JossWhite arrows show defensive movement, yellow offensive.

With Rooney sitting on Barcelona's Sergio Busquets (the player who starts nearly all of his side's attacks and provides a crucial get out of jail option for Xavi and Iniesta), and Giggs and Carrick zonal marking Xavi and Iniesta respectively, Barcelona's creativity is partly stifled.

Park can do a job on the left, helping to restrict Dani Alves and moving inside when Utd have the ball, allowing Evra to overlap.

Crucially with a 4-4-1-1, Hernandez's pace and role as a modern "poacher" forces the opposition to defend deeper and could give Utd a huge advantage if it were to either limit their opposition's fluidity (in moving the ball from defence to midfield) or allow them to snatch a goal on the break.

25.05.2011

JimmyGuitaristI don't think Xavi or Iniesta can be stopped. You can do everything just to focus on stopping them two, but then you have Messi. There movement is so good, that if Man U were to zonal-mark, man-mark or whatever, Xavi and Iniesta will just move higher up the pitch or drop deeper, or something, to create more space for Messi; but then, how can you stop any of there players? I don't think Man U can stop Barca playing the way they play, but I do think that Man U could definitely win through a counter-attack, or a set-piece or something.

25.05.2011