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I don't think so.
Ferguson has an important Champions League game this week, then Man City next weekend (I think). He will need his best attacking players fresh. He knew Liverpool lacked defensive options in midfield. Charlie Adams, Henderson, and Downing defend very poorly (Henderson is shockingly naive). Gerard was bound to tire having not played 90 minutes in a 3/4 of a year. I suspect he liked his odds playing a defensive 4-5-1 until the last 20-30 minutes, then cutting apart a tired Liverpool midfield with 3 attacking subs.
His strategy may have cost him 2 points ( only because of a wall error), but he still has 6 more crucial points to pick up this week and he has to plan for those while he is picking a team to play Liverpool.
I thought pulling off Lucas was a bad move by Daglish. Even with a yellow card, he is their best midfield defensive player and against a team with ManU's attacking options on the bench, you can't afford to open your midfield and expose the back line.
In any case, the season is a marathon, not a sprint and Ferguson has shown again and again that he knows how to pace his team so he gets the best out of it over the long haul.
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