Transfer news...

Spurs would demand £15m Chelsea release fee for Harry

Published 23:30 28/05/11 By Alan Nixon




A full version of this story appears in today's People. Read it online at People.co.uk
Chelsea will have to pay a £15million 'transfer fee' to take Harry Redknapp away from Tottenham – as their bid for a new boss runs into major snags.
Shrewd Redknapp has his supporters at Stamford Bridge and could get the call to move across London in a stunning move if Guus Hiddink stalls on quitting his Turkey job.
Redknapp could move to Chelsea in a ‘dream team' with Avram Grant, with his former Portsmouth sidekick backing him as the manager in talks with Roman Abramovich.
 
Norwich want Cardiff star and Millwall hitman

Published 23:30 28/05/11 By Alan Nixon




A full version of this story appears in today's People. Read it online at People.co.uk
Norwich City are set to add to Cardiff City's woes by making a £1million swoop for midfielder Peter Whittingham.
The Welsh side were beaten to promotion by Paul Lambert's men and the Canaries now want Whittingham, 26, to join them in the top flight.
Norwich are also closing in on Millwall striker £2m-rated Steve Morison after landing Everton's 22-year-old attacker James Vaughan for £1.5m.

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Black Cats eye Reo-Coker, Larsson and Crouch

Published 23:30 28/05/11 By Alan Oliver




A full version of this story appears in today's People. Read it online at People.co.uk
Sunderland have set their sights on Nigel Reo-Coker, who has been freed by Aston Villa.
Black Cats boss Steve Bruce wanted free agents David Vaughan and Seb Larsson from Blackpool and Birmingham respectively. Vaughan, 28, is close to joining Rangers, but Bruce is still hopeful that Larsson, 25, will join – and now he has turned to 27-year-old Reo-Coker, 27, as he tries to strengthen his midfield.
Spurs striker Peter Crouch is also on the hitlist, but Bruce's chances of persuading Seville's Alvaro Negredo to move there look very unlikely.
 
Ashley Young will snub Liverpool to join Man United

Published 23:01 28/05/11 By Simon Mullock




Manchester United are set to beat arch rivals Liverpool in the £15million race to sign Ashley Young.
Sunday Mirror Sport *revealed in February how Sir Alex Ferguson failed in a bid to land the England winger during the last transfer *window due to Aston Villa's reluctance to sell.
With Kenny Dalglish looking for a top-class wideman, Young had the chance of a potential move to Anfield.
But the 25-year-old England international has his heart set on moving to Old Trafford.
 
Dimitar Berbatov's future at Manchester United in doubt

• Striker omitted from United squad for Champions League final
• Michael Owen chosen over Premier League's top scorer



  • Dominic Fifield at Wembley
  • The Observer, Sunday 29 May 2011 <li class="history">Article history Sir Alex Ferguson talks with Dimitar Berbatov during a Manchester United training session before the Champions League final. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty

    Dimitar Berbatov's future at Manchester United has been cast into further doubt after the Bulgarian striker was omitted from the squad for the Champions League final.
    Sir Alex Ferguson said the player had attended the match &#8211; "He was in the dressing room at the end," he said &#8211; despite his disappointment at learning the news, though he was not spotted during the game itself among those omitted in the stands.
    Berbatov, a £30m signing from Tottenham Hotspur in 2009 and the joint leading scorer in the Premier League this season, has not scored in the Champions League since October 2008, yet the United manager had admitted the decision had prompted "heartache" in the buildup.
    "Picking my team was easy, but my subs were very difficult," Ferguson said. "I tended to overload in the midfield because I thought that was the area that was most important in terms of the way Barcelona play &#8211; the game could be decided there &#8211; and the work you need in that central area.
    "I only had the one defender to have options in midfield and wide, so it came down to a choice between Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov. If you're looking for someone to nick a goal in the last few minutes, with Owen's experience, that's why I took that decision."

 
Everton to land Barton as Toon go for Cabaye

Published 22:50 28/05/11 By Alan Oliver




A full version of this story appears in today's People. Read it online at People.co.uk
Joey Barton seems set to achieve his boyhood ambition of playing for Everton.
A host of clubs including Aston Villa and Bayern Munich went on red alert when talks between Barton and Newcastle United broke down this week.
But the Toon are ready to accept a £4million bid for their 28-year-old midfielder &#8211; and it will be a case of third time lucky for Blues' boss David Moyes, who has twice gone close to signing the Huyton-born once-capped midfielder.
 
