when it comes to the practice of rotating players, Ferguson's policy should be vindicated by the team's league position without having to resort to the computer data that tells him after every game how far each player has run, how many sprints they have made and how the figures relate to previous performances.Oliver Holt in The Mirror has a less measured look at the "incident":Ronaldo's fit of pique after being substituted against Manchester City on Sunday not only left him open to allegations of showing a lack of respect towards his manager but also an apparent inability to comprehend what is uppermost in Ferguson's mind, namely that United are going into unexplored territory over the next few weeks in terms of the side's powers of endurance.
Tonight, when Ferguson's team play at Wigan Athletic, it will be their 63rd game of the season, and by the time an already epic campaign reaches its conclusion in Rome in a fortnight's time they will have played more games (66 in 290 days) than any other season in their 131-year history. Not since 1983-84, when Liverpool got through 67 games, featuring 13 League Cup ties, has an English top-flight team shoehorned more matches into a single season.
Ferguson ... has made rotation his forte, using a combination of computer analysis and his judgment. He has used 34 players this season, with Ronaldo, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic the only outfield players to have started 40 or more games. Veterans such as Ryan Giggs, with 14 league starts, and Paul Scholes, with 13, have been deployed with strategic care, as has Edwin van der Sar, routinely left out of domestic cup ties.
Wayne Rooney, who has played in 10 different countries this season, did not even travel to Wembley for the FA Cup semi-final against Everton, and Ferguson has made sure long-distance travellers on international duty have all been given extra time off. Park Ji-sung, for example, was given a fortnight's break after South Korea's last World Cup qualifiers. "That was the best thing we could have done," says Ferguson. "Since then he has hardly stopped running."
This story in The Sun suggests that Ronaldo accepts he may have been slightly out of line, and sheds a better light on his leaving the ground early:Ronaldo may be a very fine footballer indeed but there’s nothing he can do, nothing he can say, no tantrum he can throw, no strop he can perform, that could affect the aura surrounding the Manchester United manager.
Standing on the touchline pouting like a diva isn’t going to do it and snatching a tracksuit top from an assistant and flinging it on the floor isn’t going to work either. He may be World Footballer of the Year but he hasn’t the power to destabilise Ferguson and never will have.
A win at Wigan tonight and a draw with Arsenal on Saturday will add yet another league title – his 11th – to Ferguson’s collection. To paraphrase the late BBC presenter Robin Day, why should United fans prefer a here-today-gone-tomorrow prima donna like Ronaldo over a man like Ferguson?
The time for challenging Ferguson’s authority passed a long, long time ago. Trust me, I should know. A few years back, in the midst of Fergie’s Kleberson, Djemba-Djemba, Rock of Gibraltar period, I suggested in a book he’d gone on too long.
Whoops-a-daisy. That ship has sailed. Ferguson could buy a couple of ring-tailed lemurs this summer and stick them up front with Wayne Rooney and I’d still back his judgment.
When he had won one Champions League trophy in 21 years at one of the world’s richest clubs, he was vulnerable to criticism. Now, he’s on the brink of winning his third and ending the argument about who is Britain’s most successful manager of all time, the man is bullet-proof. So when Ronaldo stands with his back to him on the touchline like a two-year-old, he just makes himself look like an utter fool.
How true this report is, who knows, but let's face it, even Ronaldo is likely to have realised he may have gone a little overboard.Portugal winger Ronaldo, 24, threw a tracksuit top to the floor and mouthed an expletive as he sat in the dug-out.
But when he got into the changing rooms he was immediately told by some of the players not to act up like that with the boss and to calm it down.
Ronaldo tried to plead his case but, in the end, accepted he was in the wrong.
He left the ground within 15 minutes — more in embarrassment at his actions than in anger.
Ferguson has not confronted Ronaldo about the incident and has preferred to let him stew.
The Mail has a handy graphic detailing just how good Ronaldo is.
Also coming from Sunday's game and Tevez's gesturing is this, from Kia Joorabchian, his "adviser":
"He wasn't [protesting about United]," said Kia Joorabchian, the man responsible for finding Tevez a new club. "Before the game he said: 'Someone told me there was an article in the newspaper about me last week' and I said, 'Yes, there was and they were saying you were not a prolific goalscorer.' So he said: 'I want to know where the pressbox is because I want to go and show them my ears if they wrote that."Considering how often Tevez has been airing his grievances in the papers over the last few weeks I find this a little odd, and if it is true, well, using the media and slagging them off at the same time is a dangerous game...
