Park tries hard to be positive in gloom

Park Ji–sung dug deep into the well of over–used football cliches to help Manchester United try to overcome the desolation of their last–gasp FA Cup knockout.

With the oldest cup competition joining the Carling Cup and Champions League as trophies that will not be ending up at Old Trafford this season thanks to the 2–1 defeat at Liverpool, Park grasped for what remains.

“I am glad there is another match on Tuesday,” said the South Korean. “We can forget about this result quickly and look to the future. Then we have the Premier League and Europa League. We shouldn’t mess up these two titles.”

In fairness to Park, he is not the man to offer a forensic analysis of the latest failure.

It only takes a quick look at a fixture list that follows a midweek encounter against Stoke with a trip to Chelsea and then an Old Trafford meeting with Liverpool on February 11 to understand that unless United recover quickly, by the time they head to Amsterdam for the first leg of that Europa League last–32 tie with Ajax, it might be all they have left to play for.

Typically, former Red Devils skipper Roy Keane pulled no punches. citing goalkeeper David De Gea as a major letdown for the Manchester side.

“Goalkeeper is the most important position at Manchester United,” said the Irishman. “De Gea looked a bit nervous. When you have a nervous goalkeeper it can go through the whole team.”

On too many occasions, De Gea needed his team–mates to provide the protection his slender frame cannot do alone.

Anders Lindegaard is virtually certain to return on Tuesday against opponents who did not give De Gea the battering he probably expected earlier this season. Rio Ferdinand should also be available, which could be important.