In his programme notes ahead of United’s 2-0 win over Stoke at Old Trafford, the Reds boss condemned Hansen’s assessment of his team.
Ferguson claimed the former Liverpool defender had said United had not played well for 18 months and would end up with egg on his face.
“After the Arsenal game, one of the London papers said we were the worst United team they had seen, and I noticed Alan Hansen was at it again, saying we had not played well for one-and-a-half years,” Ferguson said.
“I reckon that comment goes alongside his claim a few years ago that you don’t win anything with youngsters, and you know how he ended up with egg on his face after dismissing the Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Gary Neville crop of kids so foolishly.
“I don’t know how some of the critics come to their conclusions. Yes, we have had our bad days (who doesn’t?), losing to City and then folding against Blackburn before crashing out of the FA Cup.
“Forget the fact that we had 14 players out with injury for the Blackburn fixture and that we were missing a few at Liverpool. We won’t use injuries as a crutch, we will simply concentrate on getting our message across out on the pitch.”
Hansen, however, has now denied he had said what Ferguson accused him of.
“I really don’t know where that has come from,” he said. “I never said that at any stage. What I said was that, over a period of 18 months, they haven’t been as good as they have been in the past.
“I have also said if you take the three teams at the top, United have consistently played worse than Spurs and City.
“But it is to their credit that they are where they are and they will be the team to beat.
“In 1995, I said you can’t win anything with kids. In 2012, I never said you can’t win anything if you are hopeless.”
keep up to date with all the latest Manchester United news here. Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
Hansen etc are ok on Match of the day in very small doses but an ex Liverpool player is vever gonna be unbias when discussing UTD and vice versa of course we need a big effort in the next 2 league games which really could define the season (hate those cliches but might be apt here)
The reason why critics have had a go at United in the last 18 months is that the football has not been the style that we have been lucky enough to witness in the last 20years i.e. free attacking football with flair and panache. When compared to those great teams of the past this present one in transition will look a bit mundane and will be open to criticism.
I doubt Hansen would be stupid enough to call United ‘hopeless’ as he has been accustomed to the old egg on the face now and again with regard to United.
alan hanson
does not like man city or man united thats why he is always downing them all he can see is liverpool
The "Media" in whatever guise, have their own agenda, no matter what the subject is.
The pundits available to MOTD are of course somewhat biased, they cannot be otherwise. Even in the newpapers, bias is prevalent, for the very same reason. My daily paper, the Guardian, is totally biased towards Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. So you will understand that I do not buy the paper for the Sports section! However I do buy the paper because it's political philosophy chimes in with my own, so in that regard I too am biased. It is indeed a truism that all human beings do have their own agenda. Therefore all that I can do, vis a vis Manchester United, is to support my team, as I have done since 1945 and to ignore those bits of the reporting that I do not like! Simples!!
MOTD? Whats that?
Bring back Des
Luke B
But Hansen is a United fan ? regardless of who he played for ... check your facts about Liverpool coach going to Wembley in 1977 , a certain young Scot (just signed)on there hoping for united to win
Hansen? Its time we replaced some of these dinosaurs from the MOTD couch, He finished playing 20 years ago and his comments are always the same, tinged with scousness!
I cannot for the life of me understand some critics on their say of anything to do with United.
Lee Dixon also said that he did not know why United won the Prem last season. What an idiot.
United won the Premiership Championship last season because they were the best team in the league. Better than anyone else.
If some want to say that we are not playing as well as we have done in the past that's fine let them but it does not alter the fact that we are joint leaders now and that we are the champions.
Considering the injury list as well makes it even more remarkable.
I do have to ask myself sometimes what an earth is going on at Carrington because this catastrophic injury list has been with us for about 4 to 5 seasons now and is getting worse. Is it the training regime, is it the coaching, is it that the medical staff and physios are not good enough? I don't know about the year of the dragon it is more the year of the ankle at OT.
It's a storm in a teacup, 19 of em.
Alan who?
On the Liverpool team coach going to Wembley in May 1977 , there was one young Scot (just signed) hoping that United won as he was a United fan...Guess who ?
