Shame on Fergie...

Sizzler

From todays Mirror...

I actually agree with the sentiments of the performance, I thought Utd were SHíTE on sunday and just because they won the premiership was NOT an excuse IMHO to go out and play like that. If I had paid to go over and see that game I would have been a seriously unhappy punter :mad:

SO MUCH then for the idea Sir Alex Ferguson was the guardian of the spirit of our beautiful game.

So much for the idea that our finest living manager would stand up for the fairness of the Premiership on its final day of the season.

Because Ferguson did not just play a weakened side against West Ham United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

He sent them out into the thick of the relegation battle showing all the fight of a pussycat on valium.

In the process, with a 1-0 defeat, he let Sheffield United down, he let the Premiership down, he let his club down and he let himself down.

If he had done what he had said he was going to do, he could have rescued the end of the season from the injustice that has blighted it.

If he had put his best team out, or even something close to it, he could have earned our thanks a new after a campaign of scintillating footbal from his team.

United should have been more than capable of beating West Ham, even with the FA Cup Final just six days away.

And if they had, Wigan's 2-1 victory at Bramall Lane would have completed the story and allowed English football to escape its shame.

West Ham would have been relegated, as everyone accepts they should have been, while Wigan and Sheffield United would have survived.

Except Ferguson went back on his word. He did not play his strongest side. Nowhere near it.

No wonder Blades boss Neil Warnock was astonished when he heard United had started without Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.

No wonder he felt Ferguson had sold him a dummy. The truth is, Ferguson sold us all a dummy.

In the process, he opened himself up to accusations of letting his pal Alan Curbishley off the hook.

And he dragged the name of his club into a murky, despicable business that has tainted this season.

How sad that Ferguson could not do the right thing. How sad that the sense of honour and fairness on which he prides himself deserted him when it mattered.

Thanx 4 The Fish

And a real shame that only a week or so before he was going on about how unfair it was that liverpool was doing the same thing aginst Fulham but being a hypocrite is all part of sir a's charm.

Mitch Connor

United were very VERY good in the first half, and but for some goal line clearences and some bad luck, we would have been a couple of goals up. Their goal came from a poor piece of goalkeeping from our first choice keeper, and apart from that west ham offered nothing in the game.

The second half performance was not as good, but in the second half we had a midfield and attack consisting of Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Ole and Rooney.....a shockingly weak forward line, eh?

What people seem to forget is that the better team does not always win.

Hell, we lost to West Ham earlier in the season too, it happens.

People need to look at what actually happened in the game, and not just the team sheet (first 11 consisting of.... 11 full internationals)

Also, maybe if Warnock had played a full strength team (as opposed to a weakened one) against United at OT, they could have got something out of the game and still be a prem club, but lets not blame Sheffield United for not doing enough over 38 games to stay up. Lets blame United, who lost to west ham the last time they met too.

18 shots to 5, and 65% of the possesion. We deservered to win the match and were unlucky not to. Get over it.

Mr. Presentable

That article is the worst kind of tabloid rubbish. Not that I disagree with it, but it serves to focus on one game and distract from the rest of the season and the previous ten years of dodgy games involving the monied clubs, both in the EPL and in Europe.

Football has not been beautiful for a long time - if ever.

Mr Alan

Tauren wrote:

United were very VERY good in the first half, and but for some goal line clearences and some bad luck, we would have been a couple of goals up. Their goal came from a poor piece of goalkeeping from our first choice keeper, and apart from that west ham offered nothing in the game.

The second half performance was not as good, but in the second half we had a midfield and attack consisting of Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Ole and Ronaldo.....a shockingly weak forward line, eh?

What people seem to forget is that the better team does not always win.

Hell, we lost to West Ham earlier in the season too, it happens.

People need to look at what actually happened in the game, and not just the team sheet (first 11 consisting of.... 11 full internationals)

Also, maybe if Warnock had played a full strength team (as opposed to a weakened one) against United at OT, they could have got something out of the game and still be a prem club, but lets not blame Sheffield United for not doing enough over 38 games to stay up. Lets blame United, who lost to west ham the last time they met too.

18 shots to 5, and 65% of the possesion. We deservered to win the match and were unlucky not to. Get over it.

lol, when i saw the title of this thread i absolutely KNEW that Tauren would be in here defending Mr ferguson to the death!

