"Ferguson wanted me to play with long studs, the interchangeable ones that suit wet pitches, but I feel more comfortable in short ones."I agreed to change but I didn't and, against Chelsea, I slipped in front of goal and wasted a chance.
"Afterwards, I rushed to the dressing room to change boots but Ferguson caught me. He grabbed the boots and threw them. That was my last game for United."
The match, on 15 August 2004, saw Forlán used as a 73rd-minute substitute as United lost 1-0 to José Mourinho's Chelsea. Forlán, who was signed by Ferguson on the recommendation of his brother Martin, then the United chief scout, for £7.5m, scored just 10 goals in 63 league appearances, and 17 in 98 appearances in all competitions.
Onto the real stuff, the resumption of the Champions League. Rio Ferdinand talks of last season's final defeat:
And as if to prove the point, in the same article, Sir Alex on the defeat:“It was sickening because we felt we were on the cusp of greatness.
“So, to lose the way we did was really difficult. The worst thing about it was that we didn’t even put up a fight, really.” ...
He added: “We never got going. If we had scored in the first 10 minutes, I think we’d have gone on to win the game. But they got the first goal and it stunned us.
“We never recovered after that and that was so disappointing.” ...
“The Champions League is the stuff of dreams. As a kid growing up, you’d sit there wondering if you will ever be good enough to win it.
“To be able to get there and win it was ridiculous for me. The way we won it, too – on penalties against Chelsea – was incredible.
“You want to win it at all costs and that’s all that matters. But having lost a Champions League final, I know what that feels like, too. And it’s not an easy thing to talk about.”
“I am not getting into that. It’s gone. No need to talk about it.”Slightly more from Sir Alex on it in The Guardian:
"You don't enjoy any defeat but you have to move on," he said. "It's a new season, a new challenge and everything that happened in Rome we have put behind us. You don't like losing ever, and that is something that's been part of me for a long, long time. It's not as if I have ever changed. But everyone has to experience defeat. It's how you recover that's important and we will recover."And looking forward to this year:
"You have to respect this competition," said Fergie. "We can't afford to not qualify. This is the first group game, so we have to pick the right team.
"We can't take chances and we won't take chances. We need to get to that 10-point mark as soon as possible.
"The difficult thing about this group is the travel. It's a long way to Turkey and then to Moscow for our next game.
"We have to go to Germany to play Wolfsburg for the last group game, so we must make sure we're in a good position by that stage."
A bit of a comment on the Premier League from the same article:
"Some guy at the weekend said this was the worst United team in years," said Fergie. "That was a beauty. Maybe it is. Maybe we'll only win the league!"
But the United boss did admit it will be hard to win a fourth straight title, despite his side's superb comeback to beat Tottenham 3-1 at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
"The only thing that result tells you is how hard it will be to be No.1 this season," said Fergie.
"It will be really hard to win the league. Chelsea are strong. They scored a late goal at the weekend to win, and that's a good indication of their strength."
The Mail has slightly more on the negative comments Sir Alex was talking about:
Ferguson was so irked by suggestions on the radio that his team were weakening and that only four of them would make it into the Tottenham side that he used both points in his pre-match pep talk.Who are they letting on the radio nowadays? Only 4 of our players would get in the Spurs side?!
From the same article Sir Alex on Owen:
'He has not been involved much and I explained that to him,' said Ferguson. 'The season has not really started. Because of the internationals we are not really playing Saturday-Wednesday.
'So Owen doesn't come into the equation because we are trying to get a blend of Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney. Owen will play plenty of games, just maybe not early in the season.
'Rooney has started well, that's the first thing to say. We need a couple of players to get us more than 20 goals as our goal ratio last season was very poor. We only scored 68 league goals. It was an unusual one, but Wayne has five league goals already this campaign and that's terrific.'
This Times article takes a closer look at Rooney, suggesting the importance of the Champions League a a proving-ground for Rooney:
As testing as Barclays Premier League and World Cup qualifying matches can be, though, it is with the return of Champions League football that we are about to discover whether Rooney really can become the bona fide world-beater and match-winner that Ronaldo routinely was.
“He was fantastic at Spurs on Saturday. Paul Scholes and Anderson were unbelievable in the first half, but Berbatov was marvellous.
“He linked the whole thing. He is playing nearer to the area he should play now. He has stopped playing in those deep midfield positions."
Ji-Sung Park signs a new contract:
"Park and Manchester United have reached an agreement on a three-year deal," said the player's agent Kim Jung-Soo. "The contract will be effective through June 2012."
Park, who joined United in 2005 from PSV Eindhoven for £4million, has emerged as a key member of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad.
Fergie said: "In his time with us Ji-Sung has developed his technical and tactical abilities and done very well.
"He's become a very important player for us and already had a fantastic career with us."
Only indirectly related to Man United, but important nonetheless, The Premier League bring in some rule changes for next season, one on homegrown players:
Under the rules, clubs will have to name a squad of 25 players over 21 before the season begins. Eight of those players must be "home-grown", in that they must have been developed for at least three years by an English or Welsh club before their 21st birthday. They can name a second, limitless list of players under 21 and both lists can be resubmitted at the end of the January transfer window. ...
"It clearly encourages youth development and the promotion of young players, but, and we don't apologise for it, it goes nowhere near a nationality test because we don't believe that's right," said Scudamore. However, naturally, it is encouragement to those who are developed locally – from within your association – and that will encourage players who are qualified to play for the home country."
Richard Scudamore, the League’s chief executive, announced last night that the 20 member clubs, in addition to ratifying the introduction of a quota system governing the use of home-grown players, had voted in favour of a new regulation that will allow the league to “step in” and, in extreme cases, impose a transfer embargo if it believes a club are in danger of falling into administration.
Scudamore announced that the “trigger” for intervention by the Premier League would be “when the auditors have a question about whether the club is sustainable”. He pointedly refused to discuss the impact that might have upon individual clubs, but, in addition to the well-documented difficulties at Portsmouth and West Ham over the past 12 months, Liverpool will also be under scrutiny after their auditor, KPMG, raised concerns about the club’s financial prospects in their most recent accounts.
Finally The Sun have a very strange article in which they claim that we want Adebayor banned for the game on Sunday:
MANCHESTER UNITED want Manu Adebayor banned for his stamp on Robin van Persie.The FA is today set to charge the Manchester City star for the Van Persie incident and goal celebration in front of Arsenal fans.
United's management are urging the FA to act so Adebayor misses Sunday's derby at Old Trafford. He could be banned for a total of six games if charged and found guilty.
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