Under-fire Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said the 1-0 weekend win over Premiership leaders Chelsea has put a stop to the criticism that has bedevilled the club in recent weeks.
United’s hard-fought triumph not only breathed new fire into the Premiership title race, but also partially helped lift the gloom that has descended on the club recently.
Manager Alex Ferguson might not care to admit it, but the criticism being heaped on his side in the aftermath of soulless performances at Middlesbrough and Lille was as intense as United have suffered since the Scot’s glory days began in 1990.
With a vicious slating from skipper Roy Keane thrown in, the Red Devils could hardly have gone into Sunday’s encounter in a worse frame on mind.
Yet, they responded with by far their most accomplished performance of the season with some of the men in Keane’s line of fire — Alan Smith, Darren Fletcher and Ferdinand himself — playing starring roles in the success.
Few inside the Old Trafford camp will get too carried away by the win, especially with a tough trip to Charlton looming immediately after the international break.
But Ferdinand knows spirits will be raised purely because the constant sniping has been stopped.
”It has been a hard last couple of weeks, both personally and for the club,” he said. ”Criticism comes with the territory at a massive club like Manchester United.
”You expect criticism to an extent, but sometimes it goes too far. There have been a few snide comments, but this was a game where we had to stand up and be counted. We did just that and, thankfully, we have shut a few people’s mouths.”
Roused by a fervent support so rarely seen at Old Trafford these days, United responded with a supreme collective effort, meaning it was just as hard to pick a man of the match as it had been at Middlesbrough eight days previously, but for a totally different reason.
With the gap on Chelsea now down to 10 points — with United boasting a precious game in hand — there is genuine hope some more pressure can be exerted on Jose Mourinho’s side, although Ferdinand acknowledges it will take a few more displays like Sunday’s to prove the Red Devils are really back to their best.
”Every player gave 100% all played to their capabilities, which you have to do against a quality side,” Ferdinand said.
”No one shirked anything. We have a couple of weeks now before the next game and we don’t want to look any further forward than that, but at least we are moving in the right direction again.” — Sapa-AFP