Last week Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez made a number of accusations about the Manchester United boss in a calculated address to the media. United chief Sir Alex Ferguson, responding after United's victory over Chelsea on Sunday, said, "I think you've got to cut through the venom of it and hopefully he will reflect and understand that what he was saying was absolutely ... well, it was ridiculous."

He went on: "But I think he was an angry man. I think he was disturbed for some reason or another and that's all I've got to say about it. I don't understand where the venom came from."