Gerard Pique, who returned to Barcelona after a few years with Manchester United, has admitted he felt sorry for his former team-mates, although is of course over the moon to add another winners medal to his collection.
“It was special because we played really well, we deserved to win and Barcelona was always my club since I was a young lad,” said Pique. “I am sorry for them because they are very good friends of mine and to see them lose the game is not good, but I am happy for me. Since I arrived here I knew it was the right decision. When I arrived it was a great team, we started to play well and now we have won the cup, we have won the league, and now the champions league – it is a dream season.”
Man Utd News 24/7
well done, lad.
He played terrifically well last night – I understand why he was sold but I don’t understand why was he sold for so little ?
good effort gerard.
final year of his contract, untested squad player. tahts why it was so little.
I don’t think he was that great last night, he got in the way of Ronaldo but apart from that he wasn’t really tested, especially as we couldn’t attack in full force. Barcelona were a great side before Guardiola came in and now he’s getting praise for all HIS? work? That’s nonsense, he’s done nothing of note, that Barce side were always a great side and the praise he’s getting for me, on the most part, is undeserved, I don’t think he’ll be a success outside Barcelona.
its a shame we couldn’t keep him – i wanted him to stay. Him and Evans could have been the future at our club.
We were shocking, full stop. But Barcelona were majestic, brilliant, magnificent, phenomenal… Every brilliant adjective I can think of. We wasted the ball so much. Carrick gave the ball away time and time again, Rio and Vidic looked shaky all game long, Van Der Sar seemed to be rusty too, and as for Rooney thats as bad as I’ve ever seen him play. Credit to Ronaldo though, he stuck at it, but just did’nt have any supply nor support. As for Andres Iniesta, his use of the ball is nothing short of magnificent. He never ever gives the ball away. Barcelona are indeed the deserved Champions.
Evans is more suited to physical battles in the Premier League. Right decision was made, it’s not like his departure came to bite us on the back side.
Good for him that he’s a Champion’s league winner, at Utd. he wouldn’t have made it on the bench(probably) for the finals.
Well done to Gerrard.The second player after Paolo Sousa to win the Ch.League in 2 consecutive years with different teams.
yeah – congratulations to Piquenbauer!
Happy for him, he desreves it, has had a great season. I’m always happy for ex-Reds doing well, like Rossi at Villareal, and of course Forlan who is now proper world class striker!
I felt sorry for Sir Alex, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs more than anyone else.
The look on their faces, especially Scholes’ was a sad one. He doesn’t have long left, unlike the seemingly ungrateful lot like Ronaldo and co.
There was nothing wrong with our tactics, our starting line up or the way we began the game. There was just not much of a response and it’s hard to fight when you can’t get near you opponent.
They could only play THEIR game after going 1-0 up and unfortunately it came too soon.
Still a fantastic season for us spoilt fans, I’m looking forward to pre-season, new nike kits shoved down our throats and hopefully a fit Owen Hargreaves…
Maybe we should have kept him…..he has impressed me this season in la liga…..there best defender at barca. Maybe we could have blended him at right back.
@suhayl : i feel the same too. Barca’s best defender this season bar Dani Alves who is more a winger. Pique does not have that pace to play at RB. but this shows the quality of United’s Academy and the coaching staff. hope we have more players coming in from the Reserves into 1st team next season. Spain would be my favourites for WC 2010.
Well done Pique, top lad and he deserves the medals along with all his other barca team mates.
only positive from losing last night is that madrid will be well and truly pissed off.
Fair play to Barca. They kept the ball. Everyone is making out that that was our best. Most other nights we would win but the early goal stunned us. Rooney has to play in the number 10 role.
Bayern have today said that united have made a casual inquiry for Franck Ribery. Man I hope we get him. He has pace, dead ball specialist, great crosses, 15+ goals guaranteed. And both wings. Rooney will be freed to roam in the centre. Thus being able to show the world the he is the greatest player there is.
I’d have Kaka as well. Especially since he wants to be at united.
I’m happy for Pique but its a shame we couldn’t have kept him – he would have got plenty of matches this season.
