I haven't posted on my blog since february which is bad... bad for one reason and that reason is because I never got round to talking about one of the greatest nights in my life. That was watching the Champions League second leg against Chelsea at Old Trafford, the atmosphere that night was electric, I was buzzing and is a night I will never forget. Old Trafford really is a place every United fan and football fan generally should go to on a matchday and experience, it's worth the journey and trust me I know about the journey seeing as it took me about 6-7 hours to travel there and then the same back haha
But back to where I started, I'm just going to share some thoughts and sum up Manchester United's 2010/2011 season. Well speaking of my Champions League experience I'll briefly start with the game against Barcelona, we lost to a great side and put in a good performance first half but sadly there was not much we could do. They are one of the greatest sides I've ever seen play and when you have players of Lionel Messi's calibre there aren't going to be many nights when your team lose.
Despite that let's look at the positives.... 19 Premier League Titles! :D We've finally knocked Liverpool off their perch and it still feels good. I had to get the new home shirt with CHAMPIONS and 19 on the back in gold (I'll add a picture at the bottom) ;)
This is a great achievement for United and Ferguson, it definitely adds some freshness to our rivalry with Liverpool and now that they have Dalglish at the helm fulltime next season really will be interesting! Speaking of our rivalry with Liverpool I was watching a video of United's win over Bayern in the 99' Champions League final and then got into a debate with my mate who supports Liverpool over which final was better so I think I might take a moment to sum up both finals seeing as this post is about "summaries" :)
1998/1999 at the Nou Camp Manchester United played Bayern Munich, we were 1-0 down from a Basler freekick and looked down and out but as it hit injury time Beckham whipped in one of his trademark corners which ended up finding it's way onto Giggs' right boot and then being tucked away by Teddy Sheringham! 1-1, extra-time and golden goal seemed inevitable but within the blink of an eye United had another corner, Beckham took it again and Schmeichel stayed it goal for this one. Sheringham flicked the ball on and Solskjaer won it for us to complete an unprecedented treble! 2 goals in 2 minutes, we were the Champions of Europe. Nobody thought a more dramatic or better comeback could be achieved and this is where the beauty of sport and the argument comes in....
2004/2005 saw Liverpool play AC Milan, Maldini opened the scoring for Milan in a minute and a Crespo brace meant that Milan lead 3-0 at halftime. Liverpool started the second half with all guns blazing and managed to score 3 goals in 10 minutes, inbetween 50 and 60, to level the game at 3-3. After an equally dramatic extra-time the match went to penalties and with one kick of the ball Dudez saved Shevchenko's penalty to win Liverpool their 5th European Cup *cough* 1 in the Champions League era we've won 2 ;)
Liverpool fans argue that they played a great Milan side with a not so great side which is a fair point, Milan did have a team full of class throughout the side but they proved that in cup finals and sport generally anything can happen. It was a great achievement but what people fans seem to forget is that when Manchester United played Bayern Munich we were playing a great Bayern Munich side, who were also going for their own treble, with great players like like Khan, Effenerg, Basler, Scholl and Jancker to name a few. As well as this remember that we, United, had no Roy Keane or Paul Scholes in our line up for that night so we were forced to bring Butt and Blomqvist into the side so in my opinion generally I feel a lot of people underestimate how much of an achievement it was for Manchester United to win that night. We had a great side but on that night it was for anyone to win, we only had two major threats which were Sheringham and Solskjaer and we know how effective they were :D
Both nights were great for the fans of each club, I feel our win as an edge over the final of 05 but obviously Liverpool fans will generally feel there win trumps ours. I respect their comeback and true football fans of both sides respect both sides achievements on their respective nights. Thanks for reading my summary of the season and general thoughts, Glory Glory Man United! Champions of England again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again again, had to do that 19 times. May our rivalry with Liverpool continue for many years, would rather compete with them for trophies then man fucking shitty city! Next post I'll look at all the Premier League teams aims, chances, needs, etc for next season. Skye
