Fergie: we need to strengthen squad
With Roy Keane and Juan Sebastian Veron sidelined for up to four weeks and Quinton Fortune and Mikael Silvestre also missing tonight’s visit by Swiss outfit FC Basle to Old Trafford, Ferguson has little option other than to give youth a chance.
The return of Diego Forlan and Laurent Blanc does ease his selection problem slightly but room to rest some of his more experienced stars ahead of Saturday’s must-win Premiership trip to Aston Villa is minimal.
“We are two or three players short of having the kind of strong squad the likes of Juventus and AC Milan have in the Champions League and both Arsenal and Liverpool have in the Premiership,” admitted Ferguson.
“With a nucleus of about 17 outfield players, it is certainly one of the weakest in terms of numbers and it looks a bit thin when you get a few injuries like we have at the moment.”
Ferguson tried to rectify the situation before the season started with a move for Rennes full-back Julien Escude and Argentinian defender Nicolas Burdisso.
Neither of those two moves met with success and the Red Devils chief suffered another failure in two attempts to snatch speedy striker David Bellion from Sunderland during the transfer window.
Despite chief executive Peter Kenyon’s protestations that there will be no huge sums of cash available to Ferguson during the summer, it is clearly an issue the manager is seeking to resolve and a French scouting mission at the weekend saw him again watch Escude in action, with a firm bid likely to follow.
Ferguson also travelled to Nantes to tie up the latest in a number of ‘agreements’ United have with continental clubs over the exchange and training of young players.
The initial deal with Belgian side Royal Antwerp has been a notable success, with the likes of John O’Shea and Luke Chadwick gaining valuable playing experience at a higher level than they would encounter in the reserves.
United are also using the deals which spread as far as South Africa and the USA to unearth some talent of their own in an effort to counteract the new regulations governing the training of schoolboy players.
Currently, clubs cannot formally train any child who lives ‘over an hour’ from their home ground, a ruling Ferguson cannot see the sense in.
“This regulation is causing problems for a lot of clubs and I don’t see the value of it,” he said.
“I certainly don’t think this system is going to produce the players everyone expects.
“We have guarded ourselves against it by developing alliances throughout the world. It is something we will continue to do because it is imperative that we still produce young players of our own.”
Clearly that problem is more long-term than the selection dilemma Ferguson faces tomorrow.
He confirmed there would be at least seven experienced outfield players in his starting line-up tomorrow, all of whom, injuries permitting, would also be involved against Villa.
Of the quartet definitely out, only Silvestre has any chance of making the trip down the M6, so Ferguson will make a late decision on whether David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy will face Christian Gross’ side.
Fabien Barthez is almost certain to be given a rest, with Roy Carroll and Ricardo vying for the goalkeeping role.
Ferguson admitted his injury concerns have forced a rethink over his desire to give Darren Fletcher a first Champions League start and the Scot now looks set to be on the bench.
“If Mikael had been fit I would certainly have played Darren,” said the Old Trafford chief.
“But I need to get the right balance in the team and that means only two of my younger players will start.”
Full-back Danny Pugh and exciting youth team prospect Kieron Richardson are likely to be the lucky men, with Fletcher, Daniel Nardiello and long-serving central defender David May likely to be on the bench.
“Even though we have already qualified, it is important that we are seen to be acting fairly with the other teams in the group,” said Ferguson.
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