Portugal a better result for football than you might first think

Portugal did exactly the number on France that Greece had done to them twelve years ago. I was there in Lisbon to see a crestfallen Cristiano Ronaldo miss what I thought would be his one career opportunity to win a trophy for his country. 

Which is why I was so gutted for him to fall victim of a chancers tackle last night - but so chuffed he could scream "Vamos!" when lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy less than two hours later. 

Portugal might've won less matches than Wales this tournament but no nation can hold a candle to their durability and determination. Pepe was majestic in defence and embodied class disguised as drive. 

They have players of experience and quality playing throughout Europe and though Ronaldo is their standout superstar, they proved they're no one-man team. 

Remember, Portugal was the greatest football nation never to win a major trophy – until last night.

It's a better result for football than at first glance. 

Cristiano Ronaldo's deserved Ballon d'Or title

An emotional Cristiano 

Cristiano Ronaldo is the Ballon d'Or winner for the second time, winning the world's leading individual player's gong before and after four years of Lionel Messi dominance.

And few would deny the Real Madrid star's been the planet's best in the last twelve months. Messi's progress was hampered by hamstring injuries and though Franck Ribery won five titles as the best player in the best team, Ronnie remains the talisman who lights up the Bernabeu and Portugal every time he plays.

Who voted for who? This always makes interesting reading and as you skate down to England, coach and captain were united in Ron - but have a look at Stevie G's controversial choice for third!

Is Moyes really United's best option?

David Moyes needs a holiday.

Every kick on the touchline

The pasty-faced Scot could do with some sunshine before he becomes a pale imitation of the red one.

His appointment as Manchester United manager is a snapshot of the moment. United could, apparently, do no better than the sixth best manager in the Premier League; the universal acclaim with which his succession to the throne at Old Trafford has been greeted hides some uncomfortable truths.

His Champions League experience amounts to two games. Both 2-1 defeats in 2005 to, an admittedly very useful, Villareal. He has never won a trophy and the football Everton have played in his eleven years lacked flair, imagination and style. Functional, you might say.

Also swept under the astroturf are Everton’s habitual slow start and the exasperation of long suffering Evertonians. The failure to make much of an impression in the cups came to a head in March following the pathetic performance in the FA Cup quarter final defeat at home to Wigan. The reaction was rancorous.

Everton never won at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United while he was manager.

Sir Alex shared wine, drunk wine and sold wine.

Moyes is from Glasgow, a hard worker and, crucially, a mate of Sir Alex’s so these shortcomings were overlooked.

How wise it was to have allowed Sir Alex so much input in choosing his successor and make him a director as well as an ambassador remains to be seen.

Moyes, although respectful of his predecessor in a slightly fearful way, is strong enough to be his own man but will soon find himself compromised if every decision that has to ratified upstairs has to suit Sir Alex or face a veto.

The Glazers, who operate United in a parallel universe governed by the New York Stock Exchange, probably see the successor to chief executive and vice chairman David Gill as far more important in maintaining the brand. As long as they keep signing big name players - any stars will do - and winning trophies - any silverware will do - the sponsors will be happy. 

Brand = First Team + Silverware x History.

United should have cast aside sentiment and hired the best man they could for the job and that man is Jose Mourinho. They would also have had a better chance of luring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Manchester.

Ronaldo in a United shirt is as unlikely as this!

At the Bernabeu a couple of weeks ago I could see that any link between Ronaldo and United is ridiculous.

He runs the team and will be Real Madrid player next year, whoever's in the dugout as boss. The paper talk is nonsense as Ronaldo's outgrown United especially now Fergie's not in the dressing room.

He is a Latino and the focus of Real’s world. Why would he want to play for a dour tactician who will never extend the special treatment he receives at Real?

He knows where the sun shines and it is not in Manchester.

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Football is so Real in Madrid.

Galatasary know how to party

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O Lord, may I always feel the enthusiasm for a new footballing experience, however many games and grounds I go to.

I have been pre and post-Taylor in the Premier League and Division 1, seen iconic moments in a World Cup Final, Champions League and European Championship Finals, but my trip to the Bernabeu for the Champions League quarter-final between Real and Galatasaray shows me there is still more to experience.

