Daniel Taylor
guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 May 2009 22.00 BST
Sir Alex Ferguson, on the brink of his 11th Premier League title, has publicly questioned Steven Gerrard's credentials for winning the Football Writers' Association player of the year award ahead of Manchester United's candidates.
While Gerrard took 73 of the votes, 10 higher than Ryan Giggs, the winner of the Professional Footballers' Association award, he was the only Liverpool player to win more than one nomination, whereas almost half the vote went to Old Trafford players. Wayne Rooney was in third place with 36, whereas Ferguson's own choice, Nemanja Vidic, received 12, Rio *Ferdinand had six, Cristiano Ronaldo three and Michael Carrick two.
"The fact that we had six players in there didn't do them any good because the vote has been split," said Ferguson. *"Steven Gerrard is a terrific player in his own right and you can't deny the lad his position in the game but, from the *Manchester United perspective, I thought Vidic had a great chance this year. His form has been magnificent all season."
Ferguson's more pressing concern was confirmation that Ferdinand will be missing from today's game against Arsenal, an increasing worry with the Champions League final 11 days away. However, the United manager could not resist having a little dig at Liverpool, with United needing only a point to pull level with their rivals on 18 league titles.
"I don't think we should be too *disappointed about it [the FWA award]," he said. "When we won the Treble in 1999 none of our players won the award then either. The more important thing for us is what we actually win as a team. That's far better and more rewarding for us."
Ferguson might be amused to learn that Fernando Torres received the same number of votes (one) as Manchester City's Richard Dunne, but Ferdinand's injury was clearly weighing on the *manager's mind. "The player we'd like better news on is Rio," he admitted. "I'm sure he'll be fit for the final but it's one of these calf niggles that usually take 10 days to two weeks. He should be fit for next Sunday's game against Hull."
Jonny Evans will continue in Ferdinand's place, despite a poor performance at Wigan on Wednesday, but Ferguson is planning other changes because of the "heavy pitch and gruelling game" at the JJB Stadium. United have the chance to win the league on their ground for only the second time in Ferguson's reign and he will encourage his players to win the match rather than settle for a draw.
"It's a big help to us that it's against Arsenal because we know they are always games where we have to play at a good level. They will want to do well because they've been under a bit of criticism recently. They've not so much a point to prove, but they will want to register their abilities on a day when everyone expects United to win the title." Ferguson was unwilling to speak in detail about the issue of Carlos Tevez's future.
"I said months ago that I'm fed up talking about players' contracts and I'm not getting into it. David Gill [the chief executive] met with them [Tevez's representatives] on Wednesday and they discussed the avenue in which Carlos would stay at Manchester United. End of story." It has emerged that Real Madrid made an offer for the Argentinian four months ago, an approach that was rejected. Real's sporting director Predrag Mijatovic said: "We have spoken since with his representatives but he's informed us he wants to stay in England. Carlos says it is important to his family to stay in England so it seems he will either stay with Manchester United or find another club."
guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 May 2009 22.00 BST
Sir Alex Ferguson, on the brink of his 11th Premier League title, has publicly questioned Steven Gerrard's credentials for winning the Football Writers' Association player of the year award ahead of Manchester United's candidates.
While Gerrard took 73 of the votes, 10 higher than Ryan Giggs, the winner of the Professional Footballers' Association award, he was the only Liverpool player to win more than one nomination, whereas almost half the vote went to Old Trafford players. Wayne Rooney was in third place with 36, whereas Ferguson's own choice, Nemanja Vidic, received 12, Rio *Ferdinand had six, Cristiano Ronaldo three and Michael Carrick two.
"The fact that we had six players in there didn't do them any good because the vote has been split," said Ferguson. *"Steven Gerrard is a terrific player in his own right and you can't deny the lad his position in the game but, from the *Manchester United perspective, I thought Vidic had a great chance this year. His form has been magnificent all season."
Ferguson's more pressing concern was confirmation that Ferdinand will be missing from today's game against Arsenal, an increasing worry with the Champions League final 11 days away. However, the United manager could not resist having a little dig at Liverpool, with United needing only a point to pull level with their rivals on 18 league titles.
"I don't think we should be too *disappointed about it [the FWA award]," he said. "When we won the Treble in 1999 none of our players won the award then either. The more important thing for us is what we actually win as a team. That's far better and more rewarding for us."
Ferguson might be amused to learn that Fernando Torres received the same number of votes (one) as Manchester City's Richard Dunne, but Ferdinand's injury was clearly weighing on the *manager's mind. "The player we'd like better news on is Rio," he admitted. "I'm sure he'll be fit for the final but it's one of these calf niggles that usually take 10 days to two weeks. He should be fit for next Sunday's game against Hull."
Jonny Evans will continue in Ferdinand's place, despite a poor performance at Wigan on Wednesday, but Ferguson is planning other changes because of the "heavy pitch and gruelling game" at the JJB Stadium. United have the chance to win the league on their ground for only the second time in Ferguson's reign and he will encourage his players to win the match rather than settle for a draw.
"It's a big help to us that it's against Arsenal because we know they are always games where we have to play at a good level. They will want to do well because they've been under a bit of criticism recently. They've not so much a point to prove, but they will want to register their abilities on a day when everyone expects United to win the title." Ferguson was unwilling to speak in detail about the issue of Carlos Tevez's future.
"I said months ago that I'm fed up talking about players' contracts and I'm not getting into it. David Gill [the chief executive] met with them [Tevez's representatives] on Wednesday and they discussed the avenue in which Carlos would stay at Manchester United. End of story." It has emerged that Real Madrid made an offer for the Argentinian four months ago, an approach that was rejected. Real's sporting director Predrag Mijatovic said: "We have spoken since with his representatives but he's informed us he wants to stay in England. Carlos says it is important to his family to stay in England so it seems he will either stay with Manchester United or find another club."
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