Ten views of the Wayne Rooney elbow and why Mark Clattenburg did right

Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Ten views of the Wayne Rooney elbow and why Mark Clattenburg did right” was written by Paul Wilson, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 1st March 2011 13.41 UTC

Carlo Ancelotti says he has no problem with Wayne Rooney taking part for Manchester United against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this evening, yet it appears the greater part of the country disagrees. A significant body of opinion seems to believe any other player than the England forward would have been serving a ban by now for his impetuous elbow on Wigan’s James McCarthy at the weekend, and one prominent football website even went so far as to claim that cowardice on the part of officials was favouring United and taking all the uncertainty out of the title race.

Really? Surely if Mark Clattenburg – the referee at the DW on Saturday – wished to take the cowardly way out he could have fudged his report by saying he did not get a proper view of the incident, thus letting retrospective disciplinary procedures swing into action with full recourse to slow-motion replays and different camera angles.

Instead Clattenburg stood his ground and said he thought he had made the right decision at the time, and one rather admires a referee willing to do that. Especially over such a contentious issue as a raised elbow. There are many who will tell you that any sort of attack to the head, to borrow a term from the other sport played at the DW, is unacceptable in football, and they might be right. What Rooney did was arguably worse than what Arsenal’s Abou Diaby did to Joey Barton at Newcastle last month, or what DJ Campbell was sent off for at Wolves on Saturday.

Yet no two raised arms are ever quite the same, and despite the hysteria surrounding Rooney’s misbehaviour – as predicted by United’s manager – it seems idle to pretend, as many have sought to do, that this particular assault was a potential jaw-breaker or cynical attempt to hospitalise an opponent.

The Wigan player involved was not wholly innocent, he had moved into Rooney’s path to block his run, and as the game was only eight minutes old it did not seem unreasonable for Clattenburg to try to calm the situation and warn the United player about his future conduct. Those who are now complaining that he ducked the issue or made an exception for Rooney are probably the same people who complain from time to time that referees have become automatons, mindlessly applying the letter of the law with no discretion of their own.

I happened to be at the DW on Saturday and like most people in the stadium, I missed the incident first time round. I also managed to miss it second and third time round, because only about one in three of the DW press-box monitors actually works, and though people in more favoured seats reported that an elbow had been used, the first decent footage I saw was on Match of the Day.

Clattenburg, of course, had to make up his mind on the spot, about something he could only have seen in the periphery of his vision. That is, if you like, an argument for putting players on report and letting video judges with a proper view take disciplinary action after the event, but before going down that route the game really ought to give referees with the courage of their own convictions a chance. Clattenburg may not have had a perfect view of the collision, but he was in a better position than anyone else to form a judgment, so that is what he did.

Judgment, of course, is not an exact science. There are different ways of looking at things. That’s why we are still talking, three days after the event, about something that was over in a second and which few people noticed until McCarthy got up clutching his head.

Here are 10 positions it is possible to take about the same incident. Not everyone will agree with all of them, but each one could be considered true.

1) Rooney got lucky. No one who raises his hands on a football pitch could complain at a red card.

2) The attack was not premeditated, but was occasioned by McCarthy deliberately moving to block Rooney’s run. The Wigan player leaned into Rooney with his shoulder, which is why he got hit in the head. The referee could simply have viewed it as six of one and half a dozen of the other.

3) Roberto Martínez had a point when he said a Wigan player would never have got away with it.

4) The Wigan manager was clutching at straws, preferring to argue that United should have been down to 10 men rather than confront another collapse by his side.

5) Dave Whelan should just pipe down. His team are in enough trouble and his manager had already made the point that United often seem to be treated differently to sides lower down the league. Moaning about big-club bias is a bit much after another 4-0 defeat.

6) Sir Alex Ferguson’s claim that the press would try to persecute Rooney was damn clever. Forcing the press to use quotes about what the press might do next was a smart way to tie reporters in knots.

7) The press, and media generally, did try to persecute Rooney, though they sensibly stopped short of electrocution. Though the crime was worse than the “next to nothing” Ferguson claimed, it was not quite outright thuggery either, and the manager knew exactly what he was doing by hyperbolising the anticipated reaction.

8) John Hartson was right to say on MOTD2 that Ferguson ought not to be trying to defend Rooney’s action, though wrong to say the issue is not about Rooney. The issue is all about Rooney.

9) Rooney’s temper is taking him into Roy Keane territory. He is making himself a centre of attention for reasons unconnected with his core task of scoring and making goals for Manchester United, and not even Ferguson will be able to keep pretending that he is a misunderstood innocent. One of the factors in Ferguson’s decision of a decade ago to swerve the post-match interview that all the other Premier League managers do was that he was finding it increasingly difficult to remain loyal to his players while handling pointed questions about his captain’s behaviour.

10) Clattenburg may have made a mistake, which is to say he might have acted differently with a better view, but unless referees can be 100% sure it is probably best that they give players the benefit of the doubt eight minutes into a game. Whoever they may be.

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Liverpool dealt injury blow over Martin Kelly and Raul Meireles

Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Liverpool dealt injury blow over Martin Kelly and Raul Meireles” was written by James Callow, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 28th February 2011 15.15 UTC

Liverpool could be without Martin Kelly for a month after the defender pulled his left hamstring in the defeat at West Ham United on Sunday.

Kenny Dalglish’s side also have concerns over the fitness of the in-form midfielder Raul Meireles who suffered a knee injury at Upton Park.

The severity of Kelly’s injury is not known but hamstring problems rarely clear up in fewer than three weeks.

“Martin has pulled his hamstring and Raul got a kick in the knee,” Dalglish told the Liverpool Echo. “Obviously Martin is more serious than Raul. With a hamstring he might be struggling for next Sunday, though I wouldn’t take it as a given because I wouldn’t know.”

