Alright, I have to say that the Champions League finals on Wednesday night was indeed disappointing, not purely due to the fact that the team I root for lost but also because I felt it was a sub-standard CL final. There had been so much commotion and build-up to the game since many had been continuously making comparisons between darling Ronaldo and petite Messi. Perhaps many would point fingers at me saying that I am biased and favour over Ronaldo but I am just contributing my two cents worth on neutral grounds.
ManU was a disappointment that night. There was no glimpse of the ManU that dominated and outplayed Arsenal in the semi-finals at all. Instead, it was deja vu of the night when we lost to our arch-rivals, Liverpool. The defence looked so weakened despite having the rock-solid combination of Van de Sar, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra. When I scrolled through the starting line-up, my heart skipped a beat because I saw the combination I would vote as disastrous Carrick-Anderson-Giggs. Apparently, the suspension of Fletcher resulted in this make-shift midfield. Despite having a pretty decent good season, Carrick is never the guy that you can expect a moment of brilliance from him. When you are leading, Carrick is the most effective guy to keep the pace of the game at a consistent level but when the tides are turned around, he impedes your progress because he is way too slow! To worsen things, an inexperienced Anderson was fielded. No doubts he has had contributed to us reaching the finals but he is definitely not the hard-core guy that you want to include in your team against such a seasoned Barca team who has Iniesta and Xavi bossing around the mid-field. You need people like Scholes or Fletcher who can exert the right pressure, make the tackles and break their play. Save the sissys for the Premier League games, boss!
ManU was the boss before Samuel Et'o scored. However, that moment of brilliance at the 10th minute definitely changed the game thoroughly. The winning attitude on Ronaldo's face, the never-say-die mentality of ManU and the champion aura simply vanished into thin air. I do not deny even till this moment that Barca were the better team after the 10th minute. They played their usual Catalan game, passed the ball around, kept the possession, threatened with a few run-ins into the penalty area etc. It was the sub-standard play of ManU that protrayed a glittering Barca on relative standing terms.
Under such circumstances, do not try to make comparisons between Ronaldo and Messi. Critics of Ronaldo often highlight the fact that he is never the star who shines in big games but ask yourself this question: is Messi one yet!? Everyone is denying Ronaldo of his merits and credits just because he appears to be cocky and dives quite a bit. Come on, search your soul and touch your heart, which soccer player don't dive?! Puyol was one big standing statue and display of the diving tactics that night!
Sometimes I can't help but think the Ballon d'Or is merely a big piece of pork whereby all soccer players take turns to grab his share. Messi had been coming in 2nd place behind Ronaldo in all major individual awards standing last year because the latter had helped ManU to a doubles last season whereas Barca did not get your hands on any silverware. Think about it, if ManU were to successfully retain the CL, wouldn't Ronaldo be crowned the Ballon d'Or winner again because he had assisted in rewriting history since no teams had managed to defend the CL trophy? If that had happened, wouldn't all the media and critics who are desperate to crown Messi as the best footballer hitherto, have to reset their count-down timer to 730 days instead? That seems distant and what if swine flu infects Spain and accidentally took his life away? It will be one of the greatest regret in football history to fail to acknowledge such a talented and gifted player!
I watch Messi for Barca quite regularly especially during the time when I was in Stockholm. Creativity is apparent in his play and he is daring enough to take on defenders. However, he plays a different style of football and I vote for Ronaldo's way of play. He is always the best! :)
Now that Perez has officially assumed the President post of Real Madrid, he will try to bring Ronaldo to Madrid at all cost. Despite Ronaldo himself declaring that he is happy at ManU and will still stay there after the turn of the Summer, I take those words with a pinch of salt. I identify with one of the ManU supporters who said the following:
"If he had left last Summer, I will definitely boo him if ManU ever plays against Madrid. Yet, if he choose to leave this Summer but do the appropriate thanksgiving and show his gratitude to the club, the manager, the players and the fans for all that we have given him and contributed to his transformation from a boy to a man, I will root for him and cheer him when he puts on the Madrid shirt. If he finally choose to leave when he is around 28-30 (still pretty fit and perhaps at his peak), I can fully apprehend his intentions to want to fulfil his dream of playing in Spain and be closer to his family and friends and by then he would have dedicated more than half of his career to the club that raised, supported and cared for him so much."
I can't agree more with the above! Yet, my gut feeling seems to tell me that somehow he will leave this Summer. I will miss the kind of entertaining football that he integrates into the games but I always insist that everyone has the freedom and right to pursue their own ambitions and live out their own dreams. Only when you have done so will you be able to identify with that sense of achievement and satisfaction, so go ahead, live out your own dreams!! :))
What a long piece of post full of my rants, my praises, my evaluation and nonsense concurrently....
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