Foster’s debt to Fergie

Ben Foster has revealed the debt of gratitude he owes to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

There was widespread speculation that Foster would be dropped for Saturday’s Premier League win at Stoke.

Foster was certainly to blame for Manchester City’s opening goal in the derby encounter the previous weekend, while questions were also asked about his dismal efforts to prevent Craig Bellamy scoring the Blues’ third equaliser.

Yet at the first available opportunity, Ferguson insisted he was sticking with the 26–year–old and was rewarded with a clean sheet as United defeated Stoke 2–0 at the Britannia Stadium to go top for the first time this season.

“I have to say a big thanks to the boss for sticking by me,” said Foster.

“Last Sunday was great for the team but personally, it was an absolute disaster.”

The torment continued long into the week as professional and amateur analysts had their say.

Foster could have driven himself mad by pouring over every damning word. Instead, he chose to ignore it all.

“I pretty much buried my head in the sand,” he said. “I didn’t really want to watch the television and there was no way I was reading the papers next day.”

Not that Foster could escape scrutiny. But the assessments that mattered were kept within United’s Carrington training complex as goalkeeping coach Eric Steele delivered his withering verdict.

“When we got into training I had to face up to it,” he said. “I had to look at the replays, analyse them and learn from them.

“The goalkeeping coach has been on at me all week and was really hard on me. But I needed that and I like to think I have learnt from it.

“You are going to have those days as a goalkeeper sometimes and you have to keep them to a minimum.”

As Foster acknowledges, mental fortitude is one of the major reasons why Edwin van der Sar has lasted so long at the top.

Whereas Foster used to look at the battle for a first–team berth with the 39–year–old as purely an assessment of their relative abilities, now he realises it is much more.

Van der Sar makes mistakes like everybody else. His big advantage is not being affected by them.

“The more you play the more concentration and consistency you develop,” he said.

“Edwin is a typical example of Mr Cool. He is a fantastic professional and he is someone I want to emulate.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson felt Ryan Giggs’ extra bit of intelligence was the difference for United on Saturday.

United were struggling to turn their overwhelming dominance into goals until Giggs replaced Nani 10 minutes into the second half.

The improvement was instant. First Giggs provided record signing Dimitar Berbatov with a tap–in before curling over a free–kick that allowed John O’Shea to mark his 350th Red Devils appearance with a goal as he guided home a header.

“Ryan is important,” said Ferguson. “I felt his intelligence would give them a bit of bother on that side of the pitch. Nani did pretty well but Ryan gives you something else.”

In truth, there could have been few smoother victories for the visitors.

Indeed, the only moment of concern came when Paul Scholes appeared to handle Liam Lawrence’s cross after already being booked.

Not that Ferguson felt the former England star – a clear man of the match in the view of Stoke boss Tony Pulis – was in danger of being sent off for the second time this season.

“I didn’t think it was handball but it would have been an injustice if he had been sent off because he was wrongly booked in the first place.”