Les Ferdinand / Les Ferdinand / 28 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Ex-Spurs hitman Les Ferdinand reflects on a frustrating day for his club, sticks up for Frank Lampard and makes his predictions for the Champions League semi-finals...

Harry Redknapp was absolutely furious with Howard Webb for the penalty he awarded to Manchester United on Saturday.

It was never a penalty. Decisions like that change the entire momentum of a game and Webb swung Saturday's match in United's favour. I know what an uphill struggle playing at Old Trafford can be - decisions go against you, referees rule about 60/40 in United's favour.

That tends to happen at all big four clubs. I've been on the end of some shocking decisions but without doubt, the most frustrating came on my birthday at Anfield in 1993. I'd put us 1-0 up in the first half but with about 10 minutes to go we were 3-2 down when I ran through on goal. It was blowing a gale, awful conditions. The ref blew for offside so I chipped the ball back to Bruce Grobbelar. Next thing I know, the ref pulls out a red card. He was sending me off for time wasting. When we were 3-2 down! I wanted to kill him, my team-mates were holding me back... It's fair to say I was a little wild when I was younger.

Roy Keane's comments about Mark Hughes and Steve Bruce not being successful managers because they haven't won anything, have struck a nerve with a lot of people. It's a tough one. When Harry came in at Tottenham and I started coaching at the club, I really thought we were going to be in a relegation battle to the wire. So to be safe with four games to play and chasing a European spot just shows what a remarkable job Harry has done. He's only won one trophy in his career but the way he's steered clubs away from relegation and established them as solid top-flight teams - as he did at Portsmouth - makes Harry a hugely successful manager in my book.

One ex-team-mate of Roy's who has been successful throughout his career is PFA Player of the Year Ryan Giggs. I won the award in 1996 and because it was voted for by my peers it's something I hold very dear. It will be the same for Ryan. I remember him bursting on to the scene, scoring stunning goals against QPR. He's gone on to be a model professional and a great servant to football. Some people have questioned whether he deserved the award but if your fellow pros have voted for you, you deserve it.

I'm looking forward to the Champions League semi-finals. The Barcelona front three of Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o are on fire but Spanish teams don't always like playing against English clubs. Chelsea have to go the Nou Camp believing they can get something out of the game and a scoring draw would be a great result.

Frank Lampard has come in for a lot of stick this week but he won't be distracted. I sympathise with Frank and totally understand why he rang a radio station to hit back at criticism last week. I don't think Frank would ever not look after his kids. But he's been in this game long enough to know that certain people in the media try to cause trouble for the sake of it. Anyone who doubts Frank only needs to remember how he came back after his mother's death last year. He could well be worth a punt in the To Score market at [4.0].

However, Barca will go all guns blazing at the Nou Camp and those front three will be very difficult to stop. I'll be backing Barcelona at [1.75] to win the match and [1.6] to qualify.

The second semi is tough to call. Arsenal are the form team and I still think United are vulnerable at the back. With Rio and Nemanja Vidic back, they looked so solid in the second leg against Porto but Arsenal will be buoyed by what they saw of United against Spurs. In particular, Theo Walcott will be encouraged by the way Aaron Lennon got the better of Patrice Evra in the first half. Arsene Wenger will definitely see that as an area to attack.

Theo's come on leaps and bounds this season. He's more direct than Aaron but I do see him more as a winger than a striker, he's very effective coming in from the right and has a big future there for Arsenal and England. Having said that, he could come into the middle as he gets older the way Thierry Henry did. One of the things he's added to his game this season is goals and Theo might be a bet when the goalscorer markets become available closer to kick-off.

Overall though, it's United for me. I think they've just got the edge so back them at [1.86] to win the first leg and [1.64] to qualify.