Injuries worry Ferguson

March 08, 2007

MIXED FORTUNES: Sir Alex Ferguson

SIR Alex Ferguson celebrated a fifth successive United win and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals - and claimed it had been a "bad week" for the Red Devils.

While Ferguson is not complaining at a 1-0 win over Lille which confirmed United's place in the last eight for the first time in four years, the Scot is getting concerned about a mounting injury list.

After losing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Darren Fletcher in the past week already, Ferguson confirmed Louis Saha would miss up to a month with a hamstring injury suffered in training on Tuesday.

And, if that was not bad enough, defender Mikael Silvestre now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a confirmed dislocated shoulder late in last night's game.

"Apart from the results, it has been a bad week," said Ferguson.

"It is not looking good for Mikael at all.

"At first, we thought he had broken his arm but now it seems it is a dislocation.

"It is another big blow for us because, in the space of a week, we have lost five players.

"Louis will be missing for four weeks although, with hamstrings, you can never be sure exactly how long they will be out. Ole will not be available until March 31, Darren Fletcher is out for two months and now Henrik Larsson is leaving us."

Larsson provided United with the perfect farewell gift last night by nodding home Cristiano Ronaldo's superb cross 19 minutes from time.

Problems

Given the developing problems on the striker front, Ferguson might have been tempted to ask Larsson to extend a 10-week stay which is due to end next Tuesday after the UEFA celebration game.

Instead, the 35-year-old Swede has confirmed his intention to head home, despite Ferguson's reluctance to lose his services.

"Keeping him past next week would go beyond what we have agreed with Henrik," said Ferguson.

"Henrik has made promises to his club and his family, so there is no point going on about it.

"I have spoken to the lad and he is going back. That, unfortunately, is that.

"But I was hoping he would score in his last game here. He has been an absolute pleasure to be with."

A number of old foes, including Bayern Munich, AC Milan and English duo Chelsea and Liverpool now lie in wait for United in Friday's draw.

Ferguson, though, insists he does not care who his team get.

"There is a muchness about all the teams involved," he said.

"Last season, there was a spell when no-one wanted to get Barcelona. I don't think anyone is saying that this season.

"The key thing is we are still in the competition.

"We have had a couple of bad years in terms of qualifying for the quarter-finals. But the quarter-finals are not our aim. We want to go as far as we possibly can.

"There is not a lot between any of the sides left in, so I feel we have a chance against anyone."

Who are you hoping to draw in the last eight? Have your say.

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edinburgh red, edinburgh (08/03/2007 at 11:10)

Hopefully draw valencia as they could be thrown out and we get a bye, also psv even though koeman has a vodoo sign over english teams at present are beatable, I know we are going to draw Bayern or Chelsea which could be bad.

edinburgh red, edinburgh (08/03/2007 at 11:12)

How to solve injury problems,sign more players, thankfully we are covered fairly well in defence, midfield and attack especially at present are very weak, smith just back from injury and the mis firing this season rooney, no more injuries i hope.

chris, oxford (08/03/2007 at 11:15)

Well, beginning of the season there were a lot of us asking what would happen if and when our strikers get injured and now we are going to find out - I'm hoping and praying that Giggs, Scholes and Ronaldo can step up and grab a few more goals. The lack of foresight bemuses me because Rooney doesn't score enough, Smith and Ole have been out injured for months/years and you can guarantee that Saha will miss games through injury too. We have been lucky so far this season and for it all to go wrong now would be very hard to take, the dip in form is also alarming - the players are looking nervous and short of confidence, it's time for Fergie to earn his corn and galvanise the players.

TMUF, Manchester (08/03/2007 at 11:20)

Hopefully PSV but the other 6 I have no preference. Before people harp on about I told you so and incompetence, the injuries we are suffering now are worse then the ones Chelsea have suffered. In Rooney,Saha,Solskjaer and Smith, theres 4 strikers and not many teams have more then that. Lets not forget we also have Dong. Silvestre isn't too bad an injury as we have the most amount of cover there. Unfotunaetly O'shea is more then likely going to step in for Scholes with Fletcher out. I do thinkthe likes of Ronaldo,Park and Giggs will be able to help out with the loss of 2 strikers. The good thing is most of the squad have had a run out at some point of the season so hopefully they will be able to gel into the team well rather then needing match fitness.

