Why Fergie Needs Liverpool To Lose Tonight …
Famously, Sir Alex has always claimed to be on a golf course whenever crucial matches take place in which United are concerned but not involved.
Will the manager be seeking alternative entertainment again when Liverpool play AC Milan this evening?
Sir Alex is unlikely to be an impartial spectator when red Merseyside steps out in Athens to contest a seventh European final. He has already declared that he expects Liverpool to lose.
“I’d bet for sure that Milan will win the Champions League,” Ferguson said earlier this month. “I said to Carlo at the end of our semifinal that there is no way he can now not win this competition. Carlo gave me a magnificent bottle of wine. But I immediately told him I would only drink his wine once I see him lifting the Champions Cup.”
Excellent wine might be the ideal companion to the neat arithmetic that a Milanese victory would present for Sir Alex. United were comprehensively beaten by Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the semi-final. It would go some way towards soothing the boss’ deep regret if he could say that his team was removed from the tournament by its eventual winner.
By the same token, a Liverpool success would be a disaster. Victory for a team which finished 21 points behind United in the Premiership, would not only be stomach-churning but would, in the aftermath, shine a scorching light on United’s lamentable European record during the Scot’s 21 year rule. Just one European Cup decorates the United trophy room despite the tens of millions Ferguson has spent in search of Europe’s top bauble.
Sir Alex will argue that he was able to succeed once he was not handcuffed by the ‘four foreigners’ rule. Ferguson’s domestic dominance and the rout of Roma, also allow his European record to escape damning scrutiny.
But Rafael Benitez’ sure touch in Europe - two Champions League finals in three years, without the benefit of United’s playing or financial resources – takes Ferguson’s record out of the long grass. The manager finds even less shelter once the facts and tactics of his European campaigns are taken into account. United, boasting two of the best young players in Europe and one of the world’s best defenders, still cannot win away from Old Trafford. Sir Alex’s team have slipped to defeat in three of their last four Champions League away matches and eight of the previous 13 games.
Oliver Holt, the Mirror’s top Fergie basher, has already served notice of the line of attack to be pursued against the manager should Liverpool win.
“How long does he [Ferguson] keep chasing the dream now?” Holt wrote last month. “How long do United let him chase it? Are they content with domestic dominance or do they really want to move to the next level? The crushing reality for United fans is that things appear to have come full circle and in Europe at least, United are chasing Liverpool again.”
Both Ferguson and his tormentors have interests at stake in this season’s Euro finale. Whatever the result, there will be more than a few United fans who will look at the Greek spectacle and see a rare opportunity missed.
(On May 23rd, 2007 at 8:57 am)
what a dire, misguided piece of drivel. You can certainly tell United are back on top again now the ABUs have come out of their little holes.
a) using Oliver Holt as a credible sounding board - deary me
b) “without the benefit of United’s playing or financial resources”? Really? Liverpool have spent far more than united for a number of years. That their playing resources are inferior to Ferguson’s is a result of the Fat Controller’s poor judgement of a player. United have actually made a profit from transfers for the past two seasons and been well out-spent by Liverpool, particularly bearing in mind the loss of Keane and van Nistelrooy amongst others.
c) I’ll grant you that Fergie’s overall record in Europe is not brilliant - but ask Liverpol if they would prefer one scabby European Cup win or nine premiership titles. The competition has become a joke when teams with not even a whiff of a chance of their domestic title are allowed to compete in the “Champions” league. Wigan would’ve probably won it had they finished high enough to qualify. It’s a lottery with the top teams, United, Chelsea, Inter being burned out whilst those without a prayer of competing at home can go through the motions and keep themselves in trim for the knockout competitions. Even Greece have proved this farcical state of affairs at international level, as have Italy, with few of their players involved in serious European conflict leading up to their WC win, despite Milan’s eventual coming good at the right time.