“We take full blame for it and don’t look to anyone else.”
Following Man City’s defeat to Arsenal in April Manchester United went a whopping 8 points clears and appeared to have built a lead that City would not be able to overturn, Sir Alex Ferguson is known for his teams hitting near imperious form in the latter part of the season and it appeared United would march on to the title.
This wasn’t to be the case and defeats to Wigan and City as well as a shattering draw with Everton saw Man City erode United’s lead and win the league on goal difference.
The players will have suffered on the final day hearing Man City come from behind to beat QPR, but will also know their mistakes elsewhere are what really cost them the title.
And Rio Ferdinand insists that these mistakes won’t be repeated this coming season, instead the team will use the disappointment to fuel their title charge as he told The Sun:
“Fair play to City. You’ve got to be a good team to win the league, so I wouldn’t take anything away from them.
“But if you gave us the last few games of the season and put us in that situation again, it wouldn’t happen – it was just madness. That’s down to us, though. We take full blame for it and don’t look to anyone else.
“You think to yourself that the young players will learn from last season.
“We would rather have won the league but it’s a valuable experience that I’m sure they’ll learn from because that feeling in the dressing-room after the Sunderland game isn’t one you want too many more times in your career, if any.
“The manager just said, especially to the young players in the dressing-room, to take on board what had just happened and learn from it. I remember when I first came to United and we lost the League Cup final to Liverpool.
” It was my first-ever final and the game just kind of passed me by because it can go that quick. If you don’t grasp the moment with both hands, there will be other similar opportunities that go amiss.
“So all through my career I’ve thought ‘That can’t happen again’ and, when you get those big games, you’ve got to make sure you’re ready and push yourself and your team-mates on as well.”
