'A good advert for European football'
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Article summary
Manchester United FC manager Sir Alex Ferguson lauded his side's performance as they secured a 4-2 win at FC Dynamo Kyiv to keep up their perfect start in Group F.
Article body
Manchester United FC manager Sir Alex Ferguson lauded his side's attacking performance as a Cristiano Ronaldo double followed early goals from Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney in a 4-2 victory at FC Dynamo Kyiv. The win keeps up United's perfect record in UEFA Champions League Group F while Dynamo are yet to get off the mark and coach József Szabó admitted his team were outclassed.
József Szabó, Dynamo coach
What can you say when the opposition is simply stronger? United are United. In the first half we were so nervous that we made one mistake after another. We lost to a stronger side. When we defend a free-kick or a corner it's worse than a penalty. We had different plans but if people can't carry them out, if they commit a crazy amount of mistakes, how can we talk about anything? We had a lot of that in our last league game, but then I told my players that even if someone like [FC] Zakarpattya [Uzhgorod] cannot exploit your mistakes, these players and this team will punish you quickly. Unfortunately we don't have players of the same class as United. I don't regret taking charge of Dynamo again. I am disappointed because I don't like this kind of football. Today I gave my players an example. With United 4-1 up, Ronaldo dashed all the way back to his own box, took the ball away and started an attack – that is professionalism. In this way, losing is a good thing – it will open some of this team's eyes.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager
Scoring four goals away from home in Europe is a good performance. Our attacking play was very, very good and we could have scored some more goals. There were moments in the second half in particular when Dynamo improved as well. This match was a good advert for European football as both sides tried to attack at will. I am pleased with the result as these three points put us into a very good position. We have good strength in depth. Any changes did not affect their performances, [John] O'Shea came in at left-back and did excellently, Anderson came in for [Paul] Scholes and was also excellent. Nani, [Carlos] Tévez and Anderson have been excellent in adapting to English football. Early in the season Tévez and Anderson played in the Copa América and they missed pre-season work, and it takes time to get to the fitness levels they're at now. Rooney's been injured and Ronaldo was suspended. They all now playing and you can see the difference.