OK Balders (08/03/2007 at 11:32)

correct Chris, a lot of people came on here without a care in the world for such eventualities. As you say, SAHA is always going to get injured plus it's happened to us before !! Have we learned ? No, in fact it's worse this time around 'cos half the playing force is out on loan !!! Doh !

Demo, Glossop (08/03/2007 at 11:36)

If there was any time during the season for rooney to come to form then this is it. We really need some good performances and goals from Wazza. Im confident that despite the injuries we can still make it. I think smithy is gonna do ok and ronaldo will continue to push us forward. Whos lucky now jose? that goal by robben was not in the least bit lucky was it?

Roy (08/03/2007 at 11:54)

Saha and Scholes (seeing red) are the big losses - Fletcher, Silvestre and Ole are all squad players and great to have but in fairness it could be a lot worse. The problem now is who is going to get goals? It seems Giggs and Ronaldo are the main hopes unless Rooney comes good. That said, if you are going to suffer a loss of strikers, I'd prefer to be in Man U's position than Chelsea with its dependence on Drogba. The next two league matches look crucial, and the internationals coming up provides some recover time - Saha and Ole will hopefully be back in April. Meanwhile, how did Smith look last night?

Mark, South Manchester (08/03/2007 at 11:58)

Well this is exactly the fundamental problem that everybody was fearing about earlier in the season. Remember we were all talking about too few strikers and too many injury prone strikers!
Then Larsson came and everybody forgot about this fundamental weakness in the squad.

Well sorry SAF - but you've only yourself to blame. Chelsea are looking good for the QUADRUPLE now - although maybe Liverpool could prevent them and win the Champions League?
What a NIGHTMARE SCENARIO we are now facing!!

Birdy, Ireland (08/03/2007 at 11:59)

I would say PSV or Roma, although as Stu said on another tread it might be no harm if we draw one of the bigger sides as this might get a performance out of us. One thing is for sure, no matter who we get, if we play as we did in the 2 legs against Lille we'll get knocked out. The injuries are a worry. Scholes i thnk will be missed more than any other

ronaldo, manchester (08/03/2007 at 12:05)

DONG!!!! DONG !!!!! who said DONG(sound like a bell) he wouldnt get a game for FC UTD and i aint joking,did anyone see him the other night for the res" young Brandy is better than him,Why the hell dont they get Rossi back???? big worry though ,come on city against Chelsea!!

Deepaw, MD, USA (08/03/2007 at 12:26)

There is no need to panic, we have only 3 matches, Larsson will play one, leaving us with Bolton and Blackburn with propably UCL 1/4ters first leg which i think OLE will be back to play. i think smith can do the job, he his xperienced enuf. we will still win, but only by small margin as long as we defend well, we have a chance.
I wouldn't rate the Lille game as a poor performance, Lille is a fast team and they have a lot of ball winners, so playing fast against them will only result in giving a lot of balls away. To beat a team like Lille u have to be slow, keep the ball, patient and take ur chance when it comes which is exactly what we did. May be if Arsenal had done the same with PSV they might have gotten the result they wanted. but like someone said, Rooney need to wake up now enuf of the sleeping and let Ronaldo do it attitude

ted knott, droylsden (08/03/2007 at 12:34)

Bad week for United? a nightmare scenario? for heavens sake you lot would have something to moan and groan about if you were supported City WHAT UTTER NONSENSE! and dont think City will do you a favour by beating Chelsea IT WONT HAPPEN because like you lot keep saying "CITY ARE PATHETIC" etc etc.

Steve, Glossop (08/03/2007 at 12:43)

Perfectly put Chris. It would've been a near miracle if a situation like this hadn't happened. If we blow it now it's Ferguson's & Gill's fault.

TMUF, Manchester (08/03/2007 at 12:53)

I suppose you can say the players are injury prone. Obviously Smith has just come back from injury. You can say we should have been more cautious about Ole and Saha as they have both been out for long periods of time. I jus cant believ how unlucky Saha has been. He never suffered injuries at Fulham. As for Ole it is also unfortunate. OK many of us believed this could happen but thats more due to the fact that we're suporters and fear the worst. The medical staff would have thought they could be injury free I presume. I mean if you look at Giggs and Gerrard, they used to get injuries all the time, obviously it doesnt last. Anyway heres to hoping for a quick recovery for all injured. Hopefully Saha isnt out any longer because with a hamstring, it could be anywhere between 3 and 6 weeks.