Is De Gea the guy to replace van der Sar or will he be another Taibi?
By David McDonnell
Published 08:56 27/05/11

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For a manager with such an impressive track record of buying and discovering top players over a quarter of a century, Sir Alex Ferguson's record when it comes to goalkeepers is chequered to say the least.
Between Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar, arguably the two greatest goalkeepers in Manchester United's history, Ferguson has been responsible for recruiting men simply not up to the task.

Mark Bosnich, Paul Rachubka, Massimo Taibi, Fabien Barthez, Raimond van der Gouw, Andy Goram, Roy Carroll, Tim Howard, Ricardo and Nick Culkin all wore the gloves in the six years between between Schmeichel's 1999 departure and Van der Sar's arrival.
 
Allardyce agrees Hammers deal

Published 23:00 28/05/11 By Dave Kidd




A full version of this story appears in today's People. Read it online at People.co.uk
Sam Allardyce last night confirmed he'll take charge of West Ham this week &#8211; with a £1million incentive to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Allardyce held talks with Upton Park owners David Gold and David Sullivan last week and a £1.5m-a-year deal was agreed, with a £1m bonus payable if he wins promotion.
Lawyers acting for both sides are currently drawing up contracts and Allardyce said last night: "Everything has been agreed in principle and I look forward to taking charge after I have had a family holiday."
 
Chelsea determined to land Pep after night of glory

Published 23:00 28/05/11 By Paul Smith




Pep Guardiola inspired a football masterclass as Barcelona proved they are the best team in the world last night.
It was their second *Champions League triumph under Guardiola's astute management.
And the 40-year-old *Catalan hero will now face a massive personal dilemma.
Roman Abramovich, *Chelsea's billionaire owner, is prepared to break the bank to land Guardiola as his club's next boss.

Abramovich, who has made winning Europe's *premier club trophy his Holy Grail, is determined to get his man.
On the evidence of this night of Wembley glory, you can see why. Even though Guardiola has signed a *12-month extension to his current contract with *Barcelona, rumours are rife that his head is being turned by Chelsea's interest.
He added fuel to the fire in the countdown to this final by refusing to discuss his long-term future at the Nou Camp and commit *himself beyond last night's epic encounter.
And even though Guardiola insisted after Barcelona lifted the trophy that he would "stay another year, then we'll see", he could still be persuaded by the challenge of Chelsea.
Guardiola has told close friends that he wants to *manage in England.
Only two clubs interest him &#8211; Chelsea and Manchester United. He has deep reservations about *stepping into the *United job when Ferguson *finally steps down *because he feels it's a no-win *situation.
Dutchman Guus Hiddink, head coach of *Turkey, is not Abramovich's prime target.
United gave it their best shot against Guardiola's side and tried to present the Spanish champions with a different set of problems to when they cruised past United 2-0 in the 2009 Final.
For spells United were more competitive this time.
Overall, though, the *Premier League champions were well beaten &#8211; again.
Pedro fired the Catalans ahead on 27 minutes. Wayne Rooney hauled United back into the final with a clinical finish seven minutes later.
But in the second half, *Lionel Messi exploited *United's *tiring defence to score one and set one up for David Villa.
United boss Sir Alex *Ferguson admitted: "This is the best team we have ever played.
"They are at the peak in this cycle of their team
"We were beaten by the best team in Europe and there is no shame in that.
"Tonight was their night."
England *international *defender Rio Ferdinand said: "We gave it better shot than two years ago.
"We believed we could win after we drew level, but they hit us with a sucker punch after half-time.
"A couple of their goals were preventable, but I have never faced a team that keeps the ball like they do."
United skipper Nemanja Vidic added: "They played very well. But we wanted to win, we feel disappointed.
"Barcelona played some good football and they had more chances than we did and we have to say they were better than us.
"If you look at it, we have never played a team in the past like Barcelona, they played good football and *deserved to win.
"We tried to press high and in some parts of the game we did well. The goals we lost, we didn't do what we have to do to close their players down. When they have time on the ball, they can make the final pass and that is what they did."
Amid the bitter disappointment of losing this spectacular finale to the European club season lay a brutal reality in the shape of how good *Guardiola's team really is.
Graeme Souness, skipper of Liverpool's European *conquering team of the Eighties, said: "Barcelona are a special team, the best I have seen. How to stop them? *No-one has the answer to that question.
"United won the Premier League, but they were made to look average tonight."
 
