Manchester United were in trouble!
That was Ferguson's firsthand impression after Manchester United had beaten Galați Steel 2–0 away from home.
From the moment he left Oțelul Stadium and boarded the team bus for Bucharest to catch their flight, Ferguson had been thinking about the problem. The more he thought about it, the more serious it seemed.
Although Manchester United had ultimately beaten Galați Steel away from home with Rooney scoring twice, the match itself had been extremely difficult. It was not until the sixty-fourth minute that Rooney converted a Penalty Kick after an opponent handled the ball in the box, putting Manchester United ahead.
But the good fortune did not last. Just two minutes later, Vidić was sent off for a reckless sliding tackle on an opponent.
Although Manchester United were still not outplayed after going a man down, breaking through became even more difficult. It was not until the closing stages that Rooney was tripped in the penalty area and converted another Penalty Kick to make it 2–0.
Both goals had come from Penalty Kicks.
Manchester United had been poor in attack. Neither Rooney nor Little Pea Hernández had produced much, while the wingers Valencia and Nani had both fallen short of expectations. Carrick and Anderson had also failed to protect the defense properly in midfield, leaving Manchester United looking completely disorganized throughout the match.
The attack, midfield, and defense had all been worrying.
Even worse, Vidić, who had usually been so composed, had made a costly mistake.
After Van der Sar's retirement, Ferguson had placed great hopes in De Gea. But ever since the Spanish goalkeeper had joined Manchester United, he had made mistake after mistake. By this match, Ferguson had finally had enough and left him on the bench, starting Lindegaard instead. It was also a