Trautmann hopes Man City's time has come again
Bert Trautmann will be at his home near Valencia when his beloved Manchester City take on Manchester United in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. He would like to watch the game but won't be able to as he does not subscribe to any of the satellite TV channels showing the match in Spain.
But if City do beat the odds - and their red neighbours - to set up a return to Wembley for the final next month, then the spritely 87-year-old does not want to miss a thing.
For a man synonymous with FA Cup folklore, a return to the scene of his legendary triumph in 1956 is long overdue. The Nazi paratrooper turned prisoner of war turned heroic goalkeeper, who broke his neck in that year's final but famously played on, has not been back since the ground was rebuilt and, more poignantly, has never been invited to a major final by City since he retired in 1964.
In fairness, there have been no opportunities in the 30 years since City's last FA Cup final, against Spurs in 1981, but City's visits to Wembley for showpiece games in the late 1960s and 1970s were a lot more frequent.
Like many other Blues fans, Trautmann is hopeful Saturday will be the first of many more but he is not overly optimistic about City's prospects this weekend.
Trautmann broke his neck diving at the feet of Birmingham forward Peter Murphy. Photo: Getty
The talent in City's squad is not in doubt but their resolve is. Anyone who witnessed the abject collapse at Anfield on Monday would recognise that manager Roberto Mancini is lacking men like the German in his squad, players that would literally put their neck on the line for their club."When I have seen City this season, they are always missing passion," Trautmann told me. "Their players should be dying for the game, dying for Manchester and dying for the club. That is what they are missing.
"Saturday is a derby, so it will be full of tension but when I came off the field I wanted to be half-dead, absolutely drained of everything. I don't think that is the case anymore." Those cracked vertebrae from 55 years ago are the reason Trautmann can talk with much more authority than any pundit or journalist when it comes to questioning commitment and bravery. He was knocked out by the collision with Birmingham forward Peter Murphy's knee but, when he came round, saw out the final 16 minutes, making some superb late saves to ensure City triumphed.
Perhaps someone should show Mario Balotelli and co the Pathe News footage of that incident and tell the whole squad the extraordinary tale of Trautmann's earlier life, which took him from Hitler Youth to the Luftwaffe and the atrocities of the Eastern Front, where he won an Iron Cross. It is some story, brilliantly told in Catrine Clay's biography, which was released last year.
I knew from reading that book that the forthright Trautmann likes to tell it how it is, even if his honesty, whether it be about his involvement in the war or some of his relationships in England afterwards, does not always paint himself in a favourable light.
An affable and engaging interviewee, he is just as forthright when we discuss City's current side, although he does have some sympathy for Mancini.
"It is a difficult position because City are measured by the money they have available," Trautmann said. "Then they have to buy players with inflated prices and wages. Some of them can hardly run and I am told they are on more than £200,000 a week.
"Today, on that sort of money, I couldn't tell you if I would have been the same player. It is very different. You could say it is more difficult to score goals today because teams are more defensive-minded and they don't want to lose games. But in our day we earned £10 a week and we went out to win games because we depended on the £2 bonus."
So what are City lacking? "I don't want to want to criticise the manager," Trautmann said with a laugh, knowing he was about to do just that. "But there is one thing this City team really needs and that is a schemer. There is no Don Revie, nobody in their midfield demanding the ball and making things happen.
"With the calibre of players in their side, they should be doing better. Compare them to United, who are always good for goals. United attack all the time and they get their reward. Look at their win at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League as an example."
In the absence of the injured Carlos Tevez at the weekend, City might be relying on the fragile temperament of 20-year-old Balotelli against United. Providing he cuts out his petulance, Trautmann thinks the young Italian can still come good.
"I know Balotelli is one of the 'bad boys' but there is nothing wrong with that," he explained. "We had one or two players who had a bit of a temper, like Ivor Broadis. I think all really good players have a bit of an edge. Wayne Rooney has got it, too, although he can be stupid sometimes. But you do need to have that desire."