AC milan iko ktk majadiliano ya kumsajiri mshambulia wa klabu ya Bayern Munich mjerumani Miloslav Klose mweye umrei wa miaka 32 lakini ana uwezo wa kuzifumania nyavu kuliko hao wenye miaka 25 na kurudi nyuma...
Kama dili itakwenda sawa basi atakuwa ni mshambuliaji mwingine wa kijerumani kuichezea timu hii baada ya Oliver Bierholf kutamba na Mabingwa hawa wa italia ambao pia wanaongoza kwa mafanikio duniani
 

Champions League final: Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson plans Manchester United overhaul to catch Barcelona

&#8226; Sir Alex Ferguson will stay for 'at least three years'
&#8226; Jack Rodwell and Ashley Young among transfer targets



  • Daniel Taylor
  • The Guardian, Monday 30 May 2011 <li class="history">Article history Sir Alex Ferguson leads his Manchester United team after their defeat by Barcelona at Wembley. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto

    Sir Alex Ferguson, who is reeling from what he said was the worst "hiding" he had suffered as Manchester United's manager, is planning to stay at Old Trafford long enough to oversee an overhaul of personnel, aimed at dismantling Barcelona's European dynasty.
    Ferguson, who will be 70 this year, is approaching the 25th anniversary of his appointment. But the most successful manager in the game still sees himself as being in the job on a long-term basis and has told United that only his health will prevent him from working.
    Instead the manager is going to break up his squad in what promises to be a summer of change at Old Trafford, with up to 10 players on their way out. The Glazer family have told Ferguson that he will be given substantial funds with which to purchase replacements.
    It is nearly 10 years since Ferguson announced a plan to retire, only to change his mind and talk of nearly having made "the biggest mistake of my life". His spending this summer will be designed to close the gap on a Barcelona side whose masterclass of passing at Wembley strengthened their claim to be recognised as the greatest club side ever.
    The task will be a significant one but Ferguson sees himself working at Old Trafford for at least three years, according to one of his closest allies in the game. The aim in that time will be to catch and overhaul Barcelona. Ferguson may be encouraged that Pep Guardiola, the Barcelona manager, indicated after his team's 3-1 win on Saturday that he would stay at the Camp Nou for one more season. Guardiola, the youngest manager to win the European Cup twice, is being seen at Old Trafford as a candidate to manage United but that time seems far away. Ferguson's attitude to his career could be sensed in a recent conversation with an associate, in which he said that "once the brain stops working, you are on the road to death".
    United's rebuilding was a necessity before the Champions League final, with Edwin van der Sar joining Gary Neville in retirement and Owen Hargreaves being released from his contract.
    Ferguson must establish whether Paul Scholes is to end his playing career and if, as is increasingly expected, that is the case, one idea is for the former England midfielder to take control of the reserve team.
    Even if Scholes can be persuaded to continue, however, Ferguson is aware of the need to bring in a top central midfielder. United admire Wesley Sneijder but are not certain an agreement with Internazionale will materialise. Luka Modric of Tottenham Hotspur has also been discussed at length.
    A £17m deal has been put in place for David de Gea, Atlético Madrid's Spain Under-21 goalkeeper, and talks are at an advanced stage with Lens about an £8m move for the 18-year-old centre-half Raphaël Varane. Ferguson also believes that Jack Rodwell has the necessary attributes to flourish at Old Trafford, if he can be lured away from Everton.
    Ashley Young of Aston Villa is another target. United made inquiries about signing Young in the January transfer window and are now competing with Liverpool for his signature.
    Ferguson must also decide whether to offer Michael Owen a new contract. Dimitar Berbatov presents a different problem. The Bulgarian finished as the Premier League's joint top scorer with 20 goals but he did not make the squad against Barcelona. Berbatov did not sit with the other players who were not in Ferguson's 18-man squad and he is thought to have watched the match in the changing room.
    Asked about reports that Berbatov had left Wembley early, the striker's agent, Emil Danchev, said: "It's nonsense. Mitko [Berbatov] was at Wembley and watched the game. There is nothing to say. Let us take a few days."
    United are encouraged by the development of their FA Youth Cup-winning side, particularly Ravel Morrison, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Paul Pogba. Senior players who could leave include Tomasz Kuszczak, Wes Brown, Gabriel Obertan, Bébé and Darron Gibson.
    Nani, the club's player of the year, said after the Champions League final that he would be at Old Trafford next season but the winger is known to be open-minded about the possibility of a transfer.

