The Preview: Liverpool VS United
Rant Start. Reading Football Weekly’s surprisingly underwhelming preview of that match made me cringe. That’s the first time I’ve read a piece of football news involving the biggest clash of the season and was bored to death. I mean, come on, you’ve got to be more professional than that politically correct rubbish that was put across in so impossibly amateurly (do we look like football idiots to you?) if you wanna publish that in a football magazine! Anyone could have told you that the United-Liverpool rivalry is THE biggest rivalry in the UK. Period. We didn’t need an article with snippets of ‘history’ in there. Either give something proper or just shut up and actually PREVIEW the match. Big it up. And for fuck’s sake, get the line up right! Why the hell are Anelka and Drogba in the United starting line-up? Are you fucking serious? Rant over.
Now that that’s done, we move into the real thing. The United fan here, throwing some comments and predictions about the upcoming crunch tie, and hoping that the curse of the blog does not come back to haunt her.
Christmas has come early this year for football. The sight of Liverpool slumping to four Premier League defeats in nine matches and two Champions League losses in three games, for a United fan, to use their sponsor’s tagline, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” For Liverpool, well, Christmas has come early for them too. That’s when they normally start their slump, but this season, it seems they simply cannot wait.
We’ll probably never know if Santa Clause had Rafa Benitez on his naughty or nice list, but one facht (couldn’t resist, sorry) that is certain is that one of his gifts was a big red beach ball.
Looking forward to the big match on Sunday, United go in, not for the first time, as favourites. I’d personally prefer the situation where we have been written off by every single ABU journalist around only to come back and win it, but it will take a very long and tedious argument under current circumstances to bet against us being the pick for this match.
I’m not saying this just because I’m a United fan and I go into every match with only one expected outcome in my mind. It’s just that Liverpool have done a pretty good job in making sure they look even more overrated than they already are by losing four matches in a row leading up to this match, and I would love for us to inflict the fifth.
If this were really Christmas, I’d be wishing for the fairytale of Michael Owen scoring the last-gasp winner in a thriller of a match in front of the Kop and put whatever hopes the Scousers had of glimpsing the title out of the question. Would that be tantamount to City finishing in the top 4, i.e. impossible?
Wishful thinking aside, of course I’m hoping for a United victory, 1-0 to us will do just fine, 4-1 would be a nice load of salt rubbed into the dippers’ wounds, but ultimately, a win for us is what will matter.
The Two-man Team have their two men in serious doubt for the fixture, and that can’t be good news for them since they’ve been woeful without those two and the team and fans alike know it. (The ‘One-Man Team’, on the other hand, is top of the table without that One Man.) I’m sure they’ll be quick to remind us of the loss at Anfield last season where they beat us without both Torres and Gerrard, but what are the odds of one of our players getting sent off again, Wes Brown scoring an own goal again and their winner coming off a fluke deflection again? Not good for them, so it seems.
Still, confidence is a double edged sword for us. While I’d love to see us going into the match with the belief that we will emerge victorious, there have been instances of painful, evident complacency in the team when we’ve got the lead that have led to calamitious consequences (think Rio’s ‘flick’ over Bellamy) and sometimes, United function much more convincingly as a squad when we’re pushing for a result.
I’m not saying that I want us to be 3-0 down by half time so we have something to prove, but the point is that, even as clear favourites and being the obviously better team, overconfidence does get the better of us sometimes. Liverpool themselves have a point to prove and I may be as afraid of them as I am of my shadow, but a desperate team can be a difficult team to play against, even if it is shite. So thankfully for the neutrals, I don’t think we’ll be seeing an overly one-sided match.
Another key player who may be forced to sit out of the match due to injury is our Wayne Rooney and God forbid him to miss the match! With the exception of Owen, there is no one else I want to see tear Liverpool to shreds more than this man, and though I think we’ll probably be fine without him anyway, he’s my favourite player and he hates Liverpool just like me, so it will be a shame not to have him on the pitch.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Fergie does not play the 4-5-1 like he did against Arsenal because 1) that was the most ineffective performance I’ve seen from United in a while and 2) with Xabi Alonso gone, that midfield is nothing to be afraid of. Sure, Mascherano’s a decent player, but he’s no Iniesta. If Fletcher’s fit for this one, stick him in there with Carrick or Scholes and play Valencia and Giggs out wide, that’ll be great to watch. And if Gary Neville’s fit and not tired by the game against Moscow, I’d say go for him in right back, just because he hates Scousers.
