Sir Alex Ferguson said the combination of United’s profligacy in front of goal and a quiet Old Trafford crowd prevented the Reds from making the 1-0 victory over Birmingham City more convincing.
Carlos Tevez grabbed the game’s only goal but was twice
denied by the post, while Cristiano Ronaldo had an excellent header saved and another shot cleared off the line. But it wasn’t exactly a raucous start to the new year, as Sir Alex explained.
“I don’t think it was a suitable game for us in many ways,” he told MUTV. “The crowd was dead. That was the quietest I’ve heard our crowd. We need the supporters to create a good atmosphere here because the players respond to that.
“It’s all very well saying the players need to play to get the crowd going, for them to respond. But in situations like today we need the fans to get behind us. At times it was like a funeral. It was so quiet. I don’t think that helped us.”
Sir Alex did, however, concede that United were nowhere near as ruthless as they needed to be. “We were careless with some of our chances and we only really had brief moments in the game,” he added. “It was a workmanlike performance which got us the win.
“It was a fantastic goal, a great bit of vision from Ronaldo and a great finish from Carlos. We could have scored four, but it was one of those days.”
The final fifteen minutes of the game were far from plain sailing. The precariousness of a 1-0 lead was not lost on Sir Alex, who like the rest of the 75,000 supporters, endured a nail-biting end to the match.
“It only takes a second to lose a goal,” he said. “They had a lot of possession in the final third of the field, albeit abetted by the referee and linesman’s decisions. There were some bad decisions. But we held out. Vida was absolutely outstanding at centre-half, it was a marvellous performance.”
denied by the post, while Cristiano Ronaldo had an excellent header saved and another shot cleared off the line. But it wasn’t exactly a raucous start to the new year, as Sir Alex explained.“I don’t think it was a suitable game for us in many ways,” he told MUTV. “The crowd was dead. That was the quietest I’ve heard our crowd. We need the supporters to create a good atmosphere here because the players respond to that.
“It’s all very well saying the players need to play to get the crowd going, for them to respond. But in situations like today we need the fans to get behind us. At times it was like a funeral. It was so quiet. I don’t think that helped us.”
Sir Alex did, however, concede that United were nowhere near as ruthless as they needed to be. “We were careless with some of our chances and we only really had brief moments in the game,” he added. “It was a workmanlike performance which got us the win.
“It was a fantastic goal, a great bit of vision from Ronaldo and a great finish from Carlos. We could have scored four, but it was one of those days.”
The final fifteen minutes of the game were far from plain sailing. The precariousness of a 1-0 lead was not lost on Sir Alex, who like the rest of the 75,000 supporters, endured a nail-biting end to the match.
“It only takes a second to lose a goal,” he said. “They had a lot of possession in the final third of the field, albeit abetted by the referee and linesman’s decisions. There were some bad decisions. But we held out. Vida was absolutely outstanding at centre-half, it was a marvellous performance.”
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