 
Juve plan shock swoop for United's Valencia

Published 22:45 28/05/11 By Tom Hopkinson




A full version of this story appears in today's People. Read it online at People.co.uk
Juventus are set to make a shock bid for Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia.
United have been made aware of the Italian giant's initial interest and sporting director Giuseppe Marotta is set to make a formal £13million offer within the next week. But Juve will get no joy out of United who paid Wigan around £16m for the Ecuadorian back in 2009.
Juve would also like to take United's Brazilian defender Rafael, 20, on a loan deal.
 
Guardiola hints he's ready to quit Barcelona

Published 23:01 29/05/11 By John Cross




Pep Guardiola is set to become Europe's most wanted man after revealing he will spend just one more year at Barcelona.
Guardiola insists he will honour the 12-month contract he signed recently with the Champions League winners, but is then anxious to work in a different country.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is among those who would love to lure Guardiola away from Barca.
But with the 41-year-old - one of a handful of men to have lifted the European Cup with Barcelona as a player and manager - adamant that won't happen this summer, managerless Chelsea will instead turn to Guus Hiddink in the next week."I feel privileged to have these players. Everyone has worked towards this. We are very happy.
"But I have to look inside me. I am happy to be here as coach of these guys, but it is not an easy job.
"In England it can be 25 years, in Spain it is impossible. They are different ways. For him [Alex Ferguson, boss of beaten finalists Manchester United] to be manager for 25 years and create new teams and new teams, he has my admiration. I know it is difficult.
"If you play this football [like Barcelona], you need these players. At another club maybe I would have a problem to find these kind of players."
 
Berbatov to get golden boot after Wembley axe

Published 23:01 29/05/11 By David McDonnell




Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to sell Dimitar Berbatov after ruthlessly axing him from the Champions League final.
Berbatov was stunned when Ferguson told the Premier League's joint top scorer and Golden Boot winner this season that he was not even on the bench for the showdown with Barcelona.
After his humiliating snub, Berbatov is determined to quit Old Trafford, and Ferguson is willing to listen to offers for United's record £30.75million signing - who is now worth around £10m.
Ferguson is understood to be considering using Berbatov in a player-plus-cash swap deal with the striker's former club, Tottenham, to land his top summer transfer target - creative midfielder Luka Modric.Berbatov has one season left on his contract, although United have a one-way option to extend it by a further 12 months. But after his brutal treatment at Wembley, Berbatov is ready to end his three-year stint at Old Trafford.
Being left out of the squad to face Barca - at the expense of Michael Owen, who made just four starts all season - has convinced the 30-year-old that Ferguson no longer has faith in him.
With Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez established as United's first-choice strike partnership, and Danny Welbeck returning from a productive loan spell at Sunderland, Berbatov knows there is no future for him at Old Trafford.
Berbatov, who scored 20 Premier League goals this season, was so hurt by his omission by Ferguson he did not sit with the rest of the United squad in the area behind the subs' bench on Saturday or go onto the pitch to commiserate with his team-mates at the final whistle.
Ferguson denied Berbatov had left Wembley in a huff, claiming he had been in the dressing-room at the end of the game as United collected their runners'-up medals and Barca were presented with the trophy.
Explaining his decision to axe Berbatov, Fergie said: "I overloaded the bench with midfielders because I felt that was the area that was most important in terms of the way Barcelona play.
"I gambled by selecting only one defender [on the bench] to allow me to give me as many options in midfield and the wide position with Nani. So it came down to a choice between Owen and Berbatov.
"My view on that was if you're looking for someone to nick a goal in the last few minutes of a game, then Owen's experience is why I took that decision."
United midfielder Nani, who was also left out of the starting line-up, said he sympathised with Berbatov.
"It's very hard for him, but the manager has to make a decision," said Nani. "When I wasn't playing, maybe 18 months ago, I was in a different position to him because I was still young.
"I was 21 and I knew I had a lot of time to learn, to improve and get my place back in the team. For him, I don't know what he has in mind but everyone knows he's a fantastic player.
"He's scored a lot of goals and I would like him to stay next season."
United are hoping to sign Aston Villa winger Ashley Young this week.
Young, who has one year left on his contract with Villa, is one of Ferguson's summer targets and is poised to move to United in a £12m deal.
 
