Comments on: Italian-Style Manchester United: Sir Alex and his Catenaccio Tactics

By: Marco Pantanella

Marco Pantanella — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:30:52 +0000

Care to cite your sources Subhankar?

By: Subhankar Mondal

Subhankar Mondal — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:42:50 +0000

Just thought to make this point. â€˜catenaccioâ€™ actually originated in Switzerland in the late 1920s and early 1930s. So it is not something that the Italians invented as is the general belief.

By: realmadrid_rocks

realmadrid_rocks — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:10:06 +0000

Very nice article.good work.
I would like to say,agreed that Manchester United had defensive tactics(which paid off) but its also important to note here that Barcelona hasn’t been great attacking this season either.In the last 5games,Barcelona have scored 3 and conceded 3(including wins against Schalke 04) and had a goal less game against Espanyol at home,which also had many chances for the Catalans.
It would be stupid to expect United to adopt the same policy of all out defense at Old Trafford.Manchester United are great at home,unstoppable as their record already states both in the Premiership and in the Champions League.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:28:31 +0000

Btw guys, don’t forget that even though Barca are 2nd or 3rd in la liga at the moment, the line-up they have (not that any respecting football fan could lol).

Remember THAT Ronaldo hat-trick at OT a few years back? What a classic couple of games those two were, I must find them on DVD, like that cricket one dayer between SA and Aus in 2006! Classic stuff.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:25:13 +0000

Ian,

Fair enough, thanks for pointing that out. The games do ring a bell, 4-2 in Kiev wasn’t it and 1-0 in Sporting, can’t forget Ronaldo.

It’s probably a bit of a long running stigma the commentators associate with United that’s engrained in my head, to be honest. I’m not a Utd fan myself but I suppose that’s a fair call, just remembered another game at Benfica last term when Saha scored haha how messed up was that analysis!!

By: Fateh

Fateh — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:19:52 +0000

Hmmm…Well..initially i was dissapointed and frustrated at seeing Barcelona with so much possesion..but after a while i realised that they weren’t getting anywhere with it. To be frank barca never realy looked like scoring..their best chance was blasted wide by eto’o and even that would have taken a special finish to beat van der saar from that angle..whereas man united had a missed penalty..2 penalties that should have been given but werent..and a chance where carrick could have crosse for a host of red shirts that were unmarked…the bottomline..manu were too good defensively even for barca’s awesome attacking force..
But isn’t this a mark of a great team?A defensive fortress with lethal counter attacking ability on one day and the leading exponents of beautiful football on another(are they?this q will be answered tuesday)
That said…there was some slack passing..indeed we needlessly gave possesion away in many areas.. which was pretty frustrating
great artile though

By: colver john

colver john — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:30:30 +0000

I do not think the tactics were not bad. If we had passed with a bit more fluency and if Tevez had provided better support to Ronaldo we could have gotten something out ofo the game. After all we did have a penalty, and Carrick really should have got an assist if he hadn’t gone for glory. We also had a bunch of free kicks and corners and usually we are good from set pieces.

I believe the tactics were also influenced by Barca’s formation. Usually they play wide but we shut out the wings cramping their style so they had to mess about in the centre of the field.

Sure we were a bit lucky. But we are now in the position where all we have to do is win on our home ground. If Man U cannot do that, then they do not deserve to go through.

I am not sure how Ferguson will play at old trafford. I think 4-4-2 is most likely as 4-3-3 will leave us exposed on the wings. Rooney and Ronaldo will play up top and Hargreaves will play on the right and probably Park again on the left (although i would not mind seeing Anderson playing there). It is going to be pretty impossible to leave Scholes out on the back of his performance at Nou Camp and he does not play that great with Anderson so probably it will be Carrick again.

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:21:19 +0000

It’s important to dissociate what we ‘want’ to happen versus what ‘will’ happen.

Now to want United to go gung-ho on Barca’s ass is fine, but no one wants a repeat of the Milan performance either. United, as I discussed here, are different from Liverpool (long-ball hustlers) and Arsenal (sit on the ball a lot). We have our strategies honed against the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal but Barcelona are still foreign territory. Perhaps if we had a different style of playing (and / or if we had a tall center-forward to play off on), the Barca game would have been different.

As things stand, Fergie bet on playing the counter. It almost came off twice (1 missed penalty and 1 possible penalty that didn’t get called, but no complaints on either). On the other hand, this United side now know that they can hold their own against the best Barcelona had to offer under difficult circumstances.

Catenaccio worked, but even if it hadn’t worked wishing for something that our team is not capable of is not fair on the manager and the players.

Oh, and, good stuff Marco

By: Neeke

Neeke — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:12:37 +0000

RED DEVILS will CRUSH BARCELONA…

By: Neeke

Neeke — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:11:39 +0000

MANCHESTER UNITED RULZ>…