Ferguson upbeat despite Milan defeat

Manchester United 1 AC Milan 1 (Milan won 9-8 on penalties)

While Manchester United lost all three games on tour of the US, there were some encouraging performances during the three-game 10-day stay.

Players like Phil Bardsley, Chris Eagles, Jonathan Spector and Kieran Richardson were all given lengthy run-outs. They all performed to a good level and Ferguson took heart from their displays.

Asked whether he felt his side had given the American fans who packed into the Giants Stadium good value for money, the Old Trafford boss said: “We are very conscious of that, that is why I brought Paul Scholes and Mikael Silvestre out. But it is hard for American people to understand the culture of Manchester United.

“We do play young players, we have a great history and culture of playing young players. This was an opportunity for them to prove what they are worth and give them the incentive to push on,” he said.

United went down 9-8 on penalties to AC Milan after being only seven seconds away from achieving victory. Andriy Shevchenko equalised to take the game into a penalty shoot-out after Scholes had put United ahead.

But goalkeeper Tim Howard missed his spot kick to hand the Italians an unlikely victory. The defeat came on the back of losses to Bayern Munich, also on penalties, and Celtic.

Ferguson however, would swap pre-season success for a safe passage in Europe as his side look ahead to a Champions League qualifier first leg against either MSK Zilina or Dynamo Bucharest on August 11.

“You would like to win pre-season friendlies but the important thing is to get to August 11 and to get my best 11 players to take us hopefully into the next stage of Europe,” he said.

“You have to look at the long view and it is about bringing players on gradually. Wes Brown, Mikael Silvestre, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs got back into the fray and that was a bonus for me. Milan had good experience about them and it was a decent game. We are not unhappy with the result,” he said.

United made the breakthrough in the 33rd minute following a mistake by Alessandro Nesta. He directed a cross from David Bellion straight into the path of Scholes. It was a gilt-edged chance for the midfielder, who scored 12 goals last season, and he wasted no time in rattling a shot beyond Dida.

United dictated the pace of the game until Shevchenko’s late equaliser which took the game into penalty kicks, which stretched over 17 minutes. Howard handed the game to Milan when his spot-kick came back off the post but Ferguson was in no mood to criticise his goalkeeper.

Ferguson joked: “Thank God Tim missed because Carlo Ancelotti (Milan coach) and I were next. You have to say the quality of penalties was absolutely fantastic.

“There was only one direct save and the whole thing took 17 minutes. I didn’t say anything to Tim at the end of the match. I thought he played well.”

United returned home yesterday but will have little time for rest as they host the Vodafone Cup this week. Next up are PSV Eindhoven at Old Trafford tomorrow when Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha are expected to play.

Darren Fletcher and Quinton Fortune have been penciled in for the match on Thursday against Urawa Red Diamonds after recovering from injury.