Man Utd boss Ferguson fears for Ronaldo

AFP - 20 April 2007 16:47

Sir Alex Ferguson fears Cristiano Ronaldo, seen here on 13 April 2007, could be targeted by Middlesbrough as Manchester United attempt to tighten their grip at the head of the Premiership.

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Sir Alex Ferguson fears Cristiano Ronaldo could be targeted by Middlesbrough as Manchester United attempt to tighten their grip at the head of the Premiership.

The Portugese winger has found himself at the centre of a series of controversies during three fractious meetings between the two clubs this season including a trio of hotly disputed penalty decisions that have gone United's way.

And Boro winger James Morrison was sent off in the club's FA Cup replay for taking a wild hack at Ronaldo as the United man attempted to run down time in the dying seconds of a 1-0 win.

That incident triggered an outburst from Morrison's team-mate George Boateng who claimed the Portugese could expect to get hurt if he continued to embarrass his opponents with his skills.

United manager Ferguson admits he is disappointed the FA did not take action against Boateng and is now concerned his side's hopes of challenging for the league title, Champions League and FA Cup could be hit if Gareth Southgate's side adopt an overly physical approach to the game.

"I'm fearing the worst myself about what could happen, I must say that, because we've got important games coming up and I don't think they'll be messing about," Ferguson said.

"I think they have a paranoia about the boy and I think they will be aggressive towards him.

"I don't think Cristiano will be bothered by it. But it's unfortunate and what surprised me was that the FA didn't write to Boateng about his remarks because I think that was really provocative.

"I think the fantastic quality Ronaldo has is that he is prepared to hold the ball at any moment and in any tight situation because of the skill he has. He wants to hold the ball and to attack defenders. That's what he is in this world to do. It's then up to the referee to decide whether players who are kicking him are fouling him.

"It sets the game up with a different tone tomorrow, that's the problem. I don't know who the referee is but I think the important thing is to express ourselves in the normal way, play our football and hopefully that takes us to the win we need."

And he added: "I haven't thought of leaving Cristiano out. Simply because we want to win the league and so we want our best players out on the pitch. And I'll be playing my strongest team tomorrow."

Ferguson is desperate for his side to sign off with a victory and maintain the three point advantage over Chelsea before his team resume their Champions League challenge against AC Milan at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

The Scot admits United have turned the tables on Jose Mourinho's side in the Premiership and while he remains hopeful over repeating the 1999 treble success, Ferguson admits that recapturing the domestic league title for the first time in four years remains his number one priority.

"You start the season hoping you are going to win a major trophy and there is a possibility we can win none of them," he said. "With an immense amount of luck we could win three. But if we win the league, I'll be happy with that.

"I think Chelsea maybe expected us to be on their tails this season. I think they expected us to be the main challengers, Jose said that early on. So we have turned that around and they are chasing us so I couldn't ask for a better position to be honest.

"You've always got to enjoy this part of the game. We are involved in everything which is terrific. And that's the best thing for me, I'm enjoying watching them. Over the years no matter which team has won the league there has always been moments of nervousness but they seem to be enjoying it which is good to see.

"Any time we have done well we have always had a bit of luck. I think that the luck we need now is to keep this group fit again for the rest of the season and if we can do that then we have a really good chance. I know Jose was praying we got injuries and we got them, so we did him a favour that way but hopefully there's no more."