Sir Alex Ferguson, who celebrated his 68th birthday on Thursday,
insists he will never be short of challenges at Manchester United.
The Scot has enjoyed an incredible 23 years in the Old
Trafford hot-seat. Already the most decorated manager Britain has
ever produced, Ferguson shows no sign of losing the drive and
hunger that has kept him at the top of his profession, first with
Aberdeen, then United, for well over 30 years.
Should the Red Devils win the title this season, it would be
his 12th. AC Milan are the most immediate barrier to a third
Champions League trophy. Yet Ferguson can always find new
challenges. On Sunday, United renew hostilities with Roses rivals
Leeds in the FA Cup, a competition the Scot has won five times. But
he can always find new challenges. And after recent
disappointments, the FA Cup is a prime example.
"It is easy at this club," he said. "You have to try and win
everything.
"You know you don't but if you pick up one trophy a season
you have to be happy with that.
"It is such a competitive league and a lot of big clubs are
trying to get the glory themselves and add to their own success of
previous years.
"We have targets, the Premier League and the European Cup are
the two biggest ones, but you would not discount an FA Cup.
"We lost in the last few minutes to Chelsea in the final a
couple of years ago. We also lost on penalties to Arsenal in
Cardiff a couple of years before that.
"Last year we got knocked out by Everton in the semi-final on
penalties with a team of young players who didn't deserve it.
"But it happened and those young players would love to have
that opportunity again."
The ability to continually freshen up his squad, and retain a
healthy number of youngsters, is one of the reasons why Ferguson's
mind remains so active. Although he scoffed at the idea of staying
on for another seven years, insisting all he hopes for at the age
of 75 is his health, judging by his appetite and hunger for
success, Jose Mourinho might be in for a long wait if he really
intends to replace Ferguson one day.
Ferguson has already decided to unleash a strong side on
Leeds, once again declaring an intention to stick with the younger
members of his squad for Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final
first-leg with Manchester City.
Whether he does that remains open to debate given United
fans' desperation to prevent City ending their near 34-year trophy
drought. However, clearly he has plenty of faith in his current
crop of young players, particularly Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, the
twins who finally shared the same Premier League pitch last night
in the five-goal hammering of Wigan.
It would seem Rafael is further forward in his development,
having made 33 appearances compared to Fabio's 10. But Ferguson
rates the pair extremely highly. And though they have one of the
best attacking full-backs in the world to learn from in Patrice
Evra, given their nationality, the United boss does not see much
point in pushing it.
"They are Brazilians," he said. "We have always thought
highly of them both. They are equally good.
"You can't split them, and that goes for their looks as well
because it is impossible to tell them apart.
"If they were playing a match and they didn't have numbers on
their shirts and shorts, you wouldn't know which one was which."
