Champions League Fallout

So where next for Man United? As Alex Ferguson graciously observed, they were outclassed and outplayed by the better side on the night. It was interesting to see him bring his players onto the pitch to watch Barcelona cavort and celebrate, and hammer home what they missed out on.

For the first eight minutes, United looked great. They were vibrant and incisive, and created four or five chances. But then Barcelona scored, and it all went wrong. United just had no ideas, no gameplan, when chasing the match. Their Plan A was to counter-attack, to sit and hit Barcelona on the break as the Catalans chased a goal. But the Spanish side scored so early that this Plan A was scuppered – and United had no Plan B.

Their defence looked uncertain (particularly O’Shea), their passing was awry, Rooney was isolated, Ji-Sung Park offered little or no cutting edge; Ronaldo was the only one who looked a threat.

Had United scored first, it could have been very different – but as it was, Guardiola out-thought Ferguson, Barca’s makeshift defence stifled United’s vaunted attack, and the Spanish midfield passed United’s into submission and beyond.

So what now? This is only one game, and the idiot who phoned ‘You’re on Sky Sports’ claiming Ferguson should be fired deserves to be put down, but nevertheless United need to have a good look at themselves. They were far inferior to Barcelona, and bearing in mind they had a poor record against the Big Four domestically, there is a definite school of thought that they are flat-track bullies who can, with ruthless efficiency, despatch the likes of Wigan, West Ham, and Sunderland.

That is enough to win the Premier League, evidently – but at the final hurdle, against a genuinely world class team, they fell short.

Remember that they did, relatively comfortably, beat Inter and Arsenal en route, though – so it’s not a glaring weakness. This is not a huge deficiency, merely one that has been exposed against the very best.

Perhaps one extra player is what they need. One who can create something against the best, someone in central midfield a cut above willing runners like Anderson, Fletcher, or Hargreaves, a cut above sideways passers like Carrick and (nowadays) Scholes. Someone like Xavi or Iniesta, like Kaka, Fabregas, Gerrard, Lampard… that is where United lack that something extra.

The likes of Fletcher and Anderson are great at grinding out results, closing down opposing midfields and letting Ronaldo, Rooney et al score the goals to fire United to vicory after victory. But they are no Iniesta or Xavi – as last night so clearly illustrated.

But who? None of the above would go to United. Who is there who can provide that missing element? I don’t know. Hopefully for United fans, Alex Ferguson does.