Carling Cup - Ferguson: 'Lucky United were so bad'

Eurosport - Thu, 08 Jan 13:18:00 2009

Relieved Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his side were lucky to escape with a 1-0 Carling Cup defeat at Derby.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Carling Cup Derby-Manchester United Anderson Scholes Welbeck Tevez - 0

United slid to a shock reverse against the Championship outfit in the first leg of their semi-final.

It gives United a major job to complete at Old Trafford in a fortnight if they are to book a final appearance - almost certainly against Tottenham - at Wembley on March 1.

But, as far as Ferguson is concerned, at least United can still get there, Derby's wastefulness offering a reprieve the Scot is certain his side will take full advantage of.

"We could have lost by more," admitted Ferguson.

"We were lucky. We were so bad that Derby will rue the fact they didn't score more.

"In any semi final you hope to give yourself that breathing space.

"But we expect to recover a 1-0 deficit against anyone at Old Trafford and I am sure we will."

Ferguson acknowledged Nigel Clough's presence may also have been a major influence even though the new Derby boss was only watching from the Pride Park stands.

"It happens so many times historically, there is no rhyme or reason to it," he said.

"A few years ago we played West Ham and Alan Curbishley had just taken over and they beat us 1-0. It is a strange thing."

Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick came off the bench for United, although it was youngsters Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck who received most praise and an assurance over their place for the decider.

"The young lads did well," said Ferguson.

"Darron Gibson was one of our best players and he deserves his place. The younger ones will play again."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 9 - 28 of 68

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. I'm a Man Utd fan and must give credit to Derby. ­ They took the game to Man Utd and deserve to be 1-0 up.­ Man U were poor last night, Nani in my opinion has no­ place in the team, when he's on the ball he's­ pure greedy and delivers very little. I feel for Tevez­ a great player who at the moment is just playing second­ fiddle. I won't be suprised if he's away in­ the Summer.

    Can't wait for the second leg at home.­ Derby won't catch Man U with their trousers down­ for a second time!!!

    From Ewan, on Thu 8 Jan 11:22AM

  2. Yes they funble more than funble so let this be a­ lesson to them so that next time they will weak up in­ all there games because to me they took this game as a­ joke, they belive they will win the game and at the end­ it turn against them so is a lesson to them.

    From samson, on Thu 8 Jan 11:21AM

  3. fergie told it how it was utd were poor,lucky 4 them­ they have a chance 2 put it right.Im sure the second­ leg will tell another story at least Derby had there­ night.Hope the Tevez saga sorted soon and we buy­ him,hard to find such hard working skillfull players.

    From Sophie Poore, on Thu 8 Jan 11:19AM

  4. learn to spell ppl

    From heywhereufrom, on Thu 8 Jan 11:19AM

  5. Lets face it Man U / Ferguson have bought/selected­ players who are just not up to it.

    Nani is a complete­ joke and has never performed.
    Welbeck looked like he­ had never been on a football pitch before.
    Scholes was­ off the pace.
    Anderson is not good enough.

    With the­ mid field selection last night Man U would be licky to­ survive in division 1.

    From peterhatt, on Thu 8 Jan 11:07AM

  6. All I'm hearing is how poor Man U were,But what­ about how good Derby County were the lad's took the­ game to them and RAMMED it down their gobs.WELL DONE­ YOU SUPER RAMS !!

    From davo1574, on Thu 8 Jan 11:06AM

  7. man u were very poor, but the return leg they will be­ to good ,and all ye liverpool fans ye will have to wait­ another few years to win the leauge , its man u year­ sorry. mad man u fan.

    From dec40, on Thu 8 Jan 10:56AM

  8. Without Berbatov United offense is not as good.Let­ Tevez go.

    From popovski01, on Thu 8 Jan 10:56AM

  9. get rid of nani, hes useless

    From lyndsay_mike, on Thu 8 Jan 10:53AM

  10. Yes Man U were poor lastnight,but please give a little­ credit to the Derby County lads who took the game to­ them,and just did'nt roll over.

    From davo1574, on Thu 8 Jan 10:44AM

  11. I'd just like to say how happy I felt for Kris­ Commons after reading of the tragic loss of his­ premature daughter 'Lola Grace' last February.­ I'm sure she is very proud of her daddy scoring­ against Manchester Utd.. a moving story indeed.

    From dale, on Thu 8 Jan 10:42AM

  12. Im a Liverpool fan, Ferguson is a class manager and­ isnt one to mince words and Utd were poor.
    As much as i­ would like to see Derby in the final it just isnt going­ to happen.
    When the second leg comes around Man U will­ slaughter Derby and will probably win the whole­ tournament.
    But we're gonna win the­ league!!!!!
    Youll never walk alone!

    From DJ Viper, on Thu 8 Jan 10:40AM

  13. well played derby you are now the worlds best club­ team,not the only title united will lose this­ season.come on you mighty red men,lfc 4 ever.allways in­ our shadow........

    From KennyN, on Thu 8 Jan 10:40AM

  14. When sir alex has to sit through a performance like­ that it is to his credit he responded in this way...no­ direct blame, no excuses and honest enough to say his­ team were very poor....lets hope this side of his­ management technique is picked up on by people like­ wenger and benitez and they realise that some dignity­ in defeat is no bad thing in this modern game..

    From stuartxland, on Thu 8 Jan 10:32AM

  15. Well said SAF. You would be the first person to­ acknowledge that your team were not performing on the­ night. Having said that you also have to put it right­ in a fortnight. The young lads are not up to it yet and­ against a determined side they were found out. Well­ done Derby. You've done ManU a favour by waking­ them up. Let's see how they respond.

    From cokrowinoto, on Thu 8 Jan 10:29AM

  16. Paul G

    Arsene would do his usual..."I did not see­ it..."

    From SIMON, on Thu 8 Jan 10:26AM

  17. Utd were shocking - well played Derby although you will­ be kicking yourselves at not scoring more as it will be­ Spurs vs Utd in the final. But yeah what an embarassing­ performance! Chelsea&Liverpool fans fill your boots­ while you can!
    Utd supporter.

    From Dominic, on Thu 8 Jan 10:15AM

  18. At last the mighty Rams shine again - roll on­ Forest........

    From thisisabigun, on Thu 8 Jan 10:12AM

  19. i'm a liverpool fan but i have to admire the way­ ferguson doesn't make excuses for poor­ performances.

    imagine if it was arsene wenger talking­ .... i wonder who would be to blame?

    From Paul G, on Thu 8 Jan 10:10AM

  20. Fergie said it right...we did not come to play at all.­ well, lets hope this result will wake 'em up to the­ bigger task on Sunday... Derby can be fried in a­ fortnight!

    From ravencpi, on Thu 8 Jan 10:07AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account