Still been a good season but we were just beaten by a better side on the day. the response of the ABU media today has been embarressing, it’s just a reminder to how much the nation hates us for our success.
rooney the best in the world ??????? that was your blog last week was he even on the pitch last night??? all he done was stand on the sideline crying
Anybody hear the reports about a United fan in Nigeria killing 4 Barca fans and injuring more last night? Ran ‘em over in his motor while they celebrated in the street.
well done to pique and barca…but i basically live with a kid from barcelona, what a cocky piece of shit he is……
Yeah heard bout that lad in Nigeria, What a fuckin idiot,
Well done lad. The best team won, we just were’nt in it. Iniesta, Xavi and Messi are world class players, and we allowed them to control the game. It was great seeing all the fans around me salute the Barcelona players when they were collecting the medals and holding up the trophy. It’s gutting to lose the final, but credit where credit is due, they are a fantastic side and deserved it on the night. Fingers crossed we can win it back next season. I think we seriously missed Hargreaves this season, him and Fletcher may of made a difference if they played last night. Roll on next season. One love One United.
On another note, Robihno expresses delight at our defeat to Barcelona. Typical fucking shit player who is at a shit club, making comments like that.
I just wanna say congratulations to Barcelona.
They turned up to the final and played like deserved winners.
United on the other hand did not turn up and to me looked alittle over confident. I also felt United were lacking tactically.
Perhaps Fergie is missing Quieroz? Well I know he is missing Quieroz actually. I am not the manager but I thought it was fairly obvious since 3 out of the 4 Barcelona defence weren’t first team it would have been clever to attack from the start. With Tevez in for Giggs and Park in the midfield role.
The first goal Vidic got skinned but the players tracking back should have actually been alittle quicker incase he got skinned. And Messi scoring with a bloody header?! Couldn’t believe it. Prior to all that United were looking good. After they scored the goal for about 5 or 10 minutes United looked shaken and were finding it difficult to get the passing rhythm going.
Ronaldo has be contradicting himself recently about whether he is staying or going. Let me say this. If United want to be successful then Ronnie is a player we need to keep in the team. Perhaps SAF is allowing Ronnie to say these things because he knows how important he is to the team. Imagine United without Ronnie. We wouldn’t be half as good. Really.
Reverting back to 4-4-2 isn’t the answer. Rooney plays just off the main striker in his normal preferred position but United have no recognised World Class striker for him to play off. It’s as simple as that.
United were just beaten by a better team yesterday. We didn’t show up and were beaten by a tactically better team. It may actually be a good learning experience for the lads. You are not as good as you may think you are. But next season if you still have that drive and determination you will do it.
And finally Blatter looked well happy presenting the trophy to Barcelona. Alot happier than he did last year presenting it to United. Says it all really!
I hope next season we play Rooney where he truly belongs.I know somewhere deep inside us everyone has a feeling that he has not become the player he should have.The Rooney of 2004 was capable of ripping through defences on his own.The Rooney of 2009 can only unlock through his passing and bringing others into play.Even though its a nice trait to have but it certainly seems his game has been dented from that time.He no longer looks to take on defenders anymore.Maybe occasionally he does it but even then its not as threatening as it used to be.He seemed to score spectacular goals during those days…long rangers…goals from outside the edge of the box….goals where he took on 3 or 4 players and stormed past them…..where has it all gone?When was the last time he looked in that sort of a menacing form?I want people to talk about Wayne in the same breath as the Messi’s and the Ronaldo’s …and they did once upon a time…..I know he contributes a lot to the team but dont we wish we had the old Rooney back…the one we spent 30 million pounds on….the one who was supposed to be the white Pele.I think Sir Alex needs to realize that Ronaldo is going to leave us one day and if we keep sacrificing Rooney’s natural talent and make him do the donkey work all the time we will destroy whats already left of him.He is still the heart and soul of the team but for fucks sake he needs to rediscover that spark which would make him a nightmare for defences across the world.I hate it …absolutely loath it when the bindippers say Torres is the best striker in the world because Rooney was supposed to be that guy.All we come up with in response to that is …look how hard his works…look at his commitment…blah blah..Everything is correct about that but for the fact that he is actually supposed to be scoring goals…lots and lots of them…He is supposed to be taking defenders on when he is anywhere near the box and shoot the crap out of the ball….he needs to nutmeg and twist em in knots before they realise what is happening…Sadly all we get when he is in the box is a driven cross or a floating ball looking for someone….I am frustrated but If I question Sir Alex then I am going to be castigated .
