Fergie had to scrap his plans to install the prolific Valencia marksman early on when Barcelona snapped him up in May for £34.2m.
Once Villa was scratched off his shopping list, Sir Alex abandoned a big-name pursuit and concentrated on more modest younger imports.
Mexican Javier Hernandez was secured for £8m from Chivas, England Under-21 defender Chris Smalling had already been bought from Fulham for £10m and forward Bebe was picked up for £7.5m from Vitoria de Guimaraes.
The trio added to Fergie’s growing store of young players but the relatively small outlay led to accusations that United’s owners the Glazers had tied his hands in the transfer market.
“We have no financial restrictions. If I hadn’t been confident (about the Champions League bid) we maybe would have done something,” insisted the United manager.
“I looked around at the market and there was only one player I would have brought here. That move was sealed off quite early by the club he went to.
“Also the best thing we can do until the market becomes more sensible is produce young players and buy young players and develop them in the club.
“By doing that we are securing the next eight years easily at Manchester United.
“The stock of young players we have created will stand us in good stead for the years to come now. But I won’t be here in eight years!
“I don’t think we are at the point where we have to go overboard to get the best player in the world. There are enough really top players in the club at the moment.
“There maybe a time in the next couple of years where we have to stretch ourselves particular when Ryan Giggs retires, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville retire.
“We’d need to get really top players in to galvanise the younger players coming through then. That is a possibility.
“But at the moment we have the experience. We have players who have been through the whole gamut of emotions and experiences at this club and to deal with it.”
Ferguson is convinced he has the tools to take on the Euro challenge. United’s quarter-final exit against Bayern Munich was the first time United had not reached the last four since 2006.
Arjen Robben’s tie-clinching volley at Old Trafford for Bayern Munich last April still haunts the United manager.
But missing out on a potential final in Madrid won’t be the spur this campaign.
“I don't know if what happened last season really comes into it,” said the United boss.
“Every season we have a motivation to get to the final. We were disappointed last year. There is no question about that.
“It was quite an unbelievable tie against Bayern Munich. But we have to put it behind us. It is the same squad. We have exactly the same players.
"Hopefully, we just have that little bit more experience in some departments. Our home record over the years has been very good. I hope that continues. Getting the three points would give us a good start.
“Rangers will be organised. There will be no problems with their temperament or their fitness. These are the things you expect of Rangers. It won't be easy.
“We have faced organised teams many times who have a game-plan when they come to Old Trafford. We have to do something about. We always have to. It is the same again tonight.”
Nemanja Vidic is set to keep the captaincy against Rangers having worn the armband for United’s opening four Premier League matches.
Club skipper Gary Neville and previous experienced captains Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs and Edwin van der Sar could be in the Reds XI tonight but the Serbian defender is set to keep a firm grip on the job.
“Gary is still club captain but the situation is I have been looking for someone who is going to be playing consistently every week,” explained Sir Alex.
“The last two or three years, and Gary agrees with me, we have had to pass the baton along the line a few times. We have not had a consistent captain.
“Gary’s injuries have prevented him playing all the time. If he was available all the time he would be the captain. He would have been on Saturday (at Everton).
"But I have to look at the overall picture. “With all due respect to Gary's time at United, he knows and I know, we don't play him every week. I am looking for someone who is going to play every week as part of the criteria to be captain at our club.” Tweet
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we tried to sign Villa? is that an assumption, because there wasnt any direct quote in there but i think i know what you mean and how that conclusion was made...i still think we should have signed a top class midfielder at least. Reason why we didnt just baffles me cuz i would have thought HE(SAF) hasnt got much time on his hands and he would have gone all guns and blazing trying to win that elusive 19th and 4th premiership and champions league respectively. worryingly it looks like we've got to play Scholes in every single game now, cuz if we dont who in the squad at the moment will be the creator in the middle.?
come May, we will find out whether that was a good or a costly decision!
Fergie seems to love buying keepers and Strikers which is strange considering anybody with half a brain knows its the midfield that is poor! Kiko and Hernandez would both outscore Rooney given the same amount of games.
Fergie has at his disposal an excellent group of outfield players, good balance of experience and youth, everything is in place to win the PL and good CL this year again. i do think However the goal keeper situation is a concern. whilst VDS appears to still maintain his fitness and form well, this must surely be his last season at this highest level.
