Back from Rome - Champions League Final

Well, I'm back from Rome - just!!

What a mess that trip was from start to finish, what with being kept hanging around airports for hours on end, being taken to wrong coach parks, not seeing ANY of Rome except a stadium and a car park and then - to add insult to injury - only getting back at 6am to Manchester airport after the worst organisation i have seen at a football match for many a year......unsuprising then that in the midst of this chaos (which I might add, I paid 600 quid for) there was the disappointment of losing a pretty important football match.

To be honest, I am gutted - but maybe not as gutted as I thought I would be. True, United just simply didn't show up. maybe the season caught up with them, maybe the pressure told, maybe the art of grinding out results (which we have done a lot this season) just wasn't what was called for in the atmosphere of last night. But whatever it was - you have to hold your hands up and admit that we were beaten by a GREAT GREAT side, and that hurts less than being beaten by a controversial decision or a mediocre side getting lucky.

We have to look at their players as the benchmark, their style as the pinnacle and their technique as the aim. And to be honest losing this way is good for players at times as it makes them analyse where they need to improve and what they can do to be the best - and more importantly keeps that burning desire alive to ensure that a repeat of the pain they felt isn't repeated.

There is a danger, in these amazingly successful times, of believing your own press. The events of last night will show them they aren't invincible, that someone can match them on skill, ability, drive and determination and that there is still room for plenty of work and improvement.

It also shows those at the top that whilst we have a big squad and a great squad, it is NOT the finished article. Maybe it can be added to, to keep that improvement coming, alongside the development of the younger players already here which will no doubt continue.

The perofrmance last night was poor, no question, and I feel the hurt of every United fan today. But I firmly believe that positives will come out of it. I know the players feel it, and those who are true United players will use it as the incentive to drive themselves on..... and United fans can rest assured that those who don't use it as a spur will be left behind, not drag us down - that is what makes this club simply great and the manager we have the unique inspiration he is.