Alex Ferguson’s tactics and team selection cost Manchester United a Premier League title and a Champions League final.
That’s the view of Rene Meulensteen, the former United first-team coach, who worked at Old Trafford for 11 years. The Dutchman believes Ferguson’s decision to drop Paul Scholes in the April 2012 shock loss to Wigan ultimately cost United the title to their rivals Manchester City.
‘That’s where we lost the league,’ Meulensteen said. ‘The manager thought that Paul Scholes, our key player and the one who could change the rhythm of the game, wasn’t right to play two games in a week and for that reason he wasn’t in the squad and we missed him’.
United lost the game 1-0 and would surrender a eight point lead over City, losing the league title on goal-difference on the final day.
Meulensteen also believes Ferguson got his tactics wrong in the 2009 Champions League final against Barcelona. The former Fulham manager, speaking to United We Stand magazine, said that United picked the wrong starting line-up in the 2-0 loss in Rome.
‘I thought we had enough quality to deal with them,’ he said. ‘In hindsight, I think we didn’t pick the right team with (Carlos) Tevez, (Dimitar) Berbatov and (Paul) Scholes on the bench. Three massive players who could have put more authority in the game, especially as a few players underperformed’.
Meulensteen could be on the end of a the famous Fergie hair-dryer the next time their paths cross.
Hat-tip to The Daily Mail.
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