Shootouts are nothing more than sweet FA

The Terry Venables verdict

Interview by Ray Ryan

IT may have been dramatic and historic — but this was not the way for the FA Cup to be won and lost.

I have never been a fan of the shootout system and it must have been heartbreaking for Manchester United to lose the final after dominating the game.

Sir Alex Ferguson will wake up this morning and wonder what is going on with the world after his side lost a game they did everything to win.

It was the first time the final has been decided on penalties — but despite all the excitement it provides, this is not the ideal way to settle such a vital match.

I understand why the FA decided to introduce extra-time and penalties in cup ties instead of the old replay system.

But, surely, there has to be a better way for the greatest club competition in the world to be decided rather than spot-kicks.

I would introduce a system where you would have a competition with a one-on-one situation between a striker and a goalkeeper.

The striker would be 30 yards out and on the referee's whistle he would run at the keeper with the ball. Then a defender would be allowed to chase him from 10 yards further back.

Running

At least that would be a scenario that is part of the game-and not something foreign like a shootout competition.

You don't get many penalties in a match but a player running at a keeper with defenders behind him is something that is part and parcel of the game.

Whether or not you would do it as a sudden death or best of five option is put forward for debate.

That way the game would still be decided on players' skill and abilities rather than a lottery.

I admit I am biased against shootouts. Who can forget the time England lost to Germany in Euro 96 when I was manager.

But my heart goes out to every manager, player and supporter who has lost that way.

And how tough it was yesterday on Paul Scholes, who missed the crucial penalty.

Had United won the game, people might not be talking about it with so much passion. But as it was, the better team lost the most one-sided FA Cup final between two top sides I can remember. I have never seen an Arsenal side play in such a disappointing fashion under Arsene Wenger.

Obviously, their tactics were dictated by the loss of Thierry Henry through injury.

But I wonder just how much they were affected by the Ashley Cole "tap-up" enquiry this week.

I don't know if people have made the connection between the two events yet but, surely, there has to be something in it.

Arsenal have entertained us for years with flowing football and stuff you can only dream about. Yet there was nothing like that from them yesterday.

And I can only imagine the Premier League enquiry this week has shaken them up.

Things such as the Robert Pires contract scenario have gone on for a bit so they are used to dealing with matters such as that.

But the enquiry into the Cole situation could not have come at a worse time for them — and I cannot understand why it was not delayed for a week.

But whether that affected them or not does not matter today. They have won the FA Cup and that is what matters most to them.

But for long periods yesterday, they looked as if they were not at the races.

Dennis Bergkamp was asked to play as an out-and-out striker in a role he is unaccustomed to.

He did not look happy all day as it meant he was not given the freedom to go and get the ball and attack the defence from deep, which he does so well.

That change of tactic alone ensured Bergkamp had a frustrating afternoon where he was unable to contribute much to the cause before he was finally taken off.

And with him out of the frame, Arsenal looked muted.

His frustrations obviously had much to do with United making it hard for Arsenal by packing almost every man behind the ball when they were in possession.

That meant there was little space to exploit — and with no width from the flanks to give Bergkamp any ammunition, it was not surprising United were the better side.

I was surprised at the approach Arsenal took because it meant they had none of their usual rhythm.

In fact, for much of the game, all Arsenal seemed to do was to pump the ball up high into Bergkamp from inside their own area — and that was dealt with easily by Rio Ferdinand.

While United started the game looking to hit Arsenal on the counter attack, they changed their approach after just half an hour and were all the better for it.

Denied

That was when United finally got Wayne Rooney into the game — with he and Cristiano Ronaldo being outstanding.

Rooney was at the centre of everything for United. He was denied a goal only by a couple of fine saves from Jans Lehmann and a post.

With Rooney and Ronaldo dominating the show, I was staggered Arsene took so long before he decided to change things around.

But that he did eventually towards the end. And while he did not affect the game in normal time, his men still ran out winners.

The best team lost — but that's football.