Trautmann is helped off the field after his 1956 FA Cup final triumph. Photo: Getty
Trautmann's talk about City's prospects is peppered with mentions of players from the club's past - ex-team-mates like Broadis or Revie, who would go on to be a controversial England manager but at Wembley 55 years ago was a somewhat revolutionary deep-lying centre-forward operating in what we would now call 'the hole'.
Trautmann's memories of that game are a snapshot of a top footballer's life in that era. He recalls that his pre-match routine for the final involved a meal of poached egg on toast and an early night, "which meant that in my head I had already played the game on Friday night", and that his neck, which was not discovered to have been broken until three days after the game, ruined his night out afterwards.
"I was not in any state to celebrate after the game," he told me. "I just sat there with a bit of a headache and I was not very happy."
A lot has changed since then. In those days, the nation stopped to follow the final. This year, even the Premier League will continue, with at least three top-flight games taking place on 14 May. The diminishing status of the FA Cup is something that Trautmann regrets but can understand.
"I think we are talking about money now," he said. "That is what it boils down to. How much do you get for reaching the Cup final at Wembley and how much do you get for being in the Champions League? It is nowhere near as much for reaching the Cup final. If you asked any chairman, then they might say they prefer Wembley. But, being honest, they would go for the Champions League, wouldn't they?
"It's sad because, for me, football is about glory and winning things. That is not the case so much for others anymore. It is all about the money." During the course of my blogs on the FA Cup this season, I have tried to cover many of the aspects that I think made the competition great during Trautmann's time - some of which still hold true in the present day.
Through the tears of FC United fans when their side reached the first round proper for the first time, I saw the emotional power the Cup still has for many people, while Leyton Orient's exploits demonstrated the huge financial impact the competition can have on a club in the lower leagues.
I have written about the magic that rejuvenated Dover's former Arsenal striker Adam Birchall and the romance that keeps Torquay keeper Scott Bevan dreaming of a career-defining moment. Sadly, he did not manage it this season, missing out on a trip to Old Trafford despite saving two penalties in the fourth round.
There are always going to be disagreements about the future of the competition - as I found out before the quarter-finals - but you cannot dispute its rich history. Inspirational tales like Trautmann's should remind all players, pampered or otherwise, that the Cup is something worth fighting for.
Who will prevail in Saturday's battle? We have to wait and see. But the nostalgic amongst you might be siding with Trautmann. United fans eyeing a second treble in 12 years will disagree but I think it would be fitting if one of the greatest FA Cup heroes of the 20th century gets to see his side compete in their first final of the 21st century.
Does Trautmann think City will book an instant Wembley return? Possibly. "You always need a little bit of luck in the Cup - and City will need a lot against United," he said. "But, being a Blue, I hope they will be in the final - and that I will be going, too."
Roberto Mancini says Manchester City are happy to be underdogs
City's manager relaxed about Wembley date with United• Carlos Tevez misses FA Cup semi-final and rest of the month
Roberto Mancini may not seem like one of the world's natural underdogs but Manchester City's manager claims playing second fiddle to more illustrious opponents has become his default position. Mancini heads to Wembley apparently rather relaxed that Manchester United are firm favourites to progress from Saturday's FA Cup semi final. "This is my life," he said. "It was the same when I went to Lazio because Roma were better and, at Internazionale, because AC Milan won everything."
Mancini proceeded to confound the doubters by enjoying his fair share of managerial glory at both clubs but his current side's looming Wembley task is complicated by the hamstring injury that will sideline City's talisman, Carlos Tevez for at least the next three weeks. "I'm disappointed, Carlos is an important player for us and it's a serious injury, a tear," said Mancini who is, at least, bolstered by Micah Richards's return to full fitness. "It's a big problem but this is football, United are playing without Rooney.
