Winter schedule freezes English in Europe
On the eve of Manchester United’s latest Champions League campaign, Ferguson has outlined the major reason he feels no English club has reached the final of Europe’s premier competition since the Red Devils beat Bayern Munich five years ago.
Single semi-final appearances by Leeds, United and Chelsea has been all the Premiership representatives have been able to manage since that famous night in Barcelona, while clubs from Spain, Germany, Italy, France and Portugal have all gone on to reach the final.
Ferguson is adamant the only reason for such a lack of success is a crowded domestic programme that offers no time for proper preparation.
And by cramming as many matches as possible into the period when pitches are at their heaviest, the United chief thinks the fixture planners are just making matters worse.
“Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United are as good as any team in Europe but by the time it gets to March and April our players are physically not at their best,” he said.
“Including the two games just after New Year, we could have nine matches in 30-odd days from the beginning of December.
“It’s the time of year when pitches are at their heaviest and it takes its toll in terms of quality.”
Over the last few years, United and Arsenal have been in a minority of two when they have called for the Premiership to be reduced to 18 from its current 20.
Even attempts to manipulate the fixture list, such as two years ago when United asked the Premier League to postpone a home game with Aston Villa that fell in the middle of six-day period when they had arduous trips to Greece and Cyprus met with a negative response.
And it is that lack of help compared with the aid extended to the English clubs’ major rivals that Ferguson thinks leaves the Premiership giants at such a massive disadvantage.
“If French teams are playing in Europe on a Wednesday, they can bring the previous league game forward to a Friday,” he said.
“Last season when we played Porto, they postponed their weekend league fixture altogether.
“The help other clubs get from their own associations is a reason for a lot of their success because it has given them proper preparation.
“We do not have that advantage. I realise it is very difficult for the Premier League to change fixtures simply because we have to play so many matches but it’s the obvious reason why no English club has won the Champions League since we did it.”
Not that Ferguson will be able to cite tiredness as an excuse if United do not get their 15th European campaign under his command off to a winning start against Lyon.
More likely, the Scot will be bemoaning the massive injury list he has been facing during the early weeks of a campaign which has not got off to the best of starts.
He freely admitted John O’Shea only made the travelling party because he is desperate for defensive cover as the Irishman is nowhere near 100% fit.
Rio Ferdinand was also among the squad that flew out to France today but while he is tantalisingly close to a return from his eight-month ban, Ferguson will have to wait until Monday’s Premiership encounter with Liverpool before he can select his £29.3million centre-half.
With Gary Neville out for a month, Ferguson will be forced to rely on the same defence that conceded two dreadful goals at Bolton on Saturday.
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