Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Glasgow Rangers reached the final of the UEFA Cup by defending doggedly against superior opposition and then snatching chances on the break, but last night at The City of Manchester Stadium, those tactics finally blew up in Walter Smith's face. For 72 minutes, Zenit St Petersburg bounced off the thick blue wall in front of them, but when Igor Denisov danced through the defence to latch on to Andrey Arshavin's superb through-ball, the Scottish side were left stunned. They had barely crossed the halfway line all night and there they were, with just over 15 minutes to change their entire gameplan. It was asking for too much, too late. Perhaps, if the Scottish FA had given the team the rest they needed, Rangers might have been able to put up more of a fight, but they just didn't have it in them. Konstatin Zurianov finally applied the coup d'grace with the last kick of the match, skidding home to make it two-nil.
Zenit St Petersburg, while not at their peak either, were much the better team and are worthy winners of the UEFA Cup. It seemed for a while that the absence of their leading goalscorer, Pavel Pogrebnyak, would cost the Russians dearly. Replacement frontman Fatih Tekke was, to put it bluntly, as much use as a chocolate teapot at a summer garden party. If you looked very closely you could see smiles spreading across the faces of the Rangers defenders as the Turkish striker either dawdled so long that they could wander out and boot the ball away from him, or just ran headlong into them. He could have stayed out there until now, as you read this newspaper, and he still wouldn't have scored.
But that didn't matter as long as Zenit had Arshavin. The floppy-haired midfielder is the Russian Steven Gerrard, always surging forward, always looking for the killer pass, always capable of changing the game. He will miss the first two games of the European Championship through suspension and the tournament will be all the poorer for it. Expect to see him entertaning the fans at one of the elite European clubs before long.
For much of this game though, the best source of entertainment was in the stands where the Russian fans boldly attempted a battle of decibels with the Scottish support. The Zenit faithful tried their best, pogoing up and down on the spot, but there was only ever going to be one winner. No one can make as much noise as the Scottish. It was a pleasing diversion from what was, overall, a rather dull battle of attrition, and it should be noted that, despite earlier fears, there wasn't even a hint of the racism that Zenit's support was alleged to be bringing with them.
Just making it to the final was an incredible achievement for this Rangers side, but when their astonishing season comes to an end, hopefully with some domestic reward, I fear that they may view this game as a chance missed. The tactics were negative, understandably so against such strong opponents, and the players were tired, but on the few occasions that they actually had possession, they quickly squandered it. All-out defence can be effective if every component of the team is ticking over at a steady rate, but if it isn't, if the passing is poor or the composure evaporates, it is a terribly frustrating way to lose a game of football.
Zenit St Petersburg, while not at their peak either, were much the better team and are worthy winners of the UEFA Cup. It seemed for a while that the absence of their leading goalscorer, Pavel Pogrebnyak, would cost the Russians dearly. Replacement frontman Fatih Tekke was, to put it bluntly, as much use as a chocolate teapot at a summer garden party. If you looked very closely you could see smiles spreading across the faces of the Rangers defenders as the Turkish striker either dawdled so long that they could wander out and boot the ball away from him, or just ran headlong into them. He could have stayed out there until now, as you read this newspaper, and he still wouldn't have scored.
But that didn't matter as long as Zenit had Arshavin. The floppy-haired midfielder is the Russian Steven Gerrard, always surging forward, always looking for the killer pass, always capable of changing the game. He will miss the first two games of the European Championship through suspension and the tournament will be all the poorer for it. Expect to see him entertaning the fans at one of the elite European clubs before long.
For much of this game though, the best source of entertainment was in the stands where the Russian fans boldly attempted a battle of decibels with the Scottish support. The Zenit faithful tried their best, pogoing up and down on the spot, but there was only ever going to be one winner. No one can make as much noise as the Scottish. It was a pleasing diversion from what was, overall, a rather dull battle of attrition, and it should be noted that, despite earlier fears, there wasn't even a hint of the racism that Zenit's support was alleged to be bringing with them.
Just making it to the final was an incredible achievement for this Rangers side, but when their astonishing season comes to an end, hopefully with some domestic reward, I fear that they may view this game as a chance missed. The tactics were negative, understandably so against such strong opponents, and the players were tired, but on the few occasions that they actually had possession, they quickly squandered it. All-out defence can be effective if every component of the team is ticking over at a steady rate, but if it isn't, if the passing is poor or the composure evaporates, it is a terribly frustrating way to lose a game of football.
