Ferguson hails Ronaldo coping strategy

Ferguson hails Ronaldo coping strategy

Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted Cristiano Ronaldo is not allowing the rough treatment he receives from opposition defenders to affect his game.


Immediately after Tuesday night's Champions League draw with Villarreal, the Manchester United manager claimed his star winger was being 'systematically targeted' by opponents, who feel they can dupe referees into believing Ronaldo is diving by kicking him all the time.

Italian official Roberto Rosetti did not allow himself to fall into that trap through, dismissing Villarreal full-back Joan Capdevila near the end of the 0-0 draw for a particularly vicious knee-high tackle on Ronaldo.

As he is also the victim of numerous terrace taunts as well, it would be no surprise if Ronaldo's performances suffered.

However, the prospective Fifa world player of the year shows no sign of getting kicked out of the game, with Ferguson believing the 23-year-old is handling the harsh treatment with ease.

"I think Cristiano is coping well," said Ferguson.

"Let's be honest, nobody likes getting whacked all the time. But Cristiano has the courage to get on with it. He carries that mantel well."

Ronaldo could learn from Best

Ronaldo could learn from Best

Needless to say it is our fault, too, that Cristiano Ronaldo is being kicked to an extent which currently poses him a genuine risk of serious injury. "I don't think you as a press do enough to stop the systematic fouling on him," Sir Alex Ferguson said on Tuesday night during his exposition of what he considers to be a collective effort by teams to hurt his player.


Perhaps there can be a complacency about the abundance of hacks and boots he gets, especially when they are viewed from a distance. Close up, the scarring down Ronaldo's legs and even on the area where he wears his shin pads was shocking to see when he gave an interview in shorts and flip-flops before last season's European Cup final.

It is even worse this season and from Villa to Villarreal in the past week Ronaldo has been gathering another lattice of cuts and stud marks. But he is a changed man too; operating in a whirl of irritation and frustration with all around him. Two instances of many: the kick he aimed at Marcos Senna when Tuesday's game was barely a minute old; the carpeting he gave Anderson for failing to play a ball into the space he had created by drawing away a Villarreal defender. The United manager is right to say he is a victim, who must be protected, but as he gives so Ronaldo gets.

Ferguson was irritated when it was put to him on Tuesday that the player's responses might be contributing to the problem. "Tell me someone who likes being abused?" he said, shaking his head. But the one who gives out stick takes heart from a response to it, be it Ariel Ibagaza, extracting a misplaced slap from Ronaldo when the Villarreal player pinched his neck amid the opening exchanges in Spain, or the Stoke City fans who won ironic waves and wiggles of that scarred right leg in tune to their vile songs about him – and chanted all the more.

George Best, the player with whom Ronaldo invites many comparisons, did not have to live with fans like Stoke's, who waited a generation or more for a league match at Old Trafford yet could find nothing better to do than abuse the most gifted player on the pitch. That is because in the Best era, supporters went to matches to appreciate the opposition, too.

Best was not immune to the same abuse on the field that Ronaldo is experiencing. Arsenal, for one, would task two players – Peter Simpson and Bob McNab – just to prevent him operating. It was the kind of strategy Ferguson was talking about this week: stop him, because there is no way we can play him. Best was kicked the length and breadth of English football by anyone who could get a boot on him.

The difference was that you could not needle him and there is no greater illustration of the way he played on, impervious to the abuse, than Nobby Stiles's description, in his recent autobiography, of the 1970 match between England and Northern Ireland in which Best, who had just been fined two weeks' wages after being caught with a girl in a hotel, was greeted by the jeers of a 75,000-strong crowd.

Stiles recalls his futile attempts to tackle Best after Best he ran on to a long ball and threaded past goalkeeper Gordon Banks. "I had to make it the tackle of my life," Stiles says. "I went straight through the ball and straight through George but without the result I was looking for. I finished up on my back, on the dead-ball line. 75,000 fans who had earlier booed and jeered George filled the stadium with cheers and as I got to my feet I thought, 'What a player'."

Stud missiles: When other superstars were taken out...

Pele – 1966 World Cup

42 years of hurt – that's probably what Pele's shins have been feeling ever since this tournament. The Brazilians were eliminated in the group stages thanks to the relentless targeting of Pele, first by the Bulgarians – causing him to miss the Hungary defeat – and then, surprisingly, by the Portuguese.