“I would have thought with a hamstring it takes a bit longer than a week. With Raul we don’t know.”

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Rio Ferdinand says Chelsea signings will not settle until next season

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Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Rio Ferdinand says Chelsea signings will not settle until next season” was written by James Callow, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 28th February 2011 10.47 UTC

Rio Ferdinand believes Chelsea will have to wait until next season before their new signings can pose a significant threat to Manchester United’s grip on the Premier League.

The defender, whose United side travel to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, says the £70m pair of Fernando Torres and David Luiz need time to settle into Chelsea’s style of play.

“The Torres deal did make me think ‘Wow, they’ve really gone for it,’” Ferdinand told Inside United magazine. “But will those transfers really improve Chelsea this season? I don’t know. Next season, I would say yeah, they will. But it’s hard to settle in quickly in January”

While Sir Alex Ferguson ultimately kept his promise and declined to make any January signings, Ferdinand had a feeling that United were looking to add to their first team squad.

“I thought that there was a chance we might make a surprise bid for someone. People assume that, as players, we’re in the know, but unfortunately we’re not. It’s not for want of trying to find out, that’s for sure!

“But the manager goes about things the right way. He keeps things to himself and plays his cards close to his chest. And he always moves quickly to make a deal.”

United sit four points clear of second-laced Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and lead Chelsea by 15 points. But although Ferdinand concedes that victory over Chelsea on Tuesday or Arsenal on 1 May will have a significant bearing on the title race, he and his team-mates are looking at a bigger picture.

“Of course we want to beat Arsenal and Chelsea, but you don’t get any more points for doing that,” he said. “You need to win every game and that’s the bottom line. That’s when experience comes into play, and we know that we have a lot of that here at United.

“We know it’s not just about those big games – we have to perform every week, against every team that we come up against.”

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Arsenal announce £2.5m loss over six-month period in 2010

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Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Arsenal announce £2.5m loss over six-month period in 2010″ was written by Matt Scott, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 28th February 2011 12.30 UTC

Arsenal have announced they had made a loss after tax of £2.5m in the six months between last May and last November. The news emerged 24 hours after Arsenal lost their first cup final in five years, as Birmingham City defeated the Gunners 2-1 to collect the Carling Cup.

“We are all desperately disappointed because we were hoping to do better yesterday,” Arsenal’s chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, said on the club website. “The important thing is how we react to this and every setback. But we continue to be in a healthy financial position and the club is run on a self-sustaining basis.”

The £2.5m post-tax loss is in stark contrast to the £29.2m profit recorded over the same six-month period in 2009 as Arsenal’s revenues were hit in a number of areas. There was a significant fall in the income from the club’s Highbury Square property development as only 50 flats were sold compared to the 261 of the previous year. This reduced property profits to £3.3m from £11.3m. Arsenal’s transfer proceeds also fell considerably, with the £33.9m generated with the sales of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Touré in the summer of 2009 becoming £4m in the six months to last November. Two fewer home matches in the first half of this season compared to the previous year also contributed to the reduction of football operating profits from £18m to £9.3m. The other contributory factor to this decline was the renewal of a number of player contracts last summer.

“The numbers last year were pushed by property sales and the sales of a couple of big players,” said Gazidis. “This year we don’t have those one-offs. This is a very young team; the average age [in the Champions League win this month] against Barcelona was 23 years old. We try to keep them with the team by signing them to long-term contracts. We had investment in that with renewing a number of contracts last summer.”

Despite the marginal accounting losses, Arsenal are still generating their own cash. The Gunners’ contingency fund now stands at £110.4m, up from £101m last year.

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Arsenal may find it difficult to recover from this disastrous day

Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Arsenal may find it difficult to recover from this disastrous day” was written by Richard Williams at Wembley, for The Guardian on Sunday 27th February 2011 22.50 UTC

At the final whistle Arsenal’s players stood, sat or knelt on the lush emerald turf like figures in a tableau of despair. Motionless, traumatised, suddenly drained of the last vestiges of belief and hope and even pride, they looked dismayingly like Bayern Munich after Manchester United had finished with the German side at the Camp Nou in 1999.

Jack Wilshere hit the crossbar here and Robin van Persie was the author of one of the most beautiful goals ever scored in a Wembley final – surely, at least, the best ever scored by a player on the losing side – but Tomas Rosicky’s bungled attempt to backheel a clear chance into the net with 10 minutes left somehow epitomised Arsenal’s display on an evening when they failed in the attempt to win their first trophy since 2005.

So stunning was the defeat that they will find it difficult to recover their morale, although the press of events in the Premier League and the European Cup over the coming weeks may serve to take their minds off a disastrous day. Pointing to the enforced absence of Cesc Fábregas, Thomas Vermaelen and Theo Walcott will not help. A club with Arsenal’s ambitions and resources – they have 19 players out on loan – should have acquired the capacity to ride such misfortunes.

On paper, this was a mismatch: thoroughbreds versus mongrels. Of such contrasts are cup classics made, and in the eyes of more than one neutral the two sides produced arguably the best football match yet seen at the new Wembley. To make it so, the occasion required not just Birmingham City’s honest effort, dogged persistence and resilient structure but Arsenal’s insecurity and anxiety, a neurosis born of the weight of the expectation, conscious or otherwise, that they would ease their way to victory by virtue of their superior class.

It would not be too harsh to suggest that Arsenal got exactly what they and their manager deserved for a performance that began with the most blatant piece of undeserved good fortune, contained enough individual mistakes to fill an entire season and ended with the sort of defending that a team produces when not enough attention is paid to constructing a side equally strong and self-confident in all areas.

Of course they had their moments. At half-time, with the score at one apiece, it was tempting to feel that had Lee Bowyer been wearing the Arsenal No7 shirt, rather than the ineffectual Rosicky, the north London side would be two or three goals up and on the way to ending that wait for another trophy.

