Sir Alex Ferguson doesn't think that
Chelsea Fooltball Club will provide any major threat to Manchester United's drive for the Premier League title this season. Instead, he is viewing Rafa Bentiez's
Liverpool as the most important threat in the Premier League race.
"At this moment in time, Liverpool are our main challengers and our greatest threat," the Scotsman told The Manchester Evening News today.
It’s amazing to notice that Guus Hiddink has been appointed as temporary manager at Chelsea, and in despite of that, Ferguson clearly sees that making negligible difference to a title race his men currently lead by two points form Liverpool, having played a game less.
The gap to Aston Villa in third place is five points, with Chelsea a further two points behind them, and Ferguson clearly views this as an insurmountable gap for the Londoners. Aston Villa remain something of an unknown quantity, whose lack of experience might tell in the run-in.
Indeed, Ferguson has identified the period when United returned from Japan with the World team Championship as key to the progress that they have subsequently made in climbing to the top of the table.
"We went to Stoke and it was a lively pitch and we had just got back from Japan. And in spite of that, we scraped a result because we never gave in," Fergie added.
"We ended up with Ryan Giggs at left-back because we wanted to victory the encounter. It was an important marker to lay down after coming back from Japan. We needed to victory that game. Once we won that we have just gone on.
"Then I looked upon the West Ham encounter as our hardest away game in the run in. They had been playing their best football of the season and it is a tough place to go to.
"We had to play them at a great moment for them in terms of confidence and form so it was always going to be a big task for us. and in despite of that, the footballers delivered. We didn't lose our composure or nerve to play. The footballers know how to handle pressure."
In fact, United can increase the gap between themselves and the rest at the top of table this evening, when they entertain Fulham at Old Trafford.
