At this mornings press conference at Carrington Training Complex, Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that they will be sending down a strong squad to face West Ham United to hopefully get a good cup run going.
Manchester United have not won the FA Cup since beating Millwall back in 2004 and Sir Alex knows that this tournament especially is one that long serving reds, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand will want to win more than ever, as they have do not have an FA cup medal for their collection.
United have come close to winning the FA cup though in the past nine-years, losing on penalties against Arsenal in the 2005 at the Millenium Stadium and then two-years later losing to a late Didier Drogba goal for Chelsea at Wembley.
Speaking this morning, Sir Alex said:
“Rio has been with us 10 years and never won the cup – it’s amazing, we’ll have to do something about it.
“The cup is a tournament where form doesn’t necessarily win games. Luck has a lot to do with it.
“We got to the semi-final against City but we’ve had some hard draws – twice away to Liverpool, away to City and a home tie with Leeds, when I rested a few players and we were caught short.
“Chelsea have been fantastic, though I thought they were lucky to beat us in the final when Drogba scored late on. We lost on penalty kicks to Arsenal, which everyone remembers was a travesty of a result.
“But I think with a club like ours, the closer we get to Wembley, the better we become.”
Sir Alex confirmed that he will be taking down a strong squad to face West Ham:
“It’s a particularly hard one as they’re in good form and at home, Sam has done a great job there, getting them promoted first of all, and their form has been good with some excellent results.
“So it’s going to be a tough game and I don’t think we’ll make too many changes. I think, more or less, we’ll play a strong team and hopefully we’ll get through.”
