Soccer: Fergie was not fair with me - Jordi

Former Manchester United striker Jordi Cruyff feels he was treated unfairly by Sir Alex Ferguson during his time at Old Trafford.

The Dutch international, who joined United from Barcelona for £1.3m in 1996, left on a free transfer to Alaves last summer.

Now, as he prepares to line up for the Spanish club against Liverpool in this month’s UEFA Cup final, Jordi has admitted he is hurt by the memory of his time in England.

Jordi made only 34 appearances for Manchester United in four years, and is still not sure why he was selected so infrequently.

‘‘For me it will always be the big question I cannot answer,’’ he said.

‘‘I am realistic and I can stand here and look you in the eye and say that if I thought I wasn’t good enough to succeed at Manchester United, I would remain quiet.

‘‘That, though, was never the issue. Nor, indeed, was the fact that for the first two years I had a lot of injuries.

‘‘All my team-mates at Old Trafford were great players, but ability wise, talent wise, I did not have a problem.

‘‘I respect Ferguson as a manager, but it was not right that everyone got 25 to 30 games while I played only five or six.

‘‘I would score an important goal and then I wouldn’t even make it on to the bench for the next match.

‘‘That was no way to treat a player. The fact that I didn’t play enough games to receive a championship medal summed up my time at United.

‘‘It hurts me that in my four years in England they did not see the real Jordi.’’