Ferguson's semi-conscious!

Stuart Mathieson

January 04, 2010

SHOCKER: Sir Alex Ferguson after the Leeds defeat

SIR Alex Ferguson will aim his big guns at City on Wednesday after United's FA Cup humiliation against Leeds.

The Reds boss had planned to use the third-round tie as a warm-up for the Carling Cup semi-final first leg against the Blues.

And he was intent on sticking by his youngsters for the clash against Roberto Mancini's side.

But the FA Cup flops have blown their derby chances by losing 1-0 to the Yorkshiremen.

It is the first third-round defeat of Ferguson's 23-year Old Trafford career - and United's first opening-round failure since 1984 when Ron Atkinson's holders were dumped out at Dean Court by Bournemouth.

And it is going to prove costly for many on duty against old foes Leeds.

"You have to get over these kind of results quickly. We have a semi-final on Wednesday night and a lot of these players today won't be playing," said a stunned Sir Alex.

Performance

"You have to view that performance in its right light and make sure we are ready for Wednesday. I had a team in mind but there maybe one or two changes now."

Leeds created the shock of the round with Jermaine Beckford's 19th minute winner proving enough to ease past United.

Ferguson was clearly staggered by the Reds' woeful effort.

"I didn't expect that. Our preparation for the game was very good. I am shocked by the performance," he said. "We didn't start right and Leeds did. They got their goal and it was something to hold on to. They fought like tigers and we expect that like any team coming to Old Trafford in an FA Cup tie. It is one of these things. We are human beings and they can always surprise you but we didn't expect that today.

"I don't think any of them can say they had a good day. Only Antonio Valencia when he came on and we eventually got the ball to him, which took about ten minutes, only he can say he had a good performance.

"We spoke about Beckford's pace up front and we were caught napping. It is a bad goal for us to lose.

"But the whole performance in the first half was bad. We never got going."

Will United bounce back against City? Have your say.

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palomablanca, manchester (04/01/2010 at 09:06)

Khalad Mahmood, Silet, Bangladesh (04/01/2010 at 09:08)

NOW will people finally see Khaled was right about Gibson. When you were all swooning over his 2 25 yard strikes and calling him the next Scholes, I told you he was lazy and poor. He is actually worse than that. I don't think he made 3 tackles the whole match. You have to win the ball in midfield and he just doesn't. Taking random pot shots (the majority of which are nowhere near the target) is not enough to be classed as a Premiership midfielder. He is League 1 standard at best. Compare him to Aaron Ramsey (who we failed to top Arsenals £5 million bid for) and there is NO comparison, Ramsey oozes pure class - a Fabragas in waiting. Fergie wants to stop giving us spin like "Wellbeck is an outside bet for the World Cup" and "I hope Owen is here for years to come", bacause Khaled ain't buying it. Owen is a shadow of the sharpest gun in town that he once was, Wellbeck is NOT a winger, he's a centre forward with too little strength to be a player at this level. Obertan is ok coming on with 15 minutes left against a tired defence, but thats his level at the moment. And finally my second favorite player ever (after Roy Keane, obviously) Gary Neville, looks finished at the top level. Having said that Obertan gave him no help at all. Fergie just HAS to wake up to the fact that without Fletch and Carrick and now Valencia, we aren't very good.

bobbydazzler (04/01/2010 at 09:12)

the headline is a perfect description of most of our players against leeds semi concious in that they played in a stupor and not for the first time this season

Balders!, W3106, Tier2 (04/01/2010 at 09:18)

how many of "one of those things" & "surprises" are we going to have before he 'un-stubbornly' realises that many of the players aren't good to play for us.

There's a MASSIVE gulf between good, or very good and The best - it's taken City 33 years to wake up to that!

SDS (04/01/2010 at 09:22)

I am confused, who are the kids at OT, previously fergie has played , neville, scholes, giggs, carrick etc in carling cup ties, yet he keeps saying he will play the kids, kids sort of indicate to me younger than say 22, someone mentioned to me the fella gibson but he is 24, before we go any further fergie wants to win everything one way or another, so whether he plays his dads army or his kids, and that to me seems to be the same side, there can be no excuses.

Sam Davis (04/01/2010 at 09:32)

Fair enough assessment. Enough said. We move on.

