Winning mentality. Probably thought they could be the first team to retain it.Quite odd it affected him so much considering he won it the year before. It wasn't like he blew his one big chance.
Probably the shock effect stunning also alot of us watching. I thought it was the best United team in history, and had the feeling of being chanceless at the end. I’ve watched the game twice later, though, and we weren’t chanceless, In fact, we were slightly better than them in much of the game, and where never outplayed. We had two shoddy defence errors you usually get away with, and were cruelly punished by some magical players. The game changed with the goals, obviously. Still I believe we actually played better (against a better team) than when we beat them the year before. 2011 was a whole other story.The highlight of going to that final was without a doubt the pizza I had in Rome at lunchtime, it was all downhill from there. God that was a grim performance, we started alright I seem to remember, then just got totally outplayed. I was pretty confident going in too, but we looked miles off them.
Looking at betting odds from the match, we were slight favourites for the bookies. I remember feeling invincible after the season we just had, the final really came as a surprise.I think Barca were strong favourites though, right? I mean they completely obliterated us in the final. Fergie did arguably get his tactics wrong with isolating Ronaldo up front, but I doubt it would've made much difference regardless. They were another level.
Didn't read the article, but I remember him in another interview where he mentions it.Thanks, a good read and something I guess a lit of us don’t know og think about when we watch the games.
Exactly plus the whole Barca performance was completely unexpected and nobody realized how good they were going into the final. If Carrick had the benefit of hindsight than he wouldn't have been so depressed because we lost to one of the best teams ever but at that point in time we thought we were favorites going into the game so getting beaten like that when you are considered to be favourites is what probably made him feel so low.That game hurt on the night but we got so outclassed I didn't come away thinking we deserved better than the result. There were no last minute goals, this was a comprehensive beating. Maybe getting outclassed the way we did is what hurt his professional pride.
What else could Fergie do? I think his idea was great: we pressed high up the pitch and we actually stalled them at the beggining. The problem was: our midfield lacked agressivity and O'Shea was a liablility when we had the ball.I think Barca were strong favourites though, right? I mean they completely obliterated us in the final. Fergie did arguably get his tactics wrong with isolating Ronaldo up front, but I doubt it would've made much difference regardless. They were another level.
They had Alves and Abidal out with suspension and Marquez out with injury, so they were forced to line-up with Sylvinho and freaking Yaya Toure in their defense. I was 100% sure we'd outscore them. I knew we probably wouldn't get a cleansheet but seeing that defense I was confident we'd bang in more goals than them.I think Barca were strong favourites though, right? I mean they completely obliterated us in the final. Fergie did arguably get his tactics wrong with isolating Ronaldo up front, but I doubt it would've made much difference regardless. They were another level.
I know it's not an excuse, but Chelsea players started pressing the ref from the beggining of the match. From the moment "real" fouls started to happen, Overbo was already fed up with Chelsea players and started ignoring the obviousBarcelona should never have been in the final. Chelsea were robbed by the referee. We would've probably won back to back champions league otherwise.
What the feck is this?Im14andthisisdeep.
They should have been. But the betting companies and the British press were slow to catch up on how good their form had been through 2008/09. In fairness Chelsea matching Barcelona gave the impression that Barcelona's possession football was still to prove that it could overcome the resilient English defences that dominated European football in the previous few years.I think Barca were strong favourites though, right? I mean they completely obliterated us in the final. Fergie did arguably get his tactics wrong with isolating Ronaldo up front, but I doubt it would've made much difference regardless. They were another level.
uhhhhh this isn't reddit broIm14andthisisdeep.
Maybe nobody realised it in England because of the somewhat insular nature of English football. But that Barcelona team destroyed Real Madrid 6-2 at the Bernabeu a few weeks before that. They beat Bayern 4-0 in the quarter-finals. They were really, really good.Exactly plus the whole Barca performance was completely unexpected and nobody realized how good they were going into the final. If Carrick had the benefit of hindsight than he wouldn't have been so depressed because we lost to one of the best teams ever but at that point in time we thought we were favorites going into the game so getting beaten like that when you are considered to be favourites is what probably made him feel so low.
To be fair, Abidal's red card was a ridiculous decision, too - at that point it was 20 minutes to go and Chelsea just had to hold on to a one goal lead against ten men. They fecked that up massively, no matter how much they want to blame Ovrebo. And Barcelona should have had their own penalty in the first leg.Barcelona should never have been in the final. Chelsea were robbed by the referee. We would've probably won back to back champions league otherwise.
Maybe English press and pundits didn't expect Barca to be that good, but as someone who had watched Barca all season I was not hopeful for us heading in. Messi had finally reached superstar mode, and the entire team was firing on all cylinders.Exactly plus the whole Barca performance was completely unexpected and nobody realized how good they were going into the final. If Carrick had the benefit of hindsight than he wouldn't have been so depressed because we lost to one of the best teams ever but at that point in time we thought we were favorites going into the game so getting beaten like that when you are considered to be favourites is what probably made him feel so low.