ONCE, THE surest way to fire up Alex Ferguson was to quote the Manchester United manager a remark Arsene Wenger had made about one of his players. These days, the old enmity has been replaced by mutual respect and when told that the Arsenal manager had described Cristiano Ronaldo as “arrogant”, Ferguson agreed.
“What he actually said was that sometimes he can appear arrogant,” Ferguson said. “I can understand what Arsene is saying. When a player expresses himself in such an entertaining way, then defenders don’t enjoy it.
“It was the same when George Best was a player – it was because he had the courage to entertain – and that is Ronaldo’s great asset.”
Ferguson conceded he had no wish to see Steven Taylor banned retrospectively for appearing to elbow Ronaldo at St James’ Park on Wednesday, saying he would prefer the Newcastle defender to be available to face Arsenal and Chelsea.
However, the spat between the two, which Taylor denied spilled over into a fracas in the players’ tunnel on Wednesday night, highlighted the kind of treatment that Ferguson claimed was the lot of all great footballers when faced with more limited defenders.
“All the great players have a touch of what you can call ‘nice arrogance’ – absolute belief in themselves,” Ferguson continued. “It didn’t matter who they were playing against; they wanted the ball and they wanted to play.
“That is a vein that courses through all the great players you can name. And they get treatment from defenders. George Best got it. Johan Cruyff got it; if you remember the tackles the Brazilian defenders gave him in the 1974 World Cup.
“Maradona and Pele had it – that’s what great players do, they express themselves and that frustrates defenders. You can understand Ronaldo lashing out when he keeps getting kicked and nothing happens. If you are not getting the protection, sometimes you can lose your temper.
“The times Cristiano has shown flashes of temper have been over ‘nothing’ incidents but the press have made a big issue of it. That’s what he has to live with. But Maradona and Pele could stick up for themselves as well – there was no question of that.”
Nevertheless, Pele, Best and Cruyff were not renowned as divers. Taylor’s elbow caught Ronaldo on the shoulder and yet he threw his hands up to his face.
However, Ferguson, in his defence, pointed out that the booking he received for throwing himself to the ground in last Sunday’s League Cup final was entirely undeserved.
“I spoke to the referee [Chris Foy] at the end of the game and he was adamant he had dived. I told him to watch it on television,” Ferguson said.
“But I do not see why I should restrain him from attacking defenders. I enjoy watching it and – Christ – I paid £10 million for it!”
Ferguson also expressed his admiration for the job Roy Hodgson has done since he became Fulham manager ahead of today’s FA Cup quarter-final at Craven Cottage.
“They were down last season,” observed Ferguson. “To win four out of the last five was amazing. But experience is important and Fulham are a reflection of Roy. You can see the transformation in their team.”
Meanwhile, Hodgson has warned left-back Paul Konchesky that the way he handles Ronaldo could be the key to Fulham’s cup hopes.
“Manchester United switch the play very well, so if Paul Scholes has hit a 70-yard pass at the speed of light on to Ronaldo’s boot and your full-back, Paul Konchesky in this case, is trying to get out there, it’s a dangerous situation.
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