Thanx 4 The Fish

And when the pool played a weakened squad against Fulham, they should have won it, all the chances, crossbar and posts hit but Ferguson still decided to have a go because it was unfair.

Would it have been Ferguson's starting 11 in a game that they needed to win ? No, did he care ? No. I have no issue with playing a weakened team once the season is over and you have a big match to prepare for, you have a duty as a manager to ensure the best team is available to play in it. There is no responsibility for Liverpool/United/Chelsea/Arsenal to put out their first string team in the league if they feel they can win without it, hell look at Arsenal's second string in the League cup. My only issue is with Ferguson going on the auld holier than thou thing then doing the same himself.

Sizzler

Smiths clever flick....cleared off the line.

O'Sheas bullet header...saved.

Ronaldo header from corner...saved.

O'Sheas peno shout....not given.

Other than that dont remember much else tbh.

No point in having lots of possession either if we could do fúck all with it :mad:

The stats were impressive but lets face it we should be beating them and not pointing to could have / should have etc.

I've gotten over it now though

county

Sizzler wrote:

From todays Mirror...

I actually agree with the sentiments of the performance, I thought Utd were SHíTE on sunday and just because they won the premiership was NOT an excuse IMHO to go out and play like that. If I had paid to go over and see that game I would have been a seriously unhappy punter :mad:


i was at the game and those sentiments were shared by the vast majority of utd fans

Mitch Connor

What is wrong with my post?

I was disappointed with the team put out, but the team put out were still better then west ham on the day, and were simply unlucky to not win the game. It happens in football. I don't see how anyone who watched the game could say United did not try to win the match; the effort was there for all to see. Of the weakened team we put out, only Giggs, Ronaldo and Rooney were absent in comparisson to the side in the 7-1 victory over Roma.

Mitch Connor

Sizzler wrote:

Smiths clever flick....cleared off the line.

O'Sheas bullet header...saved.

Ronaldo header from corner...saved.

O'Sheas peno shout....not given.

Other than that dont remember much else tbh.

No point in having lots of possession either if we could do fúck all with it :mad:

The stats were impressive but lets face it we should be beating them and not pointing to could have / should have etc.

I've gotten over it now though

But we have suffered that against other teams this season, even against West Ham. The better side does not always win. Ferguson can say he put out a team capable of winning the match simply because the side put out were capable of winning the match - it was bad luck and some good numbers defending from west ham. It is amazing that the sheffield united fans are blaming warnock and his team selection as opposed to fergies.

WhiteWashMan

Tauren wrote:

but the team put out were still better then west ham on the day, and were simply unlucky to not win the game. .

obviously not.

Draupnir

This whole argument is ridiculous. United have an FA Cup Final to prepare for, players who have played all season could use a rest and we dont need to pick up injuries. A league and cup double is an important thing, Sir Alex Ferguson has a responsibility to Manchester United football club and it is the aims of that club which interest him.

United finished the game with every fit first team player on the pitch, Ferdinand could never have started, Vidic was rushed back from injury to win the league and attempt to get something in Milan, he is entitled to a rest.

Scholes and Giggs are over 30 and cant play at 100% week in week out, particularly in games at the level of an FA Cup final. Ronaldo has missed a handful of games all year. Rest for these players is important to United, who gets relegated is not Man Uniteds responsibility.

The side United fielded was still good enough to give West Ham a real challenge, 24 shots on goal is the stat I've heard including four goal line clearances.

There are two underlying facts here. First that West Ham had a brilliant run at the end of the season and won the points they needed to in those games to stay up. Whether they did so with an eligible first 11 is nothing to do with Manchester United. Sheffield United went into freefall the last couple of months and should have been well safe by Sunday.

Secondly, teams are being criticised for resting their players in games in their own interests, it has happened to both Man United and Liverpool this season. I dont think any team should be responsible to the others in the league, only to themselves and their fans.

United lost home and away to West Ham 1-0 this season by the way.

Mitch Connor

WhiteWashMan wrote:

obviously not.

that is a stupid comment. What the hell do you mean obviously not? The better team does not always win, it is that simple. United were not the better side against Liverpool at Anfield but we nicked it at the death. Just because we won that day does not mean we were the better side, and just because west ham beat Man United at the weekend doesn't mean they were the better side at the weekend.

