Hafizul, ur comments abt the red devils are obviously biased as
all forumers know.. but i do agree w u on the over confidence
part..
The truth is.. i have watched the entire 90minutes of the match..
and i see a lack of 'fire' in a lot of players, even those
experienced players who have been through the glory days and had
always played like warriors laying their life down for the team
when on the field.. but not anymore.
There are too many players playing below par. Are they too arrogant
and over-confident that Benfica are 'sure-eat' opponents? Or are
they simply not good enough to play on the big stage? I guess "Sir"
alex fergie dont have much time left in the club to answer these
questions... he himself seem to have lost the drive, even during
the game last night, when he seemed so calm (or helpless??) even
when his team is 2-1 down and desperately need to move up a gear or
2 to produce the goals they need to qualify. The substitutions he
made, with the exception of perhaps Richardson for O'Shea, proved
to be futile (Saha looked like a clown, trying to perform overhead
kicks at inappropriate situations; Park JS failed to provide the
spark required to re-ignite a dying side)
The following is the ratings i would like to give the Man United
players for that match.
Van der Sar 6 (conceded 2 goals but cant be blamed for either of
them)
G.Neville 6 (provided assist to scholes, but besides that, did not
venture up the wings as much as he used to do)
Ferdinand 6 (distributed play from the back instead of making rash
clearances like his defensive partners)
Silvestre 5 (poor marking resulting in 1st goal from Geovanni; too
many indecisive passes in United's own backyard that puts his
teammates in trouble)
O'Shea 5 (Poor defensive ability cruelly exposed by the tricky
wingers of Benfica; poor defending led to 1st goal being crossed
through his legs)
C.Ronaldo 5 (Cant tell which position was he playing at, as he was
everywhere on the pitch.. did SAF gave him a free role to roam abt?
i dont think so.. And at times he seem more interested in showing
off his footy skills rather than providing the passes that his team
desperately need; a poor return to his homeland)
Scholes 7 (The only bright spark in midfield, constantly asking for
the ball and dictating play; His opening goal look like singapore
sch boys playing street soccer standard though 
)
Smith 6 (Solid in the middle, but as usual, lack the penatrative
passes to his teammates up front, and also dont have ability to
distribute cross field passes like Scholes)
Giggs 5 (Can only say one thing.. i think his engine rusty liao,
dont even run at defenders anymore when the ball is at his feet and
down the wing)
RVN 6 (Very helpless and lack of proper service)
Rooney 7 (The only player who gave his all and fought for every
ball for the entire 90minutes)
Subs:
Park JS 5 (he did nothing)
Saha 4 (clown, a waste of time and money)
Richardson 6 (did rather well but SAF only gave him 5 pathetic
minutes to rescue the team)