Sir Alex Ferguson needs fresh injection of youth to compete with best

Manchester United have come up short against the best in Europe in the key midfield battleground, an area where Barcelona's home-grown talent is concentrated



  • Ravel Morrison, a member of United's successful youth team, has been tipped to graduate to the senior side. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images

    Gracious in severely hurtful defeat at the hands of a team he described as the best Manchester United have faced during his time at the club, Sir Alex Ferguson searched for a sliver of light in the darkness. "Great teams do go in cycles," he said of Barcelona, "and they're at the peak of the cycle they're in at the moment."
    Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Busquets, Puyol, Piqué, Valdés: all products of La Masía, Barcelona's academy, where the teachers might adapt the celebrated Jesuit maxim to read: give me a child at the age of 12 and I will give you the man. Some cycle, anyway, if that is what it is. Compare and contrast the generation on whose youthful talents United surfed to their present eminence, the one that produced Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers on the old training ground at the Cliff, and whose last remaining survivors made somewhat forlorn appearances at Wembley on Saturday.
    A cycle, Ferguson said, but he knows better than anyone that the successors to his own Class of '92 &#8211; named for their success in that year's FA Youth Cup &#8211; have yet to make their appearance. That sudden blossoming of gifted youngsters provided an echo of the group nurtured in the early 1950s, the generation of Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton, who won the youth trophy five years in a row and formed the basis of Matt Busby's Babes. That's a long, long cycle for a club that demands success.
    Ferguson was among the crowd last Monday night when United's latest crop won this season's Youth Cup with a very convincing 4-1 victory against Sheffield United at Old Trafford, repeating the 6-3 aggregate beating they had handed out to Chelsea's gilded youngsters in the semi&#8209;final. Plenty of cause for optimism there, you might think, except that when United last won the trophy, in 2003, it was with a side containing no players destined to make substantial careers in the first team (the closest candidates were Phil Bardsley, Chris Eagles and Kieran Richardson). And of the team with which they last reached the final, in 2007, only Danny Welbeck, who has just spent the season on loan at Sunderland, still looks to have a chance of establishing himself.
    So will any of the Class of '11 make it all the way through the unforgiving process of natural selection? Ravel Morrison, 18 years old, is prodigiously gifted and could be said to have something of Wayne Rooney about him, not just in his instinct for damaging the opposition but also in a personal indiscipline which saw him in court again last week. Paul Pogba, a Vieira-like influence in the central areas, and Ryan Tunnicliffe, a more muscular midfielder, could also make the transition to line up alongside Javier Hernández, Chris Smalling and the Da Silva brothers, young acquisitions from elsewhere, in a future United first team. Most of the rest will simply disperse.
    United's supporters have always made a fetish of home-grown products, but like most big clubs their best sides have included top players imported from elsewhere: Albert Quixall from Sheffield Wednesday, Denis Law from Torino, Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion, and so on, all the way to Rooney, the team's only real success on Saturday night, and Dimitar Berbatov, the principal casualty. If the balance has been swinging in that direction at Old Trafford in recent seasons, it must be because the academy output is not of sufficient quality.
    The products of La Masía are at the very heart of Barcelona's line-up. The imports &#8211; David Villa, Eric Abidal, Dani Alves &#8211; are placed around the fringes of the team structure. The heart of the formation is what counts, and it is there that Ferguson can be said to have failed when it comes to competition against the very best.
    You can win England's domestic trophies with a midfield permed from Scholes, Giggs, Anderson, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Darron Gibson, and you can even get to the final of the European Cup, but only in a lucky year, when your opponents in the final have somehow slipped through quality control (or when, as in 2008, they are another Premier League team), will you win the competition by which the continent's elite clubs define themselves. Ferguson was unlucky with Fletcher's fitness last week, but Giggs and Carrick were unable to make a greater impression on the game than they had managed in Rome two years ago, even in a formation rejigged from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2.
    During the buildup last week Ferguson spoke of United's 4-0 defeat at the hands of Johan Cruyff's Barcelona in 1994 as something of a turning point for his side, the moment at which they began to shed their naivety and take the steps that led to the treble of 1998-99. The 69-year-old's time is necessarily more limited now, but he may hope to use the disappointment of Saturday as another launching pad.
    Since the arrival of the widely detested Glazers six years ago, United have been saddled with £478m of debt while paying out £369m in fees and interest. Thanks to the miracle of capitalism, however, their current account contains £170m, an unknown proportion of which will be available for Ferguson to spend. Now, having won the Premier League at a canter but finished the season on a note of anticlimax, he could do with a big, bold capture.
    Some of the game's hot young properties, such as Ganso and Neymar of Santos, Edinson Cavani of Napoli and Anderlecht's Romelu Lukaku, are earmarked for other top Champions League clubs, while rumoured midfield targets such as Wesley Sneijder and Luka Modric, excellent players though they are, do not quite fire the imagination. Most of all, however, as he approaches the 25th anniversary of his arrival at the club, Ferguson could do with another turn of the cycle, sharpish.