Procuring a ticket from a hotel concierge the evening before (at near face value) is a lottery. Where would I end up in the ground? how many flights of stairs would I have to climb in this tower of power?

So imagine my pleasure when ´Fila 001´ meant ´Row 1´. Contra to my fears, I climbed downwards, not upwards - to the front row in the rather amusingly called ´Vomitorio´ seats.

Real fans at the other end. Loud and proud

I settled myself in front of the snappers and unsmiling stewards facing away pitchside and pondered, why on earth they´d want such a joyless job outnumbered by such passion?

And another thing: while Arsenal and Wembley and doubtless others proudly, corporately proclaim they´re non-smoking stadia, there´s none of that bullshit here. It´s outside.. so smoke! Even some of the stewards took a sly drag.

I actually own these images! Cool!

Arriving 45 minutes to kickoff, I was metres away from the huddle of Madrid superstars warming up, sprinting, stretching and taking shots at the keeper. Watching Cristiano Ronaldo sprint from a standing start is to watch an athlete with few peers.

To have a job where you´re required to be as agile as you can be, already bestowed with God given talents must be uplifting.

The game promised everything. Fatih Terim, the Galatasaray boss urged his players to leave the Bernabeu with at least a fighting chance of winning the tie at the famously hellish cauldron of Istanbul.

And why not show that ambition? For this was undoubtedly the highest quality, most international team ever to have emerged from Istanbul. Signing Sneijder was a coup, Drogba, a reigning and matchwinning European Champion leading the line with homegrown joint-topscorer Yilmaz. Gala could dare to dream.

But then there was Real. They may be about to relinquish the league title in a lacklustre domestic campaign infuriating Jose Mourinho, but in the Champions League, there´s little doubt they´re potential winners.

Cristiano is twice the player he was leaving Fergie´s tutelage at United. Watching him perform at this exceptionally high level week-in week-out is to marvel at his fitness, consistency and bravery.

But Real have an abundance of talent and don't need Ronaldo as the focal point in the final third. There's goals throughout the team and even on the bench.

Unfortunately for Gala, Real´s opener came too early to catch their breath. Ronaldo´s exquisite left-footed chip over the advancing keeper from Ozil´s pass put them ahead.

His muted "calm down" celebration says everything about his state of mind at 28. Watching Cristiano at the Bernabeu is to watch a man in control of himself. A mature leader and goalscorer.

The papers can talk all they want. He´s not leaving even if Jose is. His career at Real is slowly etching itself into the club´s illustrious Hall Of Fame. Winning the big one would certainly escalate him to Di Stefano, Puskas and Zidane sainthood.

2-0 Benzema must have been morale-crushing for the Turks. The cross was too high for Ronnie, but spare man Karim rustled it home at the far stick.

And any lingering hopes the tie could be salvaged back in Istanbul were extinguished by the third from sub Higuain from another routinely accurate free-kick by Xabi Alonso.

Alonso's setpieces are guided missiles: his free kicks win games. He's rested in lesser La Liga as a persistent groin injury blights the autumn of his career. No matter. He's exceptional.

And Essien may no longer be world-class since his layoff woes but venturing forward, reading the game and always looking for the probing pass still marks him out. He was Chelsea´s lynchpin in the Mourinho years and he´s still a top player.

Galatasaray can point to a terrible refereeing blunder which if the man in the middle had called it right, may have wrought them a priceless away goal.

Instead, Yilmaz ended in the book for diving when actually he´d been stamped on in the penalty area by Ramos. Harsh treatment indeed but few would argue with the result as Galatasaray lacked Madrid's mobility.

I was so moved by the professionalism and intensity of Madrid's play and Galatasaray's persistent attempt at shape despite adversity that the Champions League without English clubs now is a better competition for it.
Despite running away with the Premier League, Manchester United are at best the ninth team in Europe and in my opinion, Galatasaray would have had enough to beat them here.

We have a Little Englander view of Hispanics as prima donnas and cheats, but that's to ignore their inherent characteristics of togetherness, toughness, belligerence and style.

Drive down the road from the airport to the Bernabeu and know Real Madrid is a consequence of a city which is just as professional.

