Moving forwards

Published: 28 May 2009 - 12:05:34

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Sammy McIlroy believes Sir Alex Ferguson will respond to Manchester United's Champions League final defeat positively - and he'll start by making changes up front. United were soundly beaten by Barcelona in Rome as goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi gave the Spanish champions a 2-0 win - and former United player McIlroy believes the Scot will take the defeat badly in the short term. However, he says Ferguson will be determined to fight back next season and may need to replace Carlos Tevez with another goalscorer during the close season. "You very rarely see Sir Alex the way he was last night," McIlroy told Sky Sports News. "He will have taken it very, very badly but he's the type of manager to get his players together in pre-season and say 'okay, we lost the European Cup, but we had a fantastic league season'. "They won the Premiership, the World Club Championship and the League Cup. He'll be setting their stall out to try and do it all over again. "He's determined and he'll make the players determined to try to do that. "I think he's got to sort out the striker situation. Wayne Rooney is a fantastic footballer, but I would like to see him up front. "If Tevez does go I'm sure he would bring in another striker and I think you need another 20-25 goal striker if Tevez does go. "Tevez is a fantastic footballer, but at the end of the day is he going to get you 20-25 goals? Is he going to play when he wants regular football? "That's going to be the big question in the summer. If he does go, I'm sure another striker will come in." The future of experienced campaigners Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes has also been called into question following the defeat. Giggs did not complete the 90 minutes, Scholes was a substitute and Neville was not included in the squad - but McIlroy does not feel their time is up just yet. However, he is certain that Ferguson will be ready to replace the trio when the time is right. McIlroy added: "After a result like last night, people always seem to look at the older players like Giggs, Scholes and Neville - who didn't even make the bench last night. "As far as sentiment is concerned, Sir Alex proved that one wrong in not even putting the boy on the bench. "I think these three have all signed an extra year's contract as well. Obviously the manager will have players in place ready to cover those three players who have been absolutely magnificent servants to Manchester United. "Sir Alex will have players ready to replace them and when they do leave, younger players will come in. "But how can anyone get the record that those three have had? I can't see that ever happening again."