Yet they should have been a goal, and a man, down after two minutes, when a fine pass from Keith Fahey found Nikola Zigic. The angular 6ft 7in Serb, whose control with his feet is customarily wayward enough to make Peter Crouch look like Alfredo di Stefano, played what may have been the best pass of his entire career, a delightfully perceptive and carefully weighted ball for Bowyer, who ran smoothly on to it with only the goalkeeper to beat and was promptly upended by Wojciech Szczesny, only to be given offside, quite wrongly. A correct decision would inevitably have led to the goalkeeper’s expulsion.

The West Midlanders did not dwell on the injustice but profited from the knowledge of their opponents’ vulnerability. Arsenal’s defenders were never comfortable with the threat of Zigic, who scored Birmingham’s goal in the visitors’ 2-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium in October. Szczesny, who lacks only two inches of the Serb’s height, could not get close to him when Roger Johnson headed a corner back towards the six-yard box, and Birminghan took the lead.

Arsenal had started to put their attacking game together but they discovered Ben Foster in a mood to show what Manchester United and England missed. Of the goalkeeper’s nine saves, the last two were truly exceptional. When Nicklas Bendtner’s shot was deflected in the 76th minute, Foster was already diving but reacted by throwing up a hand to turn the ball aside. Four minutes later he flew to his left to tip away Samir Nasri’s goalbound drive.

In the absence of Fábregas, Nasri had been expected to provide the goalscoring threat from Arsenal’s midfield. But rather than attempting the sort of incisive dribbles that often reached their climax with a goal in the first half of the season, he tended to loiter on the fringe of the Birmingham penalty area before transferring the ball and the responsibility to a team‑mate.

Andrey Arshavin, whose dribble ended with the cross that Van Persie volleyed home before the interval, was more incisive, and it came as a surprise when the Russian was withdrawn, rather than the pallid Rosicky, to make way for Marouane Chamakh in the closing stages.

“We have to take a lot of pride and encouragement for the challenges ahead,” Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said, having witnessed a collapse less protracted but potentially more damaging than the tossing away of a 4-0 lead at St James’ Park three weeks ago. Wilshere was one of the few Arsenal players to emerge with credit, going about his work neatly and unobtrusively alongside the dreadfully inaccurate Alex Song. It was his uncharacteristic error, however, that led to the opening from which Fahey hit the post early in the second half.

Birmingham City will not waste too much time on sympathy for Arsenal and their six-year search for something new to put in the trophy cabinet. For the winners, ignoring the Leyland Daf Cup and the Auto Windscreens Shield, the result ended a drought going all the way back to 1963 – between Lady Chatterley and the Beatles’ first LP, as a certain West Midlands poet might have put it.

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Manchester United’s class tells in the end in victory at Wigan

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Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Manchester United’s class tells in the end in victory at Wigan” was written by Paul Wilson at the DW Stadium, for The Observer on Saturday 26th February 2011 17.11 UTC

Manchester United opened up a four-point gap on Arsenal and a startling 15-point one on Chelsea with the most predictable of wins at Wigan, who have now played 13 games against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side since 2005 and lost every time. Even with one eye on their trip to Chelsea on Tuesday United still managed their usual landslide – they have now scored 41 goals against these most obliging of opponents – though in fairness Wigan only let their heads drop in the last 10 minutes.

Roberto Martínez’s players gave a good account of themselves in the first half and could consider themselves slightly unlucky to be trailing by a single goal at the break, yet this was only the first of three successive away games for United in the coming week and, though they used it sparingly, the visitors always had an edge in quality that was likely to tell. With Dimitar Berbatov rested Javier Hernández stepped up with a couple of neat finishes, and though Wayne Rooney was booed throughout after catching James McCarthy with a needless elbow early on, a striker still clearly out of sorts nevertheless set up his side’s first two goals and scored the third.

“We didn’t take our chances and Manchester United punish you for that,” Martínez said. “It might have been a different matter had they gone down to 10 men. The referee told me at half-time that Rooney had just clipped James and it did not warrant a red card, but if you see a replay it is clearly an elbow and Rooney was very fortunate to escape a red card. The referee must have seen it because he gave a free-kick. Had one of my players done that I’m not sure he would have been so lucky.”

Ferguson tried to play down the incident, anticipating pressure being put on the FA to take retrospective action. “It was next to nothing,” the United manager said. “Mark Clattenburg saw it and said it was an accident.”

Ferguson also admitted that Wigan were all over United for the first 20 minutes, although the opening goal perfectly illustrated the difference between the two sides. Not many wingers other than Nani would have even caught Rooney’s return pass up the left wing, but once he reached the pass Nani supplied a low cross that Hernández alertly read, nipping in front of Ali al-Habsi at the near post to dink the ball past the goalkeeper from a narrow angle.

One brief moment of class, and United were on their way. “It was a terrific finish, but that’s what he’s good at,” Ferguson said. “His percentage is very high.”

Wigan had had a much clearer opportunity to open the scoring four minutes earlier, when a mistake by Paul Scholes presented Victor Moses with a one-on-one chance to beat Edwin van der Sar. He could not take it. While the United goalkeeper stood tall to make a decent save, the finish could have been more convincing.

The home side could also have equalised immediately after United went in front, Van der Sar rushing from his line to smother a shot from McCarthy when a goal seemed certain from Hugo Rodallega’s clever backheel. So while the home side could conceivably have been 2-1 down at half-time they could also have turned round two goals up. On one of United’s isolated excursions upfield Nani rattled Al-Habsi’s post after taking an astute pass from Rooney.

Maynor Figueroa brought another save from Van der Sar with a powerful 30-yard drive in the second half, though for the most part Wigan were less incisive than they had been in the first. While there was only one goal in it there was still hope of an upset, but after Rooney and Darren Fletcher had missed opportunities Hernández’s second goal made the game safe a quarter of an hour from time.