By royal patronage since the 1920´s and not for sale to any fit and proper person. More than any other, Real Madrid know who they are - and they wear the emperor´s clothes with panache.

soccermongery@jonnygould.com

listen to ‘#UCL anthem at the Bernabeu ’ on Audioboo

Will Ronaldo really quit Madrid for Manchester?

Manchester United are working on a stunning £55m deal to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford.

United aim to piece together a financial package which will become the new model for big contracts in European football. The  Daily Star understands the Ronaldo camp are looking at commercial ventures which would tie in with a Premier League return this summer.

With that plus the immoveable force that is Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Jonny rounds up the week in football.

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1227433-the-week-in-football

Messi's well-deserved Ballon d'Or crowns an amazing year

He can't wear that again. I hope he only rented it.

Lionel Messi deservedly collected his fourth consecutive FIFA Ballon d'Or at a glittering ceremony in Zurich not least because of his bling-encrusted choice of dinner jacket and matching bowtie!

Not even Roxy Music's sax player would've chosen something that brash. Even John Barnes gasped at his choice of evening wear!

Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta were the two others nominated, but in a year of individual goalscoring achievements with an astonishing 91 for the calendar year, few would argue with the pre-eminence of the Argentine in 2012.

So who voted for who? Here's a fascinating slideshow which demonstrates the tactical voting and nepotism in some of the voting. Despite that, FIFA can more than justify the three that were nominated this year.

Early tip for at least a nomination next year? Radamel Falcao, who figured in many a player's personal top three - including the third choice of England manager Roy Hodgson.

Falcao's certain to be top of the shopping lists of all the major European clubs.

What on earth is Rooney doing?

Wayne Rooney's declared a unilateral breakdown of his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson, to the point that he's prepared to leave Old Trafford in January.

Rooney, who more than anyone else has been Fergie's chief talisman since the departure of Roy Keane, will seek new employers and refuse to sign an extension to his existing contract.

It all started a few days ago when Wazza announced he'd been fully fit all along - despite Sir Alex claiming injury was the reason for his non selection recently.

Hence, he exposed his manager as a liar. You only have to ask Keane, David Beckham and Jaap Stam about crossing Fergie. You do so at the expense of your United career. That's what.

Sir Alex knows full well the maxim that every streetwise boss lives by - players lose managers their jobs.

Turns out Fergie was punishing his wayward star for his night with a prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant. Fergie likes settled, married men. He believes they give their best to Manchester United.

Only at the end of last season, he'd proudly announced that Rooney was his "main man" - even when Cristiano Ronaldo was outperforming him during the Portugeezer's heady days at Old Trafford.

And in his most unusual Champions League conference ever, Sir Alex was clearly dumbfounded, nay nonplussed by his star striker's determination to get away. There's no one better at managing young men, dealing with egos, engendering loyalty - and ultimately getting them to play at their optimum potential than the United boss.

So I'm amazed at the 24-year-old's thickheadedness. I knew his greatest asset was football; his talents limited in pretty much every other sphere.

But I didn't realise he could put his foot through everything of value in his life in such a short span of time.

It's unclear what the status of his marriage is after that prostitute story. And it's the other key relationship in his life that appears to have been ruined as well.

If the rumours about his spat become a split with Fergie, then he really is a dumb footballer of the first water.

Wazza's doing a Gazza. He's about to press the self-destruct button.

If Rooney has any sense at all, he'll walk into the manager's office and apologise (and Fergie's said he'll have him back), then get on with restoring form to his lacklustre game.

If United are forced to sell him in the January window, then they should get as much money as they can for a player with twenty months left on his current deal.

And in the shifting sands of the current marketplace: moving powerbases and changing regulations, Rooney could be set for a huge fall from grace. The biggest loser of all.

Step back from the brink, you idiot. Apologise to Fergie and repay the only debt you owe the footballing public: a return to your best form for United and England.

Mourinho Premier League return would break the Golden Rule

One finger for Chelsea, the other for Barca!

As Jose Mourinho outfoxes Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Louis van Gaal to record a stunning Champions League victory, rumours of a Premier League return intensify. Luckily for the Portugeezer, the clamour from Real Madrid is louder. But Soccermongery warns against him coming back to England. 

