Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that his Manchester United side was beaten by a 'better team', following Saturday's 2-1 defeat at West Ham. The home side came from a goal down to record a deserved win against the champions at Upton Park, and Ferguson has no complaints about the result. "We were beaten by a better team I think, I don't think we measured up to our normal performance," Ferguson told Sky Sports. "When that happens, particularly when the team is motivated against you, you are going to get a hard day, and we had a hard day. "I think we struggled today. They were very competitive and aggressive West Ham and they were always about us, tackling us everywhere." The Scotsman also believes that Cristiano Ronaldo's second half missed penalty proved vital to the game as urged charges for next week's home game against struggling Birmingham. "Getting the lead, and missing the penalty - that would have killed the game, but I couldn't see it happening. If you are losing goals from set-pieces, you know you're not at your best," he added. "It's a great team I've got, but we just have to galvanize ourselves. A great reply if you always give a bad performance is to have a good one next time."
United partying stars warned Warning Apart from the Hammers' defeat, Ferguson has issued a warning to members of his team, who were reportedly partying for late hours on Christmas Eve. "Football has changed but you cannot lose your control," he was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "We make changes here at Manchester United when we see anyone interfering with that control. When we see this it's time for them to go. "Times have changed for me as a manager. But this club is based on everyone together. When anyone starts going off at tangents you have to make changes." The United boss slammed some present day footballers who are usually looking to glorify themselves personally. "What annoys me about some footballers today is the personal glory thing," he added. "They score a goal and knock players out of the road so they can get personal gratification and play to the fans.