The Mexican knocked a long clearance into Rooney’s path then just managed to stay onside to accept a well-timed return, making short work of sliding a low shot decisively beyond Al-Habsi. Moses, by now on the bench, could only look on with resignation.

With the game safe United began to make substitutions, and found fresh legs were all they needed to double their lead. First Darron Gibson found Berbatov in space for the Bulgarian to leave Rooney a tap-in, then Fabio came on for the last five minutes and scored his first goal for the club with virtually his first touch, collecting a cross at the far post and beating Al Habsi with a composed finish.

“The final score was not a true reflection of the game,” Martínez lamented, not for the first time this season. The table gives a true reflection of Wigan’s plight. With Wolves already out of the bottom three after beating Blackpool, a West Ham win this afternoon would leave Latics looking up at everyone else.

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Football League bets to follow this weekend, plus our tipping contest

Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Football League bets to follow this weekend, plus our tipping contest” was written by James Dart, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 25th February 2011 11.38 UTC

Welcome to our tipping round-up. Most of you know the drill by now, but for those who don’t, every week I post my betting suggestions for the weekend (which you may well wish to steer clear of), as well as our predictions contest. The blog can also act as a talkboard for any Football League-related discussions over the weekend.

Nottingham Forest to beat Millwall at 2-1

The goalscoring return of Nicky Maynard in midweek having missed the entire season through injury marks Bristol City out at home against Scunthorpe as a solid-looking bet at evens, but given the number of times they have let this column down in 2010-11, the recommendation switches instead to Forest. Despite having injury doubts over Paul Konchesky, Robert Earnshaw and Nathan Tyson, and failing to seriously impress during the surprise 2-2 draw at home to Preston in midweek, promotion-chasing Forest are worth sticking with, especially at a generous price. Radi Majewski returns to a side that has still won nine of their last 13. Millwall, meanwhile, have lost four of seven, including their last two games against Middlesbrough and Reading, and will be without the injured Jimmy Abdou.

Lincoln to beat Barnet at 9-4

OK, so the Imps slumped disappointingly at home to leaders Chesterfield last weekend, but perseverance is again the call for this trip to the worst team in the Football League. Winless in eight and with just one victory in 12, there is little reason to back the Bees beyond any expectation of this column jinxing Lincoln again. Wycombe also offer an interesting proposition at 6-4 on the road against Macclesfield, but we’ll stick with the Imps to prevail against opponents that surely aren’t good enough to avoid the drop into the Blue Square Premier this time around.

NB: prices with Betfair and correct at the time of publication

Tipping contest

As you’ll note from the scoring, late starters have been awarded one point for every week they have missed. Last week’s pools panel result for Rochdale v Southampton is required, with a surprise home win doing little to alleviate the low scores caused by a flurry of draws.

The top of the table so far (The full table will be posted in the comments section below) …

markier 67

PiggyPingoPiglet 63

Bobby142 58

josedinho 56

captainmorganrum 56

TheRealRingo 51

stevegrant 50

Thewalthamstowone 49

horne94 49

Me 49

As for this week: make your result (not scoreline) prediction for each of the games below, with one point per correct result. The deadline is 3pm GMT on Saturday.

Millwall v Nottingham Forest

Preston v Burnley

Carlisle v Sheffield Wednesday

MK Dons v Brighton

Barnet v Lincoln

Bradford v Stockport

I’m tipping Nottingham Forest, draw, Carlisle, Brighton, Lincoln and Bradford. You can also follow me on Twitter if you want more money-losing tips/predictions through the week.

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Darron Gibson proves he is no Paul Scholes for Manchester United

Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Darron Gibson proves he is no Paul Scholes for Manchester United” was written by Daniel Taylor at Stade Vélodrome, for The Guardian on Wednesday 23rd February 2011 21.58 UTC

In the end, Darron Gibson could reflect on a job reasonably well done last night. He was prominently involved during those spells when Sir Alex Ferguson’s side dominated possession, he generally took care of the ball and on the occasions he was a bit more ambitious with his passing, we saw a footballer who can play the ball long or short. So how can it be that this Irishman inspires so little trust he has been in danger lately of ousting Bébé and Gabriel Obertan as the player who makes Manchester United’s supporters despair the most?

That might sound terribly harsh given the qualities he has demonstrated, sporadically, over time: a thunderbolt of a shot, a decent passing range and a quality that should not be under-estimated in football, namely the ability to carry the ball with his head up, sizing up the game.

But that is not to say the scrutiny has been unwarranted. Gibson’s involvement, at the expense of Paul Scholes, who later replaced him after 73 minutes, registered as a genuine shock and what then unfolded scarcely lifted the sense that, without their best passer, United lacked both the wit and creativity to represent a more significant threat.

Gibson clearly has something if Ferguson should trust him with such a key assignment. He is functional. He gets about, puts in his quota of tackles and occasionally he might score a great goal with that wonderful power in his right boot.

Yet the criticism does not attach itself to him purely because of the fact his name is not Scholes. Gibson does not have the passing range of Michael Carrick, let alone Scholes.

He is not a slouch, but he can lack mobility. And here’s the thing: this is not some kid trying to make a name for himself. Gibson is 24 later this year and at that age, it is no good talking about potential or of him learning the game; he should be imposing his personality on football matches as the norm rather than the exception. If a player has not established himself at his club at that age then it is probably worth wondering whether he ever will. If that comes across as unduly severe for what was, in essence, a decent enough six-out-of-10 performance, then consider the fact it is five years since Gibson made his debut, in a Carling Cup tie against Barnet, and that there has never been one concerted spell since when he has given the impression of establishing himself in the team for good.

