Sir Alex Ferguson excited by Manchester United’s new-look attack
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admits he is excited by the Red Devils' new-look attack this season
Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he is excited by Manchester United’s new-look attack this season.
The 70-year-old completed a £24m deal for Arsenal captain Robin van Persie ahead of the start of the new Premier League campaign, with the Red Devils already having snapped up Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund.
The United manager also has Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernández, Danny Welbeck and Dimitar Berbatov at his disposal at Old Trafford.
Van Persie scored 30 league goals last season, with Rooney trailing the Netehrlands international’s tally by three strikes.
And Ferguson is hoping the extra fire-power at his disposal will propel United towards their 20th top-flight title.
“I am excited myself – I think he [Van Persie] is a very good player and that he brings a maturity to us up front,” Ferguson said.
“His goal record last year will hopefully transmit itself to our goal scoring performances and give us more goal edge.
“Wayne got over 30 [in all competitions] last season and has been improving his goal scoring for the last two or three years. But we need a contribution from all the strikers.
“We know Chicharito [Hernandez] is capable of scoring in different ways from Van Persie and Rooney, and Danny Welbeck is another different type of player.
“It gives us fantastic options and that is the biggest attraction for me.”
Ferguson was without Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Rio Ferdinand and Phil Jones for United’s 1-0 defeat by Everton at Goodison Park on Monday – and the United boss expects the defensive crisis to continue against Fulham.
“You can’t win anything in this league without a squad, there is no doubt about that. You need a full squad,” he added.
“At the moment I think we have maybe 27 or 28 players, but given that four defenders immediately were unavailable for the other night, it tells you what a competitive league it is in terms of the number of games and injuries you can pick up.
“We have a strong squad, we are going to use it and there will be opportunities for all the players to share in that and contribute to whatever we achieve this season.”
