SOCCER:AS MANCHESTER United prepare to try to break their club record for an unbeaten run, Alex Ferguson has said he believes that 84 points will be enough for a record 19th league title.
Should United avoid losing at Wolverhampton Wanderers this evening, they will take their sequence of league games without defeat past the 29 achieved by another of Ferguson’s sides, between December 1998 and October 1999. That was the Treble side and they won the Premier League with 79 points, although Ferguson reckons that five more will be required this time.
“It is about getting enough points to get over that line,” the United manager said.
“I think 84 points would definitely win it. I am almost sure of that, so we have 30 to find.”
Only once in the past nine seasons would 84 points have been enough to secure the Premier League – that was when United took their seventh title under Ferguson in 2003, with 83 points.
The Scot argues that the advent of Jose Mourinho transformed the competition from the cliched “marathon” to what Mourinho called “a long-distance sprint”.
This season, however, results have been more volatile. Consistency, Ferguson said, was now the key for a side whose last league defeat was in April last year when Chelsea all but won the title at Old Trafford.
“It has been very good in the last couple of months,” he said. “That’s the thing that gives them the extra yard or the extra sense of belief in situations we have found ourselves in over the last couple of weeks. They trust each other and they look around the dressingroom and see some good pros there.
“They see professionals who have been round the course many times before and we are going to need that in the run-in. We have some interesting games towards the end of the season and we have a little lead that can vanish overnight. Our job is to retain the consistency and relish what we are going to experience.
“The character of this team has been well established . . . They know there are some games where you have to find a solution. That has always been important to the club; it is recognised we never give in. It’s a great quality and I think their perseverance has got better as they have got older.”
Manchester United plan a testimonial for Gary Neville to mark his retirement after 602 games for the club. Ferguson will offer him a coaching or ambassadorial position.
Elsewhere, Niall Quinn has said he “despises” fans who choose to watch Sunderland’s 3pm Saturday kick-offs on pub televisions while listening to “some overseas commentator” describing the action.
Sunderland’s chairman was reacting to the legal opinion delivered by an advocate of the European court of justice on Thursday that the sale of exclusive rights to televise football on a country by country basis was contrary to the principle of the European single market.
“The illegal showing of Saturday 3pm fixtures involving Sunderland has an extremely detrimental effect on our attendances,” said Quinn, who added: “I would never criticise anyone who doesn’t come to the stadium because of financial constraint but I despise those who spend far more than the price of a ticket watching some overseas commentator describing the action.”