Giovanni Trapattoni, his manager for the Republic of Ireland, will tell anyone who cares to listen that Gibson should accept it is not going to happen for him at United.

The opposite view, you might say, is that there is something admirable about the way Gibson grits his teeth and refuses to let go, but the frustrations of those who watch him on a regular basis are not without foundation.

Or perhaps there is a wider issue here and Gibson’s presence alongside Darren Fletcher and Carrick symbolises the shift in style that prompted such an astute reader of the game as Didier Deschamps to comment on the eve of the match that there was no longer the same “fantasy” attached to the modern-day United.

They were the most devastating team in Europe when they last played here in the Champions League, the Class of 1999 incorporating four players – Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane and David Beckham – who had legitimate credentials to be recognised as the greatest midfield quartet in the history of the sport.

Giggs and Beckham brought artistry and penetration to the wings. Scholes was Zinedine Zidane’s favourite player (enough said). Keane was not just in the engine-room; he was the engine-room.

The current side lack that kind of stardust. It can happen, particularly when there are financial restraints in place. Is Gibson the man to replace Scholes in the coming years?

Few would say he was. That man was available last summer but Ferguson, spending £7.4m on Bébé said there was “no value in the market”.

The man in question cost Tottenham Hotspur just a little more. His name: Rafael van der Vaart.

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Five things we learned from Marseille v Manchester United

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Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Five things we learned from Marseille v Manchester United” was written by Stuart James, for The Guardian on Wednesday 23rd February 2011 22.08 UTC

1 European football is still passing Berbatov by

Ferguson’s decision to include Berbatov seemed like a significant one. This was the first Champions League knock-out game that Berbatov has started since United won in Porto in April 2009, a measure of the lack of faith Ferguson has had in the Bulgarian when it comes to the “big matches”. Yet this turned out to be another of those frustrating European evenings for Berbatov, who has yet to register a goal for United when the Champions League gets serious. Chances were at a premium but it was easy to understand Paul Scholes’s exasperation in the final 10 minutes when Berbatov tried to play in Nani rather than pick out the unmarked United substitute. Rooney will also be keen to banish the memory of a game where his attacking threat was nullified by Ferguson’s decision to deploy him wide on the left.

2 Smalling can fill Rio’s shoes

There was a brief spell last season, after United had already agreed to sign Chris Smalling, when the central defender made a few errors for Fulham that prompted some to question Ferguson’s decision. Yet if Smalling continues to play like he did against Marseille, when his accomplished performance in the heart of the United defence made light of Rio Ferdinand’s absence, Ferguson will feel like he got a bargain when he convinced his owners to part with £10m for a player that had made only nine first-team appearances for Fulham at the time. Smalling was immaculate alongside Nemanja Vidic, defending resolutely, making vital tackles and blocks whenever called upon, but also showing composure to bring the ball out from the back.

3 Evra hasn’t been forgiven yet

This was Patrice Evra’s first match in France since his part in the nation’s calamitous World Cup campaign and it did not take long to realise that the passage of time has done nothing to erase the anger felt by many of his countrymen at his behaviour in South Africa. Evra, who was overlooked for France’s recent friendly match against Brazil despite the fact that he has now served his five-game suspension, was subjected to booing and whistling every time he touched the ball. Jean Fernandez, the former Marseille manager, suggested Evra “won’t be able to defend effectively” because of the unforgiving reception inside the Stade Vélodrome but he underestimated the 29-year-old’s temperament. Evra was combative but maintained his discipline as he defended solidly and looked to break forward whenever space opened up in front of him.

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4 Heinze is the weak link

Gabriel Heinze regrets the acrimonious way he left Old Trafford but it is difficult to believe Sir Alex Ferguson lost much sleep about the Argentina international’s exit, other than to lament the lengths to which the defender went to try and secure a move to Liverpool. United seemed to have identified Heinze as the weak leak in a Marseille team that adopted a conservative approach to this tie in the early stages. Heinze stood off Nani when the Portuguese had the ball at his feet and his poor positioning and lack of pace was exposed when United hit raking diagonal ballsto get the right-winger into the space that that opened up behind the left-back. Ferguson’s only disappointment will be that Nani, who has been arguably United’s most influential attacker this season, failed to make more of the chances he was given to torment Heinze.

5 Deschamps was right – United lack fantasy

Maybe this team has a bit less fantasy than we have seen in the past,” said Didier Deschamps on the eve of the match. It was the sort of comment guaranteed to get right up Ferguson’s nose, yet it was hard not to agree with the Frenchman. While Nani, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooneyhave the capacity to thrill, the midfield triumvirate of Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Darron Gibson hardly belong in the same company as some of their predecessors. The questions about the merits of Fletcher’s inclusion ceased long ago but Gibson lacks that X-factor we associate with those who wear the United shirt and was predictably withdrawn, while Carrick, who was unable to impose himself on the game and remains a liability defensively, appears to be a player whose Old Trafford career is entering the final chapter.

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Marseille v Manchester United – as it happened

Powered by Guardian.co.ukThis article titled “Marseille v Manchester United – as it happened” was written by Barry Glendenning, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 23rd February 2011 18.45 UTC

Good evening everybody. Welcome to tonight’s coverage of the Champions League Last 16 first leg between reigning Ligue 1 champions Marseille and Manchester United, who currently sit prettily on top of the Premier League.

As the snazzy graphic published on the back page of today’s Guardian Sport section proves, United won’t have it all their own way against Didier Deschamps’ side tonight. Marseille have an excellent home record in the Champions League against English opposition, having won seven out of nine encounters.