Alan Hansen is a plank... Sky plus MOTD, x30 through his rubbish watch the football....
When there is a player 'borderline' offside - look alan he either is or he isn't.. not borderline you fool.
You have had your salary cut by 25% because you are shocking!
He is actually a United fan, and what he did say IS correct. We all know that this is a poor United side compared with 10-15 years ago. The simple fact of the matter is we do not have any money to invest and it is to the managers credit that we are still in there fighting for the league. When Hansen famously said 'you don't win anything with kids', he was basing this on one match v Aston Villa, which we lost 3-1. Now the team that played that day wouldn't have won anything! When a few more experienced players were brought in, we went on a fabulous run and consequently won the league.
Let's be fair... United have not been as exciting to watch over the last 18 months (bar a few games) & there are some mediocre players in the current side... What Hansen said in 1995 will haunt him for some time to come which is great... 2 x-Liverpool players on MOTD couch along with Lee Dixon (x Arsenal & a City fan) & with the surly Alan Shearer... we'll always be up against it! That;'s why I don't watch it any more! PS> Isn't Gary Neville fantastic and completely unbiased on Sky Sports!?
Some of the United posters on here need to get a reality check because they are so divine righteous. goodness knows how they would react if they would have endured what we City fans have had to endure for the last 30 years.
They are unethical, selfish, arrogant, and fickle people who need some hungry years so they can become more like human beings in a sporting world, at the moment they are a mob of moronic loon pots.
I agree with Hansen. He's not saying we won't win the league, just that we play worse football than City and Spurs and who could deny that.
What does annoy me is that he and many of the other ex Liverpool pundits seem to abstain from criticising LFC under their pal Dalglish. Even after such monumental investment (in possibly some of the most overpriced players in Premiership history), they continue to play some appalling football. Their performance against United last Saturday was awful. Beglin seemed intent on picking on every touch of the ball De Gea made instead of highlighting the fact that Liverpool couldn't put three passes together and that if they were from anywhere else Henderson and Downing would barely cost £1m. The fact that we did not put them to the sword highlights our own inadequacies.
Whats the problem hes just telling the truth and any one in their right mind will tell you that the current squad does not compare to years past.
SAF bully boy tactics again when the truth hurts!
The fact is Alan Hansen has been rubbish for a lot longer than 18 months.
The scandal is he gets £40k for every repetitive, predictable appearance on MOTD.
Surely the license fee could be better spent than on this tired old pundit? The BBC should have the necessary "grit and deterrmination" to get rid.
Which is worse, egg face or bacon face??
The BBC deliberately screen MOTD late at night because Hansen and Shearer are great at sending people off to sleep! Boring or what?
Wow some of you really getting your knickers in a knot here. Out aside Hansens club loyalties for a second and look at what he actually said. He's right. This Utd side is not great. We have fewer world class players than we've had in recent yrs, our football is nowhere near as good. We're amongst the best of a declining bunch in the Premier league. City and Spurs have improved in the last couple of yrs but ourselves Chelsea Arsenal and Liverpool have got worse. You can stamp your feet and point out correctly that we're champions but we're just simply not as good as we used to be
As a primary channel, one might expect the BBC to have exclusivity on experts but, let's face it, their 'expert' contributions are embarrassingly bad. Sheaer has no genuine insight into what's happening on the field, Garth Crooks is often misguided in his opinions, Lineker and Dixon are wrapped up in meaningless platitudes - only Laurenson (occasionally) says anything profound. Their coverage falls well behind Sky's , where first Andy Gray, then Redmond, now Neville, are far more switched onto the game being played and the needs of the spectator. Therefore, I'm a bit surprised SAF commented regarding Hanson whose opinions are not worthy of comment.
$600m+ in debt and you're worried about what Alan Hansen is saying?
United have won the league three years in a row and reached two CL finals. Compare that to when Mourhino was at Chelsea when we had a lean spell. If we win this year the team will have won 4 on the bounce which no one has ever done. If that's not playing well, what does it say about the rest of the premiership?
(The Thick Swan needs a vet-shrink).
The veteran Scot has shown himself up yet again.