Eusebio – 1966 World Cup

That England restricted him to a solitary goal in the 2-1 semi-final win was down to Nobby Stiles. Ramsey told him he wanted Eusebio stopped. "For life, Alf?" the little man is reputed to have asked.

Maradona – 1982 World Cup

Argentina crashed out of the '82 finals thanks to Italian Claudio Gentile battering Maradona into brutal submission. When quizzed about his systemic GBH, Gentile replied: "Football is not for ballerinas". His 23 fouls on the No 10 was considered a record for a single game.

Gazza – 1991 FA Cup Final

Maradona can blame Gentile, Pele the Bulgarians and Portuguese but Paul Gascoigne had only himself to blame in the 1991 FA Cup final against Nottingham Forest. His reckless lunge at Gary Charles in the opening minutes tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee and at the age of 24 there was a sense that things would never be the same again.

Group E

Results: Celtic 0 AaB Aalborg 0; Manchester Utd 0 Villarreal 0; AaB Aalborg 0 Manchester Utd 3; Villarreal 1 Celtic 0; Manchester Utd 3 Celtic 0; Villarreal 6 AaB Aalborg 3; Aab Aalborg 2 Villarreal 2; Celtic 1 Manchester Utd 1; AaB Aalborg 2 Celtic 1; Villarreal 0 Manchester Utd 0.

Remaining group stage fixtures: Celtic: 10 Dec: Villarreal (h). Manchester United: 10 Dec: AaB Aalborg (h).

Ferguson reveals Rooney apology

Ferguson reveals Rooney apology

Sir Alex Ferguson says Wayne Rooney apologised to him and opponents Villarreal for diving in Manchester United's 0-0 Champions League draw.

The Spanish team's players were angry after the striker went down in the box, despite no contact with the defender.

"He apologised to me and said he didn't mean to do that," said boss Ferguson.

"I think he's been watching (Villarreal forward) Robert Pires too much. At least he apologised to their players. You'd never see Pires do that."

Ferguson also said he believes that teams are fouling United's Cristiano Ronaldo so often referees think the winger is diving.

A goalless draw was enough to put United into the knockout stages of the tournament.

Their opponents ended the game with 10 men after Joan Capdevila saw red for a foul on Ronaldo and afterwards Ferguson stated: "The systematic fouling on him, that's what's now happening.

"It's a tactic. Eventually the referee thinks he's diving all the time."

Ronaldo had been a doubt for the match after limping out of Saturday's goalless draw at Aston Villa but Ferguson said he was satisfied with the level of protection provided by referee Roberto Rosetti in Spain.

"The referee was very fair and strict with both teams," added Ferguson.

"Capdevila may not have got that red card in England so there is a different interpretation of the physical aspect of the game in European matches."

Stud marks were visible above Ronaldo's knee following the challenge by the Villarreal defender and the United manager thought the referee had made the correct decision with the dismissal.

Was the red card for Capdevila correct?

"When you see the tackle again, it was very high," commented Ferguson. "When you go as high as that you risk a red card.

"There were three tackles on Cristiano and I think the referee has quite rightly booked the players and then dished out a red card."

United and Villarreal have now contested four successive goalless draws in the Champions League.

"It is amazing in these four games we have not had a goal," said the Scot.

"I do not know how that is because we are an attacking side and Villarreal have a great record themselves.

"I thought we carried a bigger threat than them. We had better opportunities in the match but we are satisfied we are into the next stage.

"That's what we wanted to achieve. We have an advantage over Villarreal now.

"We have a home game against Aalborg and they have to go to Celtic so hopefully we can win the group."

Ronaldo target for rough treatment as United ease through

Ronaldo target for rough treatment as United ease through

It might not quite have been a beating over the head with a baton – the image his manager had used here to describe the attacks he comes under – but Cristiano Ronaldo left El Madigral last night with stud marks and a cut above the left knee to go with his side's qualification from Group E, leading Sir Alex Ferguson to claim that there is a systematic, collective attempt among teams to injure him.


