Sir Alex Ferguson will draw on recent history as he prepares for "two massive games" against Schalke and Chelsea - and he's asking supporters to do the same.
A point was made to the manager in his press conference that United fans might be focusing more on Sunday's virtual title decider instead of Wednesday's second leg against the Germans, especially as the Reds have a cushion of two away goals for the European tie.
"It is the optimism they (the fans) have got," acknowledged Sir Alex. "But we don’t share that because we feel we have a lot of work to do tomorrow. I think it is very easy to get complacent in modern life, there are many examples of it. But I hope nobody at Manchester United regards it as a formality tomorrow, I certainly will not be.
"I think the work ethic will need to be very high tomorrow, very high, in order for us to qualify (for the final). We know that Schalke have nothing to lose. That is the message he (Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick) will give to his team. I think they will have a go and try to win the match - there is nothing else they can do. Any coach in a semi-final must give his team that chance to try to win the match and I think we’ll find that he will have a real go."
While the classic mantra from the United manager is to concentrate on the next game, he admits the looming showdown with Chelsea will affect the side he puts out against Schalke. He knows only too
well, from only last season, how a tough midweek tussle with a German side can help to derail his team when domestic action resumes at the weekend.
"If you look at the experience of last year when we lost the league, the team were very tired against Chelsea after playing Bayern Munich on the Wednesday," reflected Sir Alex. "That will have a bearing on my team selection. We’ve got two massive games, both as important as the other. There will be some changes (against Schalke). Hopefully the nucleus of the team is still good enough to win."
Victory over Schalke would not only bring United a place in the Champions League final for the third time in four years, it would also give the Reds a timely boost after the league defeat at Arsenal.
"It has always been the case at this club that if we lose a game then we have to recover quickly," said Sir Alex. "We always have work to do in the next match. That is the great beauty of football at least. You always have the next game in which to do something and we’ve only had to wait three days. That is an important issue for us because it is a part of being a good team, how you can recover from a defeat. The interesting thing about last weekend was that the four (Champions League semi-final) teams all lost (league matches). So European games do take it out of you. I have to pick the right team tomorrow in order to have the same kind of freshness I need for Sunday’s match."
No comments:
Post a Comment