Ferguson Knows Best:We should probably know by now that it is never wise to make a knee-jerk judgment on the occasions when Alex Ferguson shocks us with his team.
Ferguson invariably gets it right, yet it was something approaching outrage when the line-ups were announced. Nine of the players from the first leg had been left out.
John O’Shea was captain and the central-defensive partnership of Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans invited memories of the 4-0 League Cup defeat at West Ham.
Yes, it was a risk, but a calculated one and Ferguson will have Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick fresh for Sunday.
Tweet Again, Gibson
There have been times this season when Darron Gibson has been the player the Old Trafford crowd trust the least. This is a man who lasted only 97 minutes on Twitter before the abuse prompted him to close his account.
Okay, his shot that beat Manuel Neuer in the Schalke goal was a fluke, but it demonstrated Gibson’s reputation as the best long-distance striker of a ball at the club, whereas the pass for Valencia’s goal was one of the game’s outstanding moments.
Guardiola’s Wasted Trip
The Barcelona manager was hot from his side’s emotional semi-final win over Real Madrid the night before and sat in the front row of the VIP seats at Old Trafford, but the notebook he had in his hand before kick-off quickly disappeared into his inside pocket.
Pep Guardiola could at least jot down a few scribblings about the in-form Antonio Valencia, but there is a strong possibility that none of United’s other outfield players will be in the starting line-up at Wembley.
Scholes Needs To Think
Could this have been Paul Scholes’s last competitive start at Old Trafford? It’s not inconceivable. Scholes already has his testimonial in August, and the autobiography comes out in September.
There are only three Premier League games to go and the 36-year-old has still to inform United about whether he plans to accept a 12-month contract.
Scholes, however, demonstrated in patches here he is still a wonderful passer of the ball, long and short. One more year, you suspect, is not beyond him.
Neuer Is Not Superman
Gibson’s shot had the effect of Kryptonite on the most talked about goalkeeper in Europe, because this was the moment when Germany’s number one wilted before our eyes.
Ferguson had reiterated in his programme notes that Neuer’s performance in Gelsenkirchen was “arguably the finest goalkeeping display against us in Europe in my time” but that felt like a trick of the imagination in the 31st minute at Old Trafford.
