哈格里夫斯让坎通纳印象深刻

Hargreaves leaves Cantona with a lasting impression

哈格里夫斯让坎通纳印象深刻

A French Old Trafford legend was in the stands to watch two English midfielders display their contrasting talents

法国传奇巨星看到了两位英格兰中场的杰出表现

Daniel Taylor
April 9, 2008 9:14 PM

丹尼尔.泰勒
2008 4 9

Up in the stand, the thick-set man with the greying beard and crumpled suit could be seen nodding in appreciation. Eric Cantona is a rare visitor to Old Trafford these days and he chose a good evening to make an appearance, even if the old rouge diable might have been disappointed that after all this talk about the latest incumbent of the No7 jersey the attacking bite of Cristiano Ronaldo was kept on a muzzle.

在看台上，这个留着黑色胡须，穿着随意健壮的男人被看到赞赏的点头。坎通纳这些日子是老特拉福德的稀客，他选择了一个好时间露面。虽然他可能对没有看到罗纳尔多的表现感到失望。

Cantona always loved footballers who understood the importance of entertainment so he will probably have hoped to see a little more of Wayne Rooney as well. Yet the Manchester United great will have approved of what he saw from his old employers. Cantona always liked to do things with a certain style and panache and, if this was his first look at Michael Carrick, he could be forgiven for wondering how a nation that failed to qualify for the European Championship currently has no room for this wonderful passer of the ball.

坎通纳一直是一个招人喜欢的球员，他了解娱乐性的重要。所以他也可能希望看到鲁尼更多的表现。曼联的传奇总喜欢用特定的华丽风格去做事。如果这是他第一次看到卡里克，他会奇怪为什么一个没有打进欧洲杯的国家队竟然容不下这样一位传球大师。

Carrick has been exceptional since the turn of the year and, privately, he is entitled to be aggrieved by his omission from Fabio Capello's last squad. The former Tottenham midfielder, about as close to Glenn Hoddle in terms of style as any player of the last 10 years, has also started to take on more responsibility, which is one of the reasons why Owen Hargreaves has found it so hard to get a game in central midfield. Hargreaves has endured a difficult first year in Manchester although there were, at least, reassuring signs for an Old Trafford crowd that had begun to lose faith in their £18m recruit. "I like the No4," Cantona volunteered before leaving Old Trafford and it was easy to understand why. Hargreaves put in a ubiquitous performance, comfortably his finest of the season. Maybe this was the evening his United career began for real.

卡里克一来到曼联就被寄予厚望，私下里，他有权为自己不能入选卡佩罗的国家队而抱怨。这位前热刺中场是最近10年最接近霍德尔的中场球员，他已经开始接受更多职责，这也是哈格里夫斯发现成为主力中场越来越难的原因。哈格里夫斯在曼联的第一年并不顺利。至少，老特拉福德的球迷们开始怀疑他是不是值得1,800万英镑。“我喜欢4号，”坎通纳在离开老特拉福德之前由衷地说，这不难理解。哈格里夫斯表现优秀，打出了赛季最高水平。也许他的曼联生涯从今晚才真正开始。

And so the Champions League moves on with United coming to the boil with an impeccable sense of timing. Ferguson's team certainly have no reason to fear Barcelona in the semi-finals, particularly as the Catalan side will be missing Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi.

曼联的冠军杯赛程也非常完美。弗格森爵士的球员没有理由在半决赛惧怕巴塞罗那，特别是加泰罗尼亚球队将失去罗纳尔迪尼奥和梅西。

Barcelona versus Manchester United is not just a football match it is one of the great occasions. Chelsea against Liverpool feels more like a struggle for expression, one that brings back memories of Jorge Valdano's withering assessment of their last semi-final. "Chelsea and Liverpool are the clearest, most exaggerated example of the way football is going: very intense, very collective, very tactical, very physical, and very direct," he said. "But, a short pass? Noooo. A feint? Noooo. A change of pace? Noooo. A one-two? A nutmeg? A backheel? Don't be ridiculous. None of that. If football is going the way Chelsea and Liverpool are taking it, we had better be ready to wave goodbye to any expression of the cleverness and talent we have enjoyed for a century."

