Man Utd 3 - 0 Wolves: McCarthy selection gamble backfires

Published on Tuesday 15 December 2009 23:36

WOLVES manager Mick McCarthy defended his controversial team selection but admitted he could understand the angry reaction of his club's supporters following the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United.

McCarthy made ten changes to the side that defeated Tottenham at White Hart Lane and, although his line-up competed well for half an hour, once Wayne Rooney opened United's account from the penalty spot, there was never any doubt about the result.

Nemanja Vidic headed home number two just before the break and Antonio Valencia profited from an excellent piece of skill from Dimitar Berbatov to crash home the third. It was too much for the travelling Wolves faithful, who chanted "we want our money back", "where is our first team" and "40 to watch the reserves" before making their way back down the M6.

"I can understand that reaction," said McCarthy. "But at the end of the season I will be judged on whether Wolves have stayed in the Premier League or not. It was my strongest team – because it was a team with fresh legs."

McCarthy was clearly aware of the criticism his decision would unleash because he came to the post-match press conference armed with a piece of evidence that shows players' performances reduce by up to 40 per cent when they are forced to compete twice in three or four days.

And, having asked his players to mark their efforts at Spurs and been presented with a succession of 9s, he opted against asking the same players to push themselves again so soon afterwards.

"It was not a plan but when I saw those figures I knew there was no chance of the same type of performance on a Tuesday after a Saturday game," he said.

As one of the pioneers of making mass changes for certain games, Sir Alex Ferguson – who was celebrating his 900th league game in charge of the Old Trafford outfit – claimed he was not surprised at McCarthy's decision and that it made sense given Wolves face a crucial game against Burnley at Molineux on Sunday.

In any case, Ferguson has enough problems of his own at the moment, with skipper Vidic picking up a calf strain that is almost certain to rule him out of Saturday's trip to Fulham.

Wes Brown also faces a two-week lay-off, which would be enough to rule him out of the entire festive programme, after suffering a hamstring injury against Aston Villa on Saturday.

It means Michael Carrick will be forced to continue in central defence at Craven Cottage, probably alongside 21-year-old rookie Ritchie De Laet.

Ferguson offered particular praise to Rooney, who scored his 13th goal of the season when he drilled home a 30th-minute opener from the penalty spot. And Valencia is now up to six following his well-taken effort after a brilliant overhead kick from Berbatov.

"Antonio is improving, there is no question about that," said Ferguson. He was only a quiet lad when he came but he is more expansive now and he is expressing himself on the pitch very well.

Man Utd: Kuszczak, De Laet, Carrick, Vidic (Fletcher 60), Evra, Valencia, Scholes, Gibson, Obertan (Welbeck 70), Berbatov, Rooney (Owen 75). Subs not used: Foster, Anderson, Park, Fabio Da Silva. Booked: Gibson.

Wolves: Hahnemann, Zubar, Mancienne, Elokobi, Hill, Halford (Jones 76), Foley, Castillo, Friend (Jarvis 61), Surman, Maierhofer (Iwelumo 54). Subs not used: Hennessey, Henry, Ebanks-Blake, Berra. Booked: Castillo.