An ugly, studs-up lash at Ronaldo with his left foot earned defender Joan Capdevila a justifiable straight red card on an evening in which another two of his team-mates were booked for inflicting more of the same on the player. The referee, Roberto Rosetti had provided the kind of protection which Ronaldo "may not have got in England" Ferguson said, returning to a theme he has aired before. But the Manchester United manager seems to have seen in the course of games in which crowds and players get to the 23-year-old signs of a more malign and calculated campaign than the practice of just kicking a good player. "What's happening is systematic," Ferguson said. "It's a tactic. One has one foul, another has another foul. Someone else has another. Eventually the referee thinks he's diving all the time, the crowd's screaming. So that's the problem – systematic fouling of him."

The number of Villareal players booked for their challenges on Ronaldo suggested that he had a point. So did the sly way Ariel Ibagaza pinched his neck in the course of yanking him to his feet seven minutes in.

It was one of those nights – sometimes reserved for occasions when they don't play well – when Ferguson had criticism to impart to many. Wayne Rooney was a more unexpected recipient, the perpetrator, Ferguson said, of a second half dive in search of a penalty when Fabricio Fuentes had clearly not clipped him.

"It's uncharacteristic of him," Ferguson said. "He thought he was going to be challenged and he thought he was going to get a penalty kick and he's made the most of it. He says himself he's apologised." And on the last point, Ferguson could not resist a dig at Robert Pires, perceived by some as a diver at Arsenal and the perpetrator of some penalty box theatrics here. "I think he's been watching Pires too much," Ferguson said. [Rooney's] apologised to the Villareal players. You never see Pires doing that do you? Bloody hell."

But Ronaldo is the subject of enduring debate. He arrived here with the cuts incurred before limping off Villa Park four days ago and picked up where he had left off there. Though vastly more sinned against than sinner, he is easy to needle and that makes him a target for opponents and fans. Ariel Ibagaza extracted a swipe from him after that sneaky pinch and he was riled as both Sebastian Eguren and Javi Venta were booked for two of several unsophisticated hacks inside 30 minutes.

He is operating in a perpetual state of agitation – reluctant to accept a handshake; ready to take the extra, theatrical roll when fouled. He was also quite prepared in the second half here to stand, hands on hips, near the partisan Villareal's partisan Frente Amarillo 'ultras', eyeballing the assistant referee who adjudged him to have fouled Capdevila. After removing the ball to where he thought the kick should be taken, he was booked for dissent.

For his part, Pellegrini believes that it is Ronaldo's style of play – the word the Spanish use for it is encarar and it translates as challenging "face on" – was the cause of the bookings, though Marcos Senna's personalised attack on the player before the game suggested there is no love lost.

But it was also a fact that Ronaldo, alone, carried United's creative threat. The first half had been insipid until he latched onto a knock down from Rooney, lashing a right foot shot which Diego Lopez leapt to palm, two handed, onto his crossbar. The low, dipping free-kick Ronaldo won on the edge of the area after Eguren's foul was also palmed around Lopez's right hand post. He ran free into the box again after the interval, forcing Lopez again to palm away.

It is time for his compatriot, Nani, to show more signs of the invention. Anderson also, who wears the makings off a beard these days but shows scant that he is growing at United role. It was Tomasz Kuszcak who demonstrated his worth, as the Yellow Submarine's attacking threat surfaced intermittently. He did well to beat away a shot from Santi Cazorla which swerved left to right and pushed away a near post shot from former United striker Giuseppe Rossi.

United held on, as did Villareal – and for all their sins, they too have qualified for the group stage.

Villarreal (4-4-2): Diego Lopez; Javi Venta, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Fuentes, Capdevila; Santi Cazorla, Senna (Bruno, 46), Eguren, Pires (Mati Fernandez, 65); Rossi (Franco, 79), Ibagaza. Substitutes not used: Viera (gk), Edmilson, Cygan, Angel Lopez.

Manchester United (4-4-1-1): Kuszczak; O'Shea, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Ronaldo, Fletcher (Gibson, 80), Carrick (Tevez, 86), Nani (Park, 84); Anderson; Rooney. Substitutes not used: Foster (gk), Giggs, Vidic, Rafael.

Referee: R Rosetti (Italy).

Time running out for Schuster

Time running out for Schuster

The Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster will be given one match to save his job when club directors meet today, after being beaten 1-0 by modest Valladolid on Saturday – the current champions' third loss in four games.


