Fletcher option could be good news for Fergie

I’VE seen Barcelona many times this season. They’re impressive enough on the television but when you actually see them live and playing in the big expanse of the Nou Camp they’re an outstanding team and it’s going to be a huge test for United.

I would suggest that for Alex Ferguson, it’s about finding a way. If you’re brave and press them high up the field then they can obviously draw you out of your own defensive positions and at some point in the game, they’ll create chances going the other way.

If you sit back and try to soak up the pressure, because of their ability, at some point they’ll create chances. So it’s very difficult to keep them out for 90 minutes, irrespective of what game plan you have.

I think Ferguson will be pleased if he has the option of Darren Fletcher for selection. He has come back at a good time. How match fit he actually is and how much that will temper his ability to have an effect on Barcelona if he’s selected, only time will tell.

But, certainly, when you’re going into big games, key games in the season, then you want as many of your top players available as possible. When they last faced Barcelona in the final, Fletcher wasn’t available and that was, at that time, viewed as a big negative for United. So if he is available then maybe that can change the outcome.

In their own right, Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi can win games on their own with a flash of brilliance even if the team isn’t playing particularly well, as we saw with Wayne’s goal against Man City. All the top teams have a player of that ilk but these two teams have more than most.

They are completely different players. Messi? We’re fortunate that we’re able to see him at his pomp and hopefully we’ll have more years to enjoy what can produce. He has a great attitude to the game and is playing in a great side. That has allowed his standing in the game to grow and grow.

The number of goals he has scored this season has been amazing. We haven’t seen a player like him. I know it’s difficult to compare players from different generations but what he’s doing now in the modern game is outstanding.

Winning this trophy would be a huge achievement for Alex Ferguson, not least because people are trying to say that this United team isn’t as strong as the teams they’ve had in the past. So to be able to overcome the team that is maybe the best team that has ever played the game, that’s a huge challenge for anybody. But if anybody can do it, it’s Manchester United and it’s Alex.

He’ll find a way if there’s a way. But it’s a big ask and they know they will have to play to their limits. Fergie knows himself that the one thing you do need is a little bit of luck at the right time and, if he gets that, then he has players in his squad that have been there and have experienced winning trophies and they have that mindset.

He’s done it for years. He has always looked very closely at the opposition and I have no reason to think that has ever changed in his time as a manager. He’s very conscientious, very particular, and he puts the hours in looking at videos and going to see the opposition. And he has a view and an idea in his mind. Not only about the tactical side of it, but the personnel as well. That’s a big thing in terms of the game plan that he will have. He will have a tactical awareness, but it will be about the players that he actually puts on the field as well.

Pep Guardiola has done fantastically well. I like him in terms of his manner, I like the way he presents himself. In terms of the projection of himself as part of Barca, he has an appreciation of the club he is in charge of. You can see the emotion that he has for the job, because for many years he has been part of that club, and he understands the tradition and what is expected.

In terms of his team, it’s the way they press and work for each other. We have all had groups of players that are outstanding technically and physically, but to get a group of very good players, world-class players, all working hard and making sacrifices — and not worrying about the name on the back of the shirt but the badge on the front — that’s a fantastic thing to see.

Invariably Barca put the opposition under pressure, even before the game because mentally you are going up against Barcelona, and that’s something you have to overcome before the referee even blows the whistle.

Picture: UNDER CONTROL: Ryan Giggs is challenged by Oliveira Anderson at United’s training session yesterday. Picture: PA