ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINALS:ALEX FERGUSON has angrily defended his young Manchester United players in the face of what he perceives to be "unbelievable" criticism, insisting that the latest footballers to emerge through the ranks at Old Trafford deserve to be recognised as authentic successors to the likes of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.
Ferguson was incensed by the coverage of United’s 1-0 defeat at home to Besiktas in the Champions League last Wednesday and the perception that the young players are not good enough to represent the team’s future. United are fiercely proud of the number of young players to make the grade and Ferguson was as animated as at any time since his press conferences started being televised in late 2005.
One broadsheet writer was branded an “idiot” and Ferguson finished his diatribe by comparing the criticisms to Alan Hansen’s infamous comment at the start of United’s double-winning 1995-96 season that “you win nothing with kids”.
Making his point, Ferguson has promised to persevere with the same players when United host Tottenham Hotspur tonight in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, a competition in which he has traditionally played youthful, experimental sides.
“It will be the same players who played on Wednesday, despite the criticism they got,” Ferguson said. “You [the media] wrote that ‘there’s no future for these players, there’s no tomorrow for them’. I couldn’t believe that. I played six players – two 18-year-olds, a 19-year-old, a 20-year-old and two 21-year-olds in a European game and you say ‘there’s no future for them’. It’s unbelievable. I have their futures well mapped out.
“When [David] Beckham, [Nicky] Butt, Scholes and all those lads made their debuts as a group they were 22 years of age, three years ahead of these players. It’s amazing, isn’t it? Of course they will grow from that experience.”
The issue is pertinent for Ferguson as he contemplates how to make the change-over once he can no longer call on Giggs, Neville and Scholes. “The one thing we can’t give them is that old head. What happened [against Besiktas] was that in the last third they got anxious. They had good chances but hurried things, but that’s not the biggest crime in the world.”
Harry Redknapp would rather guide his Tottenham team to a top-four Premier League finish, and so qualify for the Champions League, than win a domestic cup competition this season. The manager will therefore give chances to some fringe players in tonight’s tie at Old Trafford.
Redknapp would like to avenge the loss of last year’s final to Manchester United on penalties and take his club to Wembley for a third season in succession, Tottenham, under Juande Ramos, having beaten Chelsea in the 2008 League Cup final.
However, he made plain what he felt would be the best achievement for his team.
“Wembley is a great day out but I would love to get into a Champions League position with Tottenham,” Redknapp said. “Over the season . . . you can win a cup and have a bit of luck along the way but to get to a Champions League position would be a real reflection of what we’ve done through a whole season. It would be great for us.”
Tottenham are third in the Premier League, a point clear of Arsenal, who have a game in hand. With Arsenal and Liverpool looking relatively frail, Redknapp senses an opportunity to break up the so-called Big Four. “We’re in there and there’s no reason we can’t have a real go at it,” he said.
He will recall Robbie Keane and he said Alan Hutton, Gareth Bale and Jermaine Jenas could be among those brought in. Niko Kranjcar is cup-tied and Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Luka Modric are injured. Modric, who broke a leg against Birmingham in August, has been unable to return to training inside six weeks, as the club had predicted. He resumed contact training with the club’s young players yesterday.
Guardian Service
Venue:Old Trafford Kick-off: Tonight, 8pm On TV: Sky Sports 2
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