Mourinho is dead right about Arsenal: Fergie

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Alex Ferguson has backed Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho’s claim that Arsenal receive preferential treatment when the fixture list is decided.

Mourinho's words earned an FA rebuke, but Ferguson claims he has been complaining about the issue for seven years.

Mourinho had said: "After the first five games of next season's Champions League we have to play away while Arsenal are at home. This is a fact yet nothing is said. Is it only Jose Mourinho who can look at the fixture list and see something very strange?

"Why is nothing written about that? Why are different clubs treated in different ways?"

In addition, Mourinho insinuated that the presence of Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein on the FA board had negative implications for Chelsea.

The FA described the comments as "unnecessary, unhelpful, bad for the image of the game and inaccurate", while the Premier League said they were "unfounded and display a lack of understanding."

Ferguson stopped short of questioning Dein's role on the FA board but said of Mourinho: "He's dead right, by the way. He's spot on. You look at the fixtures Arsenal have after European games it has been going on for years.

"I have been complaining about that for seven years and no-one listens to me. Maybe they will listen to Mourinho more," said Ferguson.

When it comes to battles on the pitch, Ferguson believes he has the players needed to take Chelsea's Barclays Premiership crown even without the Blues' spending power.

"They can't buy all the players," he has said.