Look at arsenal this season; how many times have they battered teams, bitting the post and bar serveral times, only to not get the win. It happens, it doesn't mean they were not the better side. Even in the CL, they were clearly better then PSV in both games, but they didn't get the goals to put them through - that doesn't mean PSV were better then them

Mr Alan

Tauren wrote:

But we have suffered that against other teams this season, even against West Ham. The better side does not always win. Ferguson can say he put out a team capable of winning the match simply because the side put out were capable of winning the match - it was bad luck and some good numbers defending from west ham. It is amazing that the sheffield united fans are blaming warnock and his team selection as opposed to fergies.

But the point is that when Rafa put out weakened teams that he felt was capable of winning other matchs, Ferguson had a go at him over it. Claiming that it was unfair on other clubs

Fergusons team selection at the weekend just made it blatantly obvious wat a hypocrite he is. But surely this is news to no one?! He is hardly the most pleasant man on the planet?!

LuckyLloyd

If Ferguson had wanted to field a team of reserve and youth players last Sunday he should have been allowed to (I'm a Liverpool fan btw!!).

Sheffield UTD are down because they bottled it towards the end of the season. They didn't do enough on Sunday to stay up - that is their fault.

West Ham won 7 of their last nine matches - unheard of for relegation strugglers. Even after the demoralising loss to Spurs at home, they rolled up their sleeves and put in the work. They played some good football over the last couple of months - were much tougher at the back - and deserve credit.

A 5.5m fine is significant and can't be dismissed for a club like West Ham. It will limit them in the transfer market this summer to some extent. Maybe the technical rules were broken - so what. Tevez was there all year. He was part of this year's team. As a football fan I think it would be a disaster if a team went down on the basis of a points deduction.

Tabloid wiffle waffle.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Draupnir wrote:

teams are being criticised for resting their players in games in their own interests, it has happened to both Man United and Liverpool this season. I dont think any team should be responsible to the others in the league, only to themselves and their fans.

Yes but one of the men who criticised liverpool for it was Sir A, that is the issue for me and not the resting of the players which I, as I have already stated above, think is fine as the manager has a responsibility to his team and no other.

Mr Alan

LuckyLloyd wrote:

If Ferguson had wanted to field a team of reserve and youth players last Sunday he should have been allowed to (I'm a Liverpool fan btw!!).

Sheffield UTD are down because they bottled it towards the end of the season. They didn't do enough on Sunday to stay up - that is their fault.

West Ham won 7 of their last nine matches - unheard of for relegation strugglers. Even after the demoralising loss to Spurs at home, they rolled up their sleeves and put in the work. They played some good football over the last couple of months - were much tougher at the back - and deserve credit.

A 5.5m fine is significant and can't be dismissed for a club like West Ham. It will limit them in the transfer market this summer to some extent. Maybe the technical rules were broken - so what. Tevez was there all year. He was part of this year's team. As a football fan I think it would be a disaster if a team went down on the basis of a points deduction.

Tabloid wiffle waffle.

Dont know what everyone else on here thinks, but i agree with you, he should be allowed to field watever team he chooses.

But the title of the thread, Shame on Fergie, is true - because he had a go at other managers for doing the same thing.

The Muppet

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6808520

Fergie fielded a team in the best interest of United. Our season is not over yet. United played better in the first half than the second, a sign that perhaps our seasoned player had been celebrating over the preceding week and were not up for the game.

gracehopper

Tauren wrote:

United were very VERY good in the first half, and but for some goal line clearences and some bad luck, we would have been a couple of goals up. Their goal came from a poor piece of goalkeeping from our first choice keeper, and apart from that west ham offered nothing in the game.

The second half performance was not as good, but in the second half we had a midfield and attack consisting of Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Ole and Rooney.....a shockingly weak forward line, eh?

What people seem to forget is that the better team does not always win.

Hell, we lost to West Ham earlier in the season too, it happens.

People need to look at what actually happened in the game, and not just the team sheet (first 11 consisting of.... 11 full internationals)

Also, maybe if Warnock had played a full strength team (as opposed to a weakened one) against United at OT, they could have got something out of the game and still be a prem club, but lets not blame Sheffield United for not doing enough over 38 games to stay up. Lets blame United, who lost to west ham the last time they met too.

