Ferguson fires warning United chief warns over complacency

Manchester United chief Sir Alex Ferguson has warned his squad about getting complacent over their defence of the Premier League title.

The Red Devils have powered their way to a commanding position at the summit of the table in recent weeks, and some bookmakers have even paid out on them winning the title.

They remain four points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool, but have two games in hand on their rivals.

But Ferguson is quick to point to La Liga, where Barcelona have seen their seemingly insurmountable 11-point lead reduced to just four points.

"Barcelona have been playing Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday since January," opined Ferguson.

"They did have an 11-point lead, now it is four and for the first time this season they lost a game after being in front.

"It is a warning, and there are plenty of them, that if you take your foot off the pedal you can get a kick in the teeth."
Squad warning

Ferguson also warned his players that anyone thinking the title was in the bag would soon find themselves sidelined.

"They would have one attempt at being complacent and it would be the last," said Ferguson.

"We have plenty of bodies in the dressing room who would come down on them."

The Scot insists that winning the Premier League is their biggest opportunity to win a 'major trophy'.

"I would be happy if we only won the Premier League from this point," he said. "It is a major trophy.

"I would love to see us winning the UEFA Champions League again. That is my big desire.

"But at this moment the Premier League has to be the best opportunity.

"If we keep our heads straight and focused we have a big chance."
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Rafael blow for United United youngster suffers injury blow ahead of Carling Cup final

Manchester United defender Rafael Da Silva has been ruled out for a month with an ankle injury.

The 18-year-old did not travel with the United squad for their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie with Inter Milan after picking up the knock against Blackburn last Saturday.

The ankle problem comes after the full-back only recently returned after nearly three weeks out with a hamstring injury picked up at the end of January.

The injury could not have come at a worse time for the Brazilian with the Carling Cup final just days away. However Rafael's absence could have opened the door for twin brother Fabio to step in for the Spurs clash.

With United already low on numbers at the back with Gary Neville and Wes Brown unable to stay fit this season manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be hoping his charge can recover quickly.

The youngster has been the revelation of the season at Old Trafford in a campaign that has seen him feature 21 times in all competitions.
Disappointed

Ferguson was understandably disappointed with the news but revealed that Rafael was in fact his only injury concern going into Sunday's final.

"Rafael is out for a month with a slight hairline fracture of his ankle," Ferguson told Sky Sports News.

"It's a blow for the kid because he's been playing in all the games and he's done so well. He deserves to be in the final.

"Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck will both play and deserve to play, Jonny Evans has hopefully recovered from Tuesday's match. He was feeling his injury towards the end of the game. Like Rafael he deserves to play in the final.

"Other than that everyone's fit. Gary Neville's in the squad, he's been training well for about a week and will travel with us.

"Anderson played 45 minutes in the reserves last night and he'll travel down with us.

"I have got to wedge in all the players who all of sudden are desperate to play in the final.

"So we will have to wedge them in which is going to be hard."
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Tevez - We can win the lot United striker confident side can sweep all before them

Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez believes his side are capable of winning a record-breaking five trophies this season.

Normally such a claim from one of Sir Alex Ferguson's players is banished until May when Premier League titles and UEFA Champions League finals are decided but the 24-year-old is in confident mood.

Although the Argentina international has seemingly fallen behind fellow strikers Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov in the Old Trafford pecking order he is likely to start in the Carling Cup final against Tottenham on Sunday.

The former Boca Juniors ace has played in all five of United's games in the competition this season, scoring six goals, and he is determined to add to his trophy haul with the Red Devils.

"We can win every trophy we compete for, you can be sure of that," he told the Daily Express.

"It is very possible we will end up with five trophies. We are not the world champions for nothing.

"We have not proved we are the best team in the world for nothing. We now have a squad that is strong enough to be in contention for every trophy.

"The best part of the season is coming up. We're in the last 16 of the Champions League, we are top of the Premier League, we're in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and we're in the Carling Cup final."

Despite securing his status as a fans' favourite at the club since arriving from West Ham in summer 2007 Tevez's long-term future still remains uncertain.
Special atmosphere

But the tireless frontman has made it clear as to where he wants to be next season.

"From the moment I set foot on the Old Trafford pitch even though I was wearing a West Ham shirt it had a special atmosphere," he added.

"It is the kind of atmosphere that inspires you, the kind of atmosphere I can thrive on. It is very similar kind of feeling to the Bombanera (Boca's stadium).

"The fans have the same passion as they worship the blue and yellow of Boca, the same way they do here with the red of Manchester United.

"That is what was so inspiring playing for Boca and it is the same in Manchester."

However Tevez's representative Kia Joorabchian was seen at the Bernabeu for Wednesday's match against Liverpool where he was said to have had dinner with Real Madrid sporting director Pedrag Mijatovic.

Rumours involving Real and Tevez have been commonplace ever since the Argentinean lost his first-team place at United and Joorabchian played down the meeting.

"I was in Madrid watching Javier Mascherano playing for Liverpool as I watch many matches involving players I know," he told the Daily Star.

"Pedrag Mijatovic is a friend of mine and we enjoyed a dinner, along with other friends, after the game. It was nothing more than a dinner with a friend."
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Premier: The United are just short, but ... (2-1) ... We ended the streak imbatibilidad. The team at Old Trafford over Blackburn Rovers with both Wayn

Manchester United-Blackburn Rovers (2-1).

The United took a lime and sand in the clash against Rovers. On the one hand, extended his streak of nine consecutive wins and was ranked eight points Liverpool escort. But the bad news is that they cut the 14 duels seguidilla andalusia thread imbatibilidad and Edwin van der Sar, who did not play, got the urge to beat a new record.

The Devil team suffered more than expected to a team that appeared to be too weak. Although the advantage is achieved in the first minutes, the homeowner was neglected in a game and had to make too much effort to recover the difference.

The first star of the evening was Wayne Rooney, who returned to the title after recovering from thigh injury in his right leg. British striker needed just a few minutes to acclimatize, because before they reached the first half hour and had scored the initial goal by a good shot in the large area.

However, when it reached 32 minutes, the Paraguayan Roque Santa Cruz was responsible for nullifying any attempt to record imbatibilidad. The striker received a pass at the entrance to the area and then spread to Rio Ferdinand and goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak a restless, defined by the empty goal. Complaints from the staff of United were well and insecure guardameta became apparent.

Still, United was able to recover the advantage only in the second part through a technical brilliance of the winner of the last Golden Ball Cristiano Ronaldo had a shot from the left missing. Then, when all present imagined that it would send the center to the area, launched a violent shooting andalusia stick farther and unleashed euphoria around the Old Trafford.

The following 30 minutes, until the end of the game saw as Ferguson rotated to the template, to care, whereas in the field of play just risked. The closeness of the duel before the Inter was already present even before the end of the duel with Blackburn.

New victory for the great leader of the Premier, which is cut only at the top and becoming more entrenched competition. But it was the only one who had Edwin van der Sar.
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