Source: Eurosport
Light The End Of The Tunnel For Fergie
Sir Alex Ferguson is convinced Saturday's win at Sunderland will prove to be a watershed in Manchester United's season.[LNB]After sweeping all before them on their return from the Club World Cup in Japan, United have suddenly hit an alarming slump.[LNB]Successive Premier League defeats to Liverpool and Fulham have been followed after the international break by two more sloppy defensive performances, including the concession of a last-minute equaliser to Porto that left the Red Devils' Champions League defence hanging by a thread.[LNB]Ferguson admitted Ben Foster made another mistake at the Stadium of Light. But it was the only thing that went wrong in a narrow victory that United's wily manager feels will mark the point in his side's season when confidence began to return.[LNB]"It was a watershed," said Ferguson.[LNB]"The back four played very well and restricted Sunderland to only a few chances because we dealt with their crosses terrifically.[LNB]"Ben is young and inexperienced but apart from that one mistake, the defence was very good. Hopefully from now on we will be fine."[LNB]United's defence needs to be error free on Wednesday night as they bid to become the first English side to beat Porto on their own ground.[LNB]Porto clearly do not intend to take anything for granted, hence the presence of skipper Lucho Gonzalez and two team-mates in the upper reaches of the Stadio do Dragao on Tuesday night on a spying mission which apparently went on much longer than the 15 minutes most observers get to watch United train.[LNB]The Red Devils camp seemed unaware of the intrusion, although as Ferguson admitted the Portuguese champions were the better side at Old Trafford a week ago when they had no opportunity to do any last-minute preparatory work, the benefit to Porto may be debatable.[LNB]With Rio Ferdinand and Dimitar Berbatov both set to play, the Red Devils should be a much stronger outfit than they were eight days ago.[LNB]United will rely on Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo to provide attacking to Berbatov.[LNB]Ferguson was surprisingly critical of Ronaldo at the weekend, when he suggested the Portugal superstar sometimes forgets his responsibilities to team-mates when he is raging at, on occasion imagined, injustices.[LNB]The Scot was not re-opening debate. But he does not appear to be backing down either.[LNB]"Attacking players are all the same, they prefer to be attacking," said Ferguson.[LNB]"They want to be on the ball all the time. But part of the job is to be part of the team.[LNB]"When you lose possession you have to think about the team."[LNB]Ferguson did deflect attention away from Ronaldo when he expanded on the suggestion his most talked-about player needed to produce a performance that mattered, claiming he needed every United star to reach their peak.[LNB]"Cristiano is part of our team," said Ferguson.[LNB]"They all have to be up for it. There is no point choosing one individual. They have all got to step up to the plate."[LNB]Ferguson will be the only manager in the dug-out tomorrow after opposite number Jesualdo Ferreira was banned for one match by UEFA following a tirade at an official that accompanied a disallowed goal against Atletico Madrid in the previous round.[LNB]The news came as a surprise to Ferguson, although it did provide him with the opportunity to have a little dig at Rafael Benitez, who has been prodding the United boss with increasing regularity over the last few weeks.[LNB]"Why was he banned? I knew he hadn't attacked me - unlike someone else I know," smiled Ferguson.[LNB]
