Paul Reid's weekly column - May 29

I MUST admit it. I wanted Manchester United to win the European Champions League Final in Moscow.

I know Chelsea were the better team in the second half and created the better chances in extra-time.

But I think United have been the better team all year. They've been better defensively and they've been more entertaining. In the league, they scored 15 goals more than Chelsea and this time they've even conceded four less than them. Chelsea normally concede fewer than United.

I'm not an early riser now but I was in Australia. Thousands of people get up early to watch English football live on TV, because the clocks are nine hours ahead down there. There are at least four lives games a week to see.

The 7.45pm kick-offs are a problem, though. The Australians get them at 4.45 in the morning.

I watched a lot when I was young. And the side I still support since then is Liverpool. I liked them because in the late 80s and early 90s I thought they were entertaining.

When I was growing up, the gap between the rest, and what are now the big four teams, wasn't so substantial. There were always other teams in among them, and fighting.

The player I looked up to was Peter Beardsley and I tried to model my game on him.

This season, Liverpool were never in championship contention because they were so inconsistent. They've performed against the better teams but kept dropping points against the poor ones.

But we're in a world of multi-millionaire ownership. Now that the Americans have taken over Liverpool, I expect they will be more competitive next season.

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