Ferguson to stand by Queiroz as unrest grows at negative United
Posted in News on Wednesday September 21st, 2005 9:24am
From The Guardian:
Sir Alex Ferguson’s faith in his assistant manager Carlos Queiroz remains unwavering despite apparent discontent within the Manchester United squad over the perceived negative tactics favoured by the Portuguese coach.
Queiroz has been instrumental in United adopting a 4-3-3 formation over the past year, a set-up which too readily transforms into 4-5-1 and has often left Ruud van Nistelrooy isolated up front and Wayne Rooney frustrated in a deeper or peripheral role. United have laboured playing the system over the last week - their last three games, against Manchester City, Villarreal and Liverpool, have yielded only five shots on target - prompting suggestions of simmering unrest among the playing squad, though Ferguson’s support of his No2 will be maintained regardless.
While the formation was geared towards yielding success on the European stage, this is not the first occasion when doubts have flared at Old Trafford over the tactics encouraged by Queiroz and, as a result, adopted by Ferguson. Last season senior players and backroom staff aired their exasperation at both the formation and the insistence upon squad rotation, and are understood to have even asked the reserve-team coach Brian McClair to approach the manager and make him aware of their doubts over the assistant’s influence.
Their concerns were given short shrift, however, with Ferguson reiterating his support for the Portuguese whose coaching was so instrumental in steering United to their most recent Premiership title in 2003. Indeed, so impressed had United’s manager of 19 years been with Queiroz’s impact in his first season at Old Trafford that he had no qualms about rehiring him following a surprisingly unsuccessful season-long stint as manager at Real Madrid in 2003-04. While Ferguson had given his assistant his blessing to move to the Bernabéu, Queiroz is one of relatively few figures to have left the Scot and subsequently been welcomed back into the fold after a spell elsewhere.
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