 
Tottenham in £40million race for Rossi

Published 23:01 29/05/11 By Alan Nixon - EXCLUSIVE




Barcelona will beat Tottenham to the signing of former Manchester United reserve Giuseppe Rossi in a staggering £40million deal.
The Champions League winners hope to tie up the stunning move for Villarreal's Italian international striker in the next couple of weeks and dash Spurs' dreams.
Rossi was the target of a £32million offer from Tottenham in the last window and supremo Daniel Levy was holding out hope that the forward would say yes in the summer.
However, Barca have now opened talks with Villarreal over their prolific forward, who has grown in stature since leaving Old Trafford as a kid, and they expect to get their man shortly.Barca will make space for Rossi in their attack despite buying David Villa last summer and the emergence of Pedro this past season - and the player is willing to take his chances in such exalted company.
Villarreal are already planning to spend the Rossi fee on two or three new players, and will still have some money left over.
 
Tate ready to complete Swansea's rags-to-riches rise

Published 23:00 29/05/11 By Mike Walters - EXCLUSIVE




Swansea are just 90 minutes from hanging a £90million masterpiece in the Tate gallery at Wembley.
Championship play-off finals are not always works of art, but for Swans defender Alan Tate today's showdown with Reading is worth more than all the Monet in the world.
Just eight years after playing in a win-or-bust rumble on the Mumbles that saved Swansea from plunging out of the League, Tate has a chance to complete football's ultimate rags-to-riches journey.
In 2003, when the Swans were a load of Jackson Pollocks, they scrambled aboard the lifeboat with a 4-2 win against Hull on the last day of term, leaving Exeter shipwrecked in the Conference.But Tate has since served under a succession of old masters - Kenny Jackett, Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers - and Swansea, by common consent the most artistic side in the Championship this season, are now at the gateway to the Premier League.
He said: "I can remember the gut-wrenching tension, the front page headline of the local paper reading &#8216;24 Hours To Save Our Swans', and the consequences of losing that game do not even bear thinking about.
"When we came out for the warm-up, the ground was already full, and by kick-off there were people hanging out of windows and perched on ladders or rooftops.
"We were 90 minutes from either a party or a wake - nothing in between, no middle ground. Going out of the League would have been disastrous for Swansea's future, in fact there might not have been a future.
"If anyone had told me that, eight years later, we would be 90 minutes away from the Premier League, nobody would have taken it seriously, but no other club in the country has come further than us in such a short period.
"Whatever happens at Wembley, it will be a fantastic achievement for everyone at the club, but the best way to enjoy the day is by winning.
"I know what it feels like to be in the losers' dressing room after a play-off final. We lost against Barnsley in 2006 at the Millennium stadium, and nobody felt the pain more than me because I missed our last penalty in the shoot-out.
"Leon Britton, Garry Monk and myself have been here since the League Two days - we've witnessed the highs and lows, and although losing that play-off final was a real low, it was nowhere near rock-bottom."
Tate began his career at Manchester United but left without making a first-team appearance after two loan spells in the land of hit film A Fish Called Rhondda.
He added: "When I went back to Old Trafford the second time, I plucked up the courage to go and ask the manager if I had a future.
"Sir Alex Ferguson was honest enough to answer, &#8216;You might get a Carling Cup game, but that's all' - so I told Sir Alex if that was all he could promise, it was best if I moved on, and he agreed.
"They had just signed Rio Ferdinand, who was the most expensive footballer in Britain at the time, so I knew the writing was on the wall and I still speak to Sir Alex when I go back to United. It would be fantastic to return next season as a Premier League player with Swansea."
For Rodgers, bombed out by Reading just six months after the Royals head-hunted him from Watford, the richest game of club football in the world represents a big chance to leave behind his tag as Jose Mourinho's protege at Chelsea,
Rodgers worked for three years under the Special One's regime at Stamford Bridge, and the connection has stuck like a limpet since he broke into management in 2008.
But he insisted: "I've been privileged to work with some great managers in my career, both British and European, and it's disrespectful to say I modelled myself as a coach on only one of them.
"Of course it was a fantastic experience to work with Jose at Chelsea, but when the opportunity comes along to become a manager in your own right, you've still got to prove you can handle top players.
"I understand the link with Jose, but when people talk about mentors, my biggest mentor is myself and I know what is at stake here.
"I was at Reading as a young reserve player in 1995 when they went to Wembley and lost, and I remember people walking out afterwards saying, &#8216;Never mind, next year could be our year' - but it took them 10 years to go up.
"Before the game I will tell the players to take this opportunity if they can, but above all my last words to them before they go out will be to tell them how proud I am of them, no matter what the result.
"Having nearly gone out of the League eight years ago, no club would have been more deserving of Premier League football after picking itself off its knees. It's been a magic carpet ride."
PROBABLE TEAMS
READING: Federici, Griffin, Mills, Khizanishvili, Harte, McAnuff, Cummings, Leigertwood, Karacan, Hunt, Long.
SWANSEA: De Vries, Rangel, Tate, Monk, Williams, Sinclair, Allen, Britton, Dyer, Borini, Dobbie.
 
