Wayne Rooney is congratulated by his team-mates after
putting Manchester United ahead against Aston Villa. Photograph:
Nick Potts/PA
One day last week Martin O'Neill summoned his players to a
meeting at Aston Villa's training ground. This
was their moment, he told them. They had an opportunity to make it
a season they would never forget, and it would begin by them
playing the match of their lives. The door was locked and, for an
hour and a half, he went round his players, telling them what he
liked about each of them, why he trusted them and why they should
line up against Manchester United and know they could
outdo them man for man.
As inspirational speeches go, it was an epic demonstration of
the man's powers of motivation. O'Neill has always had that knack
of knowing what to say to get under his players' skin.
Villa played with width and penetration. They were quick to the
ball, strong in the tackle and they did something that not many
teams have done over the past few seasons: they made Nemanja Vidic
look ordinary. Even though Sir Alex Ferguson's men had marginally
more chances, the only difference really was that United had the
human force of nature otherwise known as Wayne Mark Rooney.
It used to be said of Rooney that his only flaw was his heading
ability, and probably with some justification given the fact he had
scored only four times this way in his first 316 games as a Premier
League footballer. He now has nine this season, and seven of his
last eight goals have come from that freckled forehead, which is
the kind of record to remind United's older supporters of Tommy
Taylor, the club's equivalent of Nat Lofthouse and one of the Busby
Babes to lose his life in the Munich air tragedy.
It was difficult, though, not to sympathise with Villa as the
27th cup final of Ferguson's career ended with Patrice Evra
hoisting that funny three-handled trophy and the fireworks and
ticker tape adding to the kaleidoscope of colour at an end of the
stadium where the green and gold mingled with red, black and white.
O'Neill was a picture of misery but at least he will not be
tormented by the sense that his players let themselves down.
Just because they lost, it does not automatically follow that
they played badly. Richard Dunne, that serial scapegoat, may find
himself waking in a cold sweat after his mistake for Michael Owen's
equaliser, the sort that epitomised his last season at Manchester
City but that he seemed to have eradicated this campaign. That
apart, however, there was plenty to admire about O'Neill's side,
from the way James Milner distinguished himself in front of the
watching England manager, Fabio Capello, to the wing play of
Stewart Downing and Ashley Young and the latest demonstration of
how the largely unsung James Collins has developed into a
centre-half of distinction.
United just had that little bit extra. Michael Carrick and
Darren Fletcher gradually emerged as the more authoritative
midfield pairing. Dimitar Berbatov will always do something to
exasperate his audience but there were some lovely moments from the
Bulgarian, too, and he played a significant part in both United
goals.
Antonio Valencia's penetrative right-wing runs and accurate
deliveries won him the man-of-the-match champagne. As for the man
of the moment, when Rooney came on for the injured Owen he set
about winning the match as though he had been affronted to have
been left out of the starting line-up.
As Ferguson remarked last week: "The hallmark of a truly great
player is the ability to grab a game by the scruff of the neck."
Rooney did just that, making sure his impact was the most important
on a day when virtually everyone on the pitch contributed to one of
the more enjoyable finals since the opening of the new stadium.
Or, rather, everyone but the referee. Phil Dowd made so many
erratic decisions, booking players for one offence but then letting
off others for almost identical infringements, he was fortunate
that the players conjured up a spectacle that was engrossing enough
to divert the attention from his shortcomings. For that, Villa can
take their share of credit, but Rooney has something special when
he can be rested from the team but still inflict all the
damage.