"The defeats have come in different competitions," Schuster said afterwards as if that meant the run did not count. In the eyes of some Bernabeu power-brokers the fact that Real Madrid have spread their poor form across three tournaments only makes matters worse.

They are now out of the Spanish Cup after losing in midweek to a third division team and they have complicated their Champions League qualification by losing at home to Juventus. Not since Vicente Del Bosque, who took the job in 1999 and left in 2003, has a coach survived into his third season and Schuster looks unlikely to buck that trend. Since Del Bosque, six coaches have come and gone in five years and Schuster (right), having won the league in his first season, now appears to be on borrowed time in his second. "I don't deserve to be asked that," he said after being questioned whether he was capable of turning Madrid around.

His supporters argue that his league win last season means he deserves time. But his detractors say he only won the Spanish title on the coat-tails of now-England manager Fabio Capello, who won it the previous season. If Schuster loses next week's home match with Recreativo de Huelva his critics will get their way and he will be gone. Successors are already being lined-up. Juande Ramos might be damaged goods after his failure at Tottenham but his success at Seville means his stock is still high in Spain and he has supporters inside the club.

Others favour promoting the technical secretary Miguel Angel Portugal who played for the club and is the former youth team manager. The youth team coach and former Spain winger Michel also has his supporters.

"We are content with Schuster and we have full confidence in the coaching team," said captain Raul after the game but on the pitch the players failed their coach when he needed them most. They huffed and puffed against a side that only last week were hit for six by Barcelona but they failed to score in a league match for the first time this season. As a result Nestor Canobbio's second-half strike was enough to win the game although a point-blank save from the outstanding Sergio Asenjo to deny Raul was still needed before the home fans could celebrate a famous victory.

The former Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze added to Real's misery by getting himself sent off with three minutes left and afterwards he did little to talk up dressing room harmony. He said: "I am just upset about the defeat. I would rather not talk about the things that are being said about the coach. There is no questioning the effort and the application of the players but nothing is going our way."

Schuster's greatest defence as he hangs on to his job might turn out to be the Cristiano Ronaldo saga. The German coach warned in August against spending too long trying to tempt one player at the expense of a viable Plan B. After the Ronaldo snub, Real made late bids for Valencia striker David Villa and Villarreal winger Santi Cazorla but both turned down the move.

Now with the winger Arjen Robben missing and the striker Ruud van Nistelrooy out for the season those failings are beginning to take their toll.

Last week Madrid enquired after the out-of-favour Internazionale striker Hernan Crespo with a view to a January move. But Jose Mourinho has suggested he will not aid a potential Champions League rival saying: "If Crespo is important for Real Madrid, then he is also important for us. The winter transfer window is nearly always for those teams who did not do their work properly in the summer."

Welbeck a match for class of '96

Welbeck a match for class of '96

We don't yet know whether Danny Welbeck, the 17-year-old from Longsight who was 21 minutes into his Premier League career when he scored from 35 yards on Saturday, has what it takes to make the grade. But even the suggestion that he might do is enough for the Manchester United academy staff, who have been able to deliver precious few local boys of his ilk to the first team since the garlanded class of '96.


Academy director Brian McClair despairs of an academy system that has made old-fashioned scouting so much harder and has limited his successes to John O'Shea, Darren Fletcher and Wes Brown – whose father once gave Welbeck lifts to the same Fletcher Moss Rangers club where the England international defender played. But many football people reckon the laws of probability alone will deliver a local player to the top flight every 10 years, and so it might be with Welbeck.

Though being nine days short of his 18th birthday hardly makes him a prodigy of the proportions of Wayne Rooney – who was five days off 17 when he scored his wondergoal against Arsenal – he looks a prospect. He was sharp, if not deadly, on debut against Middlesbrough in the Carling Cup last month. His pace won the penalty that put away QPR when Carlos Tevez was labouring in midweek and his goal – taking the ball just beyond the centre circle, controlling it and exchanging passes with Angolan Manucho before unleashing a shot – was some achievement. Even as the gangling striker described the build-up to his 84th-minute shot, which dipped way beyond Thomas Sorensen, there was a symbolic reminder to McClair of those he had tried and failed with. "I knew [Ryan] Shawcross was coming behind me," he said of one of many United have sold. Stoke's Danny Higginbotham, another United graduate and Mancunian down to his bootstraps, was trailing in Welbeck's wake, too. "I was fortunate enough to play a few games here," he reflected on Saturday night. "But the thing about Sir Alex Ferguson is that if he decides you're not going to be a constant fixture in the team, he will always try to make sure that he can further your career." Higginbotham also returned here with a Derby side who lost 5-0 – a reminder of what football on the other side of the line from United can mean.

