As a keen racing fan, Ferguson is acutely aware how gruelling the Aintree spectacular can be, and how much adversity must be overcome by the eventual winner.
He does not see that much difference with the challenge posed by a 38-game league season.
And, after successive defeats against Liverpool and Fulham, Ferguson feels United should not worry about what is past and renew their focus on what lies ahead.
“It is very appropriate to talk about the Grand National,” he said.
“You go round those 30 fences and you might hit one or a horse might fall in front of you.
“Our challenge is about obstacles too. You might draw or (suffer) a defeat. You might play badly sometimes and win or play great and not score. That is because it is the toughest league in the world.
“The facts is we are a point clear. It doesn’t matter how we got there, it is a great position to be in. What we have to do now is prove we can trust these players and they can trust each other.
“They can look round the dressing room and say, ’I am glad I have got these guys in my team’.
“With that kind of ability and the experience we have of run-ins, I expect them to kick on. That is what we intend to do.”
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They have got to stay focussed and get on and win the rest of their games !
Well done the gaffer. A win against Villa is neigh-on guaranteed.
Anyone else very nervous about Sunday !!
Lee, no more nervous than if it was a Saturday, or if it was a game in September. There's no specific reason to be nervous about a game against Villa and their form since changing the formation to accommodate a newly bought forward has been very poor. It's just another game where we can pick up 3 points towards winning the league and a game that, if we play to our abilities, we should have more than enough for the opposition.
The good thing is that we're playing a 'Villa team that is worse off than us in terms of confidence. If we win on Sunday everything changes instantly from then on 'cause we'll have Roo, Vida & Scholes fresh for Tuesday and the next Prem games. We should be alright.
Lee , Heywood, Heywood they're more nervous about Sunday than you. That's why the sight is so deserted.
Extremely nervous - sod's law that we'll probably have to wait for a 93rd minute winner as well!
Yup, I'm bricking it Lee!
Our form is hardly good at the moment T&C so this could be a nail biter. Or we will batter them 4-0.
Here's hoping anyway!
T&C you very nearly calmed me then. Its the spectre of Liverpool winning the league that I cant quite shake off though !!
The team against Villa should be (4-4-2): VDS; Gary, Rio, Evans, Evra; Ronaldo, Carrick, Fletch, Park; Giggs, Tevez.
We should then be able to make 5 changes vs Porto (4-3-3): VDS; O'Shea, Rio, Vidic, Evra; Fletch, Carrick, Scholes; Ronaldo, Rooney, Nani.
Hopefully we can see both games through.
Chris, re: our form. Depends if you think short or long term. If you judge our form over two games we are bottom of the league. over 29, we're top. Since late December we are the form team, there's no doubt about that. The current 'loss of form' is more a case of silly errors creeping in in a couple of games. Play like we have for 95% of the season and we'll win.
Lee, not much we can do about Liverpool. They can look after themselves. We can still secure this title with ease as long as the players don't seize up through nerves. They are all seasoned internationals and we have the best manager in the world, so I don't see it as a great problem. Not a done deal, but nothing to fret about either.
I think it will be a draw at Fulham and Newcastle tommorow, and we will win on sunday, forget the game in hand, I think we will all drop more points.
I can see us winning all our remaining home games apart from possibly Spurs(draw) Away, Sunderland win, Middlesbrough win, Wigan win, Hull draw possibly all over by then anyway.
Realistically what would you rather have Liverpool fighting on two fronts or one, if we would have beat them the other week, it would have been end of errand, and they would have thrown all their eggs in one basket
Lets not right off Chelsea, its still tight up there. I have to say and this might just be cold comfort but we haven't clicked for me this season. I am flattered that we are in the position we are in, Hargreaves has been a big out and may be an ever bigger out come final reckoning.
Tuesday may be a blessing in disguise, lets face it we are at home, don't have to travel, and have got players coming back.
Stay positive
Well well well
It will be interesting to see wher the fergiemyster spends his weekend and what he watches.
Will it be the big race and the aftershow? plenty of champer and wine no doubt?????
Will he miss the race scene and watch HIS team play???
hmmmmmm, im sure hes off to the races.....
Hes made his money and no doesnt care about the team.
Go ON RETIRE FERGIE, time has come or change...
If we get beat by the Villa, what next?
What if the scousers win ???
Also as im sure you are all aware, im not a rooney fan, over rated and very volatile.
He alone could cost us the trophies with his immature brat behaviour.
Go with fergie, go to europe and see how long your little tantrums last there??
Mark my words..........Doom is ahead unless change comes fast
T&C your calmness / optimism is welcome, but an awful lot rides on Sundays game - win and we are back on course, and I'll have no doubts about where the league is going; but draw or (god forbid) lose, and we'll have taken one point (or none) from nine, and although the game-in-hand would still put us in a slightly better position the the 'Pool, who knows how the nerves will start to fray. They have a slightly easier run-in than us also.
That said, we will win. It's going to be either 1-0 or 6-0, depending on whether the opening goal is scored in the first ten minutes or not...
Aussie A, 4/04/ 09 at 01:13 the ever doubting thomases! Idealy speaking SAF is in that crop of rare species of proven achieving managers. wish for him to hit the long road? well, not till we surpass the scousers mark of 18. in a season, every team has to have those moments when dip in form occurs. lets hope our bad run will be broken against villa.
T&C I would say that our form has been patchy for a month or two and we have been lucky with some results, we haven't got close to repeating performances of the last two seasons at all this year for one reason or another IMO and we have been winning ugly for want of a better expression!
Have to agree with Lee that the thought of the dippers nicking the title really is starting to worry me now, I could take anybody else (apart from Citeh obviously) winning it but not that lot, PLEASE!!!
Chris, there's a difference between form and performance. Our form as a team has been great up until the last two games. the form of some individuals will be up or down at any given time and you rely on the manager and coaches to mitigate that. Performances though, in terms of fluidity, domination and entertainment, have been worse this season than last. Not by much, but worse. I put that down to the change in formation and style of play to incorporate Berbatov. I deem those changes as being only partly successful so far.
chris, you ought to have a little more faith. A couple of bad results caused mostly by silly individual errors from normally reliable players doesn't change anything - we will win the title.
I think Fergie is absolutely right when he says that the players should forget about the past and concentrate on the present. That said, i am of the opinion that we should also forget about the treble and really focus on one competion where we have a realistically higher chance of winning. If Man.U plays up to its standards, it can win the premiership. That will not be a short order, far from it, as Liverpool is capable of winning all its remaining games. Still, i have more faith in the team playing consistently over a series of games rather relying on coming up with a very decent performance in each knock-out stage of the two remaing cup competitions the team takes part in (FA Cup and the European Champions League). The thing is that we must focus on one goal and pursue that singlemindedly. Take today's game against Villa, for instance, and then Tuesday's bizarre feature against Porto, just 48 hours later. Where do you commit yourself most,if you are chasing too many trophies at the same time? Personally i would favour the premiership title over everything else, for the extra reason of equalling the scousers tally of 18 division one titles. May i be proved wrong but i am really affraid that the longer we stay in the running for all three competions the greater the chances that we will win nothing and end up with just the league cup trophy.
bestgeorg