Article
Premiership won´t target champions, says Fergie
MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Sir Alex Ferguson has dismissed suggestions his Manchester United side face a greater challenge retaining the Premiership title than they did in wresting the trophy from Chelsea last season.
United, who start their title defence against Reading at Old Trafford, have already been installed as clear favourites to claim back-to-back successes.
And Ferguson is convinced the pressure of going into each match of the campaign as reigning champions will not hinder the club's efforts to fend off the renewed challenge from Jose Mourinho's side, Arsenal and Liverpool.
The United manager admits his side were targeted by opponents after completing a hat-trick of league triumphs at the start of the decade.
But the Scot believes that with so much at stake for all Premiership clubs in the battle for silverware or survival, teams cannot afford to reserve their best efforts for clashes with the champions.
"When we won it three times in a row between 1999 and 2001 I think we felt it was very difficult after that because it seemed there was an edge to teams trying to stop us," Ferguson said.
"But I think teams are far more interested in doing well for their own sakes rather than just to stop us.
"The Premier League is becoming more competitive and is becoming a more international league and the idea that teams set out to stop United, Arsenal or Chelsea doesn't come into as much as it used to a few years ago."
The Scot is convinced the experience of winning the league has given his players a significant boost.
And after spending more than 50 million pounds in the summer transfer market to bring in Carlos Tevez, Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves, Ferguson believes his squad is now much better equipped to last the course.
"You want to see more consistency and more authority in the players after winning the league," Ferguson added. "And we have noticed in training there is a fair stability about the squad.
"We expect the young players to improve a lot, players like (Wayne) Rooney and (Cristiano) Ronaldo, and I think Anderson and Nani will improve. And we expect a great more authority from players like Darren Fletcher, Nemanja (Vidic) and Patrice Evra.
"And I think we have the right people to call on throughout the club in terms of experience with the likes of Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and Edwin van der Sar.
"Last year's top four will be the strongest teams again. But Tottenham, Everton, Newcastle and Portsmouth will all be stronger.
"It's important we make a good start. If you want to hit the 90-point mark, you cannot afford to be slow off the mark."
Comments (0)