How to say nothing without saying nothing

Alex Ferguson shows how to criticise a referee for booking seven of your players while pretending that butter wouldn't melt in your mouth:

"It was a competitive game but I did not think there was one bad tackle in it," said Ferguson.

"People are saying what is going on here but it is difficult to say anything about the referee. I do not want to get involved."

So, when the referee has booked players for bad tackles, saying there were no bad tackles is not criticism? Then Ferguson invokes other "people" who are supposedly suggesting that Man Utd were hard done by.