What’s more, United have won only three of their 11 Champions League matches on French soil, but don’t let that stat fool you – they’ve lost just two in that time. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have also won nine of their last 10 on the road in Europe and conceded just one goal in six Champions League group games this season. Anyway, without further ado let’s pluck some team news for tonight’s big game from the wires …

Some team news for tonight’s big game from the wires: Darron Gibson is the surprise inclusion in Manchester United’s Champions League line-up tonight. The Republic of Ireland international gets the midfield role that was expected to be allocated to veteran Paul Scholes. His compatriot John O’Shea gets the nod at right-back ahead of Rafael, but the remainder of Sir Alex Ferguson’s line-up was expected. For Marseille, Mathieu Valbuena is named on the bench after a month out with a knee injury.

Marseille: Mandanda, Fanni, M’bia Etoundi, Diawara, Heinze,
Cisse, Kabore, Remy, Gonzalez, Andre Ayew, Brandao.
Subs: Andrade, Taiwo, Hilton, Cheyrou, Jordan Ayew, Abriel, Valbuena.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, O’Shea, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Gibson, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney.
Subs: Kuszczak, Brown, Hernandez, Scholes, Fabio Da Silva, Rafael Da Silva, Obertan.

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

From Twitter: “Gibson?!?!?!?!?” tweets everyone in the world bar Justin Bieber and the Dalai Lama. “I heard that Brandao coulda been a contender,” chuckles @kevnmur. “LOL, Fanni!!!” adds @jwdd27. This could be a very long night.

Not long now: The teams are lined up in the tunnel of the Stade Vélodrome, with Marseille’s players kitted out in dark blue shirts, shorts and socks avec light blue trim. United’s players wear red shirts, white shirts and white socks. The match officials wear white, which will have my colleague Rob Bagchi seething.

Justin Kavanagh writes: United may not have it all their own way against Didier Deschamps’ side tonight,” he writes. “But Mahatma Ferguson (©Sean Ingle) can always resort to a spot of non-cooperation (with the press, presumably) and the occasional bit of civil disobedience (moaning to officials from the sidelines), to see his oppressed millionaires through to the next round.”

1 min: And they’re off. Financial lawyer and referee Felix Brych from Munich blows his whistle and Manchester United get the ball rolling, playing from right to left. Gabriel Heinze immediately gets stuck in, clattering Nani with a reducer.

2 min: Berbatov and Evra combine down the left wing and the Manchester United left-back is subjected to no end of jeering from the stands, what with this being his first match on French soil since “captaining” France during their disastrous World Cup suicide mission.

3 min: Nani takes the first shot in anger, cutting in from the right. It’s a wild slash and the ball sails high and wide.

4 min: “Most of the articles in the build-up to this were questioning whether Berbatov would be picked, seeing how rarely Ferguson starts both Rooney and Berbatov in European knock-out stage matches,” writes David Wall. “In that respect, then, the line-up is a surprise. but does it really count where Rooney is stationed out on the wing, as a stand-in for Giggs? Shouldn’t there be some indicator of this on the team-sheet, like listing him as ‘Rooney*’, perhaps as a warning that he’s going to be largely ineffective, become frustrated later in the game and collect at least a yellow card?”

5 min: Charles Kabore tries to play one over the top for Loic Remy, but Patrice Evra beats the Marseille right winger in the air and clears.

6 min: United are playing with Michael Carrick quarter-backing between the back four and central midfielders Gibson and Fletcher. Rooney’s on the left, Nani’s on the right and Berbatov is alone up front.

7 min: United win a free-kick on the right side of the penalty area in the Marseille left-back position. Nani tries to whip it in but fails to clear the two-man wall. The ball breaks to Fletcher on the edge of the area, who shoots. Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda gets down quickly to save, before clutching the ball to his chest at the second attempt.

11 min: United have had the best of the opening 10 minutes, dominating possession and looking comfortable on the ball. They attack down the right flank, where Heinze is really labouring against Nani. The Portuguese whips in a cross that’s half-cleared to Rooney, whose snap-shot is blocked.

13 min: Stephane Mbia launches a Marseille attack down the left flank, attempting to thread the ball down towards the byline for Andre Ayew to chase. John O’Shea blocks.

14 min: With assorted United players stroking the ball around midfield, Eddie Munro pipes up. “Sorry if this has already been done,” he writes. “But it looks like Rooney’s gonna be chasing Fanni all night.” Heaven help us all.

15 min: After a fairly frenetic opening 10 minutes, it’s fair to say things have settled down a bit. Marseille are starting to find their feet after some early nerves.

17 min: Marseille attack down the left flank again. Is it conceivable that Didier Deschamps has identified John O’Shea as a weak link? On the overlap, Gabriel Heinz attempts to swing a cross into the United penalty area, but it hits a prime hunk of Waterford beef and ricochets into the stands for a throw-in.

19 min: Marseille winger Loic Remy sends in a cross from the right flank, Edwin van der Sar gathers at the near post.

21 min: “Re: Darron Gibson,” writes Cormac Hayes. “I was at the last Ireland home match and was struck by how awful he was until he popped up and scored a cracker. He is such a frustrating player and I do think Trap has a point about him going to another club and playing regularly. He needs some hunger.” Not an accusation you could level at his compatriot John O’Shea, eh?

22 min: Marseille right-back Fanni skips past a feeble Carrick challenge, advances down the right flank and sends in an outswinger that Van der Sar thought about coming to claim, then didn’t. The ball drops for Brandao on the inside left challenge, but he runs down a blind alley and United clear.

23 min: Ulto Ryan has noticed a resemblance between Marseille manager Didier Deschamps and a famous British sitcom legend. “The water-carrier looks more and more like John Inman every time I see him,” writes Ulto. “As he was always available to receive the ball as a player I wonder was he constantly crying ‘I’m free!’ to his teammates.” Like I said, a long night.

25 min: Pass completed stats: Marseille 101-98 Manchester United. I’m surprised by that, I have to say. I thought United would be way ahead in that particular field of pointlessness.