So, fingers crossed for a good game, no referee screw-ups and loads of beach balls, by all means. Actually, I lied. I don’t really care about any of those, just as long as United win ultimately and we all leave Anfield to the tune of ‘Feed the Scousers’.
Missing: Arsenal FC
Before this Champions League semi-final clash between Man United and Arsenal, I think it’s fair to say that we were all expecting a real epic fight between two of the greatest English rivals of late. Arsenal have beaten us once this season already, and there is no denying the mutual hatred of the two camps. Add that to the fact that they are facing each other in a match of such immense scale, we expected no less than a cracker at Old Trafford.
Except there was a problem. The visiting team was nowhere to be seen from kickoff.
For the record, I’m not here to ridicule Arsenal. To be fair, they have had their major injury concerns, and their defence was as makeshift as ours had been for the past few weeks. Maybe they can count themselves unfortunate that their star man of the moment Arshavin is cup tied, and that Robin Van Persie is out with an injury.
But still, is it any excuse for a team boasting the talent of Fabregas and Nasri, the threat of Adebayor and the genius of Walcott to be completely played off the park? There was really only one player that showed up for Arsenal and that’s their man between the sticks, without whom the scoreline might have resembled Roma 2007. Without the one goal against us, at least, because Arsenal really were toothless in attack, and had about what, one shot on target in 90 minutes?
United were brilliant all round, I have to say. We played them off the park and Almunia’s excellent goalkeeping notwithstanding should have left with a 4-0 score line at the very least. I don’t recall seeing another match where we completely dominated the first 30 minutes of possession and the Gunners never got a sniff at the ball after giving it away from kickoff. We seemed to pick up where we left off against Spurs.
First mention has to go to Darren Fletcher, who was outstanding as he always is against Arsenal, hassling the Arsenal midfield each time they got the ball and nearly always won or helped to win it back. Fletcherinho is such a big game player. Many United fans used to truly dislike the sight of him on the pitch a few years back, but how he has grown. There were times I had to remind myself that Samir Nasri was even playing.
Anderson and Carrick both had one of their best games of the season, completely dictating play in the midfield, and Ando was unlucky to have been flagged offside despite clearly being on (decisions at OT always go in favour of United indeed) because he was in such a prime position to score then. Still, the United fans chanted his chant, and oh how he obliged!
John O’Shea. Well, he’s usually on the end of more criticism than praise, but no one can deny him the plaudits today. He was responsible for a brilliant finish that was United’s only goal of the match (although one Mikael Silvestre decided to show up momentarily on our side to aid him in that) and actually looked solid in defence. Of course, that goal made so much more satisfying to watch over and over again because it was symmetrical to what happened at Anfield a couple of seasons ago.
Usual suspects Ronaldo and Rooney ran the Arsenal defence ragged as we had expected them to, Rooney even helping out back defensively, nullifying whatever threat Walcott could pose against Evra. Both arguably should have had their names on the score sheet too, especially when one of Ronny’s rockets was unlucky enough to hit the bar. They didn’t quite crank it up to Tottenham gear during the second half, but still posed threats down either wing and in front of goal.
Tevez, I thought, deserved a goal. Given the nod ahead of Berbatov, it was probably the first match he has proved to have justified that choice. Ran rings round the Arsenal defence (that, save for Almunia, really wasn’t there) all night and for once I was surprised to see him subbed by Berbatov.
Where was Emmanuel Adebayor? Rio and Vidic were a brick wall that he ran himself into, and Van Der Sar had absolutely nothing to do, except for one save from Fabregas. Our concern for the second leg is probably Rio’s injury though. He was subbed off after an excellent display with fears of a cracked rib. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping he will be fit to play. Not that I doubt Evans’s ability for one minute, that is!
For the sake of football, I hope we don’t have to witness another Great Gooner Disappearing Act at the Emirates next week. Sure it’s brilliant that we’ve completely swept one of our biggest rivals aside, but it’s no fun when you know there was pretty much nothing to sweep in the first place. Let them turn up, but let us beat them anyway.That’s going to be a million times more satisfying.