We still hear a lot about The Special One over here. Our obsession never cooled despite a raft of new heroes and headlines created since.

Despite leaving England two-and-a-half years ago, Mourinho's life at Inter is well chronicled by our media.

His rows with Italian officialdom and managerial peers, his dissatisfaction with Serie A and his rumoured desire to return here one day. His raffish Portuguese style galvanised Chelsea to previously unchartered waters of success. But now the Inter project is complete with a stunning treble, it's widely rumoured he'll be managing at the Bernabeu, the scene of arguably his greatest triumph as a coach so far. 

Kenneth Williams

But English clubs big enough to support both The Special One's salary and his ego would probably shuffle their incumbent manager out the door just to secure him.

You could well imagine United, City - or even Liverpool with new ownership encouraging Jose back "home".

But what a mistake that would be! "Never Go Back", screams the old adage.

Mourinho's remembering his time at Chelsea through rose-tinted spectacles. He arrived at Stamford Bridge, all posturing and bravado crowned as European Champion with Porto.

The hottest property in the world game, he gave Roman Abramovich's billion pound project real focus. Six trophies in three astounding seasons followed.

But that was then. This is now.

English football, built on huge debt or the billions of a benefactor totally dominated the European game. But the tide is turning. Not only is UEFA kicking the English game when it's down - but Britain's desperate Labour government were killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

English clubs pay more tax than their Spanish counterparts - the players too are feeling the tax pinch. Already the trickle of foreign stars coming to England is diminishing. Spain and Germany are more favoured destinations. It costs more for an English club to sign and pay for an international star.

Cristiano Ronaldo's defection from Manchester United to Real Madrid may prove symbolic - unless the Premier League can really focus on exploiting emerging new markets such as the Far East and India.

Mourinho would return to a less mighty English game. That's why talk of taking over at Real would be a better port of call for him. But could the sheer force of his personality or Manchester City's millions buck the trend?

Click here for Avram Grant, football's most celebrated loser and The full-length Nike World Cup advert in HD.

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The Nike World Cup advert: the best ever?

Starring Rooney, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Ribéry. Rip roaring!



Also on Soccermongery: why Grant the loser is lauded as a winner. plus:

Soccermongery's Champions League video preview:

Carlsberg don't sponsor football - but if they did ....

.... oh well, never mind!

The Reds slumped to their ninth Premier League defeat of the season. And that's not counting all the losses in the Cups and Champions League. The Big 4? They're going to have to rebrand it.

Click here: why Mourinho shouldn't return to English football.

Fergie's News Conferences are sometimes better than the game itself!

I try to keep a football appointment every Friday lunchtime with Sir Alex Ferguson's pre-match news conference. I'm glued for his weighty growls born of weary experience, his gossipy views on other clubs and managers none of which are his goddamn business - and a gem of a quote from his industrial gob: Made In Govan!

Despite his many years in the spotlight, he's often riled by the assembled hackery.

The touchy subject of Real Madrid's unending pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo had Fergie spitting, "I wouldn't sell Madrid a virus, let alone Ronaldo!" But the Govanator eventually did - and Real paid full retail price for the Portuguese. The sort of amount that even Sir Philip Green would've put a cigar on for.

Other times, he's a master of the room. A few years back there was a ridiculous tabloid flyer in The Mirror alleging that Fergie was part of a consortium ready to takeover Manchester City.

Next day, he faced the media to preview a Champions League game. Someone dared ask him about it. In response, he neither issued a denial or any kind of quote worthy of taking the story on. He snapped back to the wee hack:

"Whassat gottae do with this? we're here to preview this game ... !", silence.

A Fergie denial of any kind would've been printable as a follow-up but he's too canny for that. The story disappeared without trace the very next day - and his handling of it in that moment was the reason why.

A few seasons ago, I was at Charlton for a United game and Fergie came out of the tunnel ten minutes to kick-off and continued a casual conversation on the touchline with an old football friend while scores of photographers snapped away. But it was like it wasn't happening around him. He totally blanked it. A measure of his years in the cauldron and the inner steel which shows he never lets the pressure cloud his own principles.

