ROO HAVEN'T A CLUE FERGUSON
-
Sir Alex Ferguson insists his players have the experience and temperament to put a troubled week behind them and finish the league season strongly.
Wednesday's away goals exit to Bayern Munich in the Champions League capped an unhappy eight days in which the Reds were beaten by a late goal in the first leg in Germany and surrendered top spot to Chelsea in the Premier League.
Add Wayne Rooney's ankle injury into the mix and it's a sequence of setbacks that could derail a season, but Sir Alex insists his team will respond.
United are two points behind Chelsea at the top with five games left, the first of which is this weekend's trip to Blackburn. And in an unpredictable season, the Reds are still very much in contention for the title.
"Three disappointing results in a row isn't something we're used to, but it's happened and we've had to face this many times before," Sir Alex told MUTV.
"[Bouncing back] is in the nature of our club and is part of our history. We've got five league games to go and we need to win them, starting at Blackburn on Sunday."
-
Manchester United chief executive David Gill has hinted at further investment this summer and Soccernet understands there is no truth in reports Sir Alex Ferguson has been forced to scale down his ambitions.
It was reported on Friday morning that United have turned down the chance to sign Valencia striker David Villa for £40 million due to financial restrictions imposed by the Glazer family.
However, Soccernet has been informed that Ferguson personally decided against the deal some time ago as he believes Villa, 28, is overpriced given his age.
The United boss has always made clear that he still has transfer funds available following the £80 million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid in the summer, and he will look into the possibility of signing a top-quality goalkeeper and a new striker when the market reopens.
Mexico striker Javier Hernandez will join this summer subject to a work permit while Fulham defender Chris Smalling has also secured a big-money move, but more signings are expected.
Gill told MUTV: "We are planning for next season. We have already bought Chris Smalling from Fulham and we are very excited about him joining us in July. Let's see what happens. Watch this space."
Ferguson is eager to sign young players who can offer long-term value to the club. He retains an interest in 22-year-old Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, who snubbed a move to Old Trafford last summer when he left Lyon.
In his press conference on Friday morning, Ferguson confirmed that he is eager to sign up younger talent and played down talk of the Villa deal.
Referring to the Hernandez signing, he said: "We like doing these kind of deals where we can identify young talent. We have been good at that over the years.
"There is the odd exception when we get a mature player, like Berbatov. When you sign a player for that kind of money you know there is not going to be a resale value if he stays with you for six years.
"It is about getting the player we need who is going to improve us or maintain the level we are at.
"There is conjecture about every good player. Last summer it was Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema, although he was a young player and one of the targets we set out to get. Now it is David Villa.
"I am sure by the end of the season there will be half a dozen more. I can't confirm that speculation but most of it is not right."
Ferguson admitted he was not intending to sign Hernandez quite so quickly. However, he had been forced into action by the 21-year-old muscling his way into the Mexican national squad, where he has scored four times already, and put himself in line for a place at the World Cup.
"We got some background knowledge about the boy last October and we had more good reports in December," he said. "The feeling was to wait because he was young.
"But then he got into the national team, which created a problem for us because if he went to the World Cup and did well, there would be a danger of losing him."
-
SIR ALEX Ferguson maintains it was a first class performance and yet his players fear he has a blind spot when it comes to Wayne Rooney.
Manchester United's manager is noted for sounding out his senior stars, calling mini-conferences before he makes the big decisions.
Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand are often asked their opinion, brought into the manager's inner circle to talk team shape and tactics.
Not this time.
This one was down to manager and player, plotting his return to the team for the Champions League quarter-final tie after he came through a secret training session.
Perhaps he wishes he had listened to Patrice Evra at the start of the second half, twice telling assistant manager Mike Phelan to "get him off".
By then Rooney was operating against Bayern Munich on one leg, a passenger at the tip of the striker's favoured 4-5-1 formation.
When Rooney left the field there was no alternative, with United scratching around for ideas as Louis van Gaal's side searched for a second goal.
The options were limited and yet that is something Fergie will have to overcome if this team is to achieve its targets.
Despite Fergie's desire to win a third European Cup, those closest to him insist the Premier League remains his priority.
The United chief is driven by an intense, almost insane desire to put daylight between United and Liverpool, determined to pull clear before he will consider calling it a day.
They are locked on 18 each, although Fergie was convinced at the start of the first season post-Ronaldo that United had enough to win a fourth successive title.
He may have called that wrong too, particularly after last weekend's damaging defeat against Chelsea at Old Trafford.
"I'd prefer to be in the position Chelsea are in," he admitted ahead of this weekend's trip to Ewood Park.
"It's better to lead from the front, but if they slip up it will be very difficult for them to recover."
At the moment it's United's manager who is slipping up, making fundamental mistakes at crucial stages of the season.
He has backed the players in public, but building a Fifth Generation United team may still prove beyond him.
This summer decisions will have to be made on some big name players, under threat after another season of under-achievement.
His handling of Dimitar Berbatov, billed by Fergie as a player capable of having the same impact as Eric Cantona, has been baffling.
The Bulgarian was back on the bench against Bayern, his confidence shot again after a half-fit striker was preferred.
He had been restored to the team for the visit of Chelsea, directing two headers wide of the target and missing a fair chance to equalise in the final minutes.
His languid style is not always easy on the eye, but Berbatov deserves better, especially after the club's £31m outlay and the three-year pursuit to sign him.
He has two years remaining on his contract and insists he will not be stamping his feet this summer, although United will sell if they can find a willing bidder.
Fergie retains an interest in Karim Benzema, struggling to make an impact at Real Madrid after his £40m move from Lyon last summer.
Benzema was out of Fergie's reach back then, cooling their interest the moment Real began trumping United's offers.
United's boss maintains he has money available to spend and Benzema's potential availability after just one year in Madrid could test those claims.