Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson pointed to the number of chances his side missed, as the reason for his side’s penalty shootout defeat to Arsenal in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
“My team played very well, played some great football and created a lot of chances. And you have you take one,” Ferguson said afterwards.
“So in that respect, we’ve only got ourselves to blame with the chances we’ve had.
“It tells the story of our whole season really – we’ve missed too many chances.
The final summed up a frustrating season in front of goal for United.
“Most of our players are decent finishers, over the years they’ve been good,” Ferguson said.
“Who knows, it’s may be just one of those seasons for them. Certainly they know themselves they want to improve that and it’s the nature of this club to do that.”
Ferguson is confident United can bounce back from this campaign to challenge the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea next season.
“The test of any manager and player is how they handle adversity,” he said.
“I think our club’s handled that well over the years – and we’ll do so again.
“There’s a good character in the club…they don’t like losing and they will help themselves. They’re a good bunch.
“It’s certainly disappointing to lose games but in Cup football you need a wee break and we didn’t get it. It’s not a nice experience, but it’s one you have to accept and get on with.”
Ferguson singled out his Man of the Match Wayne Rooney and winger Cristiano Ronaldo for particular praise.
“You could toss a coin who was man of the match out of Rooney and Ronaldo, there’s a great future for those boys,” he said.
“I was proud of them today, they didn’t deserve what happened to them.”
