Champions League - Fergie's plan revealed

Alex Ferguson's two-pronged plan to beat Barcelona has been revealed in Friday's papers.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Scot has been drilling into his men the need to make a fast switch from 4-4-2 to 3-4-3 in the event that they fall behind in the Champions League final at Wembley on Saturday night.

Fergie has apparently lighted on the plan to ensure that there is no chance United will be played out of the game as they were two years ago, when Cristiano Ronaldo admitted that "the tactics were not so good" after the match. If the plan has to come into action, the Telegraph claims, Ji Sung Park will be sacrificed to bring Chris Smalling into a three-man defence, with Patrice Evra and Fabio becoming wing-backs and Antonio Valencia moving up front alongside Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez.

The Telegraph aren't the only people talking tactics today, with Jack Wilshere in almost every single newspaper in the country explaining how Manchester United can beat Barcelona.

No doubt 69-year-old Ferguson will play close attention to the sage wisdom of the 19-year-old as he tries to secure the 48th trophy of his managerial career.

Other highlights of the acres of Champions League final coverage are news that Barca's top-tier stars will pocket a £1m bonus if they win (The Sun), how Antonio Valencia has 'moonwalked' his way back into the United team thanks to NASA treatment (all papers) and why the £1bn final will be the third-most-watched sports event of all time. There's even a strikingly odd piece in The Guardian about how Pep Guardiola is not a talented coach but is actually just incredibly lucky.

But The Sun easily wins the prize for the most unusual take of the day, with an analysis of why Barcelona's stars are good at football despite being incredibly short.

Half-pint heroes Messi (5'6"), Xavi and Iniesta (both 5'7") are described as "more cut out to be jockeys" than football superstars, but concludes that, "you can already hear the pitter patter - the tiki-taka - of tiny feet scampering around Wembley. The sound of the Little Big Men cutting United down to size."

Note to Guardiola: should Barca win at Wembley, please avoid a celebratory trip to nearby Thorpe Park on Sunday afternoon. It'd be embarrassing for everyone involved if staff had to turn the stars of the final away from the rollercoasters.

There's plenty of transfer gossip around today, and we'll kick off with news that Carlos Tevez is looking increasingly likely to stay at Manchester City after the Daily Mail reported the Argentine has turned down a £20m-a-year-plus-bonuses offer to join Juventus. That would have made Tevez comfortably the best player in the world at over £400,000 a week.

Harry Redknapp always seemed one of the more unlikely names linked with the Chelsea job after Carlo Ancelotti was sacked - but the Tottenham boss's odds have been slashed after huge amounts of money was bet on him. The Sun reports that Redknapp has come down from 25-1 to become the odds-on favourite.

If Redknapp stays, however, he's likely to be welcoming a new face to White Hart Lane next year, with the Mail claiming that Spurs are very close to securing Brazilian 21-year-old striker Leandro Damiao from Internacional.

Liverpool will make a £12m swoop to try and sign Stewart Downing from Aston Villa, the Sun reports - while Villa are one of the clubs now keen on West Ham's £10m talisman Scott Parker.

The Daily Star reports that Arsenal are to make a £10m bid for Blackburn defender Chris Samba, while The Sun says Wigan are holding out for £20m for midfielder James McCarthy after a bidding war emerged between Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool for the Irish 20-year-old.

Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies could apparently be handed the West Ham job ahead of hot favourite Sam Allardyce, the Mirror reports.

i cant wait for this final me..... i think its gonna be a right cracker .


unfortunately patriotism goes right out of the window for me cos i want barcelona to absolutely stuff man utd lol


honestly i cant stand the smug pricks.....i hope messi bags 6 lol