Welbeck almost overshadowed Cristiano Ronaldo who, as he kicks on from last season, is making the prospective £160,000-a-week wage demands United could face from his representatives look difficult to face down. He didn't play Premier League football until 21 September, remember, but he is its second top-scorer this morning and currently United's most compelling performer by a distance. He wasn't immune, in the course of taking his career goal tally from 99 to 101 with two more dipping free kicks, to the Stoke fans who threw abuse at him. The kisses he blew back and the leg he wiggled in time to their vitriol egged them on. But then he calmly dismembered right-back Andy Griffin's game and self-belief. That's not what you get from Rooney when the red mist descends.

If Stoke continue to defend like they did in the second half – the entire left wing was not so much an open door as a frame with the entire structure off its hinges – they will be relegated. How the same team have taken four points from Arsenal and Liverpool is unfathomable.

Dimitar Berbatov also capitalised, his second league goal helping to show why he was included, though those many who say he must be measured on goals because he doesn't run around much are plain wrong. Take a look at how many of Ronaldo's goals have been made by him, for a truer assessment of his contribution. With England's friendly safely out of the way, expect Rooney to be back at Villa Park next Saturday. The obstacles look formidable for Welbeck but he exudes the desire which, as most Premier League managers insist, British prospects have more of than foreign imports. "I'm quite level-headed and I take it in my stride," Welbeck said. "I just want more, really."

Goals: Ronaldo (2) 1-0; Carrick (45) 2-0; Berbatov (49) 3-0; Welbeck (84) 4-0; Ronaldo (89) 5-0.

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Van der Sar; O'Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra; Fletcher (Gibson, 63), Carrick; Park (Welbeck, 63), Tevez (Manucho, 75), Ronaldo; Berbatov. Substitutes not used: Anderson, Foster (gk), Nani, Da Silva.

Stoke City (4-4-1-1): Sorensen, Griffin (Wilkinson, 79), Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham; Amdy Faye, Diao, Olofinjana (Cresswell, 30) Delap; Sidibe; Fuller (Kitson, 69). Substitutes not used: Simonsen (gk), Cort, Whelan, Tonge.

Referee: P Walton (Northants).

Booked: Man Utd Evra Stoke Fuller, Delap.

Man of the match: Ronaldo.

Attendance: 75,369.

Ronaldo the ringmaster as Welbeck produces star turn

Ronaldo the ringmaster as Welbeck produces star turn

The present was already looking quite good enough yesterday when the gangling shape of Danny Welbeck, a striker still 11 days short of his 18th birthday, stepped up to provide a taste of the future.


The chances of a teenager from Longsight upstaging Cristiano Ronaldo seemed unlikely when Welbeck took the field for his Premier League debut, just past the hour. That changed in the time it took the gangling forward to take on a ball just beyond the centre circle, control it, exchange it with a team-mate with and unravel a 35-yard goal. Not bad for a player 21 minutes into his Premier League career attacking the Stretford End and the delight etched on his face last night showed how badly he will want more. "I wouldn't say I've dreamt about this but I've thought about it every minute of my life since I started playing football, really, and there's nothing better than it, to tell you the truth," he said.

Ronaldo did what he could to wrest back the spotlight. His first successfully deposited free kick of the season here took his personal goal tally for United to 100 in 253 games and he added the 101st from another free-kick a minute from time. He has climbed to joint second among the league's top scorers, despite not playing until September 27. But Welbeck took the day.

It all contributed to annihilation bordering on embarrassment for a Stoke side whose performance explained their paltry pickings of two points and three goals on their travels and whose left back Andy Griffin - substituted towards the end as Ronaldo ran riot - will particularly want to forget the afternoon. Only one Rory Delap throw caused problems and the left flank was a open door by the end. The consolation, their manager Tony Pulis said, was "the fact we've got another game on Saturday and its fresh game and we don't have to come here again."