Back in the Press Room, my favourite Fergie moment was ahead of a tough trip to Galatasaray, one of the most intimidating stadia in all of Europe. It was the first return to Istanbul since the acrimony of an Eric Cantona dismissal after the final whistle of a bad-tempered exchange. A thoroughly professional performance would be required this time to avoid similar ugly scenes.

So a question came from the floor, "Are you at all concerned to return here with your big name players to a place of such open hostility?"

Fergie's face was a picture. He replied, "Well, you've obviously never been to a wedding in Clydebank!"

I tell you, if it's been a good week for football stories then try and catch Fergie's Friday Football Fare. He'll always deliver something to make you chuckle, unwitting or otherwise.

We're heading for a transfer market crash!

All the signs are there... we're heading for a sharp correction in what big clubs are prepared to pay for top talent.

That might seem an odd thing to say at a time of screaming tabloid headlines.

The world record transfer fee has been smashed twice this summer: Kaka's £56million and then £80million for Cristiano Ronaldo to both join Real Madrid obliterated the £47m which took Zizou from Juventus, also to the Bernabeu.

Carlos Tevez is off to Manchester City for over £25million.

And the action won't stop there: Bayern Munich are holding out for over £60million for their French midfield star, Franck Ribéry.

It's such a huge bounty that only three clubs can afford him. Freespending Real plus Manchester United and Chelsea. But Bayern's board know: If not now, when? the time is ripe for a financial killing at the expense of the world's biggest clubs.

Ahead of a crash, every market throughout time reacts in the same way; an intense inflationary bubble followed by interminable financial heartache. The Western World's property and London's Art Market to name but two.

And the same question always seems to be asked in the months leading upto disaster: "Is the Art/Property/Transfer Market recession proof?"

And the answer is always, "Emphatically, NO!"

I'm willing to make a prediction that Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer fee will be the high bar for a decade.

Sir Alex Ferguson remarked in a recent news conference just how maddening prices have become. Aside from being an accessory to creating the new excitement, he claims he's putting the shutters up as far as buying is concerned this close-season.

In the US, it's basketball's close-season and all the talk surrounds lower wages and fees to reflect economic reality.

If revenues from TV, the Champions League, gate receipts and merchandise start falling (some of those are more volatile than others) then the transfer market, which is the most volatile confidence indicator of all - will crash and burn. It happened in 1981.

Manchester United and AC Milan sold well.

You read it here first.

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United should have closed Tevez deal when they could

Manchester United rarely lose any player unless they want to, let alone two, but Carlos Tevez has now decided to join Cristiano Ronaldo in quitting the Premier League champions

A souring in the relationship between club and player appears to have proved the main reason for Tevez leaving. Not even the offer of a five-year deal which would have made the Argentine striker one of the highest paid earners at Old Trafford was enough to mend the broken bridges.

The club's fans recognised the value of Tevez to the team, especially after his two goals in the last four games helped clinch a third successive Premier League title and fend off the challenge of arch rivals Liverpool. They chanted at the board as they urged the club to sign him up on a permanent basis for the £25.5m agreed when he joined in 2007.

But in the opinion of United chief executive David Gill, despite the agreed figure, they found that fee "toppy" and the delay in securing Tevez did them no favours.

"From the moment I came here I wanted to sign a longer contract," Tevez said back in September 2008.

"It would be wonderful if the chairman put a long term contract on the table for me. I would sign it without doubt."

Instead, United signed striker Dimitar Berbatov for £30.75m last summer and postponed securing Tevez as they appeared to try to bring down the pricetag. Tevez felt he deserved more for his relentless industry on the pitch and 34 goals - 15 coming last season - in two campaigns.

He talked of being disrespected by the club and the belief that he was not getting as much first-team football as he wanted added to his unhappiness. Ultimately, he chose not to stay and, with Manchester City and Chelsea being linked as his next port of call, he may be accused of making a money-motivated move.

But United had ample opportunity to stop Tevez's head from being swayed into a move elsewhere and manager Sir Alex Ferguson has now been left to secure replacements for two prize players in a competitive market."He did feel a little bit unloved," said Kia Joorabchian, who is adviser to Tevez.

"He made that clear through the process and I think that has forced him to move on."

