Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson may be coming off a recent 10-day boycott of the media, and still hasn’t talked to the BBC for seven years, but when he does talk he can be downright gold for reporters. Today was no different, at a press conference to pimp the July 27 MLS All-Star game at Red Bull Arena.
The venerable Scot _ who was there with MLS commissioner Don Garber and a Red Bull contingent that included Thierry Henry, GM Erik Soler and Erik Stover _ discussed a number of topics, from United’s bid for another treble, the ever-improving quality in MLS and even his cheeky plan to deal with Henry should United face the ex-Arsenal man in the all-star game.
“We’re finding it increasingly more exciting each time we come here,’’ said Ferguson. “If you go some years back, we played games here against Milan, Celtic, Barcelona; (but) the big change now is that MLS is now developing into a very competitive league, and is producing teams that make it more difficult.
“We found last season, particularly in Kansas City, we found that very, very difficult, which is a measure of the improvement of American soccer. And of course the (U.S.) National Team did very well in the World Cup. There is definitely a very good sense of a good future for American soccer.’’
Ferguson said the creation of MLS _ and even more recent the initiatives to find and cultivate young talent _ have started to pay dividends for the U.S. National Team, and will pay even more handsomely in the future.
“Well, development is going to happen in a country the size of the States,’’ said Ferguson. “The only thing I said years ago is that the weakness in the United States is where (do) the young kids go when they get to 16 or 17? They don’t have a pyramid system the way they do in Europe, and that’s always been a weakness.
“The change is, there’s a new league started. I came across here in ’78 to look at American soccer then and I was coach at Aberdeen and it was a different system. Now we see a far more competitive league, far more organized. As we experienced last year, teams like Kansas City are doing a very good standout job. (The U.S. tour) is not going to be easy. We don’t expect them to be easy.”
Ferguson also left yesterday impressed with 25,000-seat, $200 million Red Bull Arena, which he called fantastic.
“I’m very, very impressed. I think this a real football stadium,’’ Ferguson said. “Sometimes you go abroad and you have these big huge tracks separating the football field from the spectators. Well, to me, that’s not a real football stadium.
“Stadiums like Manchester United and Liverpool and Everton, and here with the Red Bulls, the crowd’s right on top of you. It creates a fantastic atmosphere for the players and the spectators, and we’re looking forward to that.’’
Henry said Ferguson gushed to him about his new home stadium.
“He was more than amazed with the stadium. As he said, the most important thing is that this stadium is a football stadium,’’ said Henry, who prounced his hamstring fit for Saturday’s game against visiting Houston. “It is a great one, so hopefully people are going to come and see the game and see Man United coming into town and hopefully we can have a good one.’’
Ferguson quipped about how he’d deal with Henry if they latter plays, chuckling “We have a special plan to sort Henry out. I’m bringing Roy Keane back.’’
United could use him. With the Red Devils leading the English Premier League, in the FA Cup semis and Champions League quarterfinals, Ferguson _ who is serving a five-game ban for ripping official Martin Atkinson after the latter’s gaffe cost United a 2-1 loss to Chelsea on March 1 _ is embracing the challenge of matching their 1999 treble, but says it’ll be even harder.
“We must have a chance, but it’s a very difficult one….If you can win one (trophy) a year you have to be happy. If we win only one of those big trophies, I’ll be delighted,’’ said Ferguson. “It’s more difficult than 1999. Back then we went through the last three months without an injury. It’s amazing, that kind of luck, because at the moment we have so many injuries, especially to defense.
“But there’s a great desire to do it. Anyone given the opportunity to achieve that target would try to go for it. I’m happy with the character of players. They never give in, no matter the score. You always think Manchester United are going to score in the final minute, which is a fantastic advantage to have.”
One advantage they don’t have is being able to outspend Chelsea or Manchester City, much less Barcelona or Real Madrid. But when I asked _ with Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs aging, and constant dire reports of the team’s debt under the Glazer ownership _ if he’ll have sufficient funds to invest in young players even beyond Javier Hernandez over the next transfer window or two.
“We have certain targets in mind and two or three will be fulfilled. The Glazers have always been very supportive in terms of the desire to improve the team,’’ said Ferguson. “Where we’re good is bringing in young players, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez. We’re good at that so I don’t see why we should change. When the right (youngsters) are identified that’s the way we’ll go.”