Manchester U v West Ham:ALEX FERGUSON'S increasingly fractious relationship with Anderson has left the Brazilian contemplating his future at Old Trafford and fearing that the repercussions will involve missing out on this summer's World Cup.
Anderson has not started a game since being singled out for criticism by Ferguson in an angry dressingroom exchange after the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against Manchester City on January 19th. He was dropped from the following game, against Hull City, and responded by flying to Brazil without the club’s permission and, in the process, having a meeting with an official from the Rio de Janeiro club Vasco da Gama.
An angry Ferguson has responded by freezing him out of United’s last seven games and Anderson was even made to suffer the indignity of not being included on the trip to Italy last week for the first leg of the Champions League tie against Milan. It is understood he has been fined and, though he did not confirm that as he spoke for the first time about the breakdown in his relations with Ferguson, he admitted that he was not optimistic about returning to his club side for tonight’s game against West Ham or his national team for the World Cup.
“The conversations with Ferguson are private but I have explained my situation,” he said. “I went to Brazil to think about my future and not to negotiate with other clubs. One of my dreams this season is to make the Brazil squad for the World Cup but the fact is that if I do not play for United then [the national coach] Dunga is not going to be interested in me. This is very hard for me because I need minutes on the field during the coming matches. I always had a good relation with Ferguson.
He has asked me for more effort and I accept that, but I need more chances to play in the first team.” Anderson has told United that his meeting with Vasco’s director of football, Rodrigo Caetano, was simply an innocent chat with an old friend, Caetano having been at Gremio when the player was beginning his career. The 21-year-old joined United in an €20 million deal from Porto in May 2007 but has impressed only sporadically in that time and his international career has stalled on eight caps.
“I am not a machine. It is impossible to function 100 per cent in each match and I accept that I have not played well during some matches but those were not significant enough to stop me playing for a long time.”
Anderson said he still hoped to resurrect his career at Old Trafford. “The decision not to ask me to travel to Milan was down to the coach. I just hope I have more luck and can play in the return game. I am a professional footballer and my responsibility is to United. Am I happy? I would say I am optimistic. If I play more games then I will be happy. But that is normal.”
Ferguson, meanwhile, could tonight play Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic together in central defence for the first time since October, with changes likely following the poor showing from Gary Neville, Wes Brown and Jonny Evans at Everton on Saturday.
Ferdinand is available to face his former club after completing a four-match suspension for striking Hull City’s Craig Fagan on January 23rd. United dropped five Premier League points in the two games the new England captain missed as a result of appealing to the Football Association against an instant three-match ban, against Aston Villa and Everton, and trail Chelsea by four points heading into the meeting with West Ham. Vidic has not featured in 2010 due to a nerve problem that has tested Ferguson’s patience with the Serbia international, although he was an unused substitute at Goodison Park and is expected to start tonight.
With the League Cup Final to come on Sunday Ferguson also faces a delicate decision on whether to rest Wayne Rooney and start Michael Owen.