The day wasn't the best for Fabio Capello, either, after Sir Alex Ferguson's disclosure that Wayne Rooney, missing here through a chest infection and calf strain, and Rio Ferdinand, absent after straining his back in training on Friday, will miss England's friendly in Berlin on Wednesday. But from the second minute, when Thomas Sorensen was deceived by the right-to-left swerve on Ronaldo's dipping left foot kick and watched it fly through his hands into the roof of his net, United looked perfectly capable of living without them.

Though Stoke showed some a defensive steadfastness in the 40 minutes that followed, the only Staffordshire visitors who managed to get anywhere near Ronaldo were their supporters who - apparently concluding that the only way of translating the club's home form to their travels is take a little of the Britannia Stadium with them - provided Ronaldo with his first real taste of the vitriol he might have expected after last summer. In what proved the only absorbing match of the afternoon, they got at him and warmed to the challenge when, perhaps unwisely, he blew them an ironic kiss.

But risks come attached to baiting a man who, as Ferguson put it, is "right on song" his speed "coming back with every game." It was Ronaldo's jinking run across the edge of Stoke's box that presaged a through ball, on the stroke of half time, which Michael Carrick strode on to and, reducing Salif Diao to a shadow, thumped left-footed past Sorenson.

Dimitar Berbatov moves in more mysterious ways. Those who challenge his goal record overlook the vast contribution he has made in half a dozen of Ronaldo's nine strikes but his seond league goal - United's third - saw the Bulgarian bringing down a Carlos Tevez ball immaculately and finishing, right-footed.

Sorensen's struggle with the artillery which United wheeled out as the half wore on was painful at times. A second dipping Ronaldo free kick panicked him and Andy Griffin hacked clear. It had turned into a Carling Cup situation by then, Ferguson also introducing Angolan striker Manucho, recipient of that exchanged pass with Welbeck as the Mancunian raced through for his goal, and Darron Gibson for Tevez, though his snatched second half shots telegraphed the fact he, for one, lacks confidence.

That can't be said of Welbeck, who by 5pm last night had re-watched his goal several times on a video monitor. "He'll remember it for the rest of his life," Sir Alex Ferguson said. "But I think he's level headed, he's intelligent and a few lads in the dressing room will be knocking him down, don't worry."

FERGIE HAPPY WITH RONALDO DEAL

FERGIE HAPPY WITH RONALDO DEAL

Sir Alex Ferguson insists Manchester United are in no rush to discuss a new contract with Cristiano Ronaldo.

The agency who look after Ronaldo confirmed earlier this week to skysports.com that they hoped United would sit down for contract talks soon.

However, Ferguson is satisfied Ronaldo is currently paid well by United and that he is happy with his contract status.

"I don't know what other clubs pay their players, but he [Ronaldo] is very well paid by us and quite rightly. He deserves to be paid tremendous amounts," said Ferguson.

"All the players that are well paid deserve it because they are great players but, at the moment, he has three-and-a-half years left on his contract and we are happy with that."

Ferguson also insisted that Ronaldo's own agent Jorge Mendes was not in the North West last week for talks with the club.

"There is nothing I can tell you about that because I didn't even know Jorge was over," he said.

"He comes across quite a lot to see Anderson, Nani, Ronaldo and Manucho to sort out a lot of things - maybe their living accommodation or commercial issues. It could be a lot of things."

Ronaldo not underpaid says Sir Alex

Ronaldo not underpaid says Sir Alex

Sir Alex Ferguson has brushed aside rumours Manchester United are set to bow to wage demands from Cristiano Ronaldo and offer the Portuguese winger an improved contract with the club.

The 23-year-old’s representative, Jorge Mendes, was in Manchester on Monday and while his visit was not for the purpose of initiating talks, a spokesman from Ronaldo’s management company Gestifute said that it was reasonable to expect a meeting in the not too distant future.

Gestifute decreed earlier in the week that Ronaldo deserved an improved pay packet from the European champions, despite the Portugal international reportedly already earning £120,000 per week.

Ferguson is adamant that The Red Devils will not be pressured into upping Ronaldo’s current pay deal.

“I don’t know what other clubs pay their players but Ronaldo is very well paid by us,” Ferguson was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

“At the moment he has three-and-a-half years left on his contract and we are happy with that.”

