Why Fergie got it all wrong

I have often defended Sir Alex Ferguson on the basis that he is a passionate coach who gives and does everything he possibly can to assist his team to win every game. Like many other top managers, he isn’t a very good loser. Despite all of that, when he described the actions of the Bayern Munich players in trying to get Rafael sent-off, as being disgraceful, he was being a little hypocritical. When he added the phrase, ‘typical Germans’ he was being xenophobic and racist and should unreservedly apologise.

Upset

He was obviously hurting and upset but that is no excuse for the comment he made. It wasn’t a ‘slip of the tongue’, it was terrible.

In relation to his ‘shock’ at the actions of the Bayern players, any manager who has had Gary Neville and Roy Keane as his club captain can hardly be disgusted by players trying to influence referees!

Fair

The sending-off itself was a perfectly fair decision and the referee had little choice but to produce a second yellow card followed by the red. It was a daft challenge by a very good but inexperienced player. In this day and age I can’t think of a referee who wouldn’t have deemed the challenge worthy of a yellow card.

All in all Wednesday evening was something of a personal disaster for Sir Alex. His comments will hopefully be investigated by UEFA and they will take the appropriate action. The team selection and tactics also seemed to be horribly wrong and whilst I hesitate to criticise such a successful manager, I do think he got it wrong and that his decisions were based on previous mistakes as well.

Fit

Why on earth was Wayne Rooney on the pitch? Great player he may be but he was clearly not fully fit. It was obvious from the start that he was hesitant and struggling to ‘push off’ on his right leg. Once he unfortunately turned his ankle over again he had to be taken off. I know Rooney said he was OK but it was obvious to everyone else that he wasn’t.

The reason that Sir Alex played Rooney in the first place and then kept him on despite being at no more than 50% was because he looked at Dimitar Berbatov on the bench and realised that a half fit Rooney was a better option that the man he paid over thirty million pounds for.

Touch

Unbelievably he kept Rooney on for the second half and only took him off when Rafael was dismissed. What did Fergie do then? Did he bring on his other top striker who has a wonderful first touch and might hold the ball up which was what ten man United desperately needed? No, he moved Nani up front. This was another massive indication that Fergie knows he wasted a lot of money.

Not only was that decision an admission of a past error, I also think it was wrong. Berbatov has been a terrible disappointment at United but nobody can doubt the touch and ability of the man. At a time when United were going to be under constant pressure it was crucial that they had an outlet at the top of the team. They needed someone who could hold the ball for a while and relieve the pressure. Berbatov was a far better option than Nani in those circumstances.

Best

There is no doubt that Sir Alex Ferguson is a wonderful manager who deserves to be regarded as one of the best of all time. His record is second to none and he has achieved marvellous things in the game. Having said all of that, Wednesday evening was an occasion where he did not cover himself in glory. Never right him off though! I wouldn’t bet against United winning all of the rest of their games this season.