Sam Allardyce says there's no point marking Lionel Messi in the Champions League Final.
Big Sam gives his tactical take on the Champions League Final
Sam Allardyce says there is no point in trying to mark Barcelona star Lionel Messi in the Champions League Final.
The former Blackburn and Bolton boss gave Sky Sports News his tactical verdict on the Wembley showdown after Manchester United secured their place in the final against the Catalan giants.
Allardyce is a long-time friend of United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and while he feels the Premier League leaders are underdogs in the game, he says they can claim the trophy if they get their tactics right.
However, he says it would be a mistake to put a player on World Footballer of the Year Messi, who scored two fine late goals in the first leg of the semi-final against Real Madrid, because he is skilful enough to get past anybody.
"Nobody's good enough to man-mark him," Allardyce explained.
"Personally I think Lionel Messi could elude anybody as a man-marker. I think what you have to do, as a player, is make sure you're aware of him. Whenever he's in your area or in your space you've got to take responsibility for him.
"If we look at the first game against Real Madrid it was only after Real Madrid had a player sent off that he found the space that he could work in to eventually destroy any hopes Real Madrid had of getting through to the final.
"He can be blocked out by more of a team effort, rather than any individual man-marking him."
Advice
Real Madrid have played Barcelona four times in the last three weeks and it has been suggested that Ferguson could contact their manager Jose Mourinho for advice ahead of the Wembley clash on May 28.
The Portuguese coach masterminded Barca's Champions League downfall in last season's semi-finals when he was in charge of Inter Milan and Allardyce says it might be a good idea to approach him for his views.
"I think he may choose to see if he can gain anything form that situation," he said.
"Speaking myself as a manager, the more information you get, the better your decision process is.
"I think in the end they know enough about Barcelona to make their own decisions, but if there's any help you can get from anywhere, you obviously listen to it.
"Whether you use it or not is then up to you as the manager."
Formidable
Allardyce admits Barcelona are a formidable side to play against, but feels they have weaknesses that can be exploited in central defence.
But he says Ferguson, who lost to Pep Guardiola's team in the 2009 final, will need to use all of his talent to upset the odds against the Spanish champions.
"He'll draw on all of his experience and the players' experience as well," Allardyce said.
"The one thing he'll want the team to do is go out and play their best. If they do that then it's going to give them the opportunity to beat Barcelona.
"While he'll have a plan of tactics to stop Barcelona, he'll also have a plan of tactics to expose Barcelona's weaknesses.
"For me, Barcelona's weaknesses are defensively. They are suspect at times to be caught on the break, they do leave spaces in behind the midfield and the central defenders sometimes don't concentrate defensively and are more interested in coming forward and making good passes rather than defending.
"The hard thing is getting at those weaknesses because the players in front of them are so good at keeping the ball that it becomes few and far between that you get the opportunity to expose that weakness.
"Perhaps he might look at that and on the day, the game is such a big game, that it could be decided on who takes their chances the best."
