Ferguson praises ´quality´ United

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson praised the quality of his players after they beat Manchester City 3-2 in the FA Community Shield on Sunday.

United, with Nani scoring twice, fought back from two goals down to win the Shield for the 19th time.

Two goals in quick succession from Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko either side of half-time ensured it looked like the Shield was heading to the Blue half of Manchester.

However, United rallied after the break, and after Chris Smalling struck to give his side hope, two goals from Nani – one in stoppage time – completed a tremendous comeback, which delighted the manager.

“I hope it bodes well for the season,” Sir Alex told Sky Sports.

“Certainly I thought the performance over the course of the whole game was very good in terms of the football we played.”

“I couldn’t believe we were 2-0 down at half-time, to me we had been controlling the match.”

“Goals change games though and they got the first goal then another just before half-time, which was a killer for us.”

“But huge credit to the players, they kept their heads, kept playing their football and got the result they deserved.”

“The great thing about today was we never got intimidated by City’s tackling. We just kept the ball and kept playing – I thought it was fantastic.”

“The players all wanted to take the ball – it’s a great quality to have and our players showed that.”

“We had 13 players under 23 in the squad today, then we’ve got the likes of Chicharito and Valencia – lots of young, talented players not even playing – we’ve got a really good squad.”

Ferguson was reluctant to criticise goalkeeper David de Gea for Dzeko’s goal, which found the net from long-range.

He said he had always planned to make a number of changes late in the game with the new Premier League season now only a week away.

“We were always going to make our substitutions,” he said.

“We have to expose the likes of Jones, Evans and Smalling to this kind of top-level football.”

“I was going to make six changes, but when we got the second goal I decided to stay with it. We used five in the end and left one alone.”

“Dzeko’s shot was bending a lot and the goalkeeper has to react quickly to move back onto his other foot so it’s difficult to say if David was at fault for that one.”

Sir Alex was then informed that the last four winners of the Community Shield had gone on to become League champions.

“That sounds good to me – I hope the omen continues,” he laughed.