18 shots to 5, and 65% of the possesion. We deservered to win the match and were unlucky not to. Get over it.

agree with this. Sheff utd are responsible for they're own faith. They have 38 games like everyone else. tough sh*t!

PHB

I think Fergie's issue with Rafa is that he thought the team that was put out was not good enough to win the match, while he thought the team he put out was good enough to win the match. Fergie thought he wanted to win the match while Rafa didn't really care if they won or lost. That would be my guess.

That said, it's all just guesswork to what Fergie was thinking, he could be just ****ing with people to mess with their minds as he is good at

Sheff Utd are down because they are ****. They didn't complain when Chelsea played a weakened team against them, because of the CL, granted they still got spanked 3-0, but it kinda shows what Warnock is all about.

Thanx 4 The Fish

The Muppet wrote:

Fergie fielded a team in the best interest of United. Our season is not over yet. United played better in the first half than the second, a sign that perhaps our seasoned player had been celebrating over the preceding week and were not up for the game.

Once again avoiding the entire thrust of the thread there Muppet. I agree that teams are entitled to play who they want and I could not care less that Fulham were not really involved in the relegation battle on the last day because they beat an understrength liverpool side nor even that Sheff went down because West Ham beat an under strength United side. The issue here is with Ferguson who went on whining about how unfair it was for teams like liverpool to do so when there was still something to play for. Then on the most important day of the season for the smaller teams fielded a below par side himself.

And really, how likely do you think it is that the team were too fncked to play on the weekend ? Ferguson would not have that, especially when the FA cup is still to play for.

Nice edit there as well PHB

raven136

stupid article and stupid thread bitching about united and liverpool.Its not up to liverpool and united to keep neil warnock in the premiership.His team needed to draw with Wiagn in their final home game and the biggest of their lives,If they cant do that well good luck to them,they dont deserve their place.
Any sympathy he might have had went out the window with his"what goes around comes around comment,united to lose to chelsea and pool to milan".He spent the entire season moaniong about everybody bar his own performance.

Mitch Connor

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote:

Once again avoiding the entire thrust of the thread there Muppet. I agree that teams are entitled to play who they want and I could not care less that Fulham were not really involved in the relegation battle on the last day because they beat an understrength liverpool side nor even that Sheff went down because West Ham beat an under strength United side. The issue here is with Ferguson who went on whining about how unfair it was for teams like liverpool to do so when there was still something to play for. Then on the most important day of the season for the smaller teams fielded a below par side himself.

And really, how likely do you think it is that the team were too fncked to play on the weekend ? Ferguson would not have that, especially when the FA cup is still to play for.

Its amazing the entire thrust of this thread is about what fergie said regarding liverpool, when neither the article nor the initial post accompanying it mention it at all.

oh well. SO SAYETH THE MOD.

marco_polo

I am a Liverpool fan and I remember Fergie comments from a few weeks ago, however I must say that that article is a big pile of bolix, he is entitled to put out whatever side he feels is in the best interests of Man Utd. BTW to the poster who said that it was fergies fault that Sheff Utd went down well they only needed a point at home to an out of form Wigan to stay up and they couldn't even achieve that FFS. If it was Wigan that went down I would have a good deal more sympathy.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Get down off your box Tauren, Ferguson was being a hypocrite, and he lied about fielding a full strength squad. If you cannot see that then perhaps there are deeper issues than your mod envy that need addressing .

Mitch Connor

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote:

Get down off your box Tauren, Ferguson was being a hypocrite, and he lied about fielding a full strength squad, this has nothing to do with being a mod, possibly more to do with basic comprehension issues.

He said he would field a full strength side and he didn't, i am disappointed by that.

However, neither the article nor the post with it mention liverpool, yet you seem to think the entire thread is about that. From what i can see in the initial post is there was a poster disappointed with the side put out and the performance of the side - they don't mention any disappointment with fergie for saying stuff about liverpool.

LuckyLloyd

Tauren wrote:

However, neither the article nor the post with it mention liverpool, yet you seem to think the entire thread is about that. From what i can see in the initial post is there was a poster disappointed with the side put out and the performance of the side - they don't mention any disappointment with fergie for saying stuff about liverpool.

I have to agree with this interpretation of the OP.

