Boateng baffled by United fuss

23 May 2009 10:55
George Boateng admits he has been surprised by the speculation over Manchester United's likely line-up for Sunday's final game of the season. Hull City will avoid relegation from the Premier League if they beat United, who were crowned champions last week after picking up a point against Arsenal. Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to rest many of his key players ahead of next Wednesday's UEFA Champions League final, possibly increasing Hull's chances of claiming three points. Hull's relegation rivals, in particular Newcastle and Middlesbrough who are not in control of their own destiny, will hope Ferguson fields a strong side. But Tigers midfielder Boateng believes too much has been made of the matter and has told the other clubs they will only have themselves to blame if they go down. He said: "Sir Alex has rotated his whole squad over the season and they have won most of the games. No complaints"But I watched the FA Cup semi-final against Everton at Wembley when some of his stars didn't travel, and nobody seemed to complain when Manchester lost. "The only people who did were the Manchester United fans who wanted to win the FA Cup. "Why didn't it happen then? That was the same. (Danny) Welbeck was up front and I saw Cristiano (Ronaldo) shopping in the high street. "No one said anything then so I don't understand the fuss about it now. "Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough's situations are not because of what happens on Sunday. "Their situations have been caused by themselves. If any of them go down, it is nothing to do with Sir Alex playing a weakened team or not playing a certain player. "They have had enough games to win and put themselves in a better position than they are on Sunday." UnpopularBoateng accepts that it may be an unpopular outcome with the media if Hull stay up but he is determined to prove the critics wrong. "Newcastle is a huge club," said the Dutchman. "With (Alan) Shearer taking over I feel that the press, the country, is desperate for Newcastle to stay up. "But we are not looking for favours, no one has done us favours anyway. "We went to Arsenal earlier in the season when the bookies were writing us off and we got a result. "We should not be in the position we are after the start we had but it is a challenge and we are looking forward to it."

Source: SKY_Sports