Fergie tempted to play himself

MANCHESTER UNITED’S performance was so bad at Portsmouth on Saturday that Alex Ferguson would give himself a game against Sparta Prague if he was picking a team purely on merit.

Ferguson was bitterly disappointed with United’s failure to follow up their momentous victory over Arsenal by taking maximum points at Fratton Park, where instead he watched them slump to a defeat which leaves them seventh in the table, nine points adrift of the Premiership pacesetters.

The long-serving Scot admitted multiple changes would be inevitable if he opted for a knee-jerk reaction to the loss.