As a Liverpool fan - I would take fcuk all notice about what Fergie said about team selection against Fulham. His opinion on that matter is absolutely irrelevant.

In the exact same way, outside opinions are redundant when it comes to the team Ferguson selected on Sunday. He can pick who he likes. I ignore everything he says about other clubs. And I am smart enough to think that Rafa does the same.

Draupnir

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote:

Yes but one of the men who criticised liverpool for it was Sir A, that is the issue for me and not the resting of the players which I, as I have already stated above, think is fine as the manager has a responsibility to his team and no other.

I complete agree with you, Ferguson nor any other manager for that matter, should criticise another managers team selection unless of course there is an intentional selection which is blatantly meant to improve the chances of another team in the league or is supposed to hinder another team.

However, that would be a breach of the leagues rules anyway.

The Muppet

Tauren wrote:

Its amazing the entire thrust of this thread is about what fergie said regarding liverpool, when neither the article nor the initial post accompanying it mention it at all.

oh well. SO SAYETH THE MOD.

Be carful now Tauren, You're likely to be warned for breaking some imaginary rule with that comment.

Sorry T4TF but due to recent unwarrented warnings I have recieved on this forum I intend to be selective about posts I respond to.


On Topic . It's very diengnious to West Ham to assume Unite only have to turn up to win. United fielded a strong team , the older players were rested and rightly so IMO.

Thanx 4 The Fish

I am sure there is a section of it about how he has disappointed the league and went back on his word and I will once again reiterate that the team selection to me was not an issue just the show he put on beforehand re teams not playing there strongest side and then doing so himself.

I well believe that Rafa does not care about what S A said and that is evident by the team he played v Charlton (even though they were already down) and I know that S A will not care what a bunch of people on t'internet say about him or the fact that he lied and let West Ham off the hook.

Draupnir wrote:

Ferguson nor any other manager for that matter, should criticise another managers team selection unless of course there is an intentional selection which is blatantly meant to improve the chances of another team in the league or is supposed to hinder another team.

However, that would be a breach of the leagues rules anyway.

Spot on and while both Lpools selection and Man U's selection could be interpreted that way, in that both teams who had weaker teams fielded against them survived, on both occasions, they had to work hard for their win and ability wise were no better than the team fielded against them.


Awwww muppet, your warnings are completely warranted and they were made with the blessing of all involved, you were not breaching any imaginary rule, you have been in close to breaching of one of the founding tenets of the soccer forum for quite some time and TBH i thought it was very decent of the mod in question to let you know, we all know if you got banned straight out without any warning we would never hear the end of it. Keep fighting the good fight though, the POWAH will be defeated in due course.

PHB

Nice edit there as well PHB

Suprisingly I deleted it cause I didn't want to get into another discussion about how I think those Liverpool players are **** Although, it would seen conspicous.

I can't imagine Rafa gives a **** about what Fergie says to him, cause if he does, he's a bad manager.
I also doubt many people here actually believe most of the stuff Fergie says in press conferences, as they all know he's just stirring **** for the good of United. That said, some believe it, and if they do, Fergie's happy

LuckyLloyd

PHB wrote:

I can't imagine Rafa gives a **** about what Fergie says to him, cause if he does, he's a bad manager.
I also doubt many people here actually believe most of the stuff Fergie says in press conferences, as they all know he's just stirring **** for the good of United. That said, some believe it, and if they do, Fergie's happy

QFT.

For most football managers - you can assume 80 - 90% of what they say is intentional rubbish. It always shocks me when people take any heed of it.

Mitch Connor

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote:

I am sure there is a section of it about how he has disappointed the league and went back on his word

He disappointed the league by going back on his word to play a full strength team, that is what the article is about. the article is not titled: Fergie the hypocrite, and it does not say anything along the lines of: Fergie should be ashamed of himself for fielding a weakened team despite laying into Rafa about it; so how can the entire thrust of the thread be about comments not made in the post or article that start the thread. If people wish to argue that the side put out were strong enough to do the business, but were ublucky on the day, you shouldn't say they are missing the entire point of the thread when that is simply not the case.

smashey

In the process, with a 1-0 defeat, he let Sheffield United down, he let the Premiership down, he let his club down and he let himself down

Sheffield United played 38 games. They won 10, drew 8 and lost 20. Yet they were only relegated because Man. Utd. fielded a weakened team against West Ham? Not so long ago, they were 10 points clear of the bottom three. It seems to me they were responsible for their own demise. Fergie's only loyalty is to his own club.

