Sir Alex Ferguson has vowed Manchester United will bounce back from the trauma of their Champions League exit at the hands of FC Porto.
Portugal midfielder Costinha’s last-minute equaliser on Tuesday night ensured United’s season now hinges on 90 minutes on April 4 — when Ferguson’s men will face Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park.
For the first time in eight years, the name of the world’s richest club will not be among those in Friday’s draw for the quarter-finals of the competition that provides the benchmark against which Ferguson measures himself.
But even at the end of what must have been a gut-wrechingly frustrating night for the United manager, the idea that the club’s under-performance this season was part of a more general malaise was not one he was willing to dwell on.
”I’ve had disappointments many, many times,” Ferguson said.
”That is the nature of the job. It is part of it. You have to react to adversity.
”If you join the club of management the one thing that is certain is that you are going to have a defeat. How you recover from that is down to you as a person.”
With the exception of his defenders’ failure to react as quickly as Costinha did to Tim Howard’s failure to hold the Benni McCarthy free-kick that led to Porto’s late equaliser, Ferguson insisted he had no complaints about his side’s performance.
”There is nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. ”They have fought and they have really given everything.
”I don’t think it was a great Man Utd display but it was laced with good intervals and I think we deserved to win the match. We had a lot of chances to win the match.”
Ferguson’s defiant tone may suggest otherwise, but, inevitably, Tuesday night’s defeat will be the cue for some serious reflection at every level in the Old Trafford hierarchy.
With Arsenal unbeaten in the league and feted around the globe for their effervescent style and Chelsea succeeding where United failed in the Champions League, the sense that the balance of power in English football may be tilting towards the bright lights of London is becoming irresistible.
As that feeling grows, the scrutiny of Ferguson’s key decisions over the last year inevitably becomes harsher.
The wisdom of cashing in on David Beckham’s inflated transfer value. The strategic decision to contest the charges against Rio Ferdinand for failing to submit to a doping test. The summer acquisitions which have yielded only one first-team regular (Tim Howard).
It is a list long enough to conclude that any manager without Ferguson’s track record would inevitably be facing a tougher ride from fans and the boardroom. The question now is how long will it be before the first signs of discontent begin to manifest themselves.
The man himself is adamant that there is still something to be rescued from the season, despite the nine point lead that Arsenal luxuriate in at the top of the Premiership.
”Obviously we are out of the European Cup and it is a disappointment because we have done so well in it over the years,” Ferguson said.
”But now we have to ensure that we are in European football next year. That’s without question. And we don’t give up in the league. You can never give up in football. We saw that with Porto. And we are still in FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park against Arsenal which won’t be easy for either side.”
It certainly won’t be easy for United who are facing the rather alarming prospect of going into that meeting with Thierry Henry and company without Mikael Silvestre, the French defender whose importance has been thrown into sharp relief following Ferdinand’s suspension for eight months and his own absence for the last two troubled weeks for the club.
Silvestre is facing a further three-week lay off after a recurrence of the ankle injury that has already sidelined him for over a fortnight.
”Mikael trained yesterday (on Monday) and in the last five minutes he stopped a shot and that was him,” Ferguson said. ”He was out. It could maybe keep him out for two or three weeks now.”
Unfortunately for Ferguson, Silvestre will have plenty of company on the crocks’ bench thanks to Tuesday’s bruising encounter.
Cameroon midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba was substituted at half-time with a suspected broken rib while Portuguese teenager Cristiano Ronaldo was to have a scan on Wednesday to assess the damage from a blow that left him in serious pain in both his thigh and knee. – Sapa-AFP