Fergie Hails De Gea, Hernandez and explains to Cafe Posters over Rooney omission

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Fergie hails Hernandez and confirms 'devastated' Rooney was dropped due to England ban
Published 16:32 15/10/11 By MirrorFootball

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Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed he left Wayne Rooney out of his starting line-up for Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield as a direct result of the three-match ban that threatens to rule him out of Euro 2012.

Ferguson told MUTV yesterday that he expected the punishment UEFA handed down on Thursday evening.

Liverpool 1-1 Manchester United: Supersub Hernandez ruins Gerrard comeback

And ultimately, that was enough to trigger the decision to leave Rooney on the bench today, although he was introduced in the second half as United fought back to claim a point.

"Wayne was devastated at the suspension," said Ferguson.

"He could miss the European Championships because there is no guarantee England are going to qualify (from their group). That is the nuts and bolts of it.

"England have found it very difficult to progress in major championships and for Wayne to get three matches, he could miss the whole thing."

In his absence, Danny Welbeck led the United attack, although he was forced to feed off scraps as the visitors failed to test Pepe Reina in the first half.

Aside from one Phil Jones header into the side netting, the Old Trafford outfit played within themselves, concentrating on the defensive side of their game against opponents they have lost to three times in succession on their visits to Merseyside.

It was not until Steven Gerrard curled Liverpool in front that United opened up.

First Ferguson introduced Rooney and Nani, then Javier Hernandez, who headed home Nani's corner 15 minutes from the end.

"Hernandez did it again," enthused Ferguson.

"When you see the goal he was strangled by Martin Skrtel but he managed to free himself.

"His goals-per-game ratio is fantastic. You always think he can score. That is the great thing about him."

Rio Ferdinand was another to excel for the visitors, even if his foul on Charlie Adam gave away the free-kick from which Gerrard scored.

However, in a strange game which only came to life in that final quarter, United were indebted to David de Gea, who produced a couple of brilliant saves near the end to deny Dirk Kuyt and Jordan Henderson and crown his best all-round display in a United shirt.

"De Gea is a fantastic goalkeeper," said Ferguson.

"He is so confident and composed for a 20-year-old."



Read more: Liverpool 1-1 Manchester United: Alex ferguson hails Javier Hernandez and confirms 'devastated' Wayne Rooney was dropped due to England ban - News - MirrorFootball.co.uk
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Even if we had won 100-0 without Rooney, it was still the wrong selection!
 
I dont think he's telling the full truth there. I'm sure Rooney did feel bad but if his head wasnt so right, would he have played at all? I think this is just a classic case of SAF protecting his players and who knows if we'll ever find out the real reason why. This isnt the first time.
 
Was an awful decision to start Welbeck alone up top in his first Liverpool-Man Utd match but I think it was the right decision to drop Rooney.
 
That would have done De Gea the world of good.Best game for us so far.
 
I'd like to see the whole interview.

I don't see a definite quote from Fergie stating that was the reason for not selecting Rooney other than his merely saying that Rooney was devastated by the suspension.
 
Hitchcocker said:
Was an awful decision to start Welbeck alone up top in his first Liverpool-Man Utd match but I think it was the right decision to drop Rooney.
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I had full confidence in Welbeck and I thought he didnt do that badly considering it was an extremely tough game. Still, Rooney is Rooney
 
"England have found it very difficult to progress in major championships and for Wayne to get three matches, he could miss the whole thing."
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Got a nice little dig at England there as well. :smirk:
 
GCHQ said:
Oh sure, because starting two up front has worked a treat at Anfield over recent seasons. Welbeck did absolutely fine.
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Yes i agree, we have played our more established players in a 4-4-2 in previous games at Anfield and been soundly beaten.

Today was not the greatest performance we have produced this season, but considering how we have defended in previous matches, SAF probably realised if we played like that again here, we would probably have been punished.

Playing 3 in the middle meant either playing Rooney or Welbeck up front on his own. Welbeck is bigger, faster and has no issues whatsoever over his state of mind. He did ok today, the team defended much better as a whole, and we got a more positive result than we have in previous meetings there.

For me the result and how we stifled Liverpool for the most part, fully justified his selection.

How would everybody have felt if he had played our usual suspects in our usual formation, and we had been soundly beaten here again? With the way we have defended of late, someone sometime was going to take the chances we have been giving up, and defending like that at Anfield offered the potential for a very embarrassing scoreline.

Again i felt Fergie puled another rabbit out of the hat, kept Rooney out of the spotlight, on the pitch at least, and we got the point we deserved. Good result and a good confidence boost before the City game.
 
The only thing I tend to maybe disagree with of SAF's selection is if he left out Rooney, he should have played either Nani or Valencia in place of Park - to add more attacking thrust.

It's difficult to rest your 2 most talented attacking players at the same time. I'm happy with the defensive performance though. (barring maybe the final 10).
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I thought Welbeck's performance was a real plus. Led the line really well. Just lacked a bit of quality support from our other attacking players.
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Not just the attacking players - though Park, Young and Giggs were absolute shite, Jones and Fletcher were all at sea too.
 
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