Champions League final: Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United

Five lessons that Manchester United failed to learn against Barcelona

Sir Alex Ferguson and his team made their task harder with tactical errors in the Wembley final



  • Sachin Nakrani
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 May 2011 19.14 BST <li class="history">Article history The Barcelona right-back Dani Alves was allowed to run free by Manchester United, and particularly Park Ji-sung. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

    Failed to stop Dani Alves marauding forward


    Of all the errors Sir Alex Ferguson made in the 2009 final, few were greater than deploying Wayne Rooney on the left wing. Not only was the forward ineffective out there but he failed to help curb Barcelona's attacking threats from full-back. On Saturday, the principal figure in that area was Dani Alves, who is renowned for spending more time in the opposition's half than his own and adds greatly to the relentless nature of his team's play. This time, Park Ji-sung was stationed wide left and it was felt he could not only pin back Alves, but also exploit the Brazilian's defensive frailties. But Park was overwhelmed, allowing Alves to run free and add to the state of siege United found themselves under during the second half.
    Ferdinand did not harass Messi enough


    When a player's skills are as captivating as Lionel Messi's it is perhaps futile trying to come up with a plan to stop him; but what is certain is that the forward operates best when allowed time and space between the opposition's back line and midfield. As he dropped into that area Rio Ferdinand needed to go with him, using his pace and agility to harass the Argentinian whenever he was in possession and force him away from goal. It would have been a brave move but given Barcelona are not prone to playing balls over the top, it would not have badly exposed United's defence. Ferdinand, though, was passive, allowing Messi, as he had done in Rome, to score the goal that put United on the rack. Unsurprisingly, he struck from just outside the area.
    No one had task of keeping Sergio Busquets quiet


    He may be the least heralded of Barcelona's midfield trio but Sergio Busquets has a key part to play in the functioning of the side, picking up possession from deep and, with simple regularity, passing it on to the more creative Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. Keeping him quiet would have disrupted Barcelona's rhythm from the outset, but no one in United's central area, whether Rooney, Ryan Giggs or Michael Carrick, did so to a sufficient degree, allowing a player who has demonstrated he can become irritated if put under pressure to dictate proceedings. He played a small role in Barcelona's first goal and a key one in their third, winning the ball and laying it off to David Villa to bury United's hopes.
    The men in white allowed themselves to lose belief


    There are many clubs, at home and abroad, who can testify to United's refusal to roll over and die. Under Ferguson they have developed a well-earned reputation for coming from behind, so much so that it is often said the worst thing opponents can do is take the lead against this team; it just makes them angrier. But twice now in two years these men of resolute spirit have been crushed by Barcelona, losing not only the tactical battle but also the psychological one. United never looked like recovering after going behind to Samuel Eto'o's opening goal in the 2009 final and, despite cancelling out Pedro's 27th&#8209;minute strike on Saturday through Rooney, did not appear capable of repeating the feat once Messi made it 2-1. A complex appears to have formed in Rome and, after Wembley, may be difficult to shift.
    A top midfielder has not been signed since Rome

    It is accepted that this is not a vintage United side and nowhere is the relative lack of quality more apparent than in midfield. The 1999 treble winners were imperious in that area but, more than a decade on, Barcelona's own central powers exposed those charged with filling the void left by Roy Keane, David Beckham and, in their peak years, Paul Scholes and Giggs. After Rome, and following Cristiano Ronaldo's departure to Real Madrid, Ferguson needed to invest, but instead he stuck by the likes of Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and the ageing Scholes and Giggs. Wembley showed the folly of that decision as Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta yet again reigned supreme.

