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Feel the heat Ferguson under pressure to restore United's supremacyPosted: Tuesday August 13, 2002 2:54 AMLONDON (Reuters) -- Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson starts the new English premier league season under more pressure than at any time in the past decade. Trophyless campaigns do not come along too often at the world's richest soccer club, and a second successive fruitless effort in succession is unthinkable for Ferguson. Having stared retirement in the face and blinked, the 60-year-old Scot claims his desire for an eighth title in his 17th season in charge at Old Trafford is undiminished. The appetite will be even keener in the United boardroom after the club splashed a British record 30 million pounds ($46.9 million) on Leeds's England defender Rio Ferdinand. After the defensive gaffes that plagued United's defense at the start of last season, Ferdinand will need to settle quickly and bring the same calm authority to their backline as he has to England's. If Wes Brown can stay injury-free, the two could develop a partnership that will serve club and country well for years to come. In midfield, United remain spoilt for choice with Roy Keane, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and Juan Sebastian Veron all vying for selection. Moody captain Keane's response to his dismissal from Ireland's World Cup squad will be pivotal to the way United start the season, but just as important will be Ferguson's choice of formation. Tinkering between 4-5-1, 4-3-3 and their usual 4-4-2 last season cost United dear and did little for Veron, who failed utterly to settle into the side. Ferguson says United will rally round the Argentine this season but the unpalatable truth is that, a year after his arrival from Lazio, his best role is in the United team is still not clear. The suspicion also remains that United are a striker light having sold Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke to Blackburn in the past eight months. Uruguayan Diego Forlan has failed to score in 18 appearances, although he showed better form in preseason. That leaves only Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as a reliable partner for the prolific Ruud van Nistelrooy, who finished last season exhausted by the effort of scoring an astonishing 35 goals. United have another factor to deal with this season in the resurgence of their local rivals Manchester City, back in the big time again with a spanking new Commonwealth Games stadium to move into next season.
Mind gamesFerguson will renew mind games with one of his oldest enemies, City manager Kevin Keegan, in two eagerly anticipated Manchester derbies this season, the first of which, on Nov. 9, will be the last at City's famous old Maine Road ground. On the European front, United face the indignity of having to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League. This season's final is at Old Trafford, an added incentive for United after they fell at the semifinal stage last season. Ferguson is feeling bullish. "We have the best discipline record in the country. We score the most goals. We entertain the most," he told the Daily Telegraph last week. "We put more into winning a game than any other club in the world. I am lucky. I am working for the best club in the world." History also shows that few soccer beasts bounce back more strongly than a wounded Manchester United. Before 2001-02, the last time they failed to win a trophy was in 1998. The following season they roared to an unprecedented treble by winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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