Boro through as United falter again

13 April 2012

After 15 years and five Finals, this was not the way that Sir Alex Ferguson's association with the FA Cup was supposed to end.

Knocked out in the fourth round on a bleak winter afternoon in front of a half-empty stadium and thanks to errors that came straight from the Sunday morning pub leagues, Ferguson was left to reflect on deficiencies that continue to burden his team.

United's season may have recovered spectacularly from the troubles of late autumn and early winter. They are on top of the Premiership and in good shape in Champions League phase two.

Ferguson, however, knows that problems remain and as Thursday's deadline for Champions League transfer activity looms, he must decide whether further business in the market will offer solutions.

Predominantly, his worries are of a defensive nature. Catastrophic mistakes from Laurent Blanc and Fabien Barthez proved decisive on Saturday as old habits returned.

Andy Campbell, who scored Middlesbrough's second goal, had not scored for almost two years but even he was bold enough to warn Ferguson of the optimism United's back five - including goalkeeper Barthez - provide for opponents. 'I felt when I came off the bench that the back line were uneasy,' he said.

'They seem to be very wary of anybody with pace. They look as though they can eat up the high balls all day but when the ball is on the floor they seem to struggle a little bit. It gives you some hope.'

Such words will irritate Ferguson. In United's pomp of the last 10 years, he has always prided himself as much on his teams' dependability and obduracy as on their flair.

Blanc's incredible decision to allow a Mark Crossley punt to drift over his head into the path of Noel Whelan gifted Middlesbrough the lead before Barthez's wayward clearance kick allowed the home team to carve out the second for Campbell at the far post.

Ferguson made no attempt to disguise his contempt, saying: 'It was careless and scrappy. To give that game away is ridiculous. If you make errors like that then you invite trouble. I am very disappointed.'

Without the injured David Beckham and Juan Sebastian Veron, and with Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs on the bench, it was a peculiar-looking United team. Indeed, it was a peculiar day with 17,000 empty seats at the Riverside giving this famous old competition a weary, forlorn look.

For long periods the football reflected the mood. United dominated territorially and should have scored through Paul Scholes, while full back Mikael Silvestre twice had headers cleared from the line by Robbie Mustoe.

Boro manager Steve McClaren's decision to switch to a 3-5-2 formation at half-time improved his team dramatically. By the time Ferguson introduced his two stars from the bench, the game was beginning to run away from United.

Whelan's goal was taken adroitly but the Middlesbrough centre forward paid a painful price for his part in the celebrations that followed the second goal, as a joyous supporter mistakenly caught him in the right eye with a stray fist. For McClaren, victory must have tasted sweet. Having lost in the League to his former club in December, he saw Ferguson hijack his attempts to sign Diego Forlan 10 days ago and is struggling to meet the £50,000-a-week which United striker Dwight Yorke is demanding as he contemplates a Riverside move.

In theory this victory should give Boro a little confidence to take into tomorrow's Premier-ship match at Sunderland.

It should also give the rest of the country fresh optimism that United can be beaten.

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Boro through as United falter again

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