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Man Utd squad stronger than 1999 treble stars - Sir Alex Ferguson

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments457

Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates with his 1999 Treble-winning team

Sir Alex Ferguson reckons Manchester United now have more players capable of fighting for trophies than during their historic 1999 treble-winning campaign.

Once again Ferguson's team are chasing a trio of titles in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

The Scot said of his team's chances: "We have a stronger squad now."

"It's not easy to rotate but it has to be done. The biggest responsibility lies with me to pick the right team. We have a lot of important games."

Ferguson's strategy of rotating players was key to United's success in 1999, when their domestic achievements were capped by an injury-time win over Bayern Munich in the European Cup.

Reflecting on that campaign, Ferguson believes he has more options at his disposal than he did 14 years ago.

"When we went to the [Champions League] final, [Roy] Keane and [Paul] Scholes were suspended but Henning Berg was the only injury," Ferguson added.

"I still had to pull in a player [Jonathan Greening] who had only played once or twice in the first-team.

"He got a medal for being on the bench. That gives you an idea of the strength of the squad.

"It is nice to look back on these things and think how it was done at that particular time.

"But the reality is that we should not get carried away, particularly in the FA Cup when anything can happen. You don't want to be a shock."

Ferguson keeps faith with youngsters

Ferguson used the depth of his current squad during last week's Champions League first-leg 1-1 draw with Real Madrid, opting to leave captain Nemanja Vidic out of his defensive line-up.

Vidic could return for Monday's fifth-round FA Cup tie at home to Reading, but Ferguson is split between focusing on that match and looking to what lies ahead.

"After Monday we have a league game against QPR, then Norwich, before Madrid again," Ferguson added. "Then we'll use the full squad.

"In many people's eyes Monday would be, 'Yes, it's Reading, we have just been to Madrid, it was a great night, Monday will take care of itself.'

"Monday can't take care of itself. We have to take care of that."

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457 comments

  • Comment posted by U14379281, at 10:12 16 Feb 2013

    Stronger squad, yes. Stronger first-team, no.

    The 1999 team could go away to places like Juventus and Barcelona and play wonderful, attacking football. The current lot play more of a counter-attacking game and struggle to dominate matches, even against the smaller teams.

  • Comment posted by la_verita, at 10:12 16 Feb 2013

    The squad might be stronger, but I don't think the best 11 are. Schmeichel, Irwin, Giggs in his prime, Beckham in his prime, Stam in his prime, Sheringham, Solskjaer and, although they were suspended, Keane and Scholes in their prime. We haven't managed to match the strength of that midfield for some time.

  • Comment posted by timwoods, at 11:12 16 Feb 2013

    .... so LFCSuarez - the weakest Man U squad in years leads the Premiership by a record margin, has more points at this juncture than any other side and is still competing in all the major competitions???? I suggest it is you who are full of tosh - just another noise from a jealous Liverpudlian?

  • Comment posted by U15617710, at 11:12 16 Feb 2013

    I am a West Ham supporter through and through, however i am also a football supporter and don't look at football through claret and blue glasses. For me Sir Alex is by far the best high profile football manager in my history. He has so much respect from his players, no matter who they are and works with them in a strict disciplined manner, with no one player being a superstar. Thats why there top!

  • Comment posted by Douglas Lee, at 11:19 16 Feb 2013

    Great Saturday morning entertainment, watching all the Man U-haters working themselves up into a frenzy!

  • Comment posted by U14863523, at 11:16 16 Feb 2013

    @44 what fearing that a sacked Mourinho might take his job? face reality SAF relishes the challenge to drive him on ask Mancini,Wenger,The special one at Chelsea, Benitez,Keegan,Dalglish need I go on.

  • Comment posted by 1878onwards, at 13:25 16 Feb 2013

    The 1999 team was probably Utd's finest 11. However,the squad of today is definitely the stronger. We can field 2 decent teams at any time...not so in 99.