And I fear the same thing is happening with Anderson.He used to tear apart the defences when he was with Gremio,Porto ,with the brazillian under 17 team…he used to score goals…terrific goals…but look at him now.I admit the premier league is tough compared to the above mentioned leagues but surely he was born to be an attacking midfielder..He was heralded as the next Ronaldinho…but look where he is now with regards to his attacking play.I do not understand why are we switching players out of their best positions….Why buy an attacking midfielder if you want him to do a defensive role..Why why why?
All this coming after a defeat makes it look like a load of crap but these are the times when we should reflect on what has happened .
emilys season review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8uefxCOROU
John, would you like to see Ribery at OT next season?
Pique shud have been sent off? but all the decisions seem to go their way.i am sure platini must be gutted he couldnt reverse the alves and abidal decision.
rooney_thebestest:
The big issue for SAF is how to create a system to bring out the best in ALL three of Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov.
From what we’ve seen this year it doesn’t involve Berbatov as the lead-the-line guy and I think that it doesn’t involve giving Rooney that role either. But Ronaldo can do that – he’s big, strong, fast, a terrific finisher AND very, very greedy.
So what occurs to me is something like a 4-3-1-1-1 or, more conventionally, a 4-3-2-1, with width being supplied by overlapping fullbacks and the midfield bolstered with some grit and determination. The players are in place for this kind of revamp – the da Silva twins are explosive, overlapping fullbacks; some combination of Hargreaves, Gibson (?), Fletcherinho, Anderson would provide the grit to let Carrick play the Pirlo-role.
So far, it’s been a matter of not quite getting the mix right – the evidence of that has been the fairly woeful attacking games that UTD have played for most of this year as evidenced by lots of possession and territorial advantage but the lowest goal total for a long time. I remain confident that a strategic tweak might solve a lot of problems.
@rooney_thebestest
Rooney’s best position is off a striker in a 4-4-2.
There are 3 problems here.
1. Rooney has no out and out striker to play off.
2. 4-4-2 doesn’t work in Europe. If we deployed that against Barcelona our central midefield would have been overloaded 2 v 3.
3. Berbatov plays a simliar position to Rooney.
As for Anderson I can’t imagine he has ever socred a goal. For the last 2 seasons at Old Trafford I hae always known if he shoots he will not score. It’s just one of those things.
@denton davey
Again if Berba isn’t the sort of out and out player we were looking for why did we sign him in the first place?I am very much of the opinion that he is a terrific player but the point is when he was signed it was with a view that he would offer us a focal point of attack that we lacked the season before.But what has happened is not only we couldnt replicate the flow of last year but also we have seemed like being stuck in the second or third gear this term.We always rely on the tempo of our game which involves the full backs and the wingers bombing forward in a synchronous fashion producing wave of attacks.Maybe not having Brown fit has hindered that too because whenever O shea plays we are forced to attack from only one wing.What that does is cut the width from our game which is so important to us.So a 4-3-2-1 or a 4-3-1-1-1 would definitely be a more fluid formation to go with.trouble is would the Da Silva twins mature enough to play regularly next term.Plus can they do the job against physically imposing teams(maybe we can use Brown or O shea for that).One more thing is whoever plays up top needs to be a good finisher.Ronaldo can do the job but this season his conversion rate has been a bit sloppy.Plus are we willing to sacrifice his talents on the wings?A more realistic solution would be to get in a winger this summer who can do a good job out wide.And lastly where does that leave Rooney?On the flanks again?
@AlphaRS :
Bang on mate…Rooney needs to play off a target man to get the best out of him.My point is that these are the years that will form him as a player.If we want him to be a selfless player and work for the team he would find it tough to adjust to his previous position after a long time playing in this system.We know he is world class and can still take any defence apart.And is he going to be a Red Devil for life.So why not build a team around him?Why not give him the freedom to express himself?