FERGIE SURPRISED BY STOKE BATTERING

FERGIE SURPRISED BY STOKE BATTERING

Sir Alex Ferguson felt Manchester United had been below their best following the 5-0 victory over Stoke.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored after just three minutes but United had to wait until the stroke of half-time before Michael Carrick doubled their lead.

Ferguson was not happy with his side's display in the opening 45 minutes but delighted after the interval as Dimitar Berbatov, Danny Welbeck and Ronaldo found the target.

"It was a surprising result because the first half performance was very disappointing," Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"I think maybe getting the early goal relaxed us too much because we did not play with our usual sharpness and speed.

"I think we were a bit fortunate to be 2-0 up at half-time, but the second half was fantastic.

"They kept their discipline and made it hard work for us. We handled their throw-ins very well too."

Ronaldo's opening goal was his 100th for the club and Ferguson was thrilled with his contribution.

Ferguson said: "He was very pleased and the crowd was delighted. He is on fire now, he's back.

"He has overcome his operation and he's getting quicker every game."

Ferguson also paid tribute to Welbeck, whose stunning long-range strike came on his Premier League debut.

"Unbelievable," said the United boss. "To score on your full debut with a goal like that, he will remember it for a long time."

United remain eight points behind league leaders Liverpool but have moved ahead of Arsenal following their defeat to Aston Villa.

Ferguson accepts that it will be difficult for United to overturn the deficit but realises there is still a long way to go.

He explained: "I think it is a difficult league, you can drop points anywhere,"

"But we have got to motor on and make sure that we get to within a couple of points of the leaders by the New Year.

"If we do that we've got a chance."

RONALDO IN NEW DEAL TALKS - REPORT

RONALDO IN NEW DEAL TALKS - REPORT

Cristiano Ronaldo's agent has already allegedly opened talks on a new Manchester United contract despite his current deal taking him to 2012.

Jorge Mendes was in Manchester on Monday to discuss the possibility of a new contract - with the Daily Mirror suggesting that they are looking for ฃ170,000 a week.

That figure would make Ronaldo the highest-paid player in the Premier League after Robinho took that honour with his 160,000-a-week package at Manchester City.

Ronaldo is only 18 months into a five-year deal worth ฃ125,000 a week, but Mendes is already looking for a reward for the Portuguese winger's loyalty in staying at Old Trafford rather than moving to Real Madrid.

United are unlikely to offer a new deal until the end of the season, with The Sun suggesting that the condition of the deal is that 'all talk of a move to Real Madrid is banned'.

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that Ronaldo's future needs to be secured before 2010, when the player will be able to buy out his contract using the Webster ruling.

Ferguson commented earlier this week: "Next summer will be a key element of his contract situation because he will have three years left then."

Would Queiroz Have Let Sir Make Mistakes?

Would Queiroz Have Let Sir Make Mistakes?

There's an almost-forgotten story about last season's Champions League final that goes something like this: Sir Alex Ferguson was intent on bringing John O'Shea off the bench but was dissuaded from doing so by Carlos Queiroz.


It was by no means the first time that Queiroz had gently coaxed Ferguson into changing his mind while presumably - in the manner of most successful relationships - deftly making Ferguson believe that he had made the key decision himself. Unfortunately for United fans, it was the last time Queiroz has been able to exert his influence over Ferguson.


Ferguson's former assistant Steve McClaren later suggested that the hardest part of the job was managing the manager - introducing him to new ideas without making him feel like you were being patronising or acting beyond your remit. Queiroz obviously had that manager-management down to an art.


Would his successor Mike Phelan - a loyal and devoted footservant at United over the last seven years - have stopped Ferguson bringing on O'Shea in Moscow? Or would he have said 'yes boss' and instructed the Irishman to take off his tracksuit?


Conversely, would Queiroz have discouraged Ferguson from fielding a lumbering Gary Neville at full-back against the extremely quick Samir Nasri? Would he have suggested that Cristiano Ronaldo swapped wings to make him more of a goal threat? Indeed, would he have insisted on a 4-3-3 that would have given Ronaldo last season's freedom to operate and also matched Arsenal in the middle?


We can only speculate about the answers to those questions but there will be speculation as long as United 'struggle'. This is not a kneejerk reaction to one defeat at Arsenal (though who amongst us would think a United with six minutes of injury time could offer so little threat?) but rather the defensive shambles that were the second halves of games with Everton and Hull in recent weeks, and the fact that they have thrown away seven points from winning positions already this season.


