Manchester United have begun their 2011-12 domestic campaign in almost flawless fashion. Domestically, the Red Devils have played four, won four and scored eighteen goals along the way, while conceding only three.
Barcelona, on the other hand, have begun their La Liga season unsteadily. An impressive 5-0 win over Villareal was followed up by a disappointing 2-2 draw with Real Sociedad.Outside of league play, the Blaugrana have already won the Spanish Super Cup, following a 5-4 aggregate win over Real Madrid, but they were beaten 3-0 by Espanyol in the Catalonia Cup final. It is hardly the most important trophy, I know, but a 3-0 loss is a 3-0 loss regardless of competition. So, does that bode well for United?
Well, by contrast, the Mancunians defeated Manchester City, 3-2, in a pulsating derby match, transplanted to Wembley and labeled the Community Shield, which, again, is hardly the most important trophy in English football.
In their opening Champions League matches the tables were turned. It was United, fielding several bench players — although not Dimitar Berbatov — who looked lacklustre against Portuguese side Benfica, with Ryan Giggs, horribly exposed by the Catalans at Wembley, saving the Premier League title-holder’s bacon. Meanwhile, Barça were robbed of three points at the death in a thrilling match against Serie A champion AC Milan.
Perhaps, then, early doors is not really a great indicator of what is to come in May and June. On the other hand, it’s all we have to go on, isn’t it?
Barcelona were brilliant against Villareal at the Camp Nou. They moved the ball with their patented elegance and grace. Messi scored twice. The new signings, Alexis Sánchez and Cesc Fabregas added a goal apiece and Thiago Alacantara, the young hotshot, opened the scoring. Barcelona kept the ball for three-quarters of the match, earned twelve corners and took eighteen goal attempts, of which half were on target. In contrast Villareal, had absolutely zero corners and managed just five shots, only one on target. Such domination is more than brilliant actually; it’s phenomenal.
Against Sociedad, Barça again had seventy-five percent possession, yet only drew. Why? Simply put, they made uncharacteristic mistakes. Sociedad were 2-0 down at half time and seemingly lambs to the proverbial slaughter, yet on 59 minutes Agirretxe pulled one back to give them hope. One minute later, Griezmann popped up with an equaliser, after capitalising on a lack of concentration in Barca’s back line.
Are they beatable then, or is it just a case of early season hiccups?
Well, Arsenal proved last season, that it is possible to defeat Barcelona. The Gunners ran out 2-1 winners after frustrating Barça for seventy-seven minutes, until Robin Van Persie equalised. Then, smelling blood, Andrey Arshavin smashed them into the lead late on.
Nor was this win a case of Barcelona beating themselves. Arsenal had a line-up capable of giving the Catalans a taste of their own medicine, limiting Barça to just fifty-three percent possession when they average 60%. Facing a side nearly their equal in terms of precision ball movement, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, et al, weren’t able to win back the ball as quickly as they are accustomed. That night, there was less opportunity to do that, as they learnt how it felt for other sides to chase shadows.
The question is, can United do the same? If drawn with Barcelona in the latter stages of the Champions League, could they dictate the flow of the match against such an accomplished midfield,with their new young stars?On the basis of the first four games the answer is a definite maybe. United have based their approach on quick passing and direct, pacy wingers, similar, in fact, to their Spanish nemesis. If United packed their midfield with players able to run for ninety minutes straight, such as Park Ji-Sung, Darren Fletcher and Tom Cleverley, then maybe they could keep the ball for long enough to fashion a goal scoring opportunity or two.
Yet, if they did, the onus would then be on the back four to make it stand up. With tall, angular center backs Phil Jones and Chris Smalling as the spearheads, that seems unlikely. Barcelona’s attack is filled with quick, tricky wingers with dazzling dribbling skills. Smalling and Jones are poorly built to cope with that. They are good defenders there is no doubt about it, but facing Lionel Messi, David Villa and Alexis Sánchez is a different kettle of fish than dealing with Kevin Davies, Ivan Klasnic and Chris Eagles. The defence needs to be full of experienced defenders who are going to be switched on for ninety minutes straight. Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand, if healthy, would provide that.That trio have faced Barcelona twice before, though, and been beaten on both occasions. So, at best, Slim may still be in town.
The key, to my mind, is two players: Park Ji-Sung and Darren Fletcher. Both are Energiser Bunnies who keep going and going, and then, if extra time is required, will keep going and going some more.
Fletcher was missing for the 2009 final, and only just made the bench for the 2011 showpiece, as an unused substitute. The Scot is typically the vital piece of the jigsaw when United play big teams. Barcelona are a big team and when Fletcher isn’t there, as shown before, they tend not to do well. in their first four games, United haven’t had a major test — Arsenal in their current state hardly count –
Park Ji-Sung played in both finals. In 2009, he largely went missing. In 2011, though, he was one of the best players in a United shirt. Unfortunately, the Korean is not the type to carry the club, but if his nine companions on the pitch followed his example, developing third lungs, the Premier League champion might be in with a shout.
So, to recap: if all the most experienced players were available, if every player in a United shirt ran themselves into the ground over the full ninety and if every pass and shot was on target, United would have a chance. Otherwise, if they meat Barcelona again in the Champions league, they can expect to have a long evening.
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