Enough with the Luck Talk
Put the case that Liverpool plays a team threatened with relegation, struggles to gain control of the first half, and find the breakthrough, despite their opponents putting in more effort and creating more chances than them, in the form of a direct freekick as a result of a foul that never should have been given. They then have a man advantage when the opponent get a man sent off, and score a second through equally controversial circumstances when the referee fails to spot a handball in the box on the way to goal. They then go on to win the match.
Now put the case that Manchester United, starting later that day in second place, going two goals behind to Spurs by half time for not capitalising on the many more chances they had in comparison. They come out of the break all guns firing, and get a penalty that was not quite stonewall, converted it, and went on to dominate a team that could not find the answer to them. Final score 5-2 and a comfortable win in the end.
The media goes on to have a field day about a comeback that never should have been if that penalty wasn’t given. Harry Redknapp thinks that United would never have found a way back if not for Howard Webb. United were oh so lucky that Howard Webb was on our side. No mention of Javier Mascherano’s blatant dive to win that freekick, nor Lucas’s handball in the box gone unspotted.
Obviously, we completely struggled against Spurs all ninety minutes and were utterly unable to create another chance in that match. Obviously, Howard Webb awarded us five penalties in the match and that was how we got it back. Very evidently, Spurs were having go after go at us during the first half and followed it up in the second, resulting in bribery of Webb the only way we could have clawed our way back. Oh, and Liverpool were rock solid throughout, as usual.
You could find a team the world hates more than Man United. People are blatantly deluding themselves, clinging on to every excuse they have just so that they can have the satisfaction of denying us our ‘moral right’ to win. United always win titles because they are lucky. Passion, grit, willpower, skill and strokes of genius just seem to be beyond any of them to admit. Those words are reserved for other teams, and strictly not for us on matchday.
First and foremost, the decision itself to award the penalty may have been contentious, but on second look, keeper Gomez might have gotten the slightest of touches to it, but he, knowing he was the last man, collided into Carrick anyway to prevent him from stepping over to get the ball and play it on into the open goal. Penalty? There is no question about it. Some say red card for the keeper. Most say we were gifted that breakthrough.
Regardless, if Spurs had had the guts or stomach for the fight, we were still trailing 1-2 then, and they could have held on to their lead if they had, as Redknapp felt, been the better team. How is it that one controversial penalty decision led to another four more goals going past them, all in spectacular style?
Why not credit Rooney and Ronaldo for their sheer magic last night? Why not applaud Tevez and the manner in which he injected such energy into the side upon his introduction? How about the kind of steel it takes for Dimitar Berbatov, under so much criticism by his team’s fans of late, to produce a magnificant display that was capped by a goal?
I’m so sick of the whole luck talk that our success has been attributed to. Sure, I don’t deny for one minute that we have had our fair share of luck sometimes, but last night was definitely not it, and we most certainly have not won 17 English titles being lucky all the way. Still, it does bring out a really satisfied snigger in me and all Red Devils worldwide, now that we are on the verge of a record-equalling 18, the ABUs are wetting themselves trying to deny that we’re simply the best team in England.
Maybe they should change their motto. “Next year is our year.”
Thank You, Arsenal!
It’s been ages since my last post, but there’s probably no better time to for a come back than now.
Man United are currently top of the league, level on points with TheScouseScum, with 2 games in hand and we owe much of it to one Andrei Arshavin. Of course, everyone knows about how Liverpool very fortunately nicked a 4-4 draw with Arsenal (they dare to call US lucky when they were given 5 fucking minutes of extra time to find the equaliser) but two points drop gives us an extremely valuable cushion (assuming no screw ups at Portsmouth of course) in the title race.
I thought our defence had been suicidal for the past 5 matches, but fortunately, our rivals seem to be catching the shambles too. With the exception of Arshavin’s last goal, maybe, all other seven goals were all results of horrific defending. La Nina and Benayoun had 2 each for Liverpool (how on Earth the Arsed defence let them both through I really don’t know) but the night was really Arshavin’s. That’s something like 11 goals conceded in the past 4 games or something for Liverpool now, so why is the talk only on our defence? Not to mention Bendtner’s goal was so not offside, Howard Webb, what the hell do you think you were doing?
