FA Cup Final - Key Men

With the Fa Cup final a matter of hours away, The Late Flag takes a look at the men who could tip the balance in the FA's showpiece rip-off Wembley Final.

Man Utd


Christiano ‘Winker’ Ronaldo

After Germany 2006 no one could possibly have predicted that in the week's build up to the FA Cup Final we would all be writing about one man - Mr Ronaldo. This season he has been immense in a team hungry for success. Whether it has been his jinking runs, step over ballerina dance or maybe the way he has perfected the art of swerving the ball, he has definitely been worth his weight in gold. His 23 goals in all competitions this season have been the catalyst to Man Utd’s achievements in a year where they were desperately trying to claw the gap between them and Chelsea.

Michael Carrick

I was wondering who to pick between the central pair of Carrick and Scholes until I thought everyone will be writing about the little ginger Manc. For the past few seasons Paul ‘Goals’ Scholes has been lacking in the final third but this season he has performed well because of his central pairing with Michael ‘Im worth £18m now’ Carrick. Many people including myself questioned whether Ferguson had lost his marbles paying so much for an average player. However his passing and creative ability have given the Mancs something to start building their attacks from, which they lacked in previous seasons.

Wayne Rooney

23 goals in all competitions is a decent record for a striker but Rooney isn’t all about the goals, his awareness on the pitch has been able to help him create assists for other team members to finish off. Scoring goals in the Final is all his manager will be bothered about this weekend and Man Utd’s FA Cup could well depend on the capability of Rooney creating something from nothing and scoring a goal worthy of winning the cup alone. It might be one of those games where for 89 minutes it’s a boring 0-0 game and the managers wish that Paul Daniels was on the bench to conjure up something.

Ryan ‘only 9 times’ Giggs

I couldn’t help myself, I tried not to mention the feat of 9 titles but to be fair this man has deserved every major trophy in England maybe even the World. At times Beckham was the main man on the block, but where he was able to hit a ball 40 yards Giggs would run with the ball for 40 yards. His pace and trickery are still something to watch out for and if Jose thinks the Welshman is past it, then I’d think again. Chelsea have had problems at both full back positions this season and expect Giggs (if he gets the nod) to take full advantage of the situation.

Prediction:

Chelsea 2 vs 1 Man Utd
Expect a tight affair where the game could be decided by a moment of brilliance.