I am sure that Fergie is looking at this, but i just hope when the Jan Transfer Window opens that we sign a keep then and not wait till the end of the season, When all the prices will become inflated.
I think Amos has the size and hopefully the ability to make it, but we have sd that about so many up and coming keepers in the past. only time will tell. Next season will be upon us quickly.
From a logical pointy of veiw, Given is in the class of keeper that is right for this club. His wage demands will mean most clubs will be put off, he will not oust Hart and i think there, you would have player with a point to prove.
Arsenal have shown over the last few years that a sub quality keeper can hold your club back just enough to prevent trophies appearing.
Dont let us down Fergie. .
I still think we are too dependent upon Scholes and Fletcher remaining fit throughout the season - our options in midfield are limited in quality.
I remember not too long ago (think it was last year or the year before) Eric Cantona made similar comments about building up a team of youngsters at united rather than shopping for superstars. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Although I know many of us United fans would love for a superstar or two or three to join the club, I would have to agree with Fergie in his infinite wisdom in building a team for the future rather than shopping for superstars now. The longer the youngsters play together, the better they will gel and prove to be a challenge to play against.
UTID
How can he be???? O'shea, Gibson, Park, Grandad Neville, Carrick, Owen & Hardlyseenhimgreaves. I will the new boys out as they have not had there chance but really are these players that will have PEP and the boys in Barcelona up at night with fear ... not a chance. David Villa was never going to choose United over Barcelona what are United thinking we let players like Ozil & Van de Vart pass for peanuts so lets not bang on about market value sure are neighbours have bought nobodies for huge money but United have a draw that with the right money would have made deals very possible and not at stupid prices like that played for some of are latest signings. This squad is the same that failed in the champions league last year with realistically on Little Pea given chance as long Alex backs him over Owen sorry boss I love United but this squad is not bringing the champions league home this year or anytime soon unless we add more class to that midfield or at least enough class to be able to hold the ball for 90 seconds to see out a win cos what I have seen so far this season we are way off that class and thats sad but true
Fergie says this but if he had the money he'd spend it.
Our scouts will have their hands full trying to find the bargains who will replace Scholes, Giggs, Neville and VdS.
Right back is probably our weakest position, we have 4 players who can play there but no one is good enough.
OH with his pace and crossing ability would be one of the wotld's best RBs if he were fit...
Spin spin spin and more spin. I noticed he was sat next to the odious Alistair Campbell during the Burnley v Preston game. They must have been discussing the merit of spin, and, how to fool the masses.
captain choice no brainer. first name on team sheet,consistent in all type of games,not injury prone,great trainer,clean living, loves the game, united to the core,physically imposing,shown strength of charachter to overcome ignorant doubters,improving, right age,football brain,good communicator,top five in the world in his position, the player moriniho covets, SIR DARREN FLETCHER. would grow with the job and become the overused cliche true legend. head and shoulders the best candidate.
Right now i'm enjoying a relaxing holiday at the moment & looking forward to the next 2 games in the sun before I go back home but i'm tired of all the moaners & whingers!!
In just want to say that being a squad game our squad at present is as good as any in world football right now, we have at least 3 players that can play or cover in any 1 position.
Loads more known young talent than any other team can boast (Arsenal in particular)....all with decent enough game time under their belts.
Raphael, Fabio, Smalling, Evans(being a well experienced one) De Laet, Obertan, Tom Cleverley(on Loan) Gibson, Ando, Javi Hernandez, Welbeck, Mame Diouf, (both on Loan)Macheda. That's a good team in itself!!! Nani valencia rooney all have 8-10 years in them also! Not saying all of the above will grow into world class players but we will no doubt get a half dozen that will help the club to continue to compete very well in the 4 trophies we seek every season....Football is football plain and simple we can't win them all!
Not too mention the youth team will also produce a few more but the are too young to talk about at the moment.
The future is bright ...................................The future is RED!
Who wants overpaid galacticos when we got fledglings that are fans of our beloved club, that's the utd way!!!!
Trust in Sir Alex Ferguson!
SaF says this every year, he has to. I'd ask him 2 questions though...
1) does he think we've progressed since clinging on for dear life against barca at OT in the semi.
2) does he think we've progressed since getting played of the park by Barca in the final, a year later.
