Sir Alex Ferguson believes that Manchester United's 4-4 draw with Everton on April 22 could ultimately prove the pivotal moment in the Premier League title race.
Red Devils had a comfortable eight-point cushion over local rivals Manchester City just four games ago and the Scot believes that the 4-4 draw with the Toffees was pivotal.
United led 4-2 with just seven minutes left at Old Trafford but were pegged back and were subsequently overtaken by arch-rivals Manchester City in the league standings thanks to a 1-0 defeat in the local derby eight days later.
City's 1-0 success on Monday night took them to the top of the league on goal difference, but Sir Alex felt that the Toffees' fightback was more significant, telling reporters: "The Everton game was the killer for us. It was an absolutely ridiculous performance in the last 10 minutes of the match. Just absolute carelessness.
"It's all right saying the history of the club is to attack all the time but it was a stupid performance and it's put us on the back foot, no question about that. If we lose the league, we'll have to accept it's the Everton game that did it."
When questioned about the defeat to City, Sir Alex admitted: "We didn't test the goalkeeper, let's be honest. We started the game very well – they didn't make any chances but the goal [just before] half-time is a killer for us.
"To score in injury time they could set their stall out the way they did, playing a bit of counterattack and making sure they weren't going to lose a goal."
"Young Chris Smalling got caught under the ball," he added of Vincent Kompany's solitary goal. "Straightforward. I don't think the goalkeeper had any chance with that."
United will be without Jonny Evans and Danny Welbeck when Swansea City visit Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, with the latter having sustained a foot injury in a challenge from City's Nigel De Jong.
"I thought it was a bad tackle," the Scot noted. "I didn't think it was a red card and when I saw it again I thought a yellow card was sufficient. It put him out of the game because at the time he was looking as if he was going to do something. I couldn't take him off, of course, because I'd used all our substitutes."
The Red Devils boss was also critical of the way in which television has affected modern football, complaining: "You look at the FA Cup final with a 17:15 kick-off [on Saturday]. Absolutely ridiculous. Stupid.
"The whole reason is to get an audience, so they dominate the actual kick-off time of the FA Cup final, which is the most prestigious cup tournament in the world. It's bedlam down there now. Bedlam.
"We owe so much for the revenue that television can bring to us that they can dominate it. The only saving grace we've got is the last games of the season are all played at the same time [on the final day]. Now that is vital."
When prompted on whether the pressure is now with City to close out a first ever Premier League title, Sir Alex appeared reluctant to answer, claiming: "There's pressure on everyone, including the teams at the bottom of the league.
The United manager was also able to assure fans that midfielder Darren Fletcher's illness will not affect his long-term future in the game and is optimistic that he will return to action this summer."We worry about pressure for ourselves but you think about these teams at the bottom. You get near that Championship, although you get the parachute payments going down there, the revenue and the players' ambitions are washed away."
He added: "We're hoping he starts pre-season training. He's on a recovery road at the moment in the sense of some work he's doing but we're not able to assess that because we don't know enough about it.
"Darren's medical people are dealing with that. Our doctors have got a good idea about the situation but at the moment the boy's doing his best to come back."
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| SIr Alex Ferguson |
United led 4-2 with just seven minutes left at Old Trafford but were pegged back and were subsequently overtaken by arch-rivals Manchester City in the league standings thanks to a 1-0 defeat in the local derby eight days later.
City's 1-0 success on Monday night took them to the top of the league on goal difference, but Sir Alex felt that the Toffees' fightback was more significant, telling reporters: "The Everton game was the killer for us. It was an absolutely ridiculous performance in the last 10 minutes of the match. Just absolute carelessness.
"It's all right saying the history of the club is to attack all the time but it was a stupid performance and it's put us on the back foot, no question about that. If we lose the league, we'll have to accept it's the Everton game that did it."
When questioned about the defeat to City, Sir Alex admitted: "We didn't test the goalkeeper, let's be honest. We started the game very well – they didn't make any chances but the goal [just before] half-time is a killer for us.
"To score in injury time they could set their stall out the way they did, playing a bit of counterattack and making sure they weren't going to lose a goal."
"Young Chris Smalling got caught under the ball," he added of Vincent Kompany's solitary goal. "Straightforward. I don't think the goalkeeper had any chance with that."
United will be without Jonny Evans and Danny Welbeck when Swansea City visit Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, with the latter having sustained a foot injury in a challenge from City's Nigel De Jong.
"I thought it was a bad tackle," the Scot noted. "I didn't think it was a red card and when I saw it again I thought a yellow card was sufficient. It put him out of the game because at the time he was looking as if he was going to do something. I couldn't take him off, of course, because I'd used all our substitutes."
The Red Devils boss was also critical of the way in which television has affected modern football, complaining: "You look at the FA Cup final with a 17:15 kick-off [on Saturday]. Absolutely ridiculous. Stupid.
"The whole reason is to get an audience, so they dominate the actual kick-off time of the FA Cup final, which is the most prestigious cup tournament in the world. It's bedlam down there now. Bedlam.
"We owe so much for the revenue that television can bring to us that they can dominate it. The only saving grace we've got is the last games of the season are all played at the same time [on the final day]. Now that is vital."
When prompted on whether the pressure is now with City to close out a first ever Premier League title, Sir Alex appeared reluctant to answer, claiming: "There's pressure on everyone, including the teams at the bottom of the league.
The United manager was also able to assure fans that midfielder Darren Fletcher's illness will not affect his long-term future in the game and is optimistic that he will return to action this summer."We worry about pressure for ourselves but you think about these teams at the bottom. You get near that Championship, although you get the parachute payments going down there, the revenue and the players' ambitions are washed away."
He added: "We're hoping he starts pre-season training. He's on a recovery road at the moment in the sense of some work he's doing but we're not able to assess that because we don't know enough about it.
"Darren's medical people are dealing with that. Our doctors have got a good idea about the situation but at the moment the boy's doing his best to come back."
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