Fergie forced into changing squad tactics

ALEX FERGUSON has admitted Saturday’s Barclaycard Premiership title twist forced him into a rethink over his squad for tonight’s Champions League encounter with Deportivo La Coruna.

United’s smooth progress into the last eight coupled with Deportivo’s elimination from Group D was always likely to mean Ferguson would offer some of his talented youngsters an opportunity to impress in the Riazor Stadium.

However, the sheer number of unrecognisable faces which streamed through Manchester Airport’s departure lounge yesterday, plus the willingness of Ferguson to discuss Arsenal’s unexpected slip at Blackburn at the weekend, just emphasised how clearly the focus remains on domestic combat despite United’s three-day trip to the European mainland.

The Gunners’ reverse at Ewood Park, coupled with United’s 1-0 win at Aston Villa, has seen what was an eight-point lead at the top of the table cut to just two, with the prospect of United reaching the summit on their own on Saturday when they entertain a struggling Fulham side, 24 hours before Arsenal take on resurgent Everton.

Ferguson’s claim last week that Arsene Wenger and his squad were becoming over-confident seems to have swiftly turned into reality and the United boss now knows if his team win their eight remaining games, including the potential title decider at Highbury next month, they will reclaim the Premiership crown.

It was the major reason why the only man to make the trip who started the Worthington Cup final against Liverpool earlier this month was Ryan Giggs, and that was only because Quinton Fortune failed to recover from his recent groin problem.

“I was going to make changes anyway but maybe not as many,” admitted Ferguson.

“Given the results at the weekend, it would be silly for us not to take the opportunity of preparing a team for tomorrow’s game and another one for Fulham.

“What happened on Saturday only proves the vagaries of football. Anything can happen. We realise there is a long way to go. There are eight matches all fraught with some difficulty or other.

“We just have to keep our concentration and see where it takes us.”

Ferguson was quick to point out that his team tomorrow will include a number of internationals, possibly as many as seven if Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart is drafted in for his first game of the campaign.

And it was one of the more experienced members of the party, in Phil Neville, who turned the heat on Arsenal even further.

“It has probably been the best weekend of the season for us,” claimed the England international.

“It is the first time this season that Arsenal have felt the pressure. The result at Blackburn gave us a big lift.

“We know the title race will go down to the wire but hopefully we can kick on now, raise our performance level and win the last eight games and the championship.”

While the likes of David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gary Neville all sit at home with their feet up, Arsenal prepare for the Everton encounter with a vital trip to Valencia where defeat could see them eliminated from the Champions League.

With an FA Cup replay against Chelsea to follow the Everton encounter and injuries being picked up almost daily, the United camp feel the tide is finally starting to turn against Arsenal and are determined to take maximum advantage.

It means the likes of Jimmy Davis, Mark Lynch, Daniel Nardiello, Lee Roche and Danny Webber were called into yesterday’s travelling party, along with Kieran Richardson and Darren Fletcher, who started last Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Basle.

It is the third time this season Ferguson has been able to play an ‘experimental’ side in European combat, a tactic usually reserved for the early rounds of the Worthington Cup.

Tonight’s side will be weaker on paper than the one which slipped to a 3-0 defeat against Maccabi Haifa earlier in the campaign. But win or lose, the United boss admitted he would learn far more from tonight’s encounter than he would from repeating the process in a domestic game.

“It doesn’t matter what first team game it is, you are always asking questions of a young player when you put them in,” he said.

“But there is a massive difference between the European Cup and the League Cup, particularly in the tactical and technical part of the game.

“We will try to strike a balance between youth and experience tomorrow but I shall be interested to see how the young players go.”