Mr Alan

Tauren wrote:

He disappointed the league by going back on his word to play a full strength team, that is what the article is about. the article is not titled: Fergie the hypocrite, and it does not say anything along the lines of: Fergie should be ashamed of himself for fielding a weakened team despite laying into Rafa about it; so how can the entire thrust of the thread be about comments not made in the post or article that start the thread. If people wish to argue that the side put out were strong enough to do the business, but were ublucky on the day, you shouldn't say they are missing the entire point of the thread when that is simply not the case.

Is it honestly that big a stretch, Shame on Fergie for being such a hypocrite?!

Does anyone who supports liverpool have to have that at the start of any point they wish to make . . . in order to pass the 'Tauren Seal of Approval in regards to relevence to this Thread'!?!?

marco_polo

millersangel wrote:

Is it honestly that big a stretch, Shame on Fergie for being such a hypocrite?!

Does anyone who supports liverpool have to have that at the start of any point they wish to make . . . in order to pass the 'Tauren Seal of Approval in regards to relevence to this Thread'!?!?

More to the point what does any Liverpool fan give a sh*t what Fergie says, I know I don't. It is as pointless as getting all upset when Jose makes a ridiculous comment. Just quit being so sensitive.

Mitch Connor

millersangel wrote:

Is it honestly that big a stretch, Shame on Fergie for being such a hypocrite?!

Does anyone who supports liverpool have to have that at the start of any point they wish to make . . . in order to pass the 'Tauren Seal of Approval in regards to relevence to this Thread'!?!?

read my post and start over.

I said it is wrong to say the entire thrust of this thread is about what fergie said regarding liverpool and his subsequent team selection against West Ham when the initial post displays displeasure at the starting line-up and performance (with some justification) in relation to fergie saying he would field a strong line up. The initial post - the post that sets the topic for the thread - does not mention liverpool so it is clearly wrong to state that the entire point of the thread is what was said about liverpool. Is it that much of a stretch to understand that.

Mr Alan

Tauren: not getting into an arguement about it with ya. Just saying that the Title of the thread is shame on Fergie. And i agree, but the guy has been doing the same kind of thing for years, people should expect no different from him.
The comments made about Rafas team selection were only pointed out just to prove how hypocritical it was. If you feel it has no relevence, lets just agree to disagree.

Marco Polo: Don't give a sh*t wat ferguson says, but this is a discussion forum on all things football, participating in it makes my work day go faster. i dont like the man, respect him most of the time, but don't like him. When i see a thread titled, Shame on Ferguson, i'm probably gonna participate. Not taking anthing personally.

marco_polo

millersangel wrote:

participating in it makes my work day go faster.

Amen to that brother. . I am not questioning participating in the thread, but it does bemuse me Fergie manages to make peoples blood boil so much. Surely eventually you should build up some sort of immunity to his rants? Gotta respect the man tho, he is an expert at winding up opposition fans.

stovelid

Er, reverse the situation. If MUFC needed SU to get a result and SU had a cup final on the horizon, league place assured, you think SU would field a full team just to do MUFC a favour?

A failsafe way of SU staying up would have been to win enough games to stay up, not whine about other team selctions.

Lex Luthor

Whether Fergie or Rafa decide to field under strength teams, is entirely their own business. Rafa said he would field the team he put out and he did...Fergie said he would field a strong team and in fairness, that team had the capability of beating West Ham.

The thing is, its not always the case. West Ham wanted to win more. UtD players didn't need to win and hence will probably not go as much for the win if they had to.

Its just luck of the draw that Fulham & West Ham got these games when they did. I bet at the start of the season when the fixtures came out they probably both thought that these would be 2 games they wouldn't have fancied that close to the end of the season.

BKtje

There were players in the Liverpool team i had never even seen playing for them before. Real reserve team players it seems (i dunno going but what i read). While unt's team wasn't the strongest it still contained players that we have seen all throughout the season. Infact i'm pretty sure that that team has played before in the league (or pretty close to that team) with all of them semi regular due to injuries.

