Alex Ferguson

Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley has said that he is extremely optimistic about having a very good season next year. The 22-year-old midfielder spent most of the season on the injury table after having impressed so spectacularly during the initial few months of the campaign in the absence of Paul Scholes.

His injury, though, led to the comeback of the 37-year-old veteran back from retirement. Scholes will now play for one more year, which is a great boost for him and Manchester United according to Tom Cleverley. It was initially thought that Cleverley would be part of the England squad at the Euro 2012.

However, huge number of injury problems during the entire campaign have meant that he will not be part of the England setup at Ukraine and Poland. There is a good chance that he might be included in the Team GB for the London Olympics 2012. Cleverley has not started a Premier league match since suffering the injury problem in October. However, due to the fact that he has more than 15 years of professional career ahead of him, he is certainly not worried about making an impact in the Manchester United first-team. It is not the first time Cleverley has had to deal with injury problems, as he has suffered many during his loan spells.

“It has been a nightmare at times but I am only 22 and have around 15 years ahead of me yet. I just hope I have got it all over and done with now. There were times during the season when I thought I was the unluckiest footballer in the world. From a great start it became the hardest season of my life but it has made me mentally stronger. here is nothing more exciting in life than to be playing for Manchester United. To have that taken away is very hard to deal with,” said Cleverley.

After a cruel, but exciting finish to the premier league Manchester United finished empty handed as their Manchester rivals lifted the Premier league to deny Ferguson his 20th English league title.

It is inevitable for people to look at where things went wrong and they may be hard pressed to pinpoint the exact problem. Although it would be tempting to blame injuries to the likes of Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher or that a more youthful side lacking experience were United’s undoing, it would not be sufficient answer as at 8 points clear with 6 games remaining, Vidic had been missing all season and the youth of united had been the driving force to their success.

A finger this year may well be pointed at Ferguson himself for the team’s failure. In key games towards the end of the season, most notably the Wigan and City game, Ferguson’s team selection was poor. Taking Ashley young and Antonio Valencia out of the squad to face City