Sir Alex Ferguson believes Manchester United’s stylish 3-0 Champions League win against FC Copenhagen was proof his side has “grown up.”
After three straight victories, boss Ferguson believes they are now mature enough to make up for failing to reach the knock-out phase last season
He said to the press:
“I think they have proved themselves. They have grown up. They don’t want to have any more embarrassments and they played well into the bargain.”
Paul Scholes gave United a first-half lead, with John O’Shea and Kieran Richardson were on target after the break.
Ferguson said: “We had to make sure the pace of the game was quick and it think it was a good performance and a good result. I said at half-time we had to kill the game off. We should have done it in the first half with the opportunities we had.”
Ferguson was also delighted with the performance of Wayne Rooney, who took the captain’s armband after Ryan Giggs dropped out of the starting line-up through illness and Gary Neville was ruled out because of injury.
He said: “He’s quite possibly the youngest player to captain United, he was fantastic and his form is back, as we expected. He had joked about it last season – he said within earshot of Roy Keane that he should be captain and that Keane was finished – Roy didn’t exactly enjoy that but it was just a wind-up.”
Rooney added: “We’re really pleased, we got three goals and three points and it was an important win. We had a lot of chances but at the end of the day we’re just happy to get three points. Obviously there were a few injuries and Giggsy was ill so just before we went out I got the armband. I was pleased with that but it wasn’t the main issue of the night. My form is getting better, I was pleased with how I played against Wigan and again in this game. I think I’m more or less back to my best and my performances are okay.”