4-4-2 doesnt work in Europe but without Fletch and Hargo it wasnt the best of decisions playing an ageing Giggsy playing against the likes of Xavi and Iniesta.That meant we were already effectively short on numbers.We would have been better served with Tevez playing off Ronnie, closing them down and not giving them any space.Giggsy was also playing in a very forward role.Attacking wise his contribution was non existent.Add to that the fact that he coudnt do his defensive duties and we were asking a lot out of a young Ando and Carrick.
Is my summer already heading down the path to ruin?
everyone on the braca team was goo d for the game – only one i didnt like was puyol. although he did play well considering, he brought out some of the ugly side of football.
pique and most of the others were class and acted so. dont begrudge them and their reactions have been absolutley gentlemen! well done pique! just knew youd come back to haunt us – didnt think it’d be this soon!
United should have steam rollered Barca in to submission by attacking their weakened defence.
Man United should be literally Wayne’s World. Party. Excellent.
As u can see I’ve just watched Wayne’s World. One of best comedy films ever In my opinion. Had to be cheered up cuz reading the ABU media overreacting is plain depressing. Have they gone menal.
@steamdigit
Take it u meant the ugly side as in literally. Gotta feel sorry for him.
@rooney_thebestest
United have scored less goals this term because the whole fluidity of the team has been lost as we are now playing a slower game concentrating more on build up.
Berbatov maybe a brilliant player but he just doesn’t fit in to the United system or ethos.
I don’t want a return to the days of RVN. Yes he was prolific but United changed the whole system to accomodate him. I’d rather have Benzema over Berbatov anyday and still keep Tevez.
Also how do we get the best out of Rooney knowing a 4-4-2 doesn’t work in Europe? He will ultimately have to play out of position. I just don’t know anymore. This team are good enough to win the Premiership. But they are lacking that little bit extra in Europe. Are the midfield really good enough to win the Champions League?
It hurts to say it but no. 2 holding midfileders and Giggs playing behind Ronaldo didn’t do it for me either. Anderson is being wasted playing as a defensive midfielder. Scholes and Giggs are good enough for the Prem but not for Europe.
He was the best player on the field yesterday. If it weren’t for him we would’ve scored at least once… He was class. That said, I’m now gonna play in my ps3 against barca, and after scoring 3 or 4 goals I’m simply going to injure some of their players. Is that wrong? haha
the key is always in midfield. hargreaves, fletcher, rooney in midfield with left n right wings n top striker in europe ie 4-5-1 n rooney as the striking partner in a 4-4-2 formation in the premier league. our defend has always been sound apart from few dodgy occasions.
It was a gruelling season ? Yes, but we had effectively 2 squads.
Weren’t we good enough to win the CL ? Yes, we are good enough. We were in the final, we had the players, we had experience, we had Fergie. There is no question we are good enough but this game was a quintessence of the whole season. We couldn’t unlock Barca’s defence. Let me say in another way. Silvihno was out of position a few times but we didn’t make the most out of it. Remember the ball played by Carrick to Rooney. Awful and it is the player supposed to have great vision and passing accuracy ?
As someone already mentioned Carrick is not a holding midfielder and you can not call him the attacking player. He is 50/50 and i still think his best season was 2006-2007. His first season and he made the difference.
Yes, we missed Fletch and Hargreaves. For sure we missed them. We can not say for sure who’s absense counted the most, Barca’s defenders or our two holding midfielders, but i’m sure we were able to win it.
But again we must realize that we are ManUnited, Fergie is Fergie and we are an english team not Liverpool. I remembered the same old days when we were outclassed in Europe and in this circumstances 2 CL titles in 10 years is not that bad.
PS. Fergie, please, i started to enjoy ManUnited because of the free flowing football, agression, speed. I adore the 2006-2007 season. Please, make sure we’ll be back with 19th premier league title and the football we used to worship.
corea, agree with you mate.
why do you guys think that 4-4-2 won’t work in Europe? I would want to have our midfielders out numbering theirs, considering their class! And defo Ronnie can be used as that out and out striker, with Rooney playing off him. Then we can finally accommodate Nani on the right (finally!) and invest on a left winger (or play Tosic, if ready). And am i the only one who thinks Breba is a better midfielder than a striker?! :O
@ Anon
On Berba. I was saying it in winter. He is sometimes like Scholesy. He is an honest and modest guy with great vision, footbal brain and control. Yes, he is like Scholesy but i think it would be a shame if we didn’t use his qualities as a striker of the ball as much as we can do.