26 min: After latching on to a long ball down the right wing from Darron Gibson, Nani tries to be too clever, flicking the ball inside him with his right heel, where the backtracking Gabriel Heinze was present to hack clear. Marseille launch a sortie of their own up the left wing and win a corner, from which nothing comes.

28 min: With his back to goal on the edge of the Manchester United penalty area, Brandao cushions the ball on his chest, then attempts to Rooney the ball into the bottom right-hand corner as he falls backwards. I use the verb “to Rooney”, because recent media hyperbole suggests nobody in the history of Association Football had ever scored with a bicycle kick before his effort against Manchester City.

30 min: “I hate the term ‘quarterback’ in football/soccer,” harrumphs Joshua Collis. “There was also a trend a few years ago of describing any defensive midfielder as playing in the ‘Makélelé’ role. Anyway, given Carrick almost always passes the ball backwards or sideways, rarely looks to tackle, and is protected by a lot of bigger names – would the ‘scrum-half role’ be a better description?”

31 min: On the edge of the final third, Gibson plays the ball out right to Nani, who curls it to the edge of the six-yard box for Dimitar Berbatov to prod home. Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda beats the Bulgarian to the ball and clasps it to his chest.

33 min: “Regarding Ulto Ryan’s observation about Didier Deschamps and John Inman,” writes Ted Storer. “Completely unrelated to the game and its irrelevant passing statistics, am I the only one who is amazed at how much the Reverend in Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit looks like Wolves manager Mick McCarthy?” I haven’t seen that particular movie, but I’ll take your word for it. I’ve always thought Mick McCarthy is a ringer for this fellow.

36 min: The ball’s lofted to the edge of the penalty area, where Brandao beats Vidic in the air, but not particularly cleanly. It looks to be breaking to Van der Sar, but as the United centre-half turns to shepherd it to his goalkeeper, he gets a shove in the back from the Brazilian and wins a free-kick.

38 min: “Barry, you may be right to radiate a little sceptism re the cascades of praise for Rooney’s goal. Berbatov’s overhead beauty v Liverpool just a couple of months earlier has been wiped out of the record,” writes Kevin Dawson. “But it was bloody fantastic goal. Steady on. Is this just Offaly bitterness as this week’s Irish election marks the end of Biffo Power?”

I can assure you that the election of Brian “Biffo” Cowen to the highest office in the land was nothing to do with me. I’m as embarrassed as anyone by what a complete pig’s ear that hapless, blustering, know-nothing buffoon made of both the job and the country.

40 min: Marseille almost score directly from a corner. I’m not sure who took it, but it was an inswinger that would have definitely curled in at the near post had Edwin van der Sar, who misjudged the flight originally, not had his wits about him. He snatches it just before it crosses the goal-line.

42 min: Manchester United win a corner, the highlight of which is ongoing pulling-and-dragging between Marseille centre-half Stephane Mbia and Dimitar Berbatov on the goal-line as they wait for the delivery. Rest assured it’s not as homo-erotic as I’m making it sound.

44 min: Nani bursts through the right-hand side of the Marseille penalty area, puts Heinze on the seat of his pants and with Rooney and Berbatov screaming at him to square the ball, promptly loses his footing and slips.

Half-time: Well, it wasn’t Arsenal v Barcelona, but that was reasonably entertaining in spots. Both sides will be happy enough with their first half performances, but United probably had the better of it. I’m off to get myself a cup of greeny-grey, flavourless machine-made tea. See you in five minutes or so.

Some half-time analysis: “What recent media hyperbole regarding Rooney’s goal?” asks Jonathan Francis. “All I hear and read are the media trying to talk down the goal as no better than the average Sunday League goal and promoting links to YouTube clips of ‘greater’ goals, of which 95% turn out to be less impressive than Rooney’s overhead. Obviously it wasn’t the greatest goal ever, but simply the fact that people are having to go back 10 plus years to find comparable goals indicates just how fantastic a strike it was. The backlash is now more ridiculous than the hype.”

“Another classically dull CL away leg from United,” yawns Adam Hirst. “If they just had some balls to go out and attack, instead of passing the ball around until they lose it 15 yards inside the opposition half, they could easily put this tie to bed in the first leg like Chelsea. Instead we’re waiting for a first goal in another dull performance Old Trafford and the danger of the away goal putting Marseille through. Take some risks!”

“In a similar way that players sometimes change boots for a pair with longer studs while play continues,” writes David Wall. “Can we expect Carrick to make a visit to the touch-line soon but to change his boots onto the right feet?”

My word, you’re all in a good mood tonight.

Sir Alex speaks: “I think both teams have cancelled each other out and nothing’s really happened,” he says. “We’ve probably done a bit more than they have but we need to up our passing rate … we’re solid enough, but I think we’ve got the material to win the match.”

Second half: Marseille kick off and pick up where they left off, stroking the ball around the back before finding an opening and pinging it down towards John O’Shea, who clears.

47 min: “I was watching RTE there and John Giles was complaining about Rooney (while the picture had his bicycle kick in super slow-mo), then Dunph had a pop at Nani ‘not being a total waste of space’ etc (‘I’ve revised my opinion upwards, Bill!’, says he to O’Herlihy). But, in the name of the Pooka, how Carrick gets in there is beyond me. He’s woeful. Keeps giving the ball away and can’t tackle well enough to get it back… like Gibson with the handbrake on.” The Pooka? Who the hell is The Pooka?

47 min: Pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … oops. Pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … oops. Pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … oops. Pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … oops. Goalkeeper catches. Hoof. Pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … pass … oops.

49 min: Vidic and Brandao contest a high ball on the edge of the United penalty area and upon landing, Brandao catches the United centre-half with an elbow. Was it accidental? The referee doesn’t think so, but it looked suspiciously like the Brazilian was playing fast and loose with his arm to me.

