Ferguson defends McCarthy decision
Friday, 18 December 2009 11:24Alex Ferguson has defended Mick McCarthy's controversial team selection at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Wolves manager McCarthy has come under fire for leaving all 10 outfield players from the weekend win at Tottenham out of their clash with Manchester United.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was so incensed he claimed United - who recorded a 3-0 win - were effectively embroiled in a 37-game campaign compared to 38 for all their rivals.
To see the entire outfield team changed was a surprise to Ferguson, but the basis of the decision was not.
Having assessed the stats of Wolves' players at White Hart Lane, the Scot concluded at least six of their team would not be asked to produce a repeat showing at Old Trafford.
'Mick McCarthy did the right thing for Wolves,' said Ferguson.
'We looked at their performance against Tottenham and the amount of running they had to do. I said five or six of those players could not play.
'In addition to the actual match, they had been down to London, then they had to travel to Manchester and they also play Burnley at the weekend.
'We didn't think they would play their full side. We worked through the ones who did all the running and worked out who we thought it would be.
'We didn't expect 10 but we weren't far wrong.'
