Sir Alex Ferguson has stood by his "typical Germans" comment and
blamed the "disgusting" English press for latching onto his
controversial quotes instead of praising his Manchester United
team.
GettyImages
Sir Alex Ferguson felt Manchester United deserved
victory over the two legs
Ferguson is sticking by his belief that the Bayern Munich
players got Rafael sent off at Old Trafford on Wednesday by
surrounding the referee, and the manager insists up to six players
should have instead been booked themselves for waving invisible
cards.
Ferguson was irritated that his blunt comments about Bayern's
conduct being "typically German'' immediately after United's 3-2
win in midweek were more widely reported than United's "absolutely
magnificent" performance, which wasn't enough to save them from a
quarter-finals exit from the Champions League.
The United boss felt his players deserved an immense amount of
praise for their efforts, establishing a three-goal lead during the
first half, then in trying to withstand a fierce Bayern bombardment
after Rafael had received his marching orders. Instead, the
attention fell on Ferguson's inflammatory comments, which will not
bring action from UEFA.
Ferguson's relationship with the media has never been
particularly close, and quizzed about the reporting of his
post-match comments, the Scot went on the offensive.
"It is hard to understand the press,'' he said. "Someone told me
that coming back from the Champions League final in Rome last year
they were all delighted on the press bus that we lost. They were
absolutely pleased that we lost; the English press.
"The person who told me was disgusted. That is a fact. He had no
reason to lie to me. Our performance on Wednesday was fantastic. At
3-0 it could have been 5-0. We were magnificent. Absolutely
magnificent. But that gets lost just because people want a headline
out of what I said about the Germans. That is disgusting because
the players deserved some praise.''
Ferguson felt he was not helped by having to do a TV interview
straight after the game, when he blurted out his comment. By the
time he sat down for his main post-match analysis, some 45 minutes
later, he had calmed down slightly, even if the sentiment remained
ahead of Sunday's now must-win Premier League encounter with
Blackburn.
"The Germans let themselves down in the way they behaved in
getting the boy sent off,'' he said. "If they don't recognise that
there is nothing I can do about it. But it was totally unfair. They
bullied the referee into it. He is a young referee and he succumbed
to that pressure because he wasn't going to send the boy off.''
When informed of Ferguson's comments on Wednesday, Bayern coach
Louis van Gaal challenged the British version of fair play, and
insisted his team had done no wrong. Ferguson maintains they did,
particularly Franck Ribery, the player who was yanked back by
Rafael to bring the fateful second yellow card.
"I know Van Gaal spoke about the fairness of English football
and he was right,'' said Ferguson. "It (the English league) is one
of the fairest in the world. But we weren't talking about English
fairness. He (Rafael) has barely touched him. Ribery's done more to
him. The issue was how the Germans reacted. They knew the boy was
on a yellow card. They surrounded the referee and they are waving
their hands with imaginary cards.
"There was an edict to referees was that anyone showing an
imaginary card should be booked. Well, there were six that should
have been booked if you go along those lines.''
