Alex Ferguson berates Manchester United's sloppy start to the season

Alex Ferguson has ordered his players to wake up and stop giving teams the lead.

Manchester United have trailed in every Premier League game this season, except in beating Wigan 4-0.

It proved costly against Tottenham on Saturday as they trailed 2-0 at the break and lost 3-2.

Now Fergie will be looking for a fast start tonight in Romania as United take on Cluj in the Champions League.

He said: “The first half against Southampton, the first half against Liverpool and the first half on Saturday — we have some work to do in that respect.

“It’s not planned but I think it will be the last. You have to be concerned losing goals the way we did against Tottenham.

“We were well off the pace of the game. I don’t think we won a tackle in the first half.

“Fortunately you saw Manchester United in the second half. It was probably our best performance of the season in the second half.”

He has left behind virus-stricken duo Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs for the trip to Romania, while Paul Scholes has been rested.