It proved too much even for a Chelsea machine oiled by Roman Abramovich's money and Jose Mourinho's management flair but Sir Alex Ferguson is quite prepared to entertain thoughts of Manchester United winning all four trophies this season.
When the United manager was reminded of comments from Rio Ferdinand that he thought the club should aim for a quadruple, he did not dismiss it as idle pre-season talk. "We have a good squad plus a few decent young players for the League Cup and back-up in the Champions League so we will have a go," he said.
It is likely that one trophy at least will come to Old Trafford - only three times in the past 11 years have Manchester United failed to lift a major piece of silverware. But attempting to win everything, which was so often the downfall of Don Revie's Leeds United, was something Mourinho acknowledged at the culmination of a season in which Chelsea won both domestic cups sandwiched between a European Cup semi-final and second place in the Premiership. Chelsea, Mourinho suggested, might be more selective next time around.
Ferguson has always maintained the Treble of 1999 was unrepeatable and if he has to make a priority this season it would be the Champions League, a competition in which his record has not matched his domestic achievements. There will also be challenges nearer home. Yesterday, the Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, warned that despite spending £40 million already this summer, Rafael Benitez's shopping might not be over.
In an interview with Inside United magazine, Ferguson enthused about the pool of young talent at Old Trafford, stating that there was no possibility of any further loan deals. "My biggest management job in the next campaign will be with the young players," he said. "Jonny Evans, Gerard Pique, Danny Simpson, Chris Eagles, Lee Martin, Frazier Campbell and Giuseppe Rossi.
''That's going to take a lot of handling. They are terrific young players and there's no way we'd even think about letting them go out on loan because they are the future."
The more immediate future is represented by Ferguson's summer buys. Owen Hargreaves is likely to make his United debut at Peterborough on Saturday - the day before the Community Shield encounter with Chelsea. Ferguson has invested plenty of expectation in Nani and Anderson. Though they may not feature immediately in United's front line, Ferguson considers their combined transfer fees of some £30 million is justified by potential.
''We have known about Nani for a long time," he said. "When we signed Cristiano Ronaldo, he was the next player in the Sporting Lisbon set-up we were keeping an eye on. He was playing as a centre-forward for their youth team at the time. However, he can play wide on both sides.
''Anderson is another fantastic talent. He can play centre midfield or in the middle of attack. We have taken a bit of a risk with him because he broke his leg last year but we thought that if he starts the season at Porto it won't be long before everybody wants him, so we decided to do the deal now.
''They'll give us terrific options because Ji Sung Park won't be available until February. We missed his energy in the run-in so the new lads will help fill that void."
When the United manager was reminded of comments from Rio Ferdinand that he thought the club should aim for a quadruple, he did not dismiss it as idle pre-season talk. "We have a good squad plus a few decent young players for the League Cup and back-up in the Champions League so we will have a go," he said.
It is likely that one trophy at least will come to Old Trafford - only three times in the past 11 years have Manchester United failed to lift a major piece of silverware. But attempting to win everything, which was so often the downfall of Don Revie's Leeds United, was something Mourinho acknowledged at the culmination of a season in which Chelsea won both domestic cups sandwiched between a European Cup semi-final and second place in the Premiership. Chelsea, Mourinho suggested, might be more selective next time around.
Ferguson has always maintained the Treble of 1999 was unrepeatable and if he has to make a priority this season it would be the Champions League, a competition in which his record has not matched his domestic achievements. There will also be challenges nearer home. Yesterday, the Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, warned that despite spending £40 million already this summer, Rafael Benitez's shopping might not be over.
In an interview with Inside United magazine, Ferguson enthused about the pool of young talent at Old Trafford, stating that there was no possibility of any further loan deals. "My biggest management job in the next campaign will be with the young players," he said. "Jonny Evans, Gerard Pique, Danny Simpson, Chris Eagles, Lee Martin, Frazier Campbell and Giuseppe Rossi.
''That's going to take a lot of handling. They are terrific young players and there's no way we'd even think about letting them go out on loan because they are the future."
The more immediate future is represented by Ferguson's summer buys. Owen Hargreaves is likely to make his United debut at Peterborough on Saturday - the day before the Community Shield encounter with Chelsea. Ferguson has invested plenty of expectation in Nani and Anderson. Though they may not feature immediately in United's front line, Ferguson considers their combined transfer fees of some £30 million is justified by potential.
''We have known about Nani for a long time," he said. "When we signed Cristiano Ronaldo, he was the next player in the Sporting Lisbon set-up we were keeping an eye on. He was playing as a centre-forward for their youth team at the time. However, he can play wide on both sides.
''Anderson is another fantastic talent. He can play centre midfield or in the middle of attack. We have taken a bit of a risk with him because he broke his leg last year but we thought that if he starts the season at Porto it won't be long before everybody wants him, so we decided to do the deal now.
''They'll give us terrific options because Ji Sung Park won't be available until February. We missed his energy in the run-in so the new lads will help fill that void."
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