Ferguson Gets It Wrong With His Tactics and Comments About The Referee

A good win for Liverpool over title holders Manchester United on Sunday have led to some interesting comments from Alex Ferguson in the aftermath of his Anfield defeat.

The United manager appears to have cleverly used the media to hide his failure of tactically outclassing Benitez for the third game running, and in doing so, he is either proving his lack of knowledge about football rules; or how low he will stoop to misdirect attention away from both his and his team's performances so far this season.

"The Vidic booking was the worst decision. It is a foul, fine. But the player has played on, he won the second ball and knocked it for a throw in and got booked. It put Nemanja under pressure".

How a yellow card for Vidic with 15 minutes left on the clock can be considered the worst decision the referee made, when in the same interview Ferguson talks about a clear cut penalty with two-thirds of the game remaining, aswell as a player who should have been sent off for a professional foul, giving them an advantage to salvage a draw.

The United defender had been fouled by Dirk Kuyt four minutes before the ref decided Vidic was retaliating against the Liverpool player, resulting in the yellow card produced. If Nemandja Vidic was under pressure, it was the result of his own actions, and not down to the decision of an experienced referee.

I am also pretty certain it doesn't matter if a fouled player plays on; the initial foul still took place and any resulting cards still stand.

"The most controversial decision was Carragher bringing down Michael Owen. He was clear through. The laws of the game were altered to prevent professional fouls of that nature and if Carragher goes off, he is their best player and their captain".

Ferguson is quick to highlight the pressure the referee was under from the home crowd and how it affected him during the game. Despite this apparent pressure, Marriner got his decision correct to the letter of the law.

Ex-Premier League referee, Jeff Winter points out that "The fouled player has to have full control of the ball and has to be moving towards the goal".

A free kick and a yellow card is the lawful punishment, and that is exactly what was given by the offical.

Not really as controversial as Ferguson tries to make out.

Rewind to the Man United vs Arsenal game, and Wayne Rooney moves away from the goal without the ball being anywhere near his feet (let alone under his control) when he dives over Almunia.

A foul and a yellow card are given.

"...It would have been a different game. They would have been under pressure".

Alex Ferguson and his struggling team would have certainly been under pressure if the Berbatov foul on Dirk Kuyt in the United penalty area had been noticed.

Ferguson's factless comments move on to the subject of a Jamie Carragher tackle on Michael Carrick in the Liverpool penalty area.

"He has gone right over the top of the ball, if it is outside of the box it is a free-kick and maybe a yellow card. But it was inside the box and the referee was only six yards from it. It was another bad decision."

Jamie Carragher's tackle came in from the side and the Liverpool defender got contact on the ball first, before momentum carried him into Michael Carrick.

Rewind to the Man United vs Arsenal game and a sliding challenge from Darren Fletcher inside his own box, sees no contact with the ball, and momentum that completley takes out Arsharvin.

No penalty given.

For both decisions that Ferguson highlights as mistakes by Marriner; the referee is only a few yards away and makes the correct decision on both occasions, despite the intimidating home crowd and also the pressure of taking lead of his first big four head to head encounter.

Perhaps Alex Ferguson should spend less time making things up in press interviews, and more time on his team selection and tactics when facing his Merseyside opponents.

The United manager finishes with:

"Liverpool were the better team and I am not taking anything away from them at all".

Of course your not. That's why you didn't mention the experience of the referee, or the decisions he apparently got wrong, or his failure to cope under the pressure of the home crowd, or the affect the same home crowd had on the United players.