We'll always compete in the EPL, & be there or there abouts with luck/injuries etc often playing a major role but winning the CL ????............i
why wait until giggs and scholes retires to replace them. Their replacements should already be in place when they finally hangs up their boots. Fergie tried that when he signed anderson and nani, but none of them looks to be replacing either giggs or scholes. Nani is our new right winger, and therefore more a replacement for ronaldo than giggs, while anderson has not shown anything yet to prove he is capable of being a creative goalscoring midfielder like paul scholes.
So, the need for a new creative midfielder and a left winger is still the same, three years after their "replacements" was bought.
And I agree with ferige, when he says there is no value in the marked, because the players he needs is going to cost at least 25 mill +.
But, he could have gotten them for half of that if he didn't wait for them to blossom in other clubs.
Gareth Bale, the perfect replacement for Giggs, and also a decent cover for evra, would have cost us 5-10 mill if fergie would have gone for him. We all knew his potential, and he couldn't keep losing forever...Now he is the best left winger in the league and old "arry" will never sell him.
Wesley Sneijder was available for 12 million last summer, now he is valued at 35 mill, and will never be sold. Everyone could see he was a world class midfielder in madrid, and his transfer to inter is probably one of the best bargains of the last decade.
I'm afraid Fergie is either deluding himself or senility is setting in. Mourinho would dump half of this squad and half the team that played on Sat. as too old or just not good enough. Looks like we can look forward to another 2 seasons of Scholes/Giggs/Nev/VDS! As for signing Villa, I can only guess what the Glazers would have thought about paying 35m for a 29 year old striker with no re-sale value! Lies and more lies is my guess. Whatever happened to that once great manager who was'nt afraid to give youth a chance and new what a decent midfield was when he saw one?
Avaerage age on the park at Everton was 30+. We used to have a rule of not contracting players over a certain age. That's gone out of the window as SAF can't see any names on the team shette except the ones he's used to. Giggs, Scholes and Neville still can be good but not consistently for a season, other players are injury prone and also getting past it and he doesn;t play the youg 'stars' he has bought, basically because they aren't 'stars' and never will be. If SAF really believes what this article says then I think he's lost the plot.
The squad is indeed fine but all squads can be improved. For us, the areas of concern are obviously the Hargreaves situation and defence. It's just the same as it was last summer. We are in the unfortunate position of having to retain a player who can't or won't play. In defence we need left-sided cover.
Other than that we only really need to spend to get a top notch keeper when van der Sar retires and decide how we want to replace Scholes.
Interest in David Villa just doesnt add up. So many questions about why we would be seriously interested in him. It smacks of an easy shout to me. Qaulity wise of course he is a great player but since it was never even bordering on a possibility then SAF can continue along the same lines. Crazy at present when you look at all the players signed pre Ronaldo. Only Valencia is likely to be a regular this season and he isnt world class.
We're blatantly short in midfield - i know, yawn yawn yawn - but the literal proof of the pudding was O'Shea's appearance/performance on Saturday...
On paper, the squad's fine, it's when you get the squad on the pitch that the problems start...
...Hargreaves couldn't make it to the pitch, Anderson could, but he'd be knackered when he got there, Gibson could make it, but he'd be 10 yards behind anyone else, Cleverley could, if only he was still with us, Carrick would be hopping alongside and could perhaps form a dynamic 3 legged race team with Hargreaves... Giggs can trundle out once a week, but he's not a central midfield player... leaving Scholes and Fletcher to carry the team for the forseeable future... how that can be justified as being good enough is beyond me.
i hope our midfield can stay fit and keep on playing like they want to win ALL matches !
I think in January and the Summer we will see 3/4 quality player's brought in. It would not surprise me if two of them were Bale & Defour.But that's for January and the Summer.
Are we strong enough to challange for the PL & CL this season? YES. We proved that last season in both competitions where a bit of luck with injuries would of seen us win at least 1 of them. Maybe even both.We have all the player's from last season plus
1) The addition of Hernandez & Smalling. And over the course of the season will show what quality they have, and will improve the team and squad.
2) The return to full fitness of Anderson. And if he start's to fulfill his potential could be a massive player for us this season and beyond.
3) Berbatov showing why we payed £30m for him and Nani getting better and better.
Our starting 11 is as good as anyone's in the World and a brilliant 2nd 11.
..............................Van Der Sar......................
Rafael..........Ferdinand..........Vidic..........Evra
......................Fletcher.........Anderson.............
..................................Rooney...........................
Valencia....................Berbatov..................Nani
2nd 11
..................................Kuszackz............................