Well, here’s what it means for us, of course, I don’t do reflections of a match between two random clubs in the team for no reason. So here we are, with the possibility of going 6 points clear of Liverpool if we win our two games in hand. Our kids went out in the FA Cup on penalties, but it was a solid performance from even our reserves. I actually think it’s a good thing that we don’t have the FA Cup to worry about. It’s not a case of sour grapes, and I’d loved it if we had gone to the final and won as well, but the whole ‘quintuple’ thing is out of the way, off our lads’ shoulders. So now the media can stop being the bastards they are, coming up with more of such rubbish claims to shoot us down when we ‘fail’. Plus, we’re still in the Champions League and are probably second favourites, after Barca, to win that title.
First with the league. We’re now looking to be extending our lead comfortably thanks to the Scum’s slip up last night obviously, and with our own defence getting back in shape, what we really need to sort out is confidence. I know Ronaldo definitely doesn’t lack that, and Rooney’s always hungry, so they’ll be going out with a vengeance that’s for sure. Berbatov really needs to get over that awful penalty he took against Everton and get on with being the striker he was before he came here. And bloody hell, the fans NEED to get behind Berba. There is no point lashing out at our own players, and seeing as Berba’s a 30 Million buy, he’s probably going to be here for another few years. Give him time to show his class on a more consistant basis and I’m sure he’ll be great.
In the Champions League, we play a –guess what?– Arshavinless Arsenal in the semi final. The Russian is cup-tied (hear the sigh of relief?) so that’s one less threat to worry about. Just last week I was kind of worried about meeting Arsenal, and I really would have rather played Villereal. However, seeing the way they conceded to Chelski in the FA Cup, and how only Arshavin travelled to Anfield knowing which team he was playing for, it gives me a whole lot more relief looking ahead at the tie. I’m not underestimating them still, but honestly, I do think Fergie the genius knew it was coming when he sold Easter Island Head to the Gooners. Yeah, he’s the reason why Liverpool actually could score four against Arsenal last night, but he’ll probably be the reason why we’re going to beat them too. Full marks to Fergie and his schemes.
For now, let all Mancs everywhere celebrate Andrei Arshavin, knowing that he’s done us two favours by putting four past Liverpool and playing for Zenit St Petersburg earlier this season.
Thoughts on the Carling Cup final
Manchester United won the Carling Cup, beating Spurs 4-1 on penalties. I’m just making it sound nicer than it really was. The match ended 0-0 and even though the football was entertaining, it was 1 am in the morning and I was all ready to knock out anytime if they didn’t hurry up with the scoring. I wasn’t so impressed with United’s performance, to be honest. Especially not Welbeck’s and Gibson’s. Anyway, here’s some thoughts:
1) Jonny Evans is a world class defender.
I’m not just saying this just because he’s one of my favourite players of the team, but his recent performances honestly belie his age. He’s so solid at the back, I sometimes think I’d prefer seeing him to Ferdinand up there next to Vidic, if only for the fact that Rio and Vida haven’t already formed a brick wall in front of goal. Jonny Evans could walk into any other team in the world.
2) 32 Million for Carlos Tevez?
Never mind United fans being divided, I’m divided over this myself. We’ll have to make a decision whether or not to pay that kind of money for Tevez at the end of the season. I love the guy, he plays with every last bit of energy he’s got and he gives his heart and soul to United. I’m also not about to forget the number of times he crucially bailed us out last season when we looked to be heading for defeat. But of late, most recently in this final, he was merely running around like a headless chicken with no real contribution to the game. Don’t want to see him go, but Carlitos really needs to prove his worth to Sir Alex now, to give us a cast iron reason to hold on to him.
3) Ben Foster will be big.
If he can stay fit that is. Foster’s hardly got chances to prove himself because of injuries and the unbeatable form of Edwin Van Der Sar but he did what he was supposed to in the final, making some superb saves that would have otherwise left us with nothing. Saved Jamie O’Hara’s penalty really nicely to complete an impressive showing. He’s another one for the future.
4) “Aaron Lennon, 21 years of age, the new bright spark for England, tormentor of Patrice Evra throughout the match.”
