We never went to sit back and just hit them on the counter in 2009 or 2011 though. We tried to press them but failed. We sat back 2008 Semi's away leg and played on the counter.
Also compared to 2011 we have better players to play on the counter now (Welbeck, Kagawa, Nani like we did against Madrid) and a better hold up striker i. We played with Giggs and Carrick in midfield and Park and Valencia wide with Cheech upfront, so not sure how we were more capable of possession football either.
Not saying we will beat them, but they "won't dick all over us".
The point was that if we didn't look like stringing passes together then and looking like we could properly initiate the required attacks, then it's less than likely that we could now (the result being that we'd be pinned back heavily reliant on massive performances from every single defender). I compare the teams not simply because we played that way back then, but because we would have absolutely no option but to sit back and counter now (where as back then with our superior possession football there at least seemed to be a choice). As for that 2008 team...that was the stuff of miracles in terms of our defending. Evra, Ferdinand et al put in some of the best defensive performances I think I have ever seen over those two legs to be honest and, as much as I still rate our defence, I don't think we are capable of that any more.
The 2011 team was funny in that the whole was far greater than the sum of the parts, and the class of that team really showed in the first 10 minutes or so of the final. After that period we were pinned back and completely unable to get a grip on the game via counter or possession play. Individually it may not seem like that team matched up against the likes of Van Persie, Kagawa, Welbeck, etc for possession play, counter attacking football or anything else, but we played far better, quicker and far more direct football in the second half of 2010/11 than this one has done at any point during this season.
Even as far as individuals go though, that Valencia was far, far better then than Kagawa, Welbeck or any other wing player this year. Park was putting in superior performances to Kagawa/Young and Rooney was perhaps in the best form he's ever been in. The system worked to the extent that Nani and Berbatov didn't retain their places and the team played quality football. We may not have tried to sit back and soak up pressure, but even when we were pinned back as we would be this year we had a team out there that, on form as opposed to going by the quality of the individuals, was better equipped to try and pierce through that midfield and cause the Barcelona defence problems.
I suppose this is all speculative but I maintain that I think we'd probably get shown up a bit again.