Gunners can forget about title tilt, declares Ferdinand
The Gunners have had a £40,000,001 for Uruguayan star Suarez rejected as they look to launch a push for the title this season, while they have also been linked with Marouane Fellaini and even United’s Wayne Rooney.
But Ferdinand believes the title is beyond Arsenal and thinks the champions competition will only come from Manchester City and Chelsea.
“Chelsea and City, I don’t see anyone else challenging us for the title,” said Ferdinand, who is in Japan as part of United’s Asian tour.
“Tottenham and Arsenal might have a little push, but I can’t see anyone breaking into that top three.
“Chelsea with Mourinho could go either way. The pressure of Mourinho coming could weigh heavy on some shoulders, but he can spur them on to better than they did last year.”
Ferdinand looks set to play on the fourth game of United’s pre-season tour against Cerezo Osaka, Shinji Kagawa’s former club tomorrow (11am).
The former England man is now 34, and may be looking forward to his testimonial game against Spanish side Sevilla at Old Trafford on August 9, but his hunger to hold on to the Premier League title remains.
“We want to consolidate on what we did last season, winning the league,” he told the Irish Examiner in the United team hotel in Yokohama. “It’s going to be tough, but exciting and we’re looking forward to it.
“There’s more experience in the squad and the players who were here last year are still here. They know what it takes to win the league. They had the disappointment of losing the league a year before, to see it taken away from them in the last seconds of the season. It may not have been a good thing for some of them to have won the league in their first season and the manager was right when he said some good would come from defeat. We were much stronger last season, we made sure there was no letting up.”
‘The manager’ was always Ferguson. Still is to some as United’s players and staff adjust to their new boss after 26 years of Ferguson, but David Moyes has made a positive impression on the players.
“Training under him has been hard, we’ve been doing double days, two sessions a day, which is different to what we are used to,” said Ferdinand.
“Luckily, he’s come into a group of players who aren’t moany, who don’t shirk responsibility in terms of workload and who are like sponges when it comes to absorbing new information. We all want to impress the new boss and improve.”
It’s not only a new manager. Mike Phelan, Rene Meulensteen and Eric Steele, the three central coaches under Ferguson, all left the club in the summer. They’ve been replaced by Steve Round, Jimmy Lumsden, Phil Neville and Ryan Giggs has also been given a coaching role.
“They’re good,” says Ferdinand. “I’ve worked with Steve Round before with England. I didn’t know Jimmy, but he knows Eddie Gray, who I’m friends with from my time at Leeds United. There’s common ground there. The appointment of Ryan and Phil was right too. They know the identity and fabric of the club, that keeps the continuity going.”
Ferdinand isn’t expecting too many surprises in the Premier League this year but admits City under Manuel Pellegrini present a new challenge.
“I like their manager (Manuel Pellegrini). I’ve seen his other teams and always respected him. He’s intelligent and drills his team well. We might see a difference in City.
“The Manchester derby is a big rivalry but I wouldn’t say that it’s bigger than Liverpool v Man United.
“City is a newer thing. We weren’t thinking of City as a rival until a few years ago, but United v Liverpool is still the game.”
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