February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
“I looked up before I got on the ball and saw the keeper coming out,” he said. “He stopped to check his run, I pick the ball up, and, lucky for me, it went in.”
His run clearly caught the Boro defense at sea. Up the ball sailed over the keeper’s head and in it dropped from the sky with perfect marksmanship.
“Precision” is what United’s manager, Alex Ferguson, said of Rooney’s first goal.
But Rooney’s second and United’s third left Ferguson speechless as the manager exhaled with exhilaration. It was an absolute gem and you’ll see both goals again and again with the second in contention for goal of the year already.
Irish fans were also treated to a rare goal by John O’Shea, who opened the scoring for United. The big man is plugging away to get his place back and his contribution in this game will not go unnoticed.
Putting O’Shea at midfield for United against Celtic back in the summer of 2004 in the States was an interesting maneuver by Ferguson, and it showcased the athlete’s flexibility. But United has bought a more compact fullback in Gabriel Heinze. O’Shea is a fantastic backup for the left full position, but Heinze is preferred by Ferguson.
There was a spell when O’Shea’s distribution was hurting him. He’s that kind of player. His big lanky efforts also seem to get the run of the ball when he is dribbling. No doubt there is weaknesses in his game, as with all players. But O’Shea is versatile, he showed it in that Celtic game. He looks like the ideal squad player at Old Trafford. Ferguson will gladly keep him there. Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer will testify to what that’s like to come off the bench for the Red Devils as a career. All teams need such players. Ole has stayed the course whereas O’Shea has just begun.
Recently, O’Shea has assured that Old Trafford is the place for him, that he is happy there and looking to go nowhere else. He may well change his tune if he goes missing in action again. It is no secret that Ferguson is a big fan and has predicted that O’Shea will be a great player at Manchester. That could change very rapidly because United will need to buy a world-class central midfielder to replace fellow Irishman Roy Keane. When Keane is not playing the Reds seem disjointed. The same could be said for Rio Ferdinand, but Rio has a long way to go to match Keane’s feats as a captain and player for the club.
O’Shea, Jose Kleberson, Djemba Djemba and other midfielders at the club are not quite the world-class player Keane is. In fact, Djemba is on his way to Aston Villa as we go into press. United need to take a close look at what happened to Celtic when their superstar left. It seems Celtic are not the same outfit. They sure did not go out and buy a potential replacement for Henrik Larsson.
Some say Larsson should never have gone to Spain. He was getting European football with the Hoops, wasn’t he? It was thought he wanted to retire, but once the Spanish giants came knocking, well, who can turn away Barcelona? Parkhead has moved on, but Martin O’Neill has yet to find someone to fill Larsson’s shoes. United are in a similar position with Keano, the only difference being Ferguson gets who he wants, while O’Neill does not because money remains an obstacle at Celtic.
It’s not that Celtic can be written off in the CL. They are in a great position to win automatic qualification and return to CL. Their experience in Europe will stand by them when it comes to the run-in for the league title. Anything less at Parkhead will force the money holders to spend. They have gotten away with not overspending, which is certainly the case in replacing Larsson. OK, he may be difficult to replace, but fans need to see a few new names arrive at the club.
Meanwhile, the Swedish striker it out for the season at Barca after tearing knee ligaments back in November. Barca was kicking themselves when the disappointing news broke as they had just loaned out Javier Saviola to Monaco at the start of the season. Poor old Larsson must be wondering if he should have stayed in Glasgow. Yes, he did come back after breaking his leg with Celtic, but he was a few years younger. Celtic was also praying for his return.
In Spain, however, and with Barca on a roll, time waits for no player, injured or not. Barcelona it’s believed are buying River Plate striker Maxi Lopez. He’s only 20 and the price is said to be $7.8 million.
The Spaniards are flying after scoring four goals against Sevilla, who was unbeaten at home. It was also the first time Sevilla was shut out. So Barca are not just an attacking outfit. Scouts will have seen that Sevilla kept Barca keeper Victor Valdes on his toes. But the second-half response by Ronaldinho and Co. flabbergasted Sevilla and their fans.
Within 5 minutes of the halftime talk, Ronaldinho coasted down the left to set up Eto for the first goal. The Brazilian forward then scored Barca’s third goal to end the game as a contest. La Liga is by no means over but Real Madrid looks like the only team that can catch Barca. Real are 7 points behind while Valencia is 14. The biggest game to arrive at Barcelona’s Nou Camp will be on Feb. 23, when Jose Mourihno returns with a formidable Chelsea team. It’s a feast of Champions League football that day when Manchester united play AC Milan, Porto tackle Inter Milan, and Werder Bremen take on French darkhorse Lyon.