ALEX FERGUSON famously quipped that the only bad weekend he has is when England win. But as Roy Hodgson prepares for his own personal Waterloo against Montenegro tomorrow night, he could have no greater ally than the Manchester United manager.
Yes, Ferguson played a huge part in Rio Ferdinand making himself unavailable for a match England dare not lose. Yes, you have a feeling he was involved in Michael Carrick missing Euro 2012. Yes, he has effectively banned Wayne Rooney from currently talking to the England media. Yes, he has claimed — wrongly — that Rooney is used and abused by the FA for commercial purposes. And, yes, he was fully behind Paul Scholes’ call to bring a premature end to his England career. Yet without the young players Ferguson has groomed and turned into international stars in almost 27 years at Old Trafford, England would have been in real trouble.
No wonder Hodgson said last week about Ferdinand’s controversial withdrawal: “It’s not my business, quite frankly, to interfere with an individual player and his club. “There will always be a conflict of interests for club managers when it comes to England. But I have no criticism of them.” In his early days at United, Ferguson made available players of the calibre of Bryan Robson, Gary Pallister, Neil Webb and Paul Ince. Then came the golden generation of Scholes, David Beckham, Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt — and Ferdinand. Now, as Hodgson prepares for a game that could go a long way to deciding whether England go to Brazil as group winners or are pitched into the play-offs, Fergie and United provide the backbone of the side once again. Competing for places in the starting line-up are SIX United players — Rooney, Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley, Carrick, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck. It would have been seven but for injured centre-back Phil Jones. And look at the ages of some of these players — Smalling (23), Cleverley (23), Welbeck (22) and Jones (21). All young men with years of internationals ahead of them. Rooney, due to win his 81st cap, is still only 27.
And yet we are led to believe Ferguson is always putting club before country, that he has exerted an unbending iron will on a succession of England managers. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. In many ways, believe it or not, he is the greatest supporter of the England football team there is. Certainly, the most powerful member of the whole set-up.
What Ferguson does — in isolated situations — is plan ahead. And he has so often been proved to be right. He fully supported Scholes in his decision to pull down the curtain on his international career. And he and United fans have been rewarded by seeing the midfielder continue his Old Trafford career into his 39th year. But the greatest example of Fergie knowing better than anyone else when it comes to United players was at the 2006 World Cup. For his own selfish reasons, Sven Goran Eriksson stuck to the suicidal hope Rooney would be fit enough for the finals despite breaking a metatarsal at Chelsea on April 30. This gave him just six weeks to recover. We then had the ridiculous nonsense of Rooney travelling to Germany, Eriksson’s medical team using an oxygen tent to hasten his fitness and Rooney then returning to England for more treatment. All the while, Ferguson was convinced the player should have sat out the tournament. Instead, Rooney was rushed back clearly unfit and revealed his frustration at not being able to compete on level terms when he blew a fuse and was sent off against Portugal for stamping on Ricardo Carvalho.
Four years later, Rooney would return from South Africa following another personal nightmare when he fell out with England fans after criticising them on TV as he left the field after England’s turgid goalless draw with Algeria in Cape Town. Once again it was Ferguson who was left to pick up the pieces — even ringing Rooney in South Africa for a heart-to-heart. A few months later, his mind still in turmoil, Rooney would ask for a transfer.
So there are many reasons why Ferguson would not feel particularly enamoured towards England. Yes, he asks on occasions that his players should play no more than 45 minutes. And, yes, he has wheeled and dealed in what players are available and when. But, generally, he has been more than generous with England bosses down the years. Especially when you consider how much is at stake at Old Trafford plus the billionaire-backed rise over the last decade of, first, Chelsea and then Manchester City.
And yet in the recent modern era alone Beckham (115), Gary Neville (85), Ferdinand (81), Rooney (80), Scholes (66), Phil Neville (59), Butt (39), Young (28) and Carrick (26) have won a combined 579 caps between them. No other club comes remotely close. We should remember all this as England head into their most important qualifying game since Fabio Capello’s side beat Croatia 4-1 in Zagreb in September 2008.
As ever, United players will hold the key. Can Rooney rise above his own indifferent England form and score the decisive goals? Can Smalling fill the gap in an injury-hit central defence? Can Welbeck replicate the outstanding form he showed against Real Madrid? And so-on and so-forth.
Down the years, Ferguson has long been touted as the ideal England boss — despite his Scottish roots and natural antipathy to the auld enemy. And yet he has probably had more influence on England than any who did actually manage them.
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