Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says he withdrew his
star players from yesterday's FA Cup semifinal defeat to Everton
because of the state of the Wembley pitch.
In a revelation which is sure to embarrass the Football
Association, Ferguson insisted he pulled Paul Scholes, Dimitar
Berbatov and Patrice Evra out of the starting line-up and fielded a
team packed with youngsters and reserves because of the dreadful
state of the Wembley pitch.
He said: "When I saw the pitch yesterday (in the Chelsea v
Arsenal semi) what I didn't want was to go into extra time with my
strongest squad.
"Yesterday it looked spongy and dead and difficult to move the
ball quickly around it. They've got all these lights around the
perimeter to help the growth and the standard of the soil. But it
looks dead to me.
"So we had to go with the bold decision of playing the younger
ones. After all our club is built on giving young players
opportunities and they didn't disappoint.
"Once we made our mind up I was quite enthusiastic about it. It
was the right thing to do. It was good for them."