As was said, i think manu played better with these so called lesser players than when the stars came on.

Warnock has no right to have a go imo, Sheffield Utd were 10 points clear of the relegation zone and then only needed 1 point from 2 games and still couldn't do it. No one to blame but themselves.

Mitch Connor

One thing i would also like to add to the discussion is the desire of the players.

Fletcher and Smith in particular were playing for Cup final places on Sunday. Ronaldo on the other hand, knows he will start, and there were a couple of 50/50's he pulled out of on Sunday - the league was one so why risk injury? I can understand why Ronaldo pulled out of the tackles, and to be honest, i would have been annoyed if he put himself at risk in what was, for United, a meaningless game.

Could issues like the above have factored into the equation? While the team was not as good on paper as it could have been, could Fergie have been banking on the desire of the players starting to partially bridge the gap?

I know Richardson is never going to be as good as Giggs, regardless of his desire, but Giggs has been woefull himself on occasion this season, and with nothing for him to play for would he actually have been any better on Sunday, for example?

I'm sure the same could be said of Liverpool to an extent, in relation to the likes of Kewell and Bellamy.

Mossin

Has Sir Alex been a hypocrite though??. He commented on Rafa's team selection a few weeks ago. SO WHAT! Nobody really cares what he says. He a good wind-up merchant, always has been.

The team he started against West Ham was: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Brown, Heinze, Evra (Giggs 57), Solskjaer, Carrick (Scholes 58), Fletcher, Richardson, Smith (Ronaldo 58), Rooney.
No.1 goalkeeper, a back 4 playing for a place in the cup final, the centre midfield pairing also doing the same, with Smith also challenging. So essentially only Richardson and Solskjaer shouldn't have started. United have survived with Scholes suspended this season. I don't feel it was a 'weakened team' at all.
Those players were fighting for a Cup final place, and had every right to play and they gave the Hammers a good game, and were perhaps unlucky to lose.

But that happens, United have lost home and away to them this season. Thats's 6 points more than Sheff Utd managed against us.
It's not Alex's fault that they went down. His team selection cannot be faulted imo. He tried to win the game and brought on the "big guns" before the hour mark. So stuff what Warnock feels. His team was brutal for the best part of the season, and deserved to be relegated. West Ham have played a better brand of football, and when it mattered they won games.

leninbenjamin

did Alex actually say outright that he would field his "strongest team". i actually though he just said he would field one "capable of winning" the match, which they certainly were imo.

Mitch Connor

He said "strongest team".

Brian017

He said a "strong team".l

PHB

"We have to respect the position of the other teams at the bottom," said Ferguson.

"Paul Jewell has done a fantastic job at Wigan, as has Neil Warnock at Sheffield United. I cannot be putting a team on the pitch that disrespects those teams.

"We also have our own reputation to think about, so although I am a great friend of Alan Curbishley, he understands the position I am in and knows I will be playing my strongest team on Sunday."

Is what he actually said

Thanx 4 The Fish

Brian017 wrote:

He said a "strong team".l

You sure

BaZmO*

“I am looking for a performance, I want to see them do well on Sunday,” said Ferguson. “It is the last game of the season, in front of 76,000 fans who will be there to celebrate.

“Sometimes, these days can be flat occasions. I saw Celtic's title celebrations last weekend, for example, and they lost 3-1 at home! A few years ago, we had a home game with Coventry and drew the final game 0-0 then got presented with the trophy. We want to try and make it a good day for ourselves.

“It is a difficult game for us, against a team at the bottom of the league fighting for survival and, while one or two players won't play, in the main it will be a strong team I put out. We will do that to represent ourselves in a proper way and to be fair to everyone.

“I think that everyone knows the English game is 100 per cent honest and people do their best. That is what we will do on Sunday.”

Was the team that he put out not strong? And to say that he didn't want to win the match is just ridiculous. If that was the case why did he bring on Giggs, Scholes and Ronaldo?

leninbenjamin

yeah i think saying "strongest" was a slip of the tongue. the general gist of his conversation meant that "i will put out a good team, one capable of winning, but not necessarily my best" imo.

but when you think about it, Ferdinand and Vidic still look sluggish, Giggs has looked like he has fatigue for the past while and the rest of them got a good run out, so i dunno why anyone would complain. it clearly was capable of winning the match.