Boss: We'll be back
Sir Alex Ferguson was gracious but defiant after his hopes of a fourth consecutive title were crushed by Carlo Ancelotti's free-scoring Chelsea.
United's rivals beat Wigan Athletic 8-0 at home, to render academic the Reds' own emphatic 4-0 win over Stoke City at Old Trafford. "I didn't know what the Chelsea score was [in the second half]. But at half-time I accepted they were going to be champions," Sir Alex told MUTV.
Gary Caldwell's red card and Frank Lampard's subsequent penalty conversion put Chelsea 2-0 up after 32 minutes and meant the rest of the afternoon's activity largely a formality. "We felt it would be difficult for Wigan to get something and when we heard they were down to ten men, all our hopes evaporated," Sir Alex added. "We applaud Chelsea. We know how hard it is to win the title - it's the hardest league in the world and we've won it for the last three years. I congratulate Carlo Ancelotti on a wonderful achievement. He's a good manager and a good guy."
But Sir Alex quickly turns his thoughts to challenging for the 2010/11 championship. "We won the last three titles," he said. "That was fantastic and the players have been great. We'll come back next year, that's exactly what Manchester United do."
Earlier, the manager was on the pitch for his traditional end-of-season speech to the fans. "The players and the supporters have always been magnificent and you've been magnificent again. We can be proud that we've challenged hard for a fourth title in a row. Next season we'll go again and bring back the title to the best place in the world."
"We applaud Chelsea on winning the title. We'll come back next year, that's exactly what Manchester United do."
- Sir Alex Ferguson
MANCHESTER, England - Manchester United's failure to win an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title has left manager Alex Ferguson questioning whether the squad was strong enough following Cristiano Ronaldo's departure, or if tactical mistakes were made during the season.
United's three-year reign as champions ended on Sunday despite beating Stoke 4-0. Chelsea remained a point ahead in the standings with a 8-0 rout of Wigan.
So all Ferguson has to show for his 24th season in charge is the League Cup — won in March by beating Aston Villa — after losing to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals.
"Did I always make the right team selections with the appropriate tactics? Do we have a strong enough squad?" Ferguson said in a rare moment of introspection. "I have to weigh up whether to move into the transfer market, considering our own youth development and the players we have.
"It's an assessment that has to be set against injuries, bad luck and of course the fact that there is a harder competitive edge in the Premier League these days. It's a tough old league, very unforgiving, and a lot of the teams at the top have lost games they expected to win."
One of the most costly losses for United turned out to be its third match at newly promoted Burnley, which survived just one season in the Premier League.
But Ferguson was still angry on Sunday that the team lost 1-0 at Chelsea in November, when John Terry scored on a header off a free kick that Ferguson disputed.
United managed to finish second despite reinvesting barely a quarter of the $118 million Real Madrid paid for Ronaldo last June. Neighbor Manchester City finished fifth despite splurging more than $296 million.
"I always knew we would miss Cristiano Ronaldo," Ferguson said.
But the 68-year-old Scot ignored the loss of Carlos Tevez, the Argentina striker who defected to Man City last July and went on to score 29 goals.
That was 17 more than United signing Dimitar Berbatov, with the languid Bulgarian failing to shine in his second season at Old Trafford.
Berbatov had to share second place on United's goalscoring leaderboard with "own-goals."
And the 12th own-goal of the campaign came Sunday, with Stoke's Danny Higginbotham turning the ball into his own net for United's third. Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung scored the rest for the home side.
There was an over-reliance on Wayne Rooney — top scorer with 34 — who thrived in a more central role following Ronaldo's exit but was plagued by injuries toward the end of the season.
"The way Wayne stepped up, not only to fill the gap but to demonstrate that he has taken his game to a new level, has been thrilling," Ferguson said. "Certainly his contribution has been one of the upsides of our year."
Amid the despondency, Ferguson reminded fans to put United's hat trick of titles in context. When he arrived in 1986, the team hadn't won the title in 20 years — a woeful run that ended in 1993.
"We have to measure the success against the disappointments and, taking everything into account, I think we are on the credit side," Ferguson said. "It's not complacency, just common sense to conclude that we have had a good season that has not been without its rewards. It could have been better, but overall we are finishing in good shape."
Ferguson remains confident that United will next season "be ready and able to challenge for all the top honors," with the signings of Fulham defender Chris Smalling and Mexico striker Javier Hernandez from Chivas already agreed.
But the fans, whose protests against the owning Glazer family have provided the backdrop of the second half of the season, fear that the club's debt of $1.05 billion will neuter Ferguson's ability to compete in the transfer market.
Ferguson conceded in the last offseason that his pursuit of Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema was ended by the cost of signing them.
May 10 2010, 04:40 AM
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