Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that he feels rivals Chelsea will be in contention for the Premier League title come the end of the season.
The Stamford Bridge club finished the 2010-11 season in second place, nine points behind The Red Devils, but the Scottish manager feels the fight for top spot could be much closer this term.
“They have tremendous experience with the likes of Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, John Terry, Alex, Nicolas Anelka, Fernando Torres – there aren’t any young kids in that team,” Ferguson told Inside United.
Chelsea have received criticism that their team is ageing, but the United coach feels that this will benefit rather than hinder the London club.
“But they don’t have 36-or 37-year-olds like Ryan Giggs. Lampard and Drogba are 33, Anelka is 32 – not dissimilar to [Michael] Carrick and Rio Ferdinand, and we wouldn’t be saying they are dead and buried, would we? So why should they be? They’ll still be a big threat and we expect them to challenge,” he continued.
Chelsea have a new man in charge in the form of Andre Villas Boas, and although admitting that he doesn’t know too much about the new man in the Stamford Bridge hot seat, Fergie thinks the 33-year-old can succeed.
“He has a different set-up there to me, but I’m sure he’ll get plenty of advice from others and he’ll do fine. I don’t know much about him.
“He’s a young man and it’s a big step coming into the Premier League from the Portuguese championship, but given time and support anything is possible,” he concluded.
Manchester United and Chelsea meet later this month, with the pair going head-to-head at Old Trafford on September 18th.
