (permalink)
steeeb Reserve Team Player Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Mean Girls Burn Book Posts: 2,263	Does the video actually work? Or am I missing something?

12th January 2012, 08:43	#12 (permalink)
adexkola First Team Sub Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Brooklyn, Connecticut. Onwards and upwards. "Take me home, United Road." Posts: 9,810	The team at Wembley is one competent midfield away from giving this Barcelona side a run for their money. They're not invinvible. I don't believe all this bollocks of "oh we have to rebuild, they're a one off, it'll take 3 years..." Inter, us, Arsenal, Chelsea, Real, have managed to get the better of them in recent years. All one needs is the right personnel in the middle of the park, who can get the ball to Rooney, Nani, Valencia, Hernandez, and others. We're not going to out tiki-taka them with some magic youth players promoted.

12th January 2012, 08:48	#13 (permalink)
Hal9000 Reserve Team Player Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 2,669	It's a shame that he's gone from talking about rising to the challenge, to accepting that Barca will win everything they gaze there eyes at.

12th January 2012, 12:38	#19 (permalink)
Ish84045 raisa84045 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: "WhatF*ckingWhat" Posts: 2,667	a) no players were available (contractually or financially) which we could have signed to get us anywhere near Barca's level currently. (Modric, Sneijder, Schweinsteiger). b) Barca's dominance will end somewhere along the line c) SAF has probably recognised the above and put his faith in a 2-3 year plan with the signings of quality youngsters like Jones, Smalling, de Gea. Hopefully 1 or 2 quality midfielders become available in the next 2 years (Goetze!!!) (fingers crossed Pogba or Morrison reaches the high standards everyone is setting for them) Imagine the thought of our youngsters with the potential of de Gea, Cleverly, Jones, Smalling, Welbeck, Fryers, Rafael/Fabio, continuing their successful development and in another 2 years can successfully merge with established stars like Vidic, Rooney and Nani...(hopefully Anderson!) - add in 1 or 2 signings and we could be in for something really special. And I believe that this is SAF's blueprint for his final shot at UCL glory.

12th January 2012, 12:51	#24 (permalink)
SittingBull Reserve Team Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: At United, we strive for perfection, and if we fail, we might just have to settle for excellence - Sir Matt Busby Posts: 2,368	I think Fergie realises that we cannot compete in terms of buying the biggest name in football, thus cannot realistically compete with Barcelona for the next 2 years. However, he had gone for another route which should be all too familiar to us. He's got for youth with worldclass potential, eg Smalling, Jones, De Gea, Cleverley, Rafael, etc. This is a transition period for Manchester United, and i'm pretty sure we will be dominating Europe in a few seasons time, like when we did with blooding Rooney, Ronaldo and Nani. The question is, can the fans be patient enough to see the fruits of his labour?

12th January 2012, 12:56	#26 (permalink)
Treble Reserve Team Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 2,153	The end of Fergie's career isn't going to be indifferent. If he manages to build a team that wins the CL in the competiton of Barca and Real, words would be lacking to express what most fans would feel about him. However, if we play Barcelona once again and get spanked for a third time, well, it's going to be a sad day... The thing with Barcelona is that most of their players are under 30. Only Puyol is about to retire in the next 1-2 years. Messi and Fabregas are only 24, imagine if they get better in the next years! Busquets and Sanches are younger than them, they've got rising stars like Thiago Alcantara, their academy regularly produces great talents etc. Real are buiding a great team, too. The challenge is huge, in fact, the biggest in Fergie's career thus far.

12th January 2012, 13:17	#27 (permalink)
WeasteDevil Observant Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: MG was wearing a lovely dress and I talked her out of it! Posts: 93,070	The doom, the gloom, how long ago was it when we finished at the bottom of a CL group, and then what did we go on to become?

12th January 2012, 13:19	#28 (permalink)
ArmchairCritic First Team Sub Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves. Posts: 6,390	It takes time people, if you think this Barca side just happened overnight it didn't.

12th January 2012, 13:35	#31 (permalink)
Hoof The Ball Reserve Team Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Centre-Circle of the Theatre of Dreams Posts: 1,151	That is assuming, of course, that Barcelona will drop back down to a level lower than the one that they are performing at right now. However, taking into consideration that the system of play and footballing mentality is fully integrated by years of careful implementation from the youth teams all the way to the first team, what's to say that the system itself hasn't become the benefactor behind their continued future success at this level? When Xavi, Puyol and the rest move on, who (at this point) would bet against ready made replacements to continue exactly what is taking place here?

12th January 2012, 14:49	#33 (permalink)
KingMinger22 City >>> United Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Banbury Posts: 2,883	Barca are so unbelievably set for the next few years. They have a far younger team than any of the other big teams in Europe. They also have, by a country mile, the best youngsters. There is also no possibility that they will lose any of these players unless they want to offload. We should aim to nick some of the truly most exceptional talents in Europe as part of a medium term plan, e.g. Goetze, Hazard type talents. I would be extremely happy if we a considered the second best team in Europe in the next season or two.

12th January 2012, 15:07	#35 (permalink)
davisjw Reserve Team Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,867	Barca are a wonderful team, but we've seen wonderful teams crash out against lesser teams in a Cup. I don't think they do the CL this season. Some team will find a way to frustrate them. My money is on Bayern. Funny how Fergie didn't mention C. Ronaldo in his list of greats.

12th January 2012, 15:08	#36 (permalink)
SteveJ Nicest fella on the Caf and Newbie of the Year 2011 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The Divided Kingdom Posts: 11,926	I'd rather read of SAF's diplomatic response to the Barca challenge than the grudging reply certain big-name managers might have given. And besides, you can bet your life that he'll still be thinking of ways to rise to the challenge, no matter how tough it appears to be.

12th January 2012, 16:24	#38 (permalink)
prateik First Team Regular Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 19,029	lucky Fergie

12th January 2012, 16:29	#39 (permalink)
Vidic_In_Moscow First Team Sub Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 6,448	The only way SAF will win the CL again is if he throws money at the team on some big, and I mean BIG stars. Fergie has always built his success on a mean defence and some superstars in front, we don't have a mean defence any more and we certainly don't have any big superstars who can do it by themselves any more despite what people may think about Rooney or Nani. Fergie must live and die by the sword though metaphorically speaking, his methods have gained trophies, but also makes the team vulnerable when it loses a key player or two. The team is lost in purgatory until a big star can run the show again, but this time it looks like we are all out of emerging big stars from within the club - and hell bent on not spending over the odds on the big stars from external sources. The only solution I can see in the next three years is to spend big, but I haven't the slightest clue to suggest that will happen, but as always it's just a temporary fix - I'd rather see a more effective long-term strategy put in place but sadly I don't think it will happen under Fergie's regime.