Fergie: Van’s the man for title charge
The striker has scored 35 times for United in all competitions this season and grabbed the important away goal in the 3-1 Champions League defeat by Real Madrid on Tuesday.
“Ruud is improving in every department. You can’t believe how much improvement he has made,” Ferguson said yesterday.
“There were two great players on the pitch on Tuesday; he was one and Raul was the other. The two performances for forward players were absolutely outstanding.”
Ferguson has attempted to lift United for today’s Premiership clash at Newcastle’s St James’ Park by telling them they were not outclassed by Real Madrid.
“They have taken part in one fantastic game of football. For a 10-minute period in the first half they were a little bit mesmerised with some of the football they played.
“A lot of it didn’t hurt us but it was marvellous to watch. We have looked at the video of the game and in terms of the attacking part we did very well. We controlled some periods of the match, in fact the first two goals were on the counter-attack.
" The nature of European football is that your concentration has to be 100%. You can’t afford to make mistakes and we were disappointed with the first two goals.”
But he added: “The players shouldn’t be ashamed of their performance. You won’t get a game as good as that or as intense as that. All the Real Madrid players said afterwards they have not had a harder European game.”
Newcastle can still mathematically win the title, although defeat at Everton last week has left them trailing behind United and Arsenal.
Ferguson said: “The Real Madrid game won’t knock our confidence at Newcastle. The players are well aware of the stakes. They (Newcastle) are not out of the title race, but losing last Sunday has made it more difficult for them. Their last three games are against teams who are down at the bottom.”
He added: “They have a great support and the atmosphere is fantastic. It should be a great game of football.”
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has warned United that they face a tough examination of their title credentials at St James Park. However, the Frenchman also insisted that Alex
Ferguson’s side can still overcome Real Madrid to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
“It is very open as Newcastle are a strong side. Both teams are coming out of big disappointments so it will be down to the team which copes best with that,” said Wenger.
Wenger insisted: “Real Madrid were special and some of the football they played was a dream. They didn’t even get out of first gear to create some chances.
“But I still think that Manchester United can beat them at home in the second leg because they look vulnerable defensively.
“When Manchester United had a real go at them, then they looked vulnerable. The danger, though, is that Real could always score a goal.”
Juan Sebastian Veron is definitely out, while England skipper David Beckham is facing a late fitness test on the hamstring injury he picked up trying to outdo Roberto Carlos in midweek.
Newcastle captain Alan Shearer is convinced his side can reignite their Barclaycard Premiership title hopes.
“We’ve only lost successive Premiership games on one occasion this season when Leeds and Chelsea beat us on the bounce back in September, and we don’t want a repeat of that after what happened at Everton on Sunday.
“We’re not worried about our form. In fact, we should get things into perspective. We’ve lost a game, and in controversial circumstances at that.
* Everton have abandoned their plans to move to a new stadium at King’s Waterfront in Liverpool city centre because of the rising costs of the project.
The Toffees want to leave their 40,170-capacity Goodison Park ground for a larger stadium in order to increase revenue and will continue their search for an alternative site.
The club had until the end of March to prove that they could raise their £155m share of the scheme, but they and the other agencies involved in the development have now accepted that the costs cannot be covered.
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