sloppy defending

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has criticised his team’s defence following their 4-1 capitulation to Manchester City.

“It was the kind of sloppy defending that has been endemic in our play over the last couple of months,” he said.

“We’re not even doing the simple things like clearing our lines and getting it away. We’re being far too hesitant.

“I know what people are saying about the title but there is a lot of football left yet and we have to concentrate on getting our form right.”

The loss left the reigning champions 12 points behind Arsenal and their hopes of retaining their title hanging by a thread. But Ferguson believes that results will pcik up when his team’s performances start to improve.

“Once we do that, we will find ourselves in a much healthier position,” he said.

“We can’t do anything about anyone until we get our own form right and at the moment it is not good enough.”