"And we have [Edin] Dzeko, [Mario] Balotelli and Jô, good strikers who can play well and score. We know Carlos is very important for us but we can win this game without him. Anything can happen in one game against United. Who would have thought Birmingham could beat Arsenal [in the Carling Cup final]? And I trust my players."
Doubts linger as to whether this emotion is mutual. Asked whether he believed City's squad to be fully supportive of him the Italian said "yes" before spelling out why dissent was in no one's interests. "It would be stupid because, like me, the players have a good chance here," he stressed. "It's important for these players because it could be their first trophy. Throughout my career I always played to win. For them it's the same. It doesn't matter who plays on Saturday, all the players are behind me."
Mancini is convinced City's winning the FA Cup could represent a watershed in modern Mancunian football history. "It's difficult to start to win," he said. "That's why I think that if we get to the final and win this trophy the mentality will change. I'm sure that if we get to the final we will win the cup."
RAG MIND GAME OF THE DAY
Manchester City v Manchester United: noisy neighbours must win a trophy to be genuine rivals, says Paul Scholes
The first time Paul Scholes faced Manchester City as a Manchester United player, in November 1994, an Andrei Kanchelskis hat-trick helped clinch a 5-0 victory in a game which encapsulated the chasm between the two clubs.
Yet 17 years on from United’s ‘demolition derby’, Scholes is facing his 24th, and potentially final, encounter with City, with the Sky Blues having accelerated to within touching distance of the Reds as a result of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan’s three-year spending spree.
After jostling with Oldham Athletic for the right to be classed as United’s noisiest neighbours at the outset of Scholes’s career, City are now threatening to eclipse Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool as their biggest rivals of all.
But with the two clubs contesting Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, Scholes insists that City will be classed as a genuine threat only when they win a trophy.
“That’s what I think, yes,” Scholes said. “When they are fourth or fifth, or wherever they are in the league, I don’t think they can be classed as a main rival. Our main rivals are obviously Arsenal and Chelsea. City are just a rival because of where they are [geographically]. Liverpool are the same.”
Despite the perception of Scholes as a boyhood Oldham fan, the 36 year-old grew up in nearby Middleton with posters of Mark Hughes on his bedroom wall and an aversion to City forged by United’s 5-1 defeat at Maine Road in September 1989.
And as one of only three Mancunians — alongside Ryan Giggs and Wes Brown — likely to play in Wembley’s first Manchester derby, Scholes admits a special sensation comes with beating City.
“When I scored at Eastlands last season, it was perfect,” Scholes said. “It was a major highlight of my career, one of the best things I have ever done.
“To score in a Manchester derby is brilliant anyway, but to score a winning goal in the third minute of injury-time was special, especially with it being at their ground.
“As a fan, I don’t think there is a bigger game than the Manchester derby. I remember the 5-1 and Andy Hinchcliffe scoring that [fifth] goal.
“We have always been the team that has done better in derbies from when I was a kid, but results of the games haven’t always gone our way.
“Because they haven’t been as big a club as us, the underdog thing has meant there has never been much pressure on them going into derby games.
"So it is painful when you get beat. I remember going to Maine Road [in 2002] and losing 3-1 and it’s horrible. You hate losing against anybody ... but City? It’s bad.
“I have family who are Blues, so the desire to win is massive. You just want to make sure that you get through the game [without losing].
“We probably won’t hear the end of if we lose on Saturday, especially if they go on to win the Cup. It’s an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, it’s massive. Whoever loses will be devastated.”
Although City’s recent resurgence has transformed them into challengers for honours, they have beaten United only once in eight games since Sheikh Mansour’s arrival in September 2008.
Scholes admits that City’s new-found wealth has contributed to United raising their own game to maintain Mancunian supremacy. “With them getting the money, it has probably helped us and spurred us on a bit more when we have played them,” he said. “There has been nothing to choose between us in the last five or six games. They will obviously be ------ off that they have only managed to beat us once [under Mansour’s ownership] and that game was a Carling Cup semi-final first leg, with us having another game to make up for it. “We have nicked the games with goals in the last minutes. I’ve done it, Michael Owen’s done it and Wayne Rooney did it last season. That’s maybe the difference between the two teams. We have a belief that we can beat anybody, but if City have that, I’m not too sure. But their spending is not our problem is it?”
