Ferguson: West Ham deserved win
Sir Alex Ferguson expects his players to bounce back against Birmingham
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Saturday, 29, Dec 2007 08:15
A graceful Sir Alex Ferguson admitted West Ham deserved to beat his Manchester United team at Upton Park today.
The Hammers fell behind to an early Cristiano Ronaldo goal and the winger then missed a penalty before West Ham won the game late on through goals from Anton Ferdinand and Matthew Upson.
"We were beaten by a better team I think. I don't think we measured up to our normal performance," said Ferguson.
"When that happens, particularly when the team is motivated against you, you are going to get a hard day, and we had a hard day.
"I think we struggled today. They were very competitive and aggressive West Ham and they were always about us, tackling us everywhere.
"Getting the lead, and missing the penalty - that would have killed the game, but I couldn't see it happening. If you are losing goals from set-pieces, you know you're not at your best."
Ferguson's men are now two points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, after the Gunners won 4-1 at Everton in the day's late kickoff.
The United manager now hopes his players can bounce back with a win against Birmingham at Old Trafford on New Year's Day.
He said: "They are human beings and you can't expect them to be perfect all the time. We had a perfect performance in our last game at Sunderland and this was a disappointment today.
"It's a great team I've got, but we just have to galvanise ourselves. A great reply if you always give a bad performance is to have a good one next time."