Oh yeah, all over the commentaries, papers, internet, blogs, whatever. Anyone picked up how he had to withdraw with major cramps in extra time, while our very own 35 year old Paul Scholes played through the entire 120 minutes? Talk about the young and fit.
5) Can we win five?
Champions of the World, winners of the Carling Cup. That’s two down, three to go. Nothing’s going thrill me more than seeing us win the FA Cup while remaining Champions of England and Europe. At this very moment, we are close enough to the Premier League trophy, and our squad depth should see us through the FA Cup at least. But if there’s any team that can do a quintuple in a season, it’s got to be us.
6) Some sympathy for Jamie O’Hara.
Penalties are never easy because of the immense pressure, and he had the guts to step up to the spot first for Spurs to take one. Having already tearfully missed the final last year, it must be absolutely devastating for him to see his penalty saved. Gotta feel for the guy. At least he really appeared gutted. David Bentley looked like he hardly cared.
What Delight: Dippers out of FA Cup
Fernando Torres believed Liverpool’s victory against Chelsea spelled the start of a renewed confidence, and wanted to be the hero against Everton again in the Merseyside derby of the FA Cup.
Said Torres: “We knew before we faced Chelsea that we needed to win. We have a lot more confidence now, of course…It was a fantastic day for me that last time I played in a derby at Goodison Park. I was lucky enough to score two goals and we won the game so it was a good moment for us. It is true that Liverpool have not been beaten by Everton since I came here but that does not mean anything in this game.”
The Red Devil in me cannot help but laugh. Not only did Liverpool lose to their bitter neighbours in the final minute through a deflected goal (karma, anyone?), the lost in absolute style.
Stevie Me left the field with a hamstring problem after just 15 minutes, Lucas got sent off for two bookable challenges and Torres was just terrible and had to be subbed late on. Oh how they must miss Robbie Keane now.
Dan Gosling gave Everton the win through a deflection off Skrtel/Arbeloa. After winning games through lucky deflections (they’ve done it against United and Chelski this season now), it was a good time to give them a taste of their own medicine.
As Scott from the Republik of Mancunia says – FACT: The Fat Spanish Waiter has lost the plot.
Rafa’s Victory Over Federer: In the eyes of a Roddick fan
I guess there have been so many match reports with regard to the Australian Open men’s final that I need not post another one for the sake of it. Unless you’ve been somewhere on Pluto and beyond for the past couple of days, the outcome of the match is nearly common knowledge now.
Now, even those who had unfortunately had to miss the final and all its excitement will probably have read or heard about Roger Federer’s breakdown during the trophy presentation. The man of 13 Grand Slam titles stood on the podium as he received the runner-up’s plate from the legend Rod Laver, opened his speech and choked up with tears in a couple of sentences.
This may not please the Federer fans (and to be honest I have no intention of paying particular attention to doing so), and while I respect what this man has achieved in his career, I’ve never been a fan of his. The title of this write-up probably says it all.
I am a Roddick fan. A self confessed Roddick fan. A long suffering Roddick fan. A proud and dedicated follower in the Roddick camp who has had to endure her star being labelled a ‘one slam wonder’ because of his sole win at the 2003 US Open.
As I watched Federer cry on Sunday while Nadal stood to watch in a muted celebration, the very first thing that came to my mind was: Now you know how Andy feels.
Like it or not, I owe grievance to the very man with 13 Grand Slams. It really isn’t hard to see why. Twice, Roddick made it to the Wimbledon final, both times, he lost to Roger Federer. In 2006 he made the US Open final, and again it was Federer who thwarted him. Between and beyond, he has had the misfortune of being on the same side of the draw as Federer for Slam after Slam, and the record is now 2-16 against Andy.
And there’s more. It was Federer who took away Roddick’s World Number One ranking and held it for the next 237 weeks, Federer who whipped Roddick in a humiliating Aussie Open semi 2 years ago, Federer who outaces the world’s fastest server in each of the matches they play. It is because I’m a Roddick fan, that I am unable to fully and honestly attach admiration to the achievements of this man.
Call me unsporting or bitter, it’s the truth, and I’m certain all fans will somehow or rather be able to identify with that. Just ask any Federer fan how they feel about their great champion being reduced to tears after coming so close yet failing once more. Ask yourself, if you’ve supported Roger all your life, just how you feel about his conqueror, Rafael Nadal.
