Ferguson Begins Mind Games, Says Chelsea Have Had Easy Start
Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson said recently that Chelsea had had an easy start to the season, which was why they were top of the Premier League. The Blues are four points clear of the nearest competition with an impressive 23 goals, it is fairly obvious
that Ferguson has resorted to mind games after realizing his sides’ incompetence.
Chelsea continued from where they had left off last season, Ancelotti’s side won their first double last season; the English Premier League and the FA Cup, scoring 103 goals and claiming the golden boot and the golden glove. In their final fixture of the
Premier League at Stamford Bridge, the Blues delivered a 8-0 thrashing to Stoke City, this season they started their campaign with two 6-0 wins over Wigan and West Brom.
Their only defeat in the Premier League came against Manchester City at Eastlands, the Blues were held to a 1-0 loss despite their many efforts. But even then they are League leaders and are favorites to win the Premier League again. In addition to retaining
the League title, Chelsea are expected to finally reach their most desired goal, the coveted Champions League. In their recent success, that is the only trophy the Blues are yet to win.
But Ferguson, whose side are five points behind the Blues, believes that Chelsea are in good form because of having come up against relatively “easier” teams. United suffered a goalless draw at Sunderland last weekend and the Scot believes that his side
is capable of much better performances. He felt that his team could have done much better and went as far as suggesting that they could have maintained a 100 percent record.
Ferguson said while talking to reporters, “No, no, no. Every team is going to drop points - that's inevitable. If you look at Chelsea's start to the season, you'd have expected them to have won all those games, so the position they're in doesn't surprise
me. Meanwhile, we've had tricky trips to Fulham and Everton then played Liverpool at home. Those are difficult matches. Liverpool, Arsenal and ourselves have all played top sides early on. Chelsea's sterner tests are still to come.”
Ferguson blamed his players for their lack of motivation and not being brutal enough to finish off the smaller teams they came up against. He was of course referring to the draw against Fulham, Everton and Bolton – all three fixtures which United could easily
have won. The points lost in these games will cost United in the long run, they are already chasing the title instead of competing for it.
He said, “At Goodison, we had three or four chances at 3-1 to really put the game out of sight, but we were wasteful and ultimately paid the price. We threw away two goals in injury-time. That's unthinkable. That killer instinct just isn't there at the moment
and it's something we need to develop.”
He added, “We haven't had a problem scoring goals. We got three against Liverpool, Everton and West Ham, two away at Fulham, and three in the Community Shield; that suggests we don't have difficulty finding the net.” Ferguson had confidence in his strikers
and believed they were not lacking in the goals department, but felt that the team overall could deliver a better performance.
He finished by saying how it was up to the players to win the title, he said, “What we're not doing, though, is killing teams off. I have no doubt the players have taken these setbacks on board. They suffer just as much - if not more - than the rest of us.
They're the ones throwing the points away and they're the ones who know fine well that they're good enough to win this league.”
Chelsea are a serious threat to United’s title campaign and Ferguson’s side will need to step up their efforts if they hope to overcome the already widening point and goal difference. Chelsea were accused of having only come up against easy teams, but the
Blues beat third place Arsenal 2-0 at the Bridge, the Chelsea hit man Didier Drogba scoring once again. Chelsea are the team to beat this season, and Ferguson’s mind games, sadly, won’t be good enough.
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