 


Dimitar Berbatov faces an uncertain future after conspicuous absence

Manchester United must decide whether to cash in on the Bulgarian striker with 12 months to run on his contract




  • Dimitar Berbatov faces an uncertain future after missing out on the Champions League final squad. Photograph: John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

    The question for Dimitar Berbatov is of what happens next and, trying to break down that brick wall he builds around himself, whether there is any appetite remaining to try to scorch the sense that this felt like the final act of his time as a Manchester United player.
    As many footballers can testify, there is usually one direction for those who are shown towards the exit at Old Trafford, especially when Sir Alex Ferguson is standing at the door, holding your coat. That direction is down and it is the only way Berbatov will be heading if all the assumptions are correct and this was the denouement of three eccentric years which have left us all in knots about whether to be bewitched or bewildered by what he does on a football field.
    It is not an easy thing to explain how a man who was presented with the golden boot award for finishing alongside Carlos Tevez as the Premier League's most prolific scorer cannot even warrant a place among the substitutes for one of the most cherished nights of all.
    When that man is supplanted by someone who has been selected for one league start all season, it can lead us to only one conclusion: Ferguson has lost whatever trust he once had in Berbatov to have any real impact on those matches when it needs a player with a certain mind-set to grab the occasion.
    Michael Owen was hooked at half-time on that one occasion when he made the team at Sunderland, almost eight months ago now. In total he has started six league games in two years. But Ferguson had the choice of him or Berbatov and it was the club's record signing who was asked to a one-on-one meeting last week, thanked for his efforts then sent to the guillotine.
    This was the equivalent of deciding that the expensive, shiny jacket that looked so good in the shop does not actually go with anything else in the wardrobe. Berbatov cost £30.75m when he signed from Tottenham Hotspur. Ferguson described him as a genius, someone who would compare with Eric Cantona, and yet here was the Bulgarian, on the biggest stage in club football, wearing a suitably grey suit, polished shoes and the expression you would normally see on a man who has just found his car has been keyed.
    We can only guess where he watched the match – or if, indeed, he did. Berbatov was in the dressing room at half-time and, again, after the match, and the suggestion is he watched it on television. He certainly did not take his seat in the stand and, by the time the ordeal was almost done and the players were milling about on the pitch, waiting for their coronation as losers, he was still nowhere to be seen as the other squad members walked out on to the grass, trying to find the right words for their team-mates. His motives are not clear, whether this was his way of registering disgust or if it was simply a case of wanting to be alone with his thoughts. Perhaps it was a bit of both. Whatever his thinking, by not being there (and he was not at the club's post-match function either) he simply made himself even more conspicuous.
    Part of the issue is that Berbatov has always seemed prone to insecurity and punishing self-analysis even in those periods when he is in the team. Does he have the mental fortitude to come back from an experience so crushing? Or does he reluctantly concede it is now blindingly obvious he is not seen as the player for these occasions?
    Berbatov will always have his admirers but the truth is you have to go back 20 Champions League matches, to October 2008, and 1,134 minutes of game time to find his last goal in the competition, in a group tie against Celtic. Berbatov has started 25 out of United's 55 "big" games in his three seasons at the club – "big" meaning finals and semi&#8209;finals, Champions League knockout ties, plus the Club World Cup and league matches against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Spurs. Deadly against Blackburn Rovers, discarded against Barcelona.
    Ferguson described it as "a heartache, not an easy thing to do", but United's manager has never shied away from making the difficult decisions. Now there is another one. The club could get a fee for Berbatov this summer, whereas he is out of contract at the end of next season. United can either take the "one-way" option they wrote into the original deal to extend it by 12 months or they can decide that, if they are to make up some of the ground between themselves and Barcelona, they cannot carry someone who has ceased to contribute at this level.
    The paradox is this has been the most productive of Berbatov's three seasons in Manchester, with 20 league goals compared with 12 and nine in the previous two years. He is the first United player to score a hat-trick against Liverpool since 1946 and the first to manage three in a single season since Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2002-03.
    Berbatov has fiddled with our minds, enthralled us, disappointed us,exhilarated and exasperated but in the years to come it may be that the game for which he is always remembered came on a Saturday night in London when he never even had to lace his boots.

 
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