Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are paying in priceless title points for forgetting how to play 4-4-2

As Dimitar Berbatov dropped ever deeper, Manchester United fans may have wondered if Sir Alex Ferguson’s friendship with Sam Allardyce is exactly healthy. Manchester United’s manager and his Blackburn counterpart are great pals – they were together at Aintree last week – and specialise in creating off-field siege mentalities. Indeed they could almost be called soul mates.

Fair enough but as Berbatov at times filled both the right-back and defensive midfield positions, leaving Federico Macheda toiling alone up front, one wondered if the managers’ friendship had gone beyond a shared dislike of the BBC and mutual admiration for trade unionism. Is it spilling over into on-pitch affairs?

Where Allardyce and Ferguson have always differed – and still do – is when it comes to football vision. Manchester United’s manager harbours a much more aesthetically pleasing, not to mention more attacking, philosophy than his Ewood Park neighbour but a shared mistrust of 4-4-2 appears to be drawing their beliefs closer than could once be imagined.

Allardyce recently claimed the formation is “out-dated” and “does not work” in the modern Premier League and it appears Ferguson agrees with him.

While United’s interpretation of 4-5-1 can still be breathtakingly attack minded and Blackburn’s tends to be of the backs- to-the-wall variety – 50% of Rovers’ goals come from set pieces – both managers are suspicious of an orthodox attacking pairing.

Although Ferguson is a confirmed fan of a lone striker these days, on paper United’s starting system here for once was 4-4-2 with Macheda and Berbatov being supported by Antonio Valencia and Nani. In practice, though, it soon morphed into 4-5-1 as Berbatov spent much of the game hovering far too near the halfway line for his own – or his team’s good.

Increasingly frustrated with team-mates, the Bulgarian lacks the capacityto lift them in the way Wayne Rooneycustomarily does. Berbatov, for all his technical brilliance, quite simply does not boast the charisma and dynamism of a Cristiano Ronaldo or an Eric Cantona and singularly failed to bring Macheda into things.

If only Ferguson had a latter-day version of Blackburn’s 1995 SAS. Fifteen years ago this spring Kenny Dalglish’s Rovers pipped United to the title thanks to Alan Shearer’s and Chris Sutton’s goal-heavy attacking alliance and its augmentation by full throttle wing play from Stuart Ripley and Jason Wilcox.

When Chris Samba limped off injured to be replaced by a still not fully fit Ryan Nelsen, Berbatov, Macheda, Valencia and Nani could have done worse than copied that quartet’s old blueprint.

Instead Berbatov – gesticulating increasingly despairingly to team-mates in the wrong place and cursing Rovers defenders insisting on clipping his ankles – continued retreating. This left the 18-year-old Blackburn centre-half Phil Jones to win man of the match instead of being bullied into submission.

“I wouldn’t say we rattled him [Berbatov],” Allardyce said. “We just made contact when we needed to.”

United, it appears, have forgotten how to play 4-4-2 properly. That old high- tempo system may be passé in Europe but, had it been deployed full on, it just might have been too good for Jones and Co today.

In Rooney’s absence United appear to have no Plan B.

Premier LeagueManchester UnitedSir Alex FergusonBlackburn RoversSam AllardyceLouise Taylorguardian.co.uk

• Liverpool manager covering-up deficiencies, says Allardyce
• ‘I don’t like him and the feeling is probably mutual’

Sam Allardyce claims Rafa Benítez’s criticism of him is a cover-up for how bad Liverpool are and claims the Reds have all but blown their chance of finishing in the top four.

Benítez last week mocked Allardyce’s behaviour and Blackburn’s style after their match at Anfield, suggesting that the European champions Barcelona were going to model themselves on Rovers: “He is a model for football all around the world. I am sure he is a model for behaviour and for kids all around the world. I am sure Barcelona are thinking of copying this style now too.”

But the Blackburn manager has hit back by claiming he has managed to get under the skin of Benítez and that the Liverpool boss was just covering up for how badly his team played despite the Reds’ 2-1 win.

“It was a good cover-up by Rafa because he knows how bad his side were and that was repeated against Wigan on Monday night,” said Allardyce. “He’s got personal with it for many, many years now. That’s why I don’t like him and the feeling is probably mutual. I don’t get personal with him; I get into him and under his skin, yes, but that’s all part of the game.

“The tit for tat between me and Rafa will probably go on until one of us is no longer a Premier League manager. I’ve managed to psyche out one or two here and there and that’s how the Premier League has evolved over the last 20 years. But no, Pep Guardiola has not been in touch yet.”

He also believes Liverpool’s result at Wigan leaves Benítez’s side unlikely to finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League.

He added: “The last time one of the big four didn’t finish in the top four it was Liverpool – Everton got that spot – and I think this time it looks pretty difficult having lost against Wigan. They are having to rely on other teams slipping up now.

“They have a wealth of experience and that may be a telling factor when the nerve ends start jangling. We saw what happened to Tottenham a few years ago with the famous ‘poisoned lasagne’ scenario – which was obviously never the case – and they let it slip.

“But I think it might be more difficult for Liverpool this time around because there are more teams involved. There’s Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham in there and if Everton keep rolling on you might be surprised to see them making a late run.”

Meanwhile, Vince Grella will miss Blackburn’s match at Tottenham on Saturday due to a calf injury picked up in training but David Dunn is available after coming through a reserve match without any problems.

Sam AllardyceBlackburn RoversRafael BenítezLiverpoolPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk

• ‘The players grew up tonight’ says Aston Villa manager
• Allardyce says referee ‘major part of us not going through’

Martin O’Neill hailed Aston Villa’s first appearance in a major final for a decade by claiming that their 6-4 second-leg victory over Blackburn Rovers was the evening his young team “grew up”, after they had allowed two early goals.

But the Blackburn Rovers manager, Sam Allardyce, was furious, claiming that Stephen Warnock’s opener for Villa should not have been allowed. Allardyce strongly criticised the referee, Martin Atkinson, for failing to award a foul on Ryan Nelsen by Gabriel ­Agbonlahor. According to Allardyce, Atkinson was a “major part of us not getting through to the final”.

O’Neill preferred to focus on his team’s