Remember the shot he had on goal out of nothing when he played for Tottenham in the game that ended 1-0 with the goal scored by Nani ? After that moment i realized that it would be great if we had him in our disposal.
did united really play 66 times in the season??
wow
Corea
dont remember that one mate. i’l see if i can find a link on youtube.
but as far as his striking qualities are concerned, this is how i see it:
of what i have seen, he is not that great in a crowded box. plus the assist he gave to Tevez against Citeh is testament to his great passing abilities. most of his goals from within the box have been either from set pieces (WBA and Chelsea) or from creeping up behind unsuspecting defenders (Bolton and Boro). Though i would like to see more goals like the ones he got agains Aalborg and Celtic, i wouldn’t mind restricting his goal scoring to Sholse-esque strikes from outside the box!
another trait i find quite unbelievable about Berba is despite his big presence, he doesn’t seem to have a good header. He’s missed quite a high number this season.
He is undoubtedly a better striker of the ball than he does with his head but i think he is not bad in that department. next season can be the answer to all of the questions.
i hope you are right mate. still feel the team is more balanced if he plays attacking mid.
anyway, SAF is slightly better at me in getting his teams right, so lets wait for August. Till then, i am gonna be looking forward to what clowns are going to land up at the City of Manchester stadium!
And new kit
Depending on what will happen with Frazer Campbell it will be him or Fletch.
There are some romours that the negotiations with Sahara company are entering final stage.
Unfortunately i can not find it on youtube but i found this:
Man of the match Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/aug/27/match.manchesterunited
I will try to upload it in the evening.
oh yeah. heard about that. but the guys at Sahara are still denying the news. plus the report i read was at soccernet, and i don’t trust anything they write, pure tabloid journalism. personally i think the sahara logo would look pretty cool on the red jersey, looks hot on the indian national cricket team, but thats a very light sky blue colour. plus its the only logo that team have had for almost 10 years now, so most fans are used to it!
i personally think we need some changes starting with the AIG kit. It brought us CL and 2 EPL but i’m fed up with it.
lol. How’s Sharp Electronics doing these days?
Rhetorical question, mate
Bolton think that 6 mln would be enough to secure the services of Miguel Veloso from Sporting. Isn’t it the player we were interested before ?
With Fletcher and Hargo fit i don’t think we need him but ..
@anon
Good point about Berba. He can create things at anytime with his vision and through balls, ala spurs.
SHARP Electronics – GET MORE FOR YOUR MONERGY
well looks like this gerard got himself a medal, unlike another i know…
doncobaino- lawl.
Tom F- at a loss of words!
corea- that was actually semi rhetorical, coz i wouldn’t mind having them on the shirt again!
but then again, there are some rumours of a middle eastern take over of our club! though i wouldn’t want that, if it helps get rid of our debt, why not?
and if there is going to be any change of owners, i hope it happens during fergie’s reign, to ensure a smooth transition.
Nemanja- thanks mate. glad i didn’t talk through my ass for once.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/sahara%20man%20utd%20shirt/robbygusti/MU—SAHARA.jpg
not too shabby. check it out
@ Anon
any change is good but it’s not enough
I have to say I think Pique won Barca the match for two reasons
1) That Tackle to prevent park from scoring. I think our tactic was designed to get an early goal. I may be wrong but I think if we had got the early goal we would have shut up shop and looked to use Ronaldo to grab a second on the break.
2) The Foul on Ronaldo. Ronaldo was through, Toure was behind both Pique and Ronaldo and while he is strong he isn’t pacy. Ronaldo had a great chance of scoring in a one on one and Pique stopped that chance. As the last man and Toure having no chance to realistically cover it he should have been off. Certainly we have had atleast one player sent off this season for being the last man when a defenders had alot more chance of covering that Toure had. With Pique off they would have had to draft another defender in and sacrifice either someone in midfield or attack.
Wakey…very apt and succint points..true