Sir Alex pens his thoughts before every home game for United Review. You can read the column in full, the day after the game...
This is the time I love best – non-stop football, with every match now of immense significance, and the challenge of competing on a number of fronts as we close in on our dreams.
I will be deploying the full range of our resources as I seek to keep our teams at the level of energy you need at this level. It’s what I did when we won our unique Treble, resting players and bringing in others as I tried to pick teams fizzing for the fray.
Life at the top in the English game is fierce and relentless. The pace and intensity undoubtedly takes a toll, especially with so many fixtures coming at you so quickly on the last lap for trophies. You have to be up for every game or you can get punished, so I will juggle our squad in the hope that we can keep as many balls in the air and make progress on as many fronts as possible. As I have said repeatedly, we have a quality squad, rich in terms of both ability and numbers, and I intend to make full use of it.
That’s why you saw several changes in the line-up that went out against Everton at Wembley on Sunday, compared with the successful side that beat Porto in midweek. I was well aware it was the semi-final of the FA Cup, just one step from all the glamour and glory associated with the Cup final. We certainly wanted to be there, not least because it is a great day out for the fans and a special occasion, too, for the folk back home watching on television. But we must win the league championship and we have some tough games coming up, starting tonight as we welcome Portsmouth to Old Trafford.
So probably more changes for this fixture, to keep everyone as lively as possible – and if you were ever in doubt about the value of freshness in a team, you just have to look at our experience against Porto in the Champions League.
In preparation for the first leg at Old Trafford we had a break of just two days following Sunday’s Aston Villa match, and let a winning position slip to end up with a 2-2 draw, conceding what could easily have been two key away goals. Last week, with a four-day break following the Sunderland game, we were more like our normal selves, pulling off a great 1-0 win to book a semi-final date against Arsenal – and what a tremendous battle is in prospect there, by the way…
There’d been a great deal of negative feeling for our chances in Porto, with much emphasis on no English team having won there before. In the event we won well, with a performance that will be remembered of course for Cristiano Ronaldo’s stunning goal. Hit from 40 yards at rocket pace it got everybody talking – including, I might say, his own team-mates!
Of course we were also helped by the return to action again of our centre-back pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, giving us the understanding, balance and stability in the back line that served us so well in the first half of the season. But at the end of the day, I felt it was the freshness that was there right through the team that enabled us to account for a very strong side and win a pivotal game. It was a key result for us, not just in terms of the Champions League, but to maintain a momentum that I hope will make us successful in the other competitions.
Going out of Europe at that point would have been a real downer all round that could easily have had repercussions. As it was, we came home from Portugal on a high and went in to FA Cup action on Sunday from the best possible platform.
The fact that we didn’t make it is no reflection on the youthful side I put out. I was pleased with our performance. The youngsters more than lived up to my expectations and they will be all the better for the experience of playing at Wembley.
When I noted the pitch for the previous semi-final, and realised how dead and heavy it was, there was no alternative but to make changes. We certainly could not have afforded to run any risks on that kind of surface. The boys matched Everton every inch of the way, but there is no legislating for a penalty shoot-out.
At the same time, all credit to David Moyes and an Everton team that played well and enjoyed that little bit of luck that wins games when the referee ruled no penalty after young Danny Welbeck had been brought down in the area. That’s how it goes sometimes, and now we must focus on the remaining competitions.
This evening we turn back to the league with a particularly warm greeting for Brian Kidd on his return to Old Trafford, as assistant to Paul Hart who took over as manager of Portsmouth after the departure of Tony Adams. Brian was in at the start of our successful era when I brought him in from community football to reorganise our local scouting set-up. He did a great job and I am delighted to see him back in the front line of football after recovering from illness.
I have lost a few assistants over the years with people like Archie Knox, Brian, Steve McClaren and Carlos Queiroz all leaving to become managers in their own right. I have always tried to advise them, but I have never made strenuous efforts to hold them back because to break out on their own is a natural desire for many people and they have a right to express themselves. It’s just pleasant to welcome them – and tonight, Brian – back to Old Trafford.