Just how difficult is it to wish for him to go on and become the Greatest Player of All Time, the very title Federer has been statistically gunning for for the longest time now? It is one thing to admit a rival’s superiority, but to celebrate it? For me, I can never take Federer winning another Wimbledon title without a slight sick feeling knowing very well it is the missing lifelong goal Andy Roddick set for himself.
To be sure, if Federer does indeed win a 14th Grand Slam and equal Pete Sampras’s all time record, like he so desperately wants to, I will applaud him.
But I can hardly bring myself to marvel at it, when his greatness has been at the expense of my own hero.
Nadal’s toughest moment comes after match
Still relishing every single point of last evening’s Aussie Open victory for Rafael Nadal, I came across this article today. You just have to love Nadal’s adorably humble and gracious answers to the press after his match.
Nadal’s toughest moment comes after match
TENNIS super hero Rafael Nadal says the sight of arch rival Roger Federer in tears after their Australian Open epic was hard to watch.
“It was tough situation, tough moments for him more than me, for sure, but for me, too,” Nadal said.
“We have a great relationship and it was tough moments. Too much emotion there yesterday.
“Probably in the future when we saw that moment on the TV, it gonna be nice.
“But when you live that moment it’s gonna be tough.
“It’s tough because I can’t enjoy 100 per cent the victory because I saw him cry – it’s really tough.
“I think he’s a winner, he’s showed the world he’s tough.”
The Spanish star said he had doubts before the final after the pounding his body took taken in a dramatic semi-final against Fernando Verdasco.
“Before the match, there were tough moments. I didn’t know when I went on court that I gonna be able to compete with Roger,” Nadal said.
“But I talk with (coach) Toni (Nadal) before the match and he told me: ‘You have to be there. You have to be there. Believe on the victory for the whole time. Repeat to yourself the whole time the same – you have to win, you have to win’.”
Nadal finally got back to his hotel room at 3.45am and celebrated by watching Spanish soccer on TV.
Despite building a 13-6 record over Federer, Nadal refused to accept he is the superior player.
“Right now he has 56 titles or something like this. I have a little (32),” he said.
“He has 13 grand slams, I have six.
“One of the best things of Roger is that he always improves. If you saw my match against him in 2004 in Miami and you watched his game last year, or two years ago or right now, in my opinion he improves a lot.
“That’s a good model for us. I try to imitate that. He was the best and continues to improve all the time.”
Nadal said the moment he lost the desire to improve he would “go back home and have boat to fish”.
Apart from defending the French Open and Wimbledon titles, Nadal’s most pressing goal is breakthrough US Open success.
“For sure, I try to win the US Open so I won the four while I am 22 years old,” Nadal said.
“I know it’s going to be difficult because the conditions are always a little bit different and more difficult for my game. Here, you can play with a little more top spin.”
Told Mats Wilander believes Nadal has a better chance of winning all four majors in the same year than Federer, the Spaniard said: “Not agree with that.”
[Source: Melbourne Herald Sun]
What a champion this man is. Vamos Rafa!
Will and Spirit As Nadal Beats Verdasco in The Match Of Australian Open 2009
Given the kind of tennis Rafael Nadal played today against an inspired Fernando Verdasco, you would bet his final opponent and three time champion Roger Federer cannot help but break into sweat (figuratively, of course, for Federer does rarely seem to sweat, even in a match).
His only consolation will be that the five hour plus match might have taken a toll on Rafa, and that the young Mallorcan will get a day’s less rest than himself. Not that you could really tell during the final set against Verdasco. The effort both men put in throughout the duration of the whole match was never once compromised. Verdasco fired everything at Nadal, making him scramble across the court countless times. Scramble Nadal did, and got nearly every ball within his reach back within the court to extend the rally.
Verdasco threw in close to 100 winners, making nearly 80 unforced errors in the process, but that go for broke approach made life exceptionally difficult for his close friend and compatriot. Nadal got backhand crosscourt slices back to Verdasco time and time again, and Fernando pounded relentlessly with explosive forehands, almost ala Nadal.