巴塞罗那Vs曼联不仅是一场足球比赛，这是个伟大的时刻。切尔西对利物浦更像是荣誉之战。巴尔达诺曾评论他们的上一次半决赛：“切尔西和利物浦是最纯粹的足球标本。激烈、整体、战术、身体、直接，”他说。“但短传？不。假动作？不。节奏的变化？不。小配合？小花招？得了吧。根本没有。如果足球比赛都这么踢，我们最好跟享受了一个世纪的天赋和机灵说再见吧。”

The former Real Madrid coach, one of Argentina's scorers in the 1986 World Cup final and now a respected football intellectual, made his point in the most succinct terms. "Football is made up of subjective feeling, of suggestion," he added. "In that, Anfield is unbeatable. Put a shit hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium and there are people who will tell you it's a work of art. It's not: it's a shit hanging from a stick."

这位前皇马教练，1986世界杯决赛阿根廷进球者之一，现在是一位受人尊敬的足球人。简短地说了自己的观点。“足球是由一些主观的感觉构成的，”他说。“这个意义上，安菲尔德不可攻克。把一根搅屎棍放在这座疯狂的球场中央，人们会告诉你这是工作的艺术。而不是什么搅屎棍。”

Valdano, one suspects, would not be so pithy about this United side. Even without Ronaldo, there were plenty of examples of what the Roma players, wallowing in a vat of sour grapes, angrily perceived to be showboating in the first leg. Take, for instance, the exquisite little back-heel from Carlos Tevez to send Hargreaves enthusiastically running clear midway through the first half.

巴尔达诺认为即便不算罗纳尔多，曼联还有很多球员能让罗马人嫉妒不已。比如第一回合卡洛斯上半场曾用脚后跟传球给哈格里夫斯，为后者创造了绝佳的机会。

The 7-1 defeat of Roma at this stage of the competition last season was widely recognised as the most devastating demonstration of attacking play since the Champions League's inception. Nobody expected it to be so one-sided this time but it says a lot about Ferguson's philosophy that his players were so committed to going forward. At Stamford Bridge on Tuesday the fans resorted to plaintive chants of "attack, attack, attack." The Old Trafford crowd were more minded to worry that there was not enough protection for a makeshift defence.

上赛季罗马1-7的惨败被广泛人未识冠军联赛开始以来最“血腥”的比赛。没有人预料到比赛会如此的一边倒。在弗格森哲学熏陶下的球员们攻击意识强烈。周二在斯坦福桥，球迷们则需要哀求“进攻，进攻，进攻。”老特拉福德的球迷们则更担心全军压上导致临时防线得不到足够的保护。

This sense of adventure has been United's undoing in past Champions League fixtures, but it is still difficult to find fault with a manager who sends out his team with instructions to make sure, first of all, that the crowd is entertained. A different manager - Rafael Benítez springs to mind, possibly Avram Grant and certainly Jose Mourinho - would have preached the need for conservatism, for smothering the opposition, running down the clock.

曼联在以前的冠军杯中曾经因为冒进而出局，但很难说经理给球队传达娱乐球迷第一的指示是错误的。贝尼特斯就不一样，格兰特可能也是，穆里尼奥就绝对是鼓吹保守主义。

When the teams were announced and there was no Ronaldo or Rooney some supporters might have been tricked into thinking Ferguson had been afflicted by the bug of conservatism. Yet it is not in United's DNA to be dull. Even Hargreaves, a defensive midfielder by trade, could be seen surging forward to join the attack and, even if there were a few hairy moments at the other end, United's adventure eventually paid off when Tevez stooped to send a header beyond Doni, the Roma goalkeeper. United's is a bold strategy, but an admirable one. Barcelona will have the most to worry about in their semi-final.

当宣布首发阵容，而且没有罗纳尔多、鲁尼的时候，一些球迷可能会觉得弗格森爵士也受到了保守主义的影响。不过那可不是曼联的DNA。即便是防守中场哈格里夫斯也积极加入到进攻的浪潮中去。即便有时候会很惊险，曼联的冒险还是收到了回报。特维斯漂亮的头球打败了罗马门将多尼。曼联的战术勇猛，但值得赞赏。巴萨要担心一下自己的半决赛了。