Mike Jones (04/01/2010 at 09:32)

We laced fight which has been missing for the last few years, if any team wants a fight in midfield we lose just look at the Liverpool and poss Chelsea games they are always up for a fight in midfield and we or most of the time lost why because we don't have apart from Fletchure any ball winners!! This Man U team laces fight and flair and I have said this all season. I really thought Leed were great yesterday and I enjoyed the game end to end but we should of had to much for them over the 90 minutes. We need a right back 2 midfield players, one ball winner and someone with flair and someone who can score. The days have gone of Keane, Scholes, Giggs and Becham and up front Van the Van or York and Cole. This is want we need again steel and flair, speed. Well good look to Leeds for the next round and for god sake Fergie buy some world class players.

Tj_Son, at work (04/01/2010 at 09:37)

cant wait to hear what gibberish danny will come up with for this article

Joan Davidson (04/01/2010 at 09:39)

Which "big guns" are these, then - Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, etc?

The Man frae Govan (04/01/2010 at 09:58)

The Reds will be eager to put the FA cup defeat behind them, My team selection: -----------------------Kuszczak------------------------ ,Rafael--------Vida----------Evans--------Evra -----Fletcher------Carrick-------Giggs----- -----Valencia---------Owen-----------Park------
palomablanca, manchester
4/01/2010 at 09:06

Sorry, I thought you meant we wanted to win?.............Park and Owen???????????

It may be 34 yrs but it will never be 37yrs. (04/01/2010 at 10:00)

Big gun's yeah right, bring them on and let's see who is the daddy.

David Brown (04/01/2010 at 10:04)

Woeful!
Chelsea, there for the taking? I don't think so if we continue with that form against Leeds. We WILL be though, if we don't change the order of things. There was no movement or drive at all.
Not taking anthing away from Leeds who were the better side on the day, but we allowed them to be!
Beware of being too loyal Alex, I saw loyalty to older players take us into the second division back in the seventies. Lets keep moving on Alex, we need a goalkeeper as Kuszczak is too nervey which spreads into the rest of the defence every time he plays, and his distribution is awful. A top striker too, Benzema and, or Dzeko, before it's too late. A commanding midfielder and a fullback. The time to spend that cash is now.
Sorry as I was to see Ronaldo leave, but one can only say letting Ronaldo go was good business ONLY if the money is reinvested into buying top quality replacements, at the moment we haven't done that.
Don't let Rooney go to waste! Don't let us become a one or two man band like the one's at the wrong end of the M62, and I don't mean Hull City.
Dave of Manchester,
52 years MUFC and long standing season ticket holder.

Bradley (04/01/2010 at 10:11)

Am I the only one concerned about comments made by Sir Alex withdrawing himself from the Leeds game, as he didn't feel right?
Seems very very odd and would love to know what is really going on at OT this season. No sign of any new players and some players seeming to be in a very comfortable comfort zone. Where is a passion for the game? Rooney, Valencia & Evra cannot carry the team, things need to change.

selfexiled (04/01/2010 at 10:13)

II watched this display with some trepadation for the future at Old trafford.There was a lack of conviction in the players and an underlying feeling of low confidence.SFA says he was using the youngsters in a bid to bring them more into the reality of Premiership and top flight competitions but on reading Reports in The Sunday Newspapers about the finances at Old Trafford I think he may have had no option.There as been no signings since the £80M went in the bank and although we have been re-assured there is money to spend it looks like we are running on empty.SFA as not in recent times left himself this short of experienced and gifted replacements and I am not referring to the likes of Giggs Neville and Scholes who at any other period in the last five years would have been let go at this stage of their carreers.SFA took on board Owen when if the truth be known he would have not contenplated the idea 3 years ago if the same opportunity had arisen.The defence as suffered because Ferdinand as not been around for most of the season and there as been no attempt to buy a recognised defender to put in his place.
If the transfer window offers opportunities to get a couple of experienced players we just might get something out of this season thats if SFA as a wallet with cash in it and not empty promises

james cromley, stockport (04/01/2010 at 10:18)

Khalad- could not have put it better. When Fletcher and Carrick don't not play we are mediocre at best. Time to loosen the purse strings Fergie. If this season we only finish in the top 4 above the noisy neighbours I will be happy.

Wazza, Denmark (04/01/2010 at 10:24)

As said by Joan Davidson: Unfortunately we don't have a lot of "big guns" to deploy. At least do us all a favor and stop playing Gibson. Oh my god he is poor. Such an embarrassment.

