Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz addressed the press instead of his boss, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, following the Red Devils’ 2-1 home defeat to Manchester City, blaming the midweek international matches on his players’ poor form.
“We believe the team was affected by international call-ups,” said Queiroz. “But talking about that would be an excuse. It was not our day. We didn’t play well and need to accept that.” United’s five England players were believed to have had two training sessions a day ahead of Fabio Capello’s first match as manager of the national team. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Serbia’s Nemanja Vidic also played matches for their respective countries. “It was really unusual to see a couple of our players playing so slow, without tempo and making mistakes,” Queiroz added. “The reality is that the players have been affected. Not only the English players but others like Ronaldo and Vidic were not so sharp.”
The match, which took place on the somber occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, saw City take a 2-0 lead just before halftime, giving United 45 minutes to respond. But without the suspended Wayne Rooney and with Cristiano Ronaldo having an off-day, the Red Devils’ attack looked anemic. Indeed, Michael Carrick’s 90th-minute goal was United’s only shot on goal in the second half.