Ronaldo sale forces Fergie to change tactics

Alex Ferguson admits Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Real Madrid has forced him to change the way Manchester United will play this season.

Ferguson often set up his team with three central midfielders last season to allow Ronaldo a free role.

That allowed Ferguson to get the best out of Ronaldo, while keeping a solid defensive base, and the Portugal winger responded with over 60 goals in the last two season.

But after Ronaldo’s world record 80 million pounds sale, Ferguson wants more goals from all his players and he has been experimenting with different combinations in midfield and attack.

In an interview in Inside United, posted on manutd.com, Ferguson said: “Obviously Cristiano is a big loss in terms of the goals he gave us.

“But we will just have to find the goals from somewhere else and our tactics will adjust accordingly. Fans will see us playing a slightly different style of football this season.”

Ferguson has already used Wayne Rooney more as a central striker, rather than playing him out wide as he did last season.

“Usually you look to score about 100 goals in all competitions, so we are aiming for that again,” Ferguson said. “If we are going to win the league again or do well in Europe we certainly need players to step up.

“Going back a few years, we could always guarantee goals from Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, who always pitched in with about 10 a season.

“Those goals from midfield have dried up a little in recent years, so we have to address that.

“I will be looking to Park Ji-Sung, Nani, (Luis Antonio) Valencia – even (Danny) Welbeck and (Federico) Macheda – to contribute 40 goals between them. The defenders will contribute a few from set-pieces too.”