Barca are beatable

And Fergie is convinced that United are the team to do it. I wouldn't go as far as to say i'm confident of brushing them aside on the 28th May, but i believe that we have a better chance than some would have you believe. After watching us play a high tempo game against Chelsea which the away side couldn't live with i came away thinking we couldn't beat the Catalan giants with the same game plan. But after sleeping on it, i may have been wrong, Barca play a high tempo themselves it's often forgotten and their game is as much about pressing from the front three as it is about their beautiful passing game. I think our fate will lie in how well we deal with their front three pressing our back four and midfield. Valencia could be one of the most important players on the night, Barca have not got as good as full back as Ashley Cole so they must fear the South American winger.
I'm not sure if he will play 4-3-3 or play Hernandez and Rooney, but i hope he goes for the latter. I want us to think about the problems we are going to give them as much as the problems we are going to face. I have always thought that they are not as strong at the back as they are up front and love to see Rooney and Hernandez try and get at Puyol. Of course the problem will be getting enough of the ball if we are going to be able to get into the game. Which undoubtedly means that Park will play on the left if we play 4-4-2 dropping into midfield to help out. I suppose the big question is will Giggs play in front of Fletcher if it's a 4-4-2. There must be no room for sentiment, but if Giggs can give a performance such as he did on Sunday, he really has to be in the starting line up for me.
It really is a good job that Fergie is the master bar none of keeping a squad happy, how Rooney must be glad he stayed, and how all of us that doubted this squad at the beginning of the season must eat a large helping of humble pie.
Rory Smith blogs on how United are in a position of strength in a area of weakness, there are still a couple of games left yet, so hopefully he is not being prematiure. I'm not sure Giggs will feature in either though, and if that was the case i think you can put money on him being in the final. I'm hopeful that we are going to see a midfield renewal over the next couple of years as Pogba and Tunnicliffe hopefully live up to expectations and Cleverley comes back from Wigan.

Ryan Giggs talks of the fantastic contribution that javier Hernandez has made to the United squad on and off the pitch. Sounds like he is a popular guy, great to hear.
Henry Winter applauds Nemanja Vidic his player of the year, i don't think he would swap the football writers player of the year for being captain of the champions and possibly champions of Europe.
Looks like Larry White is out of trouble for the time being anyway.

All the talk after the disastrous referendum setback and the even worse local council annihalation was about the future of the Lib dems and what next for Nick Clegg and rightly so as Cameron has rung rings around him and his fellow orange bookers. But the night wasn't much better for the Labour party as a few of their wiser heads have acknowledged. Neil Lawson describes their position as a mess. Mehdi Hasan takes issue with commentators who have questioned whether there really is a progressive majority and bemoans the Labout tribalists who sided with the tories over the electoral reform referendum.

Lib dem voice admitted Thursday was even worse than many in the party were prepared for. I really don't see how they could have expected anything else in the northern cities. Cleggs comments about the party not being centre left and being blase about the loss of votes on loan from the Labour party have got the answer they deserved.
He really has been a disaster for the Lib dems. I have read the argument that they won't get rid of him as leader and there would no point as there is no other strategy. How prepared are they are all to go down with a sinking ship, those comments show how unfit to lead the party he is. Thursday was as bad as it was, because of him and his advisors strategy. Cable was spot on to remind the party and the country what the tories really are, and to remind the party that he had no illusions about them, "unlike others". Yet the party seems to be happy to carry on being led by a proven political lightweight. As Paul Linford wrote is his only option now to join the tories, well he doesn't regard himself as on the centre left does he. Matthew Engel writes how last weeks political events proved the importance of personalities over issues as the public's dislike of Nick Clegg over the defeat of the yes campaing showed.

Maybe the night of glory enjoyed by Alex Salmond and the Scots nationalists also proves Engels point as Kevin McKenna writes that Salmond can do no wrong.

Interest rates were put on hold as fears over economic recovery is stalling wrote Sean Farrell last week. Jeremy Warner gives ten reasons why the world economy may be turning soft. David Blanchflower tells us why he is a fan of Ben Bernanke who he credits with saving us from a world depression. William Keegan writes about the light touch regulation that led us to the 2008 credit crunch implosion and the fact that our banks are still in denial about their role. Will Hutton believes the country needs a new economic vision but asks who will deliver it as he can't see where it is going to come from in either the Labour or the Lib dem parties.