Paul Scholes has admitted no words of sympathy from him could ever make Darren Fletcher feel better about missing the Champions League final.
Fletcher is set to be one of the few senior Manchester United men on duty at Hull on Sunday, knowing it will be his final appearance of a season that has one major day out to come.
"Darren has not spoken to me," he shrugged. "It is just something you have to live with. We are all devastated for the lad and devastated he is not going to be in the team."
While Sir Alex Ferguson chooses his team at the KC Stadium carefully, with hardly any of the men likely to face Barcelona in Rome next Wednesday night even making the trip, Fletcher knows he is condemned to sit in the stand at the Stadio Olimpico following the red card he received at Arsenal for what TV replays showed was a legal challenge on Cesc Fabregas.
Scholes knows exactly how the Scotland star feels of course.
After all, he was booked for a two-footed lunge on Didier Deschamps during the 1999 semi-final that ruled him out of that never-to-be-forgotten night in Barcelona.
And, despite their shared experiences, the veteran midfielder admits it is not even worth discussing the matter with Fletcher.
"The way he has played over the last few weeks has been amazing and more than anything, he will be a big loss for the team."
Ferguson will pay scant attention to the debate about the side he is going to pick on Sunday, which admittedly none of the clubs who could be affected have actually entered themselves.
Comment 1 - 14 of 14
Obilicash , I respect your point of view , but arsenal game was different ,arsenal enter the game looking for a win , they were not that much effective in attack as it will Barca !! two early goals for United killed of the game!! lets wait and see the game , Friegi was praying not to face Messi & Barca in the final ,and he said that before the quarterfinal and he realy mean it .
hasan a , I advise you go back and watch ARENAL VS man united before coming here to say or write anything, if water is hot, we use water to cool it down !!! MAN U has a lots of football strategies, when fergie said ealier that barca gonna be little difficult for him, people where ranting saying that UNITED haven't even beat porto,arsenal before talking abour barca, now fergie has declared that barca is beatable , take it or leave it !!!!!
Believe me , sure Barca defence is weeker than utd one , but barca will dominate the game and put Vidic & Ferdinand under stress that they will commit mistakes!! the trick is that the holding midfielders odf United are not physically strong enough to step Messi all over 90 min , chelsea did because essien and Ballack are animal rocks not humans !! but Carrick ,Scholes & Anderson not that strong . Messi will play dribble them easily , remember last year semifinal in Manchester what messi did !! Barca was unlucky to score thats it but this time they will come in and their hearts beating for the treble to enter history books as the only spanish side to win the treble in a season . Noway i can not see united win ONLY if they attack barca from the begining and put them under pressure to commit mistakes in defence
I just want to say something , UTD will not have time to wake up in the finals ,Barca troops will crash them before they score a goal or two , Messi & co . are fresh now they will occupy the pitch from the first min UTD know this well they will suffer alot because barca will pass the ball much around they will just watch goals coming !! UTD players are not physically strong as chelsea players ( Ballack, Mikel, Lampard, Essien,Drogba) and still with 10 men barca score and made the final , UTD players may stay intact for 30 min with 10 men in defence and ronaldo waiting but then , sure they will be crashed . Result 4-2 Barca
Man. Utd. gonna deserve the title again. Barca fans uffffff, do not souttttttttttt so much coz u all re de' loosers,,,,,,
markfinnerty, I won't argue that Tevez has great energy. And SAF should put out the best team. But I do not think that his results are good. Sure, put him on the bench if there is a slot. But not at the expense of another player who will be around next term and has contributed this term. Tevez is not great as a striker. I look at the Top Scorers sheet and Tevez is not in the top 50. Utd used to have at least 5 names in that list...Cole, Yorke Solksjaer, Sheringham, Beckham. Now, only three. Berba is better. To top it off, Berba probably got the same number of assists as Lampard. If not he is near the top. If he can't score, he makes sure his team mates can. That is contribution. Yes...Tevez is an asset...or can be if he chooses to stay. I think he is not the best player on the team. I believe Welbeck can do what Tevez does if given half the chance! So can Macheda. Man Utd have the players to cope without Tevez. Move CR to striker alongside Berba, WR to the left, or even Park on the left...the options are there. As a player on loan, he should do what it takes to convince SAF that he wants to stay. SAF is loyal to the players who are loyal to him. See Giggs, Scholes, Neville as examples of the old guard. Now, there's O'Shea, Park, Rooney. They will all do what SAF asks of them. Even Ole Gunnar Solksjear, who contibuted 15-20 goals a season as a sub. Tevez is no OGS. OGS is a legend, and has set a high standard for future "subs". But Tevez doesn't come close. I'll be convinced if he gets half of what OGS did.
dream onnnnnnnnnnn barcelonaaaaaaaaaa fanssssssssssssssssssssss. The champion's league is ours for the 2nd consecutive timeee.try to beat that loosers
Hi markfinnerty , , tevez is by far not the best player we could put on , , he has been effective as a supersub and thats it this summer, , ,hasin played well otherwisw and his scoring ratio is terrible, , he disrespected fergi by refusing to shake his hand when he came off after playing pretty bad against arsenal,, , , get him out!!!!!!
(2) Well said. I agree. Add O'Shea to the short list of those who should see the pitch v. Barcelona.
whatever it is.................BARCELONA---THE WINNER OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE...............
OH MAN........you just to arrogant to Flecther........you think you're good enough to play at the final........the goal that you have made at last match with Barcelona will not be repeated.........so as Ronaldo's shot..........I'm gonna tell you just keep dreaming on chasing MESSI.........YOU WILL SUFFER MANCHESTER UNITED...................
eh stfxn, do you not think he should put the BEST TEAM out no , some manager you'd make! and on jossgoode's comment - i dont agree with you , i'd be shaggin them for half the money they're on !
I like Tevez...but I feel this being a once in a lifetime opportunity, CL places should be given to players who are loyal; i.e. those who don't @#$% about not being involved. If anyone deserves a place more, it has to be Park Ji Sung. He was left out after a fine performance in the semis last year. Tevez does not seem to want to stay, and since he is on loan, priority should be given to permanent players.
oh come on, ffs, Like it's a bloody desaster.. the blokes getting a Sick wage and he's gonna cry cos he's gonna miss a CH. final, for that money instead of hugging team mates when they score i'd be shaggin them at that price xDDD.
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account