Argentina

Of course, Argentina failed miserably against Brazil. It always worries me when I see attacking talent stifled, caught on the counter-attack and becoming increasingly frustrated and bemused at an inability to create anything significant. It reminds me all too forcefully of our bad days.

Now let's be clear, the United supporters' chant of Ar-gen-tina never had much to do with Veron or Heinze, but was an assertion of what all supporters know to be true, club is much more important than country ever can be. Players, of course, can have a different perspective.

Even without the folk memory of the chant , supporting Argentina was inevitable, with Heinze, Tevez and Veron involved (and Anderson not moving off the Brazil bench). All were supposed to have had good tournaments, with words like "revitalised" and "inspirational" being used in reports. As it turned out, Tevez appeared lost, Veron reminded us only of his peerless ability to lose the ball in a crucial position and Heinze, whilst not as impulsively kamikaze as at the end of last season, still didn't convince. Since his return from injury, he appears to have lost his outstanding ability to head the ball, as well as being increasingly reluctant to press over the half-way line, perhaps because he's not as confident of getting back.

Although his form may return, it's not surprising the club is unwilling to offer him a new contract at this stage (particularly now Ronaldo appears fully committed to staying - until then I'd have offered Heinze a new contract simply on the basis he was Ronaldo's best friend - "attention to detail" you see).

And Argentinian players at present do seem to come with a disconcerting amount of baggage, relatives, agents, companies, which seems likely only to fill the pockets of Maurice Watkins and his learned colleagues.

Of course, no-one wants Gaby to go to Liverpool, although I can see the attraction from his point of view, particularly if he's settled in the North-West.

But it would hardly be fair to Phil Chisnall, to rob him of his fame in his retirement. As Phil says, “I’ve become the answer to a quiz question in recent years”, and that is something that should not be sacrificed wantonly, and I'm sure it is the main reason the club is being obstructive.