Fergie hoping for New Year return to watch United
SIR Alex Ferguson is aiming to attend a United match in the New Year, according to his longtime friend Sam Allardyce.
The former Reds boss, 76, suffered a brain haemorrhage in May and required emergency surgery at Salford Royal Hospital.
But United said the procedure went ‘very well’. Four days later, the club confirmed Ferguson no longer needed intensive care and would continue rehabilitation as an inpatient before he was discharged.
He has attended the majority of the club’s home matches since he retired in 2013 but the Scot is set for a period of recovery ahead of a possible return to Old Trafford during the festive schedule.
“I believe he’s on holiday now,” Allardyce said. “So he’s still recuperating.
“I’ve spoken to him on the phone a couple of times and he sounds really good.
“For such a major operation, it’s great to hear his voice and, hopefully, he gets a full recovery.
“I think he’s thinking about New Year for coming back to matches at Manchester United.”
Ferguson’s birthday is on New Year’s Eve and United host Bournemouth two days earlier.
Brighton are the next Premier League side to visit Old Trafford on January 19, although both dates are still to be confirmed. THERE were flickers of regression from Jose Mourinho on an otherwise upbeat night for United.
As the clock ticked past the 70-minute mark against Leicester, the Reds boss was stood in the technical area pondering his next substitution.
Usually his sounding board Rui Faria would sidle over and, in his absence, it was the other coaching confidant Silvino Louro who lent an ear.
On 73 minutes, Mourinho signalled to one of the three substitutes limbering up to return – Scott McTominay.
The announcement of his imminent introduction did not go down well with some supporters.
United were only a goal ahead and the match had become tense. Alexis Sanchez was playing give-ball rather than keep-ball and Anthony Martial seemed a prime option to stretch a game, only Mourinho later protested that putting on the striker was beyond his control.
Fred was withdrawn on account of fatigue and United were devoid of Nemanja Matic or Ander Herrera and Fellaini, the only midfield alternative, is not the steadiest shield while defending a slender advantage.
That McTominay started on the bench was a progressive move by Mourinho. Andreas Pereira, a superior talent, has seemingly supplanted him in the United midfield yet supporters braced themselves for the manager’s player of the year starting ahead of the Brazilian against Leicester.
Pereira capitalised and was dubbed ‘phenomenal’ by his manager after a first Premier League start.
The United midfield trident, with fleet-footed footballers and a playmaker in the holding role, was un-Mourinho and maybe the most forward-thinking United middle trio since the 2008 Champions League final of Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves. It is not a coincidence Carrick now sits beside Mourinho.
How long Mourinho remains so attack-minded is to be seen and it would be premature to suggest Matic’s untouchable status is in jeopardy. A specialist defensive midfielder is bound to provide more balance than an auxiliary one and Mourinho is yet to drop Matic, who is recovering from abdominal surgery. Amid pompous suggestions Mourinho ought to don a waistcoat to change his downbeat demeanour, the shackles were absent elsewhere. An Eric BaillyVictor Lindelof axis is more attack-minded than United’s alternatives, the natural full-back width elicited a first career goal from the resurgent Luke Shaw and there was not a hint of pragmatism with the three-pronged attack. As the time-served United fitness coach Tony Strudwick opined: “A team filled with brilliant homegrown players ready to perform and a scattering of foreign superstars. That’s always been Manchester United. No more excuses.” A downside was the selection of the maligned Matteo Darmian ahead of Timothy Fosu-Mensah.