“We’ll come back better.” Those were the words of a stunned Sir Alex Ferguson after watching his team receive a footballing lesson from Barcelona’s artisans in Rome.
“We will be better.”
League champions, League Cup winners, World Club Cup winners, and runners-up in the Champions League. How much ‘better’ can you get?
On Wednesday's evidence, quite a bit.
United have had an unbelievable season, yet Ferguson’s rallying cry was more a concession of their 'world's greatest team' status rather than a Gladiatorial marker for the future. Suddenly, in the space of a 90-minute tutorial, it felt like Manchester United were a million miles from the lofty pedestal bestowed upon them by the Wednesday morning papers.
Chasing shadows from the 10th-minute mark onwards, Van der Sar became as impenetrable as a sieve, Ferdinand and Vidic were run ragged, Ronaldo and Rooney made Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique look more worthy candidates for World Footballer of the Year, and all the while United’s midfield searched desperately for a ticket to the game.
Things could have been very different had United scored first, but they didn’t. And much like England’s recent friendly against Spain, the gulf in class was significant.
Emblematic of both defeats, in Seville and Rome, was the Xavi v Michael Carrick duel. (Although the word ‘duel’ is about as apt as it was for Manny Pacquiao v Ricky Hatton).
“We will get better” promised Sir Alex. As harsh as it may seem to say it, Carrick should be a starting point.
The former Tottenham man is a fine footballer who is good enough to win United league title after league title. Yet the same could be said for pretty much every United player. Ferguson has built a superb squad, capable of reaching European final after European final, but it is in the very biggest of games that you find your weaknesses.
Carrick has now been outshone by his opposite number Xavi three times, once when Barca dominated United at Old Trafford last season, once when Spain schooled England earlier this season, and again in Rome on Wednesday.
The blame is not Carrick’s alone, Giggs and Anderson offered nothing in the engine room either. But Carrick is the chief orchestrator, the tempo-setter, and his wayward passing at The Stadio Olimpico set the tone for United’s blunt performance.
United’s number 16 definitely still deserves a place in Ferguson’s squad – no doubt, but Ferguson has never been shy of replacing a good player with a better one – as previously seen with the likes of Ince, Hughes and Kanchelskis.
The deep-lying midfielder must either be a world class ball-winner in the mould of a Javier Mascherano or a world class playmaker in the shape of a Cesc Fabregas. Carrick’s job is the latter, but the “best team in the world” deserves better.
This season Carrick has scored four times and created seven goals. Xavi has doubled that goal tally and nearly quadrupled the assist count with eight goals and 26 assists.
To compare Carrick directly to Xavi might seem harsh, but United (and England for that matter) need to learn a huge lesson in the art of ball-retention from Wednesday’s final.
Carrick, United and England are decent at it, but Xavi, Barcelona and Spain are exceptional.
And if Sir Alex wants to make good on his promise to ‘get better’, the greatest potential for improvement rests right at the hub of his team.