The importance of a foil to any successful manager in these times when coaching is only a fraction of the job cannot be underestimated. Don't think it's a coincidence that scouser Sammy Lee's return to Liverpool has coincided with an attitude towards the Premier League that's closer to the fans' own, or that Luiz Felipe Scolari chose Ray Wilkins to act as the calm and urbane yang to his fiery yin because he does not have faith in his own countrymen.


Recent successful partnerships (Ferguson and Queiroz, Wenger and Rice, Mourinho and Clarke) and those at current league leaders at Chelsea and Liverpool would suggest that the perfect pairing is a combination of British and continental. This may be a tad simplistic, but there are many who would suggest that Ferguson should have chosen a foreign assistant to complement his strengths.


Ferguson has never been a comfortable coach or a gifted tactician and someone like Pako Ayesteran may have brought new ideas that he (or Mike Phelan or Brian McClair) may not have considered. And an outsider might have had the balls to implement them.


Of course, there will be plenty who say that United have come back from more difficult and seemingly impossible positions in the title race - and that United have had the hardest fixture list of any of the contenders - and that is true. But the last time Queiroz left in 2003, they were in touch with leaders Arsenal at the start of November and they eventually ended the season 15 points adrift of the champions. Could that happen again?

UNITED FOCUSED ON OWN AGENDA

UNITED FOCUSED ON OWN AGENDA

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted the Emirates Stadium will play host to a 'critical' Premier League blockbuster on Saturday - but for Manchester United rather than Arsenal.

In the build up to an eagerly-awaited reunion between the Gunners and the Red Devils, most of the attention has been on the hosts.

Arsene Wenger was outraged by Stoke's tactics at the Britannia Stadium last weekend when his side suffered a third defeat of the season.

Many pundits feel a fourth at the hands of Ferguson's men could prove terminal for Arsenal's championship hopes and with so many men missing, including star striker Emmanuel Adebayor, it looks a distinct possibility.

But Ferguson is more interested in his own side and, having lost to Liverpool and drawn with Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton in their first 10 games, he knows United's record is not exactly flawless.

"This match is critical for us," he said. "We have to win our games and be consistent from now until the end of the season because we have points to make up on Liverpool and Chelsea.

"There is no way I am going to be thinking about what is happening at Arsenal. This game is important for Manchester United.

"We have every right to contest the championship just the same as Arsenal or anyone else, so we will fight for the right to win."

Not that Ferguson is unaware of Arsenal's plight.

Wenger's team have come under attack for not only their performance in defeat at Stoke last weekend, but the Frenchman's attack on the Potters' approach.

"When you play against Stoke, if you concede a throw or a corner you need your tin helmets on," Ferguson added.

"You know the ball will be in the air and you have to head it. They know their strengths. They are committed and honest but I certainly do not think they are a dirty team."

In such situations Ferguson tends to fight fire with fire, and that spirit is one of the reasons why he gave short shrift to Scott Brown's complaints about Cristiano Ronaldo apparently kicking him at Parkhead on Wednesday.

"Has he never been kicked before?" said the Red Devils boss. "There is not a more fouled player in the country than Ronaldo but he just keeps getting up and saying 'Give me the ball'.

"It is the courage that distinguishes great players from everyone else."

Past history suggest Howard Webb will have his work cut out to maintain order on Saturday, even if Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira are no longer centre stage.

In accepting Wenger's Arsenal have played 'excellent' football for the last six years, Ferguson also feels both sides have changed as the greats of yesteryear called time on their careers.

"We have different types of player now," he added. "You could say we have more of a football team than we had 10 years ago.

"It is impossible replicate every item of a team."

Ferguson does feel his side's second-half showing at Celtic proves they are approaching their best form.

The same cannot be said about Arsenal, although no one in the United camp is taking much optimism from that.

"Arsenal have had injuries and when you don't have your best players you don't get the best results," observed Ferguson.

"Arsene has one or two key players out but if anyone thinks it will be easy, they are wrong.

"It will be a tough game, as it always is. Over the years, games between the two clubs have always been very competitive.

"They are always played at great speed and they are always highly emotional games.

"I am sure their fans will be wound up tomorrow because of what has been said during the week. We have to cope with that."