Ferguson delighted with winning start

(GSM) – Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson stressed the importance of a winning start after his side began their pre-season campaign with a 3-1 victory over Celtic on Friday.

Dimitar Berbatov, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley scored for English powerhouse Manchester United, while Georgios Samaras converted a penalty for Scottish Premier League club Celtic.

Manchester United are making their third pre-season trip to North America since Ferguson became manager in 1986 and the Scot tactician expressed relief after his side’s winning start.

“The first game is one you want to get out of the road because fitness comes into it, as does the time you give to your players. I was pleased as some of the performances were good,” said Ferguson.

He added: “We try to get the preparation to a point where they want to want to start playing games. They had seven days at Carrington, four days in Chicago; they were desperate for a game. The one thing pre-season brings on is the desire to start playing games.

“No-one likes pre-season. It does not matter how good it is. Nobody enjoys it because it is rough and tough. It is the hard bit of the game. Thankfully we are on that route of playing.”

“I was enjoying the whole game,” Ferguson said on MUTV.

“We have started well with a win, Celtic are a very good team. They played very well.

“It’s the first game of pre-season, still too early to judge, but it was a good test of our physical form and technical as well. We have a lot of games before the season starts so I think we will be fully prepared.

“When the summer comes you don’t stop playing. You play with your friends. But when you come here you play with your team-mates, the season is starting. You come to new countries, see new people, play different teams and it’s very exciting.”

Manchester United travel to the USA tomorrow, before facing MLS new boys the Philadelphia Union on Thursday.