51 min: “The Pooka is a trickster of Celtic legend, best known to the world as Puck, from Shakespeare,” writes Kári Tulinius, clearing that one up.

54 min: Luchio Gonzalez pings a cross on to the head of Brandao from the indide left position, but the Brazilian doesn’t trouble Edwin van der Sar with his goalward flick from just inside the penalty area.

54 min: Rooney sends in a cross from the left, Mandanda the goalkeeper flaps and Gabriel Heinze is forced to head clear at the far post, with Nani behind him waiting to pounce.

55 min: “Joshua Collis may want to be reminded that Carrick was imperious for United between about 2006 and 2009,” writes Gary Wraith. “He did play a lot like a footie version of a Q-back, anchoring the midfield alongside Scholes and/or Hagreaves, and generally played to a very high standard. Nobody minded that he was a touch lightweight in the tackling dept. back then or indeed passed the ball sideways or backwards. Then the European Cup Failure against Barca came along, AKA Lord Ferg’s tactical brainwave nightmare®, and he’s never looked the same player since.”

58 min: Heinze sends a cross into the United penalty area, Smalling heads clear as far as Carrick, who imperiously leaves his pass on to Nani short, allowing Marseille to attack down Manchester United’s left flank again. The next cross comes in, they clear again. We have officially entered the realms of the very, very dull.

59 min: Rooney attempts to liven up proceedings with an attempt to chip Steve Mandanda, who was a few yards off his line, from just inside the Marseille half. The goalkeeper gets back to gather comfortably. Still, worth a try. Of course if that had gone in, we’d all have said David Beckham’s against Wimbledon was better.

60 min: Marseille win a free-kick in the Manchester United right-back position, which might as well be a corner. The ball’s whipped in and headed out the other side towards Stephane Mbia, who slips. This is terrible.

61 min: Andre Ayew pulls a shot intended for the bottom right-hand corner across the face of the Manchester United goal. Had he his wits about him, it looks as if Brandao might have been able to slide in and divert it past Van der Sar, but he hadn’t so he didn’t.

63 min: Lucio tries a shot from distance. The increasingly impressive Chris Smalling blocks.

64 min: The camera cuts to John Inman on the Marseille bench. He whistles at somebody, then points at his own eyes.

65 min: “Gibson + Carrick < an aged Scholes,” writes Alastair from Glasgow. “Maths.” Sums, maybe. It’s not that complex an equation.

67 min: The ball’s played down the inside right channel to the byline, where Brandao slides in with an attempt to square it across the face of goal. Smalling blocks again.

68 min: Following a clever run, O’Shea pulls the ball back from the byline. Nani helps it on its way to Berbatov, with a flick that may have been an attempted shot gone wrong. The Bulgarian’s shot on goal is blocked.

69 min: Marseille substitution: Eduardo Cisse off, Benoit “Brother of Bruno” Cheyrou on.

72 min: Manchester United substitution: Darron Gibson off, Paul Scholes on.

72 min: “What makes the Rooney bicycle kick even more technically demanding and thereby an even greater goal is that if you watch closely he hit it with his shin,” writes Dominic Wright. “Whenever I hit it with my shin, which is regularly, I can’t control it for turnips.”

74 min: United attack down the left wing, with Evra teeing up Berbatov for a shot from distance. He sends the ball screaming high over the crossbar.

75 min: Lots of passing around and through the centre-circle. That’s it. Oh, hold on …

76 min: … nah, nothing much to report. Dimitar Berbatov fails to control a long Darren Fletcher punt from midfield, the ball bounces wide, he appeals for a corner and doesn’t get one.

77 min: “The Pooka makes an appearance in Flann O’Brien’s works, I think he is in there as the devil,” writes Paul Neilan. “I see Carrick is still on and the duckman Gibson is off. What a dire midfield. Vidic needs them like he needs a hole in his giant granite head.” I’ve actually read a few Flann O’Brien books in my day and don’t remember anything about a Pooka. I must read them again. Will this match ever end?

78 min: Marseille substitution: Loic Remy off, Mathiu Valbuena on. “He’ll take up a position on the right wing, but he won’t stay there,” opines ITV’s match analyst Jim Beglin. “He’ll roam inside, ferreting about, looking for it.”

80 min: Attacking down the left, Nani nutmegs Valbueno, gives the ball to Dimitar Berbatov and continues his run towards the six-yard box to pick up the return pass. Berbatov reads the run and flicks the ball into his path, but Mandanda is quick enough off his line to beat Nani to it by this much.

84 min: “The notion of Michael Carrick being imperious – in the sense of being commanding or domineering – is absurd,” writes Gene Salorio. “Patrick Vieira and Fernando Redondo were imperious, Carrick was very good. Not the same thing at all.”

85 min: “So it’s a complex equation you want, is it?” writes Alex Hanton. “Carrick (c.2008)/Gibson=Carrick2 (c.2010)= 8,300,985,331.95 Eric Djemba-Djembas < Schol…this is too much work to be doing for an email into an MBM in’t it?”

87 min: The ball goes out for a Marseille throw-in. Standing in his technical area, Sir Alex Ferguson catches it, only for his old friend Gabriel Heinze to snatch it from his hands and take a quick one, from which his side win a corner. Valbuena swings it in and fails to clear the first man, which is a shame. If Marseille had scored, it could be argued it was all Fergie’s fault.

90 min: Corner for Marseille, which Valbuena wastes again. For the second time in succession, he can only find Dimitar Berbatov at the near post.

Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeep! Having gone from mildly absorbing to downright dull and then back to mildly absorbing again, the game is finally brought to an end. It’s all square at half-time, with the second leg at Old Trafford to come. Both managers and sets of fans will be happy enough with tonight’s result, but for the neutral it isn’t one that will live long in the memory.

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