Although United have had their problems this season, slipping to that stunning 6-1 home defeat to Manchester City and being held to Champions League draws on home soil by Basle and Benfica which have put their last 16 place at risk, those issues are nothing compared to those being experienced by Andre Villas-Boas at Stamford Bridge. Wednesday's last-gasp defeat at Bayer Leverkusen means Chelsea have won just two of their last seven games, slipping 12 points behind City in the Premier League title face and facing a do-or-die confrontation with Valencia in a fortnight when even a score draw would send them tumbling into the Europa League. Given the past experiences of more successful managers, there are already some who feel Villas-Boas is living on borrowed time. But Ferguson is not willing to dismiss Chelsea's challenge just yet. Asked if Chelsea were out of the race, Ferguson said: "No. I would never dismiss Chelsea because the progress they have made in the last decade is there for everybody to see. "They have won three titles, they have won the FA Cup a few times. They are bang in there in the European competitions. They have reached semi-finals and a final. "That experience will help them to come out of this bad spell." Ferguson does not even liken it to his own experience, when, for three seasons from 2004 he was forced into a major rebuilding programme, sparked by the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, which resulted in the club regaining their former pre-eminence after three successive years when they failed to finish top. "I don't know what their rebuilding programme is like in terms of the young players," he said. "But if you take the case of Arsenal, they were written off. "Arsene Wenger was getting terrible criticism. Now everyone is saying they have a chance to win the league again. That is what football does. "There is inconsistency from everyone at some point in the season. Everyone drops points. "My aim is to make sure we don't drop more than the rest."
