Queiroz On The Offensive

Carlos Queiroz, with great smugness, informed everyone that United did football a favour with their title win.

Fans of Chelsea and Liverpool are due to blast him for his comments, for they must defend the deficiencies of their own teams. But of course first let's hear what he said.

'The Manchester United culture is to win by playing great, creative football,' he said.

'It is about winning and entertaining. It has always been like that.

'Sometimes, with so much competition from all the other sports and things like TV, football needs to be innovative to keep the title of the best sporting entertainment.

'For some time now, the game has moved in one direction. The systems and strategies and the general way teams approached the game had become so defensive and cautious.

'That is why it was so important, not just for Manchester United but for the game as a whole, that we won the championship.

'We proved it is possible to win trophies with an attacking style of football.'

It might be an exaggeration that we did football a favour. One might argue that game would hardly have did had we not won the title. But he's got a point.

In the last couple of years, European football has become increasingly defensive. Two defensive midfielders in the team are now obligatory for most managers. With our commitment to free-flowing, attacking football, we've shown that this style can indeed be successful, he's right on this matter - but it won't be enough to transform football

Of course, even Queiroz must admit that United are not all gung-ho, especially against stronger opponents.

'Of course, we need to have different approaches against teams like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus. At times we have to be efficient,' he said.

So it's not all jogo bonito, is it? No but we all dread the time when we will see a fundamentally defensive Manchester United team - hopefully, it will not happen in my lifetime.