There's some interesting speculation in The Sun on the possibility of us getting Tevez for "free":
SunSport understands the Red Devils are exploring whether there are legal loopholes in the striker’s contract.
In particular, the third party ownership agreement which ties Tevez with the investment company MSI is under scrutiny.
Leading sports lawyers are looking at whether the ownership of Tevez’s registration by MSI could be challenged under the same terms as Jean Marc Bosman took on the old transfer system.
CARLOS TEVEZ can sign for Manchester United today if he wants.
There would be no transfer fee because he is not registered with another club.
There would be no negotiations as long as he is happy with his personal terms.
All it needs is the player, a contract and the agreement of the club and it’s done.
United could even try to get out of paying the agent’s commission, though it’s almost certain they would find themselves with a legal row in court.
If Tevez were willing to break his contract with MSI — the company that owns his registration — then he could become as famous for not playing football as Jean Marc Bosman.
The Argentina striker is out of contract with United at the end of this season, when his loan deal expires.
In that situation, normally a player will simply choose which offer to accept from any interested clubs and go without a bye or leave.
Not Tevez. His contract with MSI means he cannot agree anything without their permission and, more pointedly, their demands being met first.
Or can he? Some might like to see that same contract tested to the full under European Union law.
It was Bosman back in 1995 who successfully argued that the transfer system, where a third party governed a player’s right to move, was unlawful.
So if Tevez did want out of the MSI deal, might he just then simply sign for United and get himself a good lawyer?
Or perhaps even ask the club to get Jean Louis Dupont to defend him against the case which would likely be brought by MSI?
If the club do not want to pay the £32million fee MSI are demanding, they could easily offer a fraction of that sum to the player in return for his signature and a possible court case.
After all, if this happened, Tevez wouldn’t be the first player in the history of football to have his head turned by an offer. At the same time, MSI would then have to weigh up the consequences of going to war with one of the world’s biggest football clubs.
And suing Manchester United wouldn’t be the easiest move — if it came to that.
His adviser, Kia Joorabchian, obviously knows it’s getting close to D-Day in the handling of the player.
Recently, Tevez has been man-marked closer by his agents than at any time on the pitch this season.
Which is all very interesting, but given what Tevez has been saying, unlikely. You never know though...
Quotes of the day, Rio Ferdinand looks forward to winning the title at Old Trafford:
"I've not played a match to win the league at Old Trafford," said Ferdinand.
"I've won it at away grounds and been in my house when another team has lost.
"So it would be nice to win it at home. But I'd win it on the grass outside the training ground if I had to."
And pays tribute to Sir Alex:
"Four seasons ago everyone was saying we were finished," said Ferdinand, who faces a late fitness test on a calf strain before the game at the JJB Stadium. "I remember people booing Ryan Giggs. That is how mad it was. But the manager calmed us down, told us to take our time and trust him. He assured us it was a transitional period. The results since have proved that. We have not won anything yet, but we are in a great position to do so."Rooney talks about how he's enjoyed this season, playing a new role:
And the same report has words from Park on playing in the Champions League final:"I've really enjoyed this season and it's been good experience for me to play in different positions," said 23-year-old Rooney.
"But defending is difficult at times. Sometimes you can lose your concentration for one second and the full-back will run past you.
"Or something will happen that will cost you a goal, so you have to make sure you're always concentrating 100 per cent.
"Some days you enjoy it, and some days it's not so good. I've always said that playing up front - obviously with two up - is my favourite position.
"But I'll play wherever I'm asked, and playing different positions does help you to understand the game better, which can help you a lot.
"I certainly don't think I would have been able to play such a disciplined role two or three years ago.
"This season I also haven't gone too many games without scoring. I've been more consistent, which is what I've been trying to do."
"If I play in Rome it would be great because I didn't play last season," said Park.
"But you don't know. There are two weeks left yet.
"I've never lost the belief that I would play in a Champions League Final. I knew we could get there.
Now we're back, I just hope it's different for me this time.
"But I won't believe anything until the night. Up until then I will still be proving myself on the pitch.
"I have heard and read that the manager has said I should be OK for the Champions League Final - but he hasn't said anything to me."
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