Time is right for Ferguson to go on the attack
Posted in News on Tuesday September 20th, 2005 1:09pm
From The Times:
Fear of defeat, and of allowing Chelsea to strengthen their grip on the championship race, caused the Scot to discard those attacking principles, leaving Ryan Giggs on the bench until the 89th minute of a 0-0 draw. But his conservatism is not new. Ferguson’s use of 4-3-3 predates Mourinho.
Accused of tactical naivety during years of repeated European failure, Ferguson started experimenting with a modish 4-2-3-1 pinched from several Spanish clubs. Somewhere along the line — and Carlos Queiroz’s name is frequently mentioned at this point — it became 4-3-3.
Ferguson has sought to justify the formation as “making the best use of the players we have because it keeps Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney forward, which is where they do more damage”, but there is another reason: to protect the legs of Roy Keane.
No longer mobile enough to perform the holding role in a 4-4-2, Keane needs two sets of legs alongside him. On Sunday, that meant Paul Scholes and Alan Smith standing as sentries (and almost as static). One has been a superb attacking midfield player and the other a centre forward. At Anfield, neither looked as if he would score if he played for another ten years.
Now Keane is out for at least two months with a fractured metatarsal, there is an opportunity, surely, for Ferguson to throw off the shackles. Returning to 4-4-2 would bring Rooney into the middle, where he is at his most potent, and save Ruud van Nistelrooy from having to chase his own flick-ons. There is Park Ji Sung, as well as Giggs, to come in on the left wing.
“We used to play 4-4-2 because it gives you more options and threats,” Ferguson said. Well now is his chance to revert to that system if he is serious when he talks about setting “a target of 88 goals this season, which is not unrealistic”.
But don’t put any money on it. Ferguson is expected to slip Smith into Keane’s role. It should still be enough to be Chelsea’s closest challengers because Arsenal are suffering and not even Arsène Wenger, the high priest of pretty football, is entirely innocent. For last season’s FA Cup Final, the Frenchman sent out a team to win at all costs. He promised never to do it again, but it is a sign of the times that he considered it.
On Sunday, intimidated by the champions’ lead at the top of the table, Ferguson preferred to cling to the draw rather than go for victory. In doing so, United dropped two more points and lost some friends on the way. Failing to win trophies is bad enough but, with Old Trafford expanding to a 76,000 capacity and ticket prices due to rise, Ferguson can least of all afford to cost the Glazers bums on seats.
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