Ferguson: Van der Sar will be replaced from within
Reuters - Tuesday 24 November 2009, 17:03
MANCHESTER - Edwin van der Sar's
place in the Manchester United goal will be filled by either Ben
Foster or Tomasz Kuszczak when the Dutchman retires, manager
Alex Ferguson said on Tuesday.
"Ben has terrific ability and needs game experience. Tomasz
is also another good keeper," Ferguson told a news conference.
"At the end of the day the two of them will fight it out, I'm
sure of that."
Van der Sar, 39, is due to decide next month whether to
carry on playing for another season or bring his career to an
end.
The keeper, who has helped United to three Premier League
titles and a Champions League triumph during four years at the
club, is out of contract at the end of the season.
"Edwin's not said anything yet about what he intends to do,"
Ferguson said. "He has come back from his recent injury well. It
will be Christmas time or sometime in December when he will
outline his plans and how long he will go on. We will await
that."
CSKA Moscow's goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev had been strongly
linked with a move to United.
Foster or Polish international Kuszczak will feature for
United in their penultimate Champions League Group B game
against Besiktas on Wednesday as Ferguson, whose side have
already qualified for the next phase, fields a young side
against the Turkish visitors.
Ireland international Darron Gibson will start in midfield
while Gabriel Obertan, who signed from Bordeaux in July, will
start his first European game for the club against bottom-placed
Besiktas.
"We want to win the group," said Ferguson. "It's a good
fixture in that we are already through. It means I can try one
or two things. We could easily have an absolute non-event game
or it could be the absolute opposite."