By Mandeep Sanghera (BBC Sport)

Other Tevez stories

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Ronaldo exit paves way for Rooney ascension to World Player Of The Year

Soccermongery: spot on again! This was written in June 2009 as Cristiano Ronaldo waved adios (or adeus) heading for Madrid.

For all of Wayne Rooney's industry and goals since joining Manchester United in 2004, Cristiano Ronaldo's been Old Trafford's outstanding star of the last five years.

His flicks, tricks, tantrums, car crashes and .... oh yeah, great goals have secured him every major gong, both personally and for United.

And now he's gone - to partner Kaka in midfield at the Bernabeu. Not a bad partnership in the centre of the park. Adeus Ronaldo!

Now step upto the plate, Wayne Rooney.

He's just scored a record ten goals in a season for England - and with 24 goals for his country, aged just 23, he's on course to break Bobby Charlton's all-time England scoring record of 49.

All this in the year that Rooney scored the winner in the World Club Cup Final - having claimed a third successive Premier League title.

Some say United will be weakened without Ronaldo in their line-up, but those voices don't take into account the depth of their squad, the determination of Fergie and Rooney's workrate.

In the shootout to be World Player Of The Year, the subtext to this year's Champions League Final, Messi beat Ronaldo with a goal and a winner's medal. The Argentine will replace Ronnie as the planet's finest player when they announce it in six months time.

But even if United don't reclaim Europe's top prize next season, Rooney has the chance to stake claim to the ultimate individual prize the following season. With Ronaldo's departure and Rooney coming into his prime, few will be able to compete with him.

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United's enduring love affair with the FA Cup

By JOE MORRIS

In his second Soccermongery article, Joe recounts Manchester United's love affair with the Cup. I can't entirely forgive United for shunning the world's greatest cup competition in 2000 opting instead for the World Club Pot, but the FA Cup is experiencing a renaissance and United's cup bids now reflect the tournament's grandeur.

If the FA Cup is the most romantic competition in the world, then Stanley Matthews and Ian Porterfield would have been chocolates and flowers men. Both Matthews and Porterfield were the knights in shining armour and the Cup will be eternally indebted to them.

In 1953, a couple of weeks before the Coronation, a spindly-legged wing wizard called Matthews twisted the Bolton defence in knots. He swayed. shimmied, shuffled and finally bamboozled a Bolton side who seemed to have the match under their belt. Matthews was tricky, deceitful and by the time Stanley had finished with them, Bolton were glad to see the back of him. Matthews, backed by a willing nation, won the Cup for Blackpool.

Exactly 20 years later a long-haired lad named Ian Porterfield brought the old Second Division underdogs Sunderland to an ecstatic standstill when Bob Stokoe's red and white striped army lifted the Cup. From a perfect Bobby Kerr corner, the gangling Porterfield loped up from the back, trapped the ball with the skill of an acrobat on his knee, and thumped the ball ferociously past the Leeds United keeper David Harvey.

The FA Cup has never been short of defining moments: there was Ricky Villa hip swivelling past a stunned Manchester City defence, just one of Spurs' three winning goals in the 1981 Cup Final. Poor Leeds United had no answer to a Ray Crawford inspired Colchester during the early 1970s. Ronny Radford, shirt hanging out of his shorts, slid over the mud of Edgar Street to snatch an equaliser for Hereford against a well-organised Newcastle.

Allegedly the FA Cup has lost some of its popularity but you could say much the same about ten pin bowling. The Cup will never lose its essential worldwide appeal, and three years ago produced perhaps its most spellbinding Final for years. The match had so many fascinating twists and turns that Liverpool and West Ham seemed to take the game to its loftiest level.

Throughout their illustrious history, Manchester United and the FA Cup have almost been inseparable. The Cup took on a whole emotional resonance when United were beaten by Bolton in 1958. This was the year when the delectable Busby Babes were tragically taken from us on a snowy Munich airfield.

In 1963 Matt Busby stuck the proverbial two fingers up against the world when his newly re-modelled United team ran rings around Leicester City. It took another 14 years before the cheeky and extrovert Tommy Docherty convinced Lou Macari, Sammy McIlroy, Steve Coppell and Stuart Pearson could overpower an exceptionally intelligent Liverpool side with Double-winning designs.

