Ferguson slams slipshod show

Sir Alex Ferguson tore into his defenders after Manchester United had thrown away the chance of making history at the Stadio Olimpico last night.

Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi scored the goals which gave Barcelona a 2–0 victory and a third triumph in the Champions Cup.

And while Ferguson did not name the culprits he clearly had Nemanja Vidic in mind when he described United’s defending for Eto’o’s first goal as “shoddy.”

Ferguson said: “In our best performances this season we have defended very well, but the defending was shoddy.

“The first goal didn’t help. It gave them the opportunity to keep possession. We didn’t plan to lose a goal early and we didn’t deal with it well enough. That was the story. To lose a goal like that was a bad goal.

“It was a disappointing performance and some individuals will feel it themselves.”

United were hoping to become the first club successfuly to defend the trophy in its current format.

But while Ferguson threw on Carlos Tevez for Anderson and Dimitar Berbatov for Park Ji–Sung in a bid to turn around the match in the second–half the United boss was outfoxed tactically by Guardiola.

The Barcelona coach withdrew Messi from his wide berth up front to reinforce midfield and it gave the Spaniards dominance.

Ferguson said: “The disappointment was the use of the ball when we got possession.

“You have to wait minutes to get it back off them. Could be it was an off night. Could be it was a mountain too big to climb.

“We knew what a good football team they were. We had difficulty in defending against them.

Cristiano Ronaldo collected a yellow card for a foul on Puyol and it was a disappointing match for the United winger, who went close with a couple of long–range shots but too often let his exasperation get the better of him.

Ferguson also admitted United missed the protective presence of Darren Fletcher in midfield who was suspended after being sent off harshly against Arsenal in the semi–final.