Yup, going by my analogy, the last time i
checked, football is still football... Its played by 11
men for over 90 mins... Its definitely not a restaurant serving
beef or chicken between pieces of bread... These are real human
beings... each individual has different level of skill... different
level of fitness and they are also prone to everything
like injuries and of course weariness just like you and me...
We are comparing football squad of men and certainly not between 2
systematic matter.
Since you used a restaurant as your subject, I shall try to
make my point from it... You take Mc donalds and compare it to a
French restaurant... If someone falls sick or to weariness,
its easy to replace him... Any 16 years old can come in, train for
a few hours and he is ready to go and grill some meat... But
in a French restaurant, if a top chief falls ill or for some reason
he cannot whip up a cuisine (due to overworked), you
cannot just pick up any dick, tom or harry to replace him can
you... They must be specially trained and even then it may still
not get you the same result as the original right...
What i am saying is players are humans, not machines... They
need sufficient rest in order to perform at their highest level...
Footballers are like skilled workers, each individual brings
something different to the table or in this case, field... Its
up to the boss or manager to balance the "workers"
workload and try to make sure they can give their best when
called upon again very soon.
On the lesser clubs, what I am suggesting
is teams like Lyon, Celtic, Rangers, Stuttgart and Schalke are
not easy opponents... I have already mentioned that some of them
can and has beaten clubs that by your own words have, sky-high
standards or big clubs... Its not an impossible thing you
know... I have pointed out to you about Monaco and Porto... They
have shown that it can be done...
Now i just have to ask you this... I belief it can help clear up
a lot of our difference in opinion... Is Barcelona a small club to
you firstly? If it is then that could explain your frustration
in United failing to win or score or your disappointment with a 0-0
scoreline... But if you think they are a big club with sky-high
standards, then wouldn't a 0-0 scoreline be consider good? Let me
just say this again, Barcelona players as well as president is
disappointed that they didn't get anything out of the match despite
having about 70% of possession... So if the home side is
disappointed and the visitors are not happy, then who should be the
happier of them ?
Is it a fact Keano never let his guard down? I am
not too sure about this... he is also human you know... You
want to know what i think of his behaviour... he was a great player
for united no doubt but going on a rant like that at that point
wasn't helping anyone especially the squad... Coincidentally after
Fergie made a brave decision to relief him of the captaincy and
"released" him from the squad altogether did they started to play
better again... and not because of his rants...
I feel you seem to contradict yourself in some
ways... First you say this, "For the record, at no stage did I
suggest going to the Nou Camp and win was a divine right (where you
get this idea is beyond me)."
Then... "but how is that coming any closer to justifying what is
still a poor result for a team that aspires to win the Champions
League" - "That said, you must be living in your own world to think
getting a 0-0 draw away from home at one of the top sides in Europe
is a good result" - "you've just come to accept the notion it's
"alright" to settle for second "
Let me tell you, in sports you can never be first all your
life... Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. Simple as
that... Demanding that they win at all cost is simply
an impossible thing...
On the last point, yeah... let's set the record straight -
I don't think the Premiership is the most important prize in terms
of the revenue it generates... I belief the CL rewards is more in
terms of prize money and the Premiership a
little lesser... But like i have said, if in any other
European league, the CL is more important but in England its still
the Premiership that matters... Cos beating the likes of Chelsea,
Arsenal and Pool to the title is far more gratifying.
Lastly, I never mention it's a great achievement to make the
semis and anything beyond that is a bonus, all i feel is as long as
they tried and go as far as they can, they have done enough.
Remember what i have said, in sports you can never be first
all your life... sometimes you just have to accept defeat
graciously and look forward to another season... Even if the 0-0
isn't enough, it still doesn't change my support for the club or
the team... My belief is Fergie has tried to balance the squad
which has to play 3 very tough and important games in 6 days.
Therefore certain players and style was adopted.
Football is football. Chelsea comprises of 11 men, so too do
Barnsley. Maybe you would like to explain why Barnsley weren't
touted as the even-money joint-favourites in the FA Cup clash
earlier in the season? Were the sportsbooks out of their mind to
rate Barnsley as 10/1 outsiders for the tie?
I haven't got a clue if you have some serious issues with basic
comprehension - either that, or you must be reading into things
invisible to anyone else. What has fatigue or fitness got to do
with the disdainfully defensive display on show at the Nou Camp?
Mind, most of the top players actually featured. So are you
chastising Ferguson for picking tired players, and therefore
accounting for the 0-0 draw? Or was the 0-0 more a consequence of
what was effectively a staged and planned display where defence was
of paramount importance (a point which Ferguson has since alluded
to post-match)?
Back to the point. Granted, those "lesser" teams you mentioned
stand a chance. What does that show, really? They can win, but
would, in all probability, do so less often than the big
guns. Is that not a simple matter of
probability? After all, would you not like to explain why the G14
clubs - combined - have amassed a Champions League (I include the
record in the old European Cup in that assessment) trophy haul
that amounts to more than half the number of Champions League
campaigns since the tournament first started in the mid-50s? And
since when do such clubs pride themselves on just claiming a
"lesser" side for a scalp?
Seriously, what's the geist of all this "small club can win"
talk all about? I never once said small clubs can't upset the odds,
did I? Fact of the matter is, like it or not (and dispute it
whatever way you want, but the facts obviously won't back you up)
suggest "small clubs" succeed at a frequency far lower than their
bigger counterparts. Hence, why should the biggest clubs out there
settle for claiming the scalp of the small fries?
Now, back to your point about Barcelona being a big club - a big
club sure they are. I'm not sure if my point is still lost on you.
Obviously, in any game of football, someone's going to win at the
expense of their opponents (well, in this context, someone has to
qualify at the expense of the other) - big or small club, you don't
expect any rational fan to be happy with elimination! That said and
done, are you seriously suggesting going to the Nou Camp with a
defensive-approach, not trying to get the away goal is what you'd
come to expect of a side that aims to win the Champions League (or
are you suggesting United are actually happy to just make the
semis?) ?
The fact of the matter here is not about whether you simply get
the result in the end - if you're into sports with the results
being your solitary concern, you're better off following the
financial markets. The geist of the point here is,
United simply
didn't play with the intent (playing on the counter-attack is
hardly playing to win, is it?) to win and they deservedly
didn't.
You could go on about being pleased they have given their all
(what that "all" means is anyone's guess) and pat yourself on the
back for backing a side that you reckon has done well. All said and
done, and taking your words at face value, I'd rather be supporting
a team that plays to win - and loses - than one that chooses to
bore the hell out of (that's what the performance on Wednesday was)
football purists on the back of a silly strategy that looks set to
backfire.
If you're even old enough to remember Monaco back in '98, you
may better appreciate the point I'm going on about. If you aren't,
that just about sums up our differences - obviously, your memory of
Keane will be very different from mine if all you remember about
him was his post-Boro tirade.