Aging Edwin van der Sar affirms Manchester United's title ambitions
Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has said he wants to make successful bids in the Premier League and in Europe this season.
van der Sar, who joined United in 2005 after spending four successful seasons with Fulham FC, celebrated his 40th birthday on Thursday, 28 October.
Despite his age, the keeper said that he is happy to still be playing professional football, having started his career at Ajax Amsterdam as far back as 1988.
"When I was younger, I thought maybe I would finish in my mid-30's, but that’s a normal time to be thinking about it when you are younger and for players at this level," the Dutchman told The Mirror. "That would have been the obvious time to finish, but
I only came to United late in my career and maybe that’s why I’m still enjoying it."
Rare slip against West Ham
van der Sar, who won four Eredivisie titles with Ajax between 1993 and 1998 as part of a legendary team that included the likes of Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Jari Litmanen and Clarence Seedorf, made an uncharacteristic mistake during United's recent
league game against West Ham United.
The 40-year-old's fumbling of the ball led directly to Somen Tchoyi's equaliser.
The keeper, who despite that rare error is unrivalled between the sticks for United, said his team are desperate to improve on their league performance from last season, during which they finished second.
"We want to get the Premier League title back, that’s for sure. We narrowly missed out last season, although we had loads of injuries and lost too many games. I think that’s the priority. And of course we went out of Europe too early last season, so that
has to be one of the focus points."
United are top of Group C in the Champions League with two victories and one draw so far. In the league, they trail leaders Chelsea by five points and are behind second-placed Arsenal on goal difference.
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