Source: SKY_Sports
Fergie happy with Porto
Sir Alex Ferguson declared himself pleased with the UEFA Champions League draw for the quarter-finals after his side were pitted against Porto.[LNB] Should the reigning European champions overcome their Portuguese opponents a potential semi-final with Arsenal awaits, with the Gunners facing Villarreal in their last eight clash.[LNB]Despite their relatively poor record against Porto down the years, just two wins from six games, the 67-year-old will go into the tie confident his side will progress.[LNB]The Scot also pointed out that having Portuguese national team boss Carlos Queiroz as his assistant for the last four seasons would help in his side's preparations.[LNB]"This is a good draw for us, we've met Porto before and obviously we respect any Portuguese team," he said.[LNB]"We have had a huge Portuguese influence in the club firstly with Carlos Queiroz but now with Cristiano (Ronaldo) and Nani so we understand Portuguese football." [LNB]The only negative from the draw was the fact that United will play the first leg of the tie at home and should they qualify for the last four they will again be away for the second leg, but Ferguson insists this shouldn't be a problem.[LNB]Indication"You sometimes wonder if being at home first is a good or a bad thing but I think in this modern-day competition there is no indication of what is better," he added.[LNB]"The only thing you hope is that you don't lose a goal in the home tie. We are happy with the draw and we are looking forward to the next round."[LNB]Ferguson takes his side to Fulham on Saturday with United looking to immediately bounce back from the humiliating loss at the hands of Liverpool last weekend.[LNB]The United boss has had a week to dissect the 4-1 defeat and insists that his side can turn the loss into a positive for the remainder of their season.[LNB]"For weeks we had to listen to a lot of eulogies and compliments about how great this team of ours was," he said.[LNB]"I never got carried away with it and the point I was trying to get across was, it's not affecting me I hope it's not affecting anyone else.[LNB]"Everybody likes to read good things about themselves in the papers, especially young players, they like to think they're the bees' knees all the time.[LNB]"I kept deflecting that saying how tough this league was and this is a reminder. Football can come back and bite you, we've had that many times.[LNB]"In a way the defeat can help us. They realise there is a lot of work to be done to win the league, as has been shown time and time again.[LNB]"We've had to go to the last game on three or four occasions to win the league so now we're in the position of saying, let's put the show back on the road again.[LNB]Situation"This is one of the situations you get in football but the good thing is, I'm used to it, quite a few of the players are used to it.[LNB]"It doesn't make the job any easier but there are a lot of ways of using a defeat like that, taking advantage of it.[LNB]"The important thing is having players you can trust and players with the capabilities to do something about it. I'm happy we have that."[LNB]Ferguson also spoke of his disappointment that the FA Cup semi-finals, where United face Everton, will be played at Wembley, saying that it will take some of the gloss off actually playing at the famous stadium. [LNB]"Some fantastic players in our country have never played at Wembley, and that's going back through the ages, and to me it's taking away from the glamour of getting to the final," he argued.[LNB]"But there's no way out of it, we know the reasons and we just have to get on with it."[LNB]