  • Comment posted by fatboyslick, at 12:25 16 Feb 2013

    @114

    He did, with Aberdeen

  • Comment posted by fletch, at 11:38 16 Feb 2013

    a lot of people here need to read more carefully before commenting.

    SAF is saying that the current SQUAD is better than '99, not the first team. Re. the first team, personally, I think that rooney,rvp,chico and wellbeck are better than yorke,cole,ole and teddy. Also the present defence are better if fully fit apart from the RB and goalie.
    The '99 midfield is considerably better.

  • Comment posted by ianfrombristol, at 11:13 16 Feb 2013

    Amongst the usual anti-United rhetoric there are some astute comments posted here. The squad is better, but the 1st 11 don't match up to that of '99. Perhaps if some of the haters on here took some time to read the article rather than just the headline they would realise this is what old Fergie is going on about (plus a bit of 'bigging up')

  • Comment posted by U2235017, at 20:32 16 Feb 2013

    So what have we learned here?
    Well firstly jealousy is a cruel mistress, secondly people seem to have selective memories when it comes to Sir Alex's managerial record & finally some people will come up with any excuse as to why Manchester United are the most successful domestic club in England & whom ever they support are not.
    Nothing new then!

  • Comment posted by Celts, at 22:47 16 Feb 2013

    go prove it and do the treble then

  • Comment posted by U13925041, at 20:31 16 Feb 2013

    @family guy
    Exploitation??? Thats hilarious!!!! No one follows a team unless they WANT to. No one has ever been exploited by a football team. Wonder how you feel about Arsenal charging 62 quid to watch a game. Surely if anything, THAT is exploiting fans. But thn again, they don't HAVE to go. You're just coming up with any poor excuse you can to justify your irrational hate.

  • Comment posted by redshirt7, at 19:25 16 Feb 2013

    285.family guy .......lol 25 years of prima donnas? So thats Rooney and.......Errrr .....
    Intelligent people ...That's you out then....
    Lack of principals? How? He single handedly ruined English football? Oh dear, you have got it bad.
    Sorry mate you are pure comedy...Now go back to wherever you came from. Your boards must really be missing you!

  • Comment posted by Vox Populi, at 16:00 16 Feb 2013

    It's interesting that people say this Utd team aren't as exciting as the 99 team. The 99 side scored 80 goals in the league. This team have 62 already, and just need 18 from 12 games to surpass the 99 league goalscoring. Obviously the treble was won but it does seem that people see the past through rose-tinted goggles. I also think the media have done a lot to criticise and play this team down.

  • Comment posted by bazza83, at 14:29 16 Feb 2013

    People may slate this Utd team and they may not be as good as the '99 squad; but they are still 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League.

  • Comment posted by U13917472, at 13:04 16 Feb 2013

    Headline is nonsense.

    SAF didn't say this team is better than '99, he said this is a better 'squad' than '99. There's no way it's better a first team and I doubt Fergie thinks that either.

  • Comment posted by U4300706, at 14:12 18 Feb 2013

    I believe that the lowest rated comments here actually say the truth - bar a few stars the current squad IS terrible, The fact they are doing so well is due to Ferguson's own amazing ability to win one game at a time with what he has, plus the terrible state of many rivals. In Europe they have not been at their best for several seasons though, which kind of shows up that they have fallen behind

  • Comment posted by Codex, at 08:48 18 Feb 2013

    @ynwa - It's you, along with many others who eagerly jump on the bandwagon, that is UNDERrating Beckham. At his peak he was the best crosser, free kick taker & corner kick taker in the world. He was one of the best passers of the ball, fullstop. His positional sense & workrate were both outstanding & his awareness was on a par with Scholes at his peak. He scored his fair share of goals too

  • Comment posted by U14392349, at 17:40 17 Feb 2013

    For those rating Valencia over Beckham:

    Valencia can't dribble, very one dimensional, just have pace.

    He can never ever score from those free kicks or long range shot. Becks played for three of the biggest clubs. Valencia is in Man Utd, because SAF doesn't have the money to buy anyone like Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez, Frank Ribery, Marco Reus, James Rodriguez.

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