Source: Eurosport
Fergie Pleased For Toffee Neville
Sir Alex Ferguson feels there could be no more fitting a skipper to win the FA Cup than Phil Neville.
The Everton captain openly admitted he could not celebrate in front of the Manchester United fans after he stroked home his effort in the penalty shoot-out that eventually helped seal a May 30 showdown with Chelsea.
Instead, Neville made his way to the Toffees faithful before acknowledging his satisfaction.
And Ferguson, who had the 32-year-old under his control for a decade before letting him leave for Goodison Park in 2005, is desperately hoping Neville now leads the Merseyside club to glory.
"Phil is one of the special people in the game so I hope he is picking up that cup," said Ferguson.
"Everyone knows his connection to Manchester United. He was here so long as a kid.
"I know he was captaining Everton in a semi-final but don't tell me there was not one small part in him that was saying, 'Christ I am going to knock Manchester United out of the cup here'.
"It goes to show you the integrity of the man. He is a fantastic person and no-one in the game deserves it more than he does."
Neville knows he owes his opportunity to Ferguson's decision to field a team packed with youngsters on Sunday.
It is a call the Scot insists was right, particularly with a Barclays Premier League encounter with Portsmouth looming on Wednesday.
"I am absolutely convinced I picked the right team," he said. "I have no regrets about it at all.
"I knew there would be some criticism because it did not work for us.
"What I did was make sure our supporters were going to see a representation, not just of the future, but a squad that is strong enough to be able to cope.
"That is the issue. We have a strong enough squad to do these things. That is credit to the way we have planned it over the last two years."
Given United had the better of a contest against one of the best sides outside the top four and would probably have won if referee Mike Riley had spotted Phil Jagielka's foul on Danny Welbeck, Ferguson's bullishness over his stance is understandable.
It is also true to say making mass changes is not a new phenomenon given a number of key men, including Paul Scholes and eventual match-winner Ryan Giggs, were left on the bench for the famous FA Cup semi-final replay win over Arsenal in 1999.
"I dropped five players for that replay," recalled Ferguson.
"There are no replays now like in 1999 and we also have a stronger squad.
"But playing extra-time at Wembley is hard. We experienced it in the Carling Cup final and having had two very close games against Everton already this year, we expected it to be tough again, no matter what team I picked.
"With the programme we have got coming up, I had to take the realistic view. The priority has to be the league and the Champions League. That is a fact of life."