During the 1980s Ron Atkinson's United flounced and swaggered their way to Cup Final victories against Everton and Brighton respectively. United, it seemed, had a lease and mortgage on the FA Cup. There was Ray Wilkins, a player who brought dignity and stateliness to United's midfield, Norman Whiteside, one of the youngest players to appear in a Cup Final who had the most ravenous appetite for the game.

At the beginning of the 1990s Sir Alex Ferguson added yet more ornaments to United's well decorated trophy cabinet. United finally overwhelmed a dogged and obstinate Crystal Palace side. Half way through the decade a showman and exhibitionist called Eric Cantona took on Liverpool almost single-handedly and then scored the winning goal through a forest of Liverpool legs. Chelsea were also unravelled by United with the kind of performance that bordered on the spectacular.

In their 2-1 defeat of Spurs on Sunday, United once again stepped up to the plate with a display of craft and delicacy. touch and perception. It lacked some of United's traditional silks and satins but there was an unmistakable buzz about Old Trafford that sent a shiver down the spine.

Michael Carrick. via West Ham and Spurs, is beginning to look the most controlled midfield player in the country, Paul Scholes looked like a master of his trade and Danny Welbeck, although leggy, strolls and then strokes the ball with languid arrogance. Dimitar Berbatov could yet become one of United's most prized finishers.

Then of course there is a young Portuguese winger with matinee idol looks. Cristiano Ronaldo and the FA Cup were somehow meant for each other. Ronaldo, World Footballer of the Year is now wanted by more or less every club on Planet Earth - and with every justification.

Ronaldo went through the familiar routine against a Spurs team with too much on their mind. There were the bewildering stepovers and dragbacks that are turning into his stock in trade. At one point Spurs were being pulled in two different directions. So the bricklayers and carpenters of the non League take their leave of the FA Cup. Little Kettering of the Blue Square Premier are out of the Cup and the rest of the big boys will fight it out for a day at Wembley.

But for Manchester United the love affair with the FA Cup may never fade. Their courtship with this famous Cup will remain a passionate one. For as long perhaps as time itself and football.

Also on Soccermongery: Jonny's TV Guide to watching Football on TV... er... nil-nil, Jeff!

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Early season criticism rendered hollow. Ronaldo's roaring back to his best

As Cristiano Ronaldo limbers up to garner every world player gong around, the manner of his display coupled with his sheer desire to face Villareal in the Champions League suggests he's about to unleash himself again.

It's been a truncated term so far for Ronaldo; the weight of expectation on his shoulders has proved unforgiving of his recovery from surgery and his summer job for Portugal.

So allegations that his head's already in Madrid have been far too easy for the pundits to make.

Euro 2008 offered no respite followed up by frustrating months recovering from an ankle operation. Comparing his first dozen outings to The Season? well, it's plain short-sighted.

Ronaldo's feats in scoring 42 goals, winning the Premier League, the Champions League and the Golden Boot is a tough act to follow. But he will. Don't believe me? Ask Fernando Torres.

"What he did last season is incredible. No-one can rival him," the Spaniard told France Football. "He is in a class of his own. For me he is the best player in the world. A machine. Incomparable." gushed the Liverpool hitman.

His superhuman show last term simply created a rod for his back but reports of his United demise are as overstated as the Brown Bounce.

His desire to feature at Villareal after limping out of Saturday's stalemate at Villa is a measure not just of his character - but a sign of an inate confidence that he's working his season back into gear.

Ron played with trademark courage, targeted as he was by the home team and their fans, a victim of a drastic foul by Capdevila which deserved the straight red.

His body language, the straight-arched back after his half-volley was deflected against the crossbar revealed all: Ronaldo's humming toward to the top of his game and he knows it.

He ran a bit of temperature on Wednesday night, but who better than Sir Alex Ferguson to channel that fire in his belly to more positive ends as the race for honours intensifies?

Wheeling round the world snaffling up badges every 10 days in James Bond Bib and Tucker will also aid his feeling of well being too.

You watch: Ronaldo's back - and back for United. Madrid will have to wait.