Sir Alex Praises Young Reds

Sir Alex Ferguson is facing up to a "big problem" after admitting his current crop of young players are forcing their way onto his Manchester United teamsheet.

Speaking after the Reds' 3-0 win over Tottenham, the boss said his decision to again start with Danny Welbeck (20), Phil Jones (19) and Tom Cleverley (22) is vindicated by their talent. The side that lined up for kick-off in the first home match of 2011/12 was the second-youngest eleven fielded by Sir Alex since the Premier League began in 1992.

"I'm pleased at that because it tells you we still believe in young players," said Sir Alex. "That's what this club is about and I think all the fans appreciate that, moreso when you see the ability they've got. We've always had confidence to play young players. But this group have such fantastic ability, it forces me to play them really."

Welbeck's ability in the air eventually broke the deadlock against a Spurs side that started well at Old Trafford. "I thought it was a really fast game first half, end to end, and it was very even," said Sir Alex. "Tottenham had a lot of possession but we had some too. But in the second half we just took off and it was a really fantastic performance by us."

The difference between Danny in the first and second half was, according to Sir Alex, partly positional. "I thought in the first half Danny didn't play as a centre forward.. He was too much in midfield, he and Wayne. We stressed at half-time that we needed more of a presence up front, we needed our targets up there and we needed someone to run through. In the second half they were much better that way and it made a difference to our game."

With Welbeck joined on the scoresheet by fellow striker Wayne Rooney - as well as Anderson inbetween - plus Javier Hernandez coming off the bench to make an earlier-than-expected start to his campaign, Sir Alex now faces a selection dilemma in attack for the next home clash with Arsenal, this Sunday at Old Trafford.

"If you look at Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Chicharito and Wayne Rooney, they've all got different qualities," assessed Sir Alex. "That's not a problem, you have to utilise the team as best as you can. The horrible part for me now is that with Chicharito back, what do we do? It's going to be a big problem for me."

The boss could have similar issues in defence when Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic eventually return, with Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in especially fine form at the moment.

"Phil had a fantastic season with Blackburn last year," recalled the boss. "We made enquiries in November, hoping we would get him in January. It wasn't to be but we were prepared to wait anyway. You saw tonight he's a fantastic young player. Chris had a marvellous season for us last season. He's now getting maturity and doing a great job at right-back, you'd think he'd played there all his life.

"All the players have done well tonight. David De Gea [on his home league debut] was very confident, excellent apart from a ball at the very end of the game when he got a bit slack. But really you can't criticise any of them because as a team they all played very well. We're very pleased."