Sport

Ferguson says Chelsea have only themselves to blame

ALEX FERGUSON has set his sights on capitalising on Chelsea’s slump after suggesting they have only themselves to blame because…

DANIEL TAYLOR
Thu Dec 16 2010 - 00:00

ALEX FERGUSON has set his sights on capitalising on Chelsea’s slump after suggesting they have only themselves to blame because of their transfer business and the departure of experienced players.

The Manchester United manager believes the Premier League champions left themselves vulnerable after selling Ricardo Carvalho and Deco, as well as releasing Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti, and bringing in only Ramires and Yossi Benayoun.

United, who have set a club record of being unbeaten in their first 16 league matches, have taken advantage of Chelsea’s run of only one win in their past seven games to move three points clear of Carlo Ancelotti’s team at the top of the table, with a game in hand, going into Sunday’s meeting at Stamford Bridge. said: “They have been replacing these players with younger ones such as Sturridge and the young boy McEachran. So maybe that’s why their results have been erratic. Their plan was always to start introducing younger players and I think that’s a good thing but it can backfire if you get injuries.”

Chelsea have slipped to fourth, having been without Frank Lampard for almost all of the season, lost John Terry for various games because of injury problems, and had to wait for Didier Drogba to recover from malaria.

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United have also had considerable injury problems but Ferguson believes he is benefiting from having a larger squad. Eighteen different players have scored for United this season and Ferguson added: “You need big squads these days because the number of matches and the intensity of matches does produce injuries. There’s no question that having a big squad helps.”

Ferguson believes his side have the edge in terms of experience.

“We’ve got good players and they have all had big-game experience for years now. It’s not as if it is new to them. Their experience is very important and the desire is still there with this club.”

Yet United have not won at Stamford Bridge since April 2002.

“We used to have a terrific record at Chelsea . . . but it’s a big game for us and we’ll be ready for it,” Ferguson said.

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