FERGIE - "WE'RE BETTER THAN BAYERN" Bayern Munich face Valencia in the Champions League final tomorrow with Sir Alex Ferguson still insisting Manchester United are better than the Germans. Ferguson still cannot believe how Bayern beat United in the quarter-finals. The Bavarian side won the first leg 1-0 at Old Trafford before triumphing 2-1 in the return in the Olympic Stadium.(AND NOBODY IN THE WHOLE WORLD CAN BELIEVE HOW "UNITED" BEAT BAYERN IN BARCELONA, TWO YEARS AGO!!!) "No-one can tell me that they were a better side than us and that's a fact," said the United manager. "They are not a better side than us and I would say that we are a better team than they are. "But they do pack good European experience and they took their chances well against us. "At the end of the day, particularly at Old Trafford, they deserved to go through because in the second half they played well. "In Munich they scored so early it gave them a great start to the game and they then got a killer goal at half-time... They knew they were a bit fortunate to go through." Not everyone will agree with Ferguson and few would deny Bayern their place in the final in the San Siro after the way they beat holders Real Madrid in the semi-finals. Ferguson rejects any suggestion that Bayern found United out and he claims the Reds lost because of lapses in concentration. (WHO's FAULT WAS THAT???) He was furious with the way his players went to sleep at the back to allow Giovane Elber and Mehmet Scholl to score for Bayern.(THAT'S BECAUSE BAYERN ARE BETTER, METHINKS.) "They did not find us out in terms of ability," he said on MUTV. "They found us out in terms of concentration levels and when you make a mistake you are punished in Europe. (SERVES YOU RIGHT!) "If you look at the Bayern game that is exactly what happened."

cribbed from MUTV and forwarded...

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2001

Answers

I think he must have spat his marbles out, mistaking them for sour grapes!

;7)

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2001

Is that the world's smallest violin I'm hearing? ;-))

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2001

Whoever said it is the best team that wins anything?

Perhaps Taggart should think back to that evening at SJP a couple of seasons back when by far the inferior team beat us 1-0 and went on to beat us into 2nd place in the Championship.

Does 'Le Miserable' really believe the best team won on that evening, or the entire season come to that?

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2001

Come on now Clarky - be reasonable. When Taggart's team wins the best team wins. When Taggart's team looses its an injustice that can be ascribed to a number of causes, e.g., refs, pitch, anything but something about the team. What is interesting about this little diatribe is an attempt to put 'concentration' into the non-footballing skills area.

Mind you, I think our players committed the same stupidity both before and after the Makems game at SJP this past season. I can't remember which player it was but it was said the 'we have more skill than them'. That may indeed have been true, though just how you measure skill without application I am not sure.

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2001

Time for Buff

Winners don't see any fault in themselves. Any loss cannot be of their making. They will twist everything to show that they were robbed. Man U won in Barcelona cos they played to the end of the game, a 90(ish) minute long game that they wanted to win most. They lost in 2001 cos they didn't concentrate for a split second, or two.

Next time he'll ram home to the players that everyone thinks they aren't up to it. Go and prove them wrong. What's wrong with Man U is that they ain't hungry anymore. They believe pure football skill, which they know they have, will be enough. They aren't big enough to see Barca as more than a 90 minute stuffing followed by two minutes of glory. Fergie will beat it into them that it was just cicrumstances.

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2001

In my humble experience, Man Ushited are not the most "skilfull" team in the Premiership, that honour goes to Arsenal. Given a choice between dribbling the ball into the net, showboating their own individual talents along the way, and playing simple effective football with commitment - Arsenal tend to choose the former. Man United's effectiveness is their commitment to play the early ball into the business area of the pitch and contesting the ball for 90 minutes of the game.

The same could be said for relative differences in application between Newcastle and Sunderland, but I doubt our players are less skilfull, just better drilled in the team-plan.

ML3

-- Anonymous, May 23, 2001

You're probably right. The direct approach of Arsenal is pretty similar to the Sunderland approach, which is why they will be casting envious eyes at Phillips, he'd fit in fairly easily. They would probably look to offload Henry and Wiltord though to allow them to also take Quinn. But would Reid be prepared for a dual swap. I doubt it, he has said so often how he thinks Phillips and Quinn are the best.

-- Anonymous, May 23, 2001

Bayern Munich 4 - Manchester United 2 (European Cups / Champions Leagues, that is).

Does that mean Man. Utd. are still better Mr. Ferguson?

-- Anonymous, May 23, 2001