He added that United manager Sir Alex Ferguson would only buy people if he thought they were worth it. “He is not going to go buying people for £30-40 million because they could be inflated prices brought on by City’s spending. The manager felt he had the squad to go and do what we have done and, so far, we have been OK.”
The irony of City’s £130 million summer spending spree in contrast to United’s bargain hunting for Chris Smalling, Javier Hernandez and the less successful Bebe, is that Ferguson’s team go into the semi-final chasing a Treble.
A survivor of United’s 1999 trophy hat-trick, Scholes admits the possibility of emulating that feat has only just appeared on his radar. “I never really thought about the Treble until this week, until we beat Chelsea.” Scholes said. “I don’t think it had crossed any of our minds.
“There were too many games, it seemed too far away and we had a big team like Chelsea in front of us in the Champions League.
“But we’re in the semi-finals in Europe now, the semi-final of the FA Cup and we’re seven points clear in the league, but just as you start to think about the Treble, it can just as easily be taken away by just one game on Saturday.”
OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United tried to sign Raul this season, according to the Spanish striker's Schalke team-mate Christoph Metzelder. Daily Mail
Marseille are keen to take Arsenal's Marouane Chamakh back to France after he failed to earn a regular first-team place in his first season in England. talkSPORT
Full-back Stephen Warnock is set to leave Aston Villa in the summer after talks with manager Gerard Houllier broke down. Full story: Daily Mail
Aston Villa and Sunderland could both be interested in former Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, who will be allowed to leave Wigan in the summer. Daily Mirror
Paris St Germain defender Mamadou Sakho has distanced himself from reported interest from Arsenal and Liverpool, saying: "I plan to stay with PSG for a long time." Metro
Manchester United have signed promising Wales Under-18 defender Declan Dalley after the central defender impressed on trial at Old Trafford. talkSPORT
Dutch duo Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten are in the frame to be the next Chelsea manager, with Guus Hiddink joining them as technical director. Daily Star
But the Turkish Football Federation has made it clear it will resist any attempt to lure Hiddink away from his job of being their national team coach. Daily Telegraph
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho believes he will be the next Manchester United boss once Sir Alex Ferguson has retired and wants to take over at the end of next season. The Sun
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp will wave goodbye to his goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes following his latest blunder against Real Madrid in Wednesday's Champions League tie. Daily Mail
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he would love to play former club Manchester United in the Champions League final. Daily Telegraph
Birmingham City face the threat of being denied the chance to play in the Europa League next season if they cannot convince the Football Association and Premier League that their finances are in order. The Guardian
West Brom manager Roy Hodgson says he still feels he is managing "with a knife to his throat" despite being unbeaten since taking charge of the Baggies in February. Daily Mirror
Japan have had a change of heart and will compete in the Copa America tournament in July, having initially pulled out in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake which hit the country. The Guardian
Chelsea have announced that they have raised the top-level ticket price for next season. Games against bigger Premier League clubs will now be rated as AA and cost £87. The Independent
Schalke striker Raul climbed into the crowd after their Champions League win over Inter Milan to celebrate - and was handed a microphone to lead the fans' singing. talkSPORT
Bolton captain Kevin Davies said the team were "gutted" when they realised their FA Cup semi-final with Stoke was the same weekend as Bolton fan Amir Khan's WBA light-welterweight title defence against Paul McCloskey this weekend as they had planned to go. Daily Mirror
Ticket prices for next month’s FA Cup final have smashed through the £100 barrier for the first time, sparking outrage among supporters. Mail
The mancityfans.net football forum
The BEST FORUM in all the land and all the world