The first set went to Verdasco, with a little help from Lady Luck that gave him set point from a shot that hit the net cord and trickled over. But there was hardly anything lucky about the remaining shot he played and the rest of the winners he hit. Nadal came back to win the second and third sets, breaking Verdasco’s serve at 5-4 in the second. It was only the first break in the match, another indication of the quality of which both men were holding onto their service games.
At some points in time, Rafa did seem the less comfortable of the two, having to cope with the firepower of his opponent, whose flatter ground strokes suited the hard court more than his own looping topspin forehands. But everytime Nadal seemed out of the point, he just seemed to claw back.
“You have to run for every ball” was what the winner of this match said in an interview to TENNIS magazine 2 years ago. Rafael Nadal is a man of his word. If he was experiencing any form of fatigue, you could hardly know. The only signs in the final game that showed they had been on court for the entire evening was the clock in the stadium, and the sweat that soaked through Rafa’s shirt.
All credit to Verdasco, he’s won himself a new legion of fans with that performance alone. It was easily the best match he’s ever played in his life, and he can take a lot of heart from it. Not everyone pushes Rafael Nadal to the limit like he did, and you’ll have to look back to what was hailed as the best match ever in the Wimbledon epic last year for the last time he was.
And such challenges bring out the best in Nadal, as he displayed there, not just through his play during the match, but also from the manner in which he climbed over the net to embrace Verdasco. No doubt he thanked his friend for such a spirited display, because he showed Nadal and the world of tennis such great respect throughout the match by not succumbing, and not fading away.
The final score: 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in Nadal’s favour, with an unfortunate double fault by Verdasco on match point proving to be the decisive error. Statistics don’t always reflect the nature of the match, but there is a lot of truth in one particular one.
Number of points won:
Verdasco: 192; Nadal: 193
Wimbledon final 2008 may have been hailed as the best match ever, but I daresay this came close, if not better. Right now, Nadal will be aiming to physically recover as quickly as he can before the final on Sunday. But the will of steel and surging spirit do not diminish. Roger Federer had better be afraid.
“Man U” A Pet Name? Think Again.
Before I begin, I would first like to say that this article is by no means intended on offending anyone, but rather to spread a message to the alarming number of fans who still do not know the history behind the term “Man U”.
I live in a country far away from Britain where football is huge with the people as a sport, but not as a culture. There are many many football fans here who are really passionate about Manchester United, Liverpool etc., loyal as any lad behind their local team, but understand little about the history of their club.
Before any United die-hards gets too critical, I ask for a little sympathy. It is not easy at all to fully feel the tradition and history behind something when one is not immersed in it.
I consider myself a huge United fan who has been behind her club since she was young. But to be honest, it was only a couple of years back that I researched the origins of the term “Man U”, only to find out that, ubiquitous as it is here as a pet name by United fans, it is a highly insulting term.
It is what rival fans like Liverpool and Leeds use to jeer at the memory of the great Duncan Edwards and the rest of the Busby Babes who died in the Munich Air Disaster. They called Edwards ‘manure’, they mocked us about Munich.
I’m eighteen and I can hardly say I’ve been around long enough to know personally how the tragedy shocked the world and all United fans. But for all I may not be born and bred in Manchester, I am born and bred a Red Devil, and reading and hearing about the Munich disaster brings more than a tear to my eye.
Reading and hearing about rival fans mocking and laughing at the death of the Busby Babes angers me the same way. Utterly ashamed of my blatant ignorance, that term that was once used habitually is now relegated permanently on my taboo list.
Likewise, for fellow United fans who use it (and for your own sake, please stop), it’s probably a case of ignorance, rather than an intention of actually insulting the Busby Babes. While I don’t think using the term per se makes one less of a fan than someone who does not, I do not speak up for those who do know, but refuse to kick the habit.
It’s terrible enough rival fans use it. Even some of the more mature ones know just how offensive it is, and show some respect to the legends who died tragically by not saying it.
This is to all United fans on the same side of the world as I am, who read the contents of this article with the same kind of realisation that I had, and yet, who felt your hearts grow twice as heavy all the same when remembering the sixth of February 1958 on derby day last season. Please spread the word to those who still do not know: It’s an absolute shame to use “Man U” on the best team in the world.