Premiership: Fergie - Man U missed dogfight

Alex Ferguson has blamed the absence of a ‘‘dogfight’’ in Manchester United’s last two title-winning seasons for their startling slump in form this campaign.

The defending champions currently trail Barclaycard Premiership leaders Liverpool by 11 points after suffering a second successive home defeat, at the hands of West Ham on Saturday.

Ferguson has admitted it will now take a ‘‘miracle’’ for United to reclaim the title in his final season at the helm.

After a decade of unparalleled success, the United boss claimed: ‘‘It’s been a great spell for the club.’’

But he joked: ‘‘You have got to spread it around!

‘‘We have analysed almost everything you can analyse, and there could be some pertinent reasons. But we are going to have to find the answers to it because it’s certainly not what we enjoy.

‘‘There’s one interesting factor; the last two championships have been won very easily, and we missed a dogfight and maybe we have to rediscover that. That’s a possibility.’’