United will learn from defeat, says Ferguson

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said inexperience was behind United’s stunning 4-0 Carling Cup loss to West Ham United on Tuesday.

Ferguson made 10 changes to the side that flattened Blackburn 7-1 on Saturday, with the likes of Fabio da Silva, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Bebe getting a run at Upton Park.

But his young side were no match for a buoyant West Ham, surrendering four goals and nearly giving away at least two more in the one-sided tie.

Ferguson acknowledged that his players simply did not have the experience to come back from an early deficit.

“We didn’t expect that, that’s for sure. I think what happened is we lost some terrible goals, and they’re too young to carry mistakes like that and go and win a game,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“Too many younger players made real errors on the goals and you can’t give away goals like that even though they’re young.”

“The young players will remember it but this could have been a good opportunity to win the cup again. We were in control in the early part, played some good football. But goals change games.”

“West Ham were fired up, they made a lot of challenges, that’s the way they approached the game and it’s understandable.”

Asked if he believed his players would gain something from the loss, Ferguson said: “That’s the thing we invest in; we’ve always done well with that.”

“Young players come through these periods and lose games. A few years ago we lost to Coventry and they learned their lesson that day.”