MKJ, Amman - Jordan (04/01/2010 at 10:35)

5 losses in the league, 1 loss in charity cup, 1 loss in carling cup, 1 loss in Champions League = 8 losses since August. This doesn't fair well for a real Manchester United Team. Someone is in denial here and help must be on the way. What is alarming is the fact that I watched the game yesterday and didn't get upset at all. I'm not in denial, it's just this is what to expect from the squad we have this year.

danny, WILMSLOW (04/01/2010 at 10:35)

As I predicted we would beat Wigan 4or 5 nil I also predicted that if he played Neville against Leeds we would lose along with an unfit Evans.
He had Delaet and Raphael who had done so well in his previous game.

danny, WILMSLOW (04/01/2010 at 10:37)

SDS kids are anybody under 30 as he is so old time has passed him buy like the summer transfer window.

peter smith (04/01/2010 at 10:40)

utd need a complete refit, from directors, to management, to playing squad.
The Glaziers are not footballing people have taken the club to the brink of disaster with the debt.
Fergie is making too many mistakes recently with his team selection and needs to be moved upstairs. The squad is full of average and overaged players, sadly neville, scholes, ferdinand, vds are soon giggs are past their best and need to be moved on. Foster, Nani, Berbaflop, Owen and 3 or 4 others aren't good enough and need selling.

David Brown (04/01/2010 at 10:42)

Woeful!
Chelsea! there for the taking? I don’t think so. Not on this form against Leeds? We WILL be though if we don't change the order of things. Not taking anything away from Leeds who were the better side on the day, but we allowed them to be!
Beware of being too loyal Alex; I saw loyalty to older players take us into the second division back in the seventies. Let’s keep moving on! We need a goalkeeper as Kuszczak is too nervy, which spreads to the rest of the defence, and his distribution is awful. A top quality striker like Benzema or Dzeko, or both, a commanding midfielder, as we obviously can't manage without Scholesy, who sadly can't go on forever, (Could this be the future position for Rooney, just behind two strikers. his strike rate would surely increase). We also need a fullback, as likewise with Gary Neville can’t go on for ever.
I was devastated to see Christiano Ronaldo leave in the summer; I felt he could have been the lure of more great players wanting to come to Old Trafford. Alas, he is a young man and he has his own dreams, which happen to be elsewhere. However it was good business, £80,000,000 is huge. But! It’s only good business if you use that money to fill the void left by Ronaldo. At the moment Fergie were still looking into the abyss.
Don't let Rooney go to waste, don't let us become a one or two man band like the ones at the wrong end of the M62, and I don't mean Hull City.
Come on UNITED; let’s make it 19 prem’s and 4 Champion Leagues

Dave of Manchester,
52 years RED, and long standing season ticket holder.

john denton (04/01/2010 at 10:43)

kuszcak is a liability doesnt command his area or come off his line not good enough

The Kid (04/01/2010 at 10:52)

Two years ago a self confessed United fan who admitted his idol was Ryan Giggs played a bit part in a Cup Final for Cardiff against Portsmouth. His name was Aaron Ramsey. Some of the more astute judges were making comparisons with Steven Gerrard, and it seemed a formality that this player would sign for United. In fact his imminent signing was announced on the club web site. When he eventually arrived at Old Trafford his tour guide was motormouth Neville and numpty Phelan, Ferguson had decided to take his holidays. After this guided tour he was whisked by private jet to Arsenal, to be met by Arsene Wenger who personally showed him around the training ground. He signed for Arsenal, it was, frankly a no brainer. Wenger's reputation for developing players won the day. Watching him play for Arsenal yesterday and, making comparisons with our own midfield shows just how the coaching at Arsenal is much superior. I'm sick of people on this forum defending Ferguson. Does his track record mean he is immune from criticism? He should have brought Brian Kidd back, yet the bitterness he feels about his departure to Blackburn still rankles. I'm embarrassed with his constant rantings, and his view that we don't miss Ronaldo is quite frankly bizarre. It appears the Glazers are desperately trying to refinance their huge, immoral debt. Match day tickets are freely available, maybe the chicken are coming home to roost. I accept you cant win all the time, and Ferguson's record is second to none. However, even his greatest supporter must be alarmed with the fast deteriorating situation.

Irlam is Red not Blue, support your local team!!, Irlam, Manchester (04/01/2010 at 10:52)

Welbeck is starting to look like Nani's non footballing brother. Together with Anderson and Nani, Welbeck is simply not good enough for the first team squad

BarrattOZ (04/01/2010 at 10:55)

Khalad you spelt your own name wrong. I think we may play our big guns too. But not Tevez as he "Can't Finish" (3 goals in approx 2.5 games). Role on Wed.

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