G.Neville..........Smalling..........Brown..........Fabio
JS Park.............Carrick..........Scholes........Giggs
.......................Hernandez......Macheda................
In reserve:
Amos - Evans - O'Shea - De Laet - Hargreaves? - Gibson - Obertan - Bebe - Owen
On loan:
Cleverley - Welbeck - King - Diouf
It's like groundhog day!
I think the key issue is to resolve the midfield composition where we have numbers but a schizophrenic grouping of unreliable talents in (for various reasons) Anderson, Hargreaves, Carrick, O'Shea and Gibson. Maybe DeLaet can do a job? Scholes and Fletcher need help, IMO. Average teams were finding gaps in our midfield during pre-season and this has continued into the PL.
Also, what are Obertan and Bebe's ceilings; can they ever be top class?
Similarly, who plays on the right and what happens to the runner-up? Valencia or Nani.
Also, how many seasons can VDS survive?
Danny, WILMSLOW = the Sports Editor?
The David Villa deal was never going to happen. However, In the next 2 seasons, I can see, realistically, Defour, Akinfeev, Ninis and Benzema coming in as additions, topped up by some of the current youth/reserves. An outlay of £50-60m in the next 2/3 years is feasible. This would supplement the departures/retirement of Hargreaves, Scholes, Giggs, Owen, Neville, Brown, Carrick, Park, Ferdinand and Van Der Sar. The composition of the squad will not change in a major way, just a few tweaks here and there. You could quite easily see a 2012/13 squad of:
GK: Aknifeev, Kusczak, Amos
Defence: Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Evans, De Laet, Fabio, O Shea
Midfield: Nani, Fletcher, Anderson, Defour, Ninis, Valencia, Bebe, Obertan,
Strikers: Rooney, Berbatov, Benzema, Hernandez, Macheda, Welbeck
This would be supplemented by the under 21s who wont need to be registered
A lot of the names, such as Smalling, Obertan, Bebe, Hernandez, Macheda and Welbeck will have another couple of years expereince. Their development will how important they are in the squad, or if indeed at all.
Experienced campaigners such as Vidic, Evra, O Shea, Fletcher, Berbatov will offer much need support to the squad
Nani, Anderson, Valencia, Rooney, Rafael, Fabio will have years of experince at United behind them and should see them coming up to their peak
New additions will galvanise the squad. Akinfeev could be in goal for the next 10 years. Defour could be the next Bryan Robson. Ninis can be the new Scholes. If Benzema can get his head right, he can be like the Brazilian Ronaldo.
All in all the future looks great....in theory! By the way, great result for Rovers at City at the weekend! Sam got a cheeky call from Sir Alex commisertaing with "only a draw"!!
Just been on the bitter site and found this comment you can tell it is a true bitter the way the post starts with a lower case letter and the rest is all capitals.
jUST TO DIVERSIFY A LITTLE HAVE YOU RED THE SHREK COMMENTS ON THE DARK SIDE FELLOW BLUES. OUR DANNY HAS REALLY GOT THE INBREDS GOIN AND UPSET WITH HIS COMMENTS - NICE ONE DANNY WILMSLOW
Well, it looks like your fellow blues have grassed you up as a bitter Danny. Now get back on the wastelands site where you belong.
You see, this is why all the 'moaners' have been so active recently.
This is pure, utter drivel and spin. We were NEVER intersested
in David Villa. And if we were, why? Don't we have enough strikers?
Not to mention that anyone with half a brain knew that Villa would never leave Spain,
and what we plainly need is midfield cover, compounded by the debacle of
playing poor old John O'Shea in a position so obviously beyond him.
It's not John's fault, he doesn't pick the team.
Scholesy will not play every game this season, and Owen Hargreaves? Injury to Fletch?
Then they 'big up' Tom Cleverly, another no signng excuse, and whoosh - gone.
Why not try to sign anyone else ( if you have the money ) seeing as there
is currently NO faith in the present crop of youngsters.
If there was, surely they would be given a chance?
I have given up on a 'quality' signing to improve the squad.
Aint gonna happen. Contrary to all the spin, there is no money for transfers,
and even less for wages. ( Van der Vaart £8m, Bebe £7.5m )
Stop treating the fans like idiots, trying to brainwash them with spin.
I suppose that the mantra must be:
'If you repeat a lie often enough, people will eventually believe it'.
Don't bet on that.