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Rio Ferdinand will be back in action at the end of September, reveals Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson
But no more newcomers arriving this transfer window...
20 Aug 2010 12:02:00
By Zack Wilson
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Rio Ferdinand could be back in action for the Red Devils by the end of next month.
The centre-back suffered damage to his medial ligament in the first England training session at the World Cup and it had been thought that he might make it back in time for the start of the new season.
However, depiste pushing his return date back a month, Ferguson maintained that the defender's recovery is still on schedule.
"We are still thinking the end of September for Rio," the United boss told reporters at his Friday press conference.
"It was a medial ligament problem rather than a cruciate, so the recovery time is exactly what we thought.
"It was a freak. It is nothing to do with his back. We just had to treat it the proper way. These things are never easy."
The United boss also confirmed that Patrice Evra had not suffered any lasting damage following a collision with an advertising hoarding in the win over Newcastle United on Monday evening.
Others such as Michael Carrick and Michael Owen will have benefitted from an extra week's training.
"It was difficult picking a squad on Monday because some players had not had a lot of time on the pitch," said Ferguson.
"They weren't at their proper match fitness but with an extra week's training behind them, they should be much better."
Ferguson also dismissed concerns about Wayne Rooney's goal drought for United, with the England striker not having scored in just over 1,000 minutes of competitive action since his last strike against Bayern Munich.
"I've said it time and time again that strikers live by their goals, when they're not scoring they think they're never going to come and when they come they think they're never going to finish," he explained.
"It's that straightforward. He's no different from any other striker."
One striker who has pleased the United gaffer so far this campaign is Dimitar Berbatov, who looked in good shape against Newcastle.
"He had his gametime in America that was necessary, so his fitness is assured, there's no problem with that," the Scot stated.
"And he played excellently on Monday night. He could have scored three or four goals actually. It was a very good performance."
United travel south to face Fulham on Sunday afternoon, not a happy hunting ground for Ferguson's side in recent times.
"We've had a bit of a topsy-turvey time on the last two occasions. We ended up with nine men two years ago," he said.
"Last season we'd just gone too far with the players who'd played at the back. We'd had a great result over in Wolfsburg because it was something new for them and it had a good challenge about it.
"Fletcher and Carrick and De Laet at Fulham were doing okay until we lost the goal, and that's the key to it when you put out fragile teams in the sense of players playing out of position who are not your regular defenders.
"When you lose a goal it becomes very difficult and that's exactly what happened in the game at Fukham last year. We became fragmented. We lost the goal after 26 minutes and it became very difficult after that."
Meanwhile, Ferguson also played with a straight bat when it came to the possibilty of any more transfer dealing at Old Trafford.
"Our own position's fine. We don't have a problem and that's my main concern," he insisted.
"We're content we've got that under control. I don't think there'll be anyone coming in."
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The centre-back suffered damage to his medial ligament in the first England training session at the World Cup and it had been thought that he might make it back in time for the start of the new season.
However, depiste pushing his return date back a month, Ferguson maintained that the defender's recovery is still on schedule.
"We are still thinking the end of September for Rio," the United boss told reporters at his Friday press conference.
"It was a medial ligament problem rather than a cruciate, so the recovery time is exactly what we thought.
"It was a freak. It is nothing to do with his back. We just had to treat it the proper way. These things are never easy."
The United boss also confirmed that Patrice Evra had not suffered any lasting damage following a collision with an advertising hoarding in the win over Newcastle United on Monday evening.
Others such as Michael Carrick and Michael Owen will have benefitted from an extra week's training.
"It was difficult picking a squad on Monday because some players had not had a lot of time on the pitch," said Ferguson.
"They weren't at their proper match fitness but with an extra week's training behind them, they should be much better."
Ferguson also dismissed concerns about Wayne Rooney's goal drought for United, with the England striker not having scored in just over 1,000 minutes of competitive action since his last strike against Bayern Munich.
"I've said it time and time again that strikers live by their goals, when they're not scoring they think they're never going to come and when they come they think they're never going to finish," he explained.
"It's that straightforward. He's no different from any other striker."
One striker who has pleased the United gaffer so far this campaign is Dimitar Berbatov, who looked in good shape against Newcastle.
"He had his gametime in America that was necessary, so his fitness is assured, there's no problem with that," the Scot stated.
"And he played excellently on Monday night. He could have scored three or four goals actually. It was a very good performance."
United travel south to face Fulham on Sunday afternoon, not a happy hunting ground for Ferguson's side in recent times.
"We've had a bit of a topsy-turvey time on the last two occasions. We ended up with nine men two years ago," he said.
"Last season we'd just gone too far with the players who'd played at the back. We'd had a great result over in Wolfsburg because it was something new for them and it had a good challenge about it.
"Fletcher and Carrick and De Laet at Fulham were doing okay until we lost the goal, and that's the key to it when you put out fragile teams in the sense of players playing out of position who are not your regular defenders.
"When you lose a goal it becomes very difficult and that's exactly what happened in the game at Fukham last year. We became fragmented. We lost the goal after 26 minutes and it became very difficult after that."
Meanwhile, Ferguson also played with a straight bat when it came to the possibilty of any more transfer dealing at Old Trafford.
"Our own position's fine. We don't have a problem and that's my main concern," he insisted.
"We're content we've got that under control. I don't think there'll be anyone coming in."
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