Three down, one to go. The Premier League trophy had barely disappeared down the Old Trafford tunnel on Saturday – bound for the trophy room where it has already spent 10 of its 16 years – when thoughts began turning to Rome and the European Cup final. At Manchester United it is the quest for honours that remains eternal.
No Premier League player is more decorated than Ryan Giggs, part of all 11 title-winning sides, and the 35-year-old, who said he is already harbouring thoughts of a historic fourth successive domestic title next year, has urged United's youthful side to learn the lesson of his own long wait for a second European Cup.
"Those of us who have been there before have been able to tell the other lads, 'Listen this doesn't happen every season'," Giggs said. "I had to wait nine years for my second. When you have won it you have to try and make it carry on. We want to be the first team to defend it. I thought about that more or less straight after last year's final."
Giggs has put the chances of Manchester United beating Barcelona as "50-50". The precarious nature of United's attempt to become the first side in the modern era to retain the Champions League was captured by his insistence that "whoever turns up on the day" could win the game in Rome on 27 May. "You have two great teams both capable of going and winning it."
United’s 18th league title draws them level with Liverpool, but the Anfield club’s manager, Rafa Benitez, yesterday pointedly refused to pass on his congratulations to Sir Alex Ferguson. “I prefer just to say well done to the club, a big club, a good club,” said Benitez. “Normally you have to be polite and respect the other manager but during the season we have seen a lot of things that I didn’t like, so that’s it.”
The size of the season's ultimate challenge has left the club unwilling to contemplate resolving Carlos Tevez's contract discussions before June. Though Sir Alex Ferguson may conceivably rest every one of his likely Rome starting XI for Sunday's visit to Hull – potentially incurring the wrath of the Newcastle United manager, Alan Shearer, if the Tigers secure the win which could send Shearer's men down – United's chief executive, David Gill, spelt out yesterday that the Tevez issue will also be on the back-burner. "We've got a very big game in Rome coming up and then the activities in terms of the transfers will be starting in June," said Gill, who revealed the original deal, under which United need to pay £25m to make permanent the loan of the player from investment companies led by Kia Joorabchian, is one the club now wants to renegotiate.
Asked if United were still willing to pay up, Gill said: "That's the discussion that is going on. We've got to assess it, we've been doing work with Alex and his staff, on the composition of the squad going forward. That is all being looked at." Supporters' demands that Tevez be signed caused the excruciating scene on Saturday of the United manager's victory speech being drowned out. Tevez milked fans' sympathies to maximum effect, shaking his head and departing the pitch with heavily laden waves to fans on 66 minutes, then conducting his own lap of honour, wearing an Argentina shirt.
Gill, the subject of protests which continued outside the main Old Trafford entrance after the goalless draw with Arsenal, had to be pushed to say he wanted Tevez to stay. "If it [the deal] can be structured correctly then, yes, we do," he said.
Gill dismissed Rafael Benitez's repeated claim that United have more money to spend than Liverpool as "a nonsense" and suggested that United's superior business infrastructure had contributed to their ascendancy. Gill said: "The analysis that was done shows that we are broadly in line with them over the last few years in terms of net spend on players. There are a lot of factors in it. We have great players and a great manager, but we have a great off-the-field team as well. We have a fantastic stadium that holds 76,000, which gives us a competitive advantage. Our commercial team are doing fantastic deals that we put back into the club, so we have many advantages through our current structure, which I think keeps us apart."
Gill said he anticipates Ferguson being around for "a number of years" and he reiterated the manager's suggestion there may not be big-money buys this summer. "I don't think we need a lot in terms of the team," he said.
Source
0 comments:
Post a Comment