TMUF, Manchester (08/03/2007 at 12:55)

Ted Knott thats your first comment I have actually agreed with. More then likely to be the last too!

karma2007, rochdale,greater manchester (08/03/2007 at 12:58)

I dont care who we get as any game against any side will be hard,thats why we are all in the last eight,a team might have been playing every game during the stages and fall flat against a team who have scraped through and are on form on the night.
Thats the magic of this competition.
As for roma or psv we dont really know alot,so id prefer an english side liverpool or chelsea will do,as we know how they play.
Roma actually look quite good.

chris, oxford (08/03/2007 at 12:59)

Fergie is worried and I'm totally pooing myself now - football, hell eh?

stu, london (08/03/2007 at 13:13)

Birdy, absolutely. Don't want to repeat myself here but I find the number of people hoping we get an "easy" team (there's no such thing by the way - PSV just knocked out Arsenal, or did you all miss that?) alarming. Firstly, is indicates just how far our star has fallen that we, Manchester United, are now scared of Bayern Munich, fourth in the Bundesliga, Milan, average age 96, or Liverpool, who under Benitez have yet to beat us in the Premiership in three years. Secondly, does nobody except me and presumably Birdy recognise that our loss of form in Europe since 2002, whilst undeniably linked to an ageing squad and the 4-5-1 system, also coincides with us getting "easy" draws year in, year out? The last time we had to play a really challenging tie was Deportivo when Veron was here - which, funnily enough, was the last knockout leg we won. Coincidence? No. We, just like Liverpool and Chelsea and Arsenal in the last few years, play BETTER against BETTER teams in Europe. We NEED to draw Bayern or the dippers or Milan.

Keane was right Sell Ronny (08/03/2007 at 13:23)

Chris (Oxford) we (you included) were not saying if our strikers become injured but WHEN. Saha is delicate as players go and he often gets injuries as does Giggs (touch wood, touch wood!). We do have 4 strikers as somoene else has said but theyre hardly first choice OGS is in his twilight as is Larsson and Rossi isnt powerful enough, as for Smith, well if the Blades want him that speaks volumes. We simply didnt have the quality in depth and now, as the critical part of the season, we are sweating. If Giggs or Rooney suffer kiss goodbye to any honours.

Andy P, Wythenshawe, Manchester (08/03/2007 at 13:53)

Ted Knott, Manchester United and Manchester City have different aspirations at the start of every season. I dont agree with you, it has been a bad week for United, too many injuries and suspensions plus United are winning but not playing very well. I think we will lose against Middlesbrough and City will lose against Blackburn.

chris, oxford (08/03/2007 at 13:53)

Yup, agreed Keane.

Andy (08/03/2007 at 14:12)

It's now over a month since we produced a performance worthy of champions (4-0 v Spurs) and although we're still in with a chance of all three trophies, we have ridden our luck considerably over the past month and need to start putting in some very solid performances NOW. Our League run-in is far from easy. As good as it seems at the moment, we could very well end the season with the same as the Gunners - zilch.

Dave-K, ex-Cheadle (08/03/2007 at 14:49)

So either it's Ronaldo and Giggs wide with Rooney and Smith up front, or Park and Giggs wide with Ronaldo ( hasn't he played there for Portugal?) and Rooney up front, with Smith on the bench. Not ideal, I admit, but probably just about good enough if they stay fit (a big 'if'), and a better option that lapsing into the dreaded 4-5-1 and expecting Rooney to stay up on his own.

de Meester, netherlands (08/03/2007 at 19:10)

Weel af that can be said again!
It's been a noreendously abd week (for injuries)neating the old foe and sealing the quarters with Henryk's (alomost) leaving gift and the injuries now coming in 4's and fives!!
Fist we've gotta handle Scholesy's abscence! and then the other missing few become an issue!
We shall overcome!!

de Meester, netherlands (08/03/2007 at 19:13)

That's indeed true.
The gods have been saving these blows til precisely now!!
Got to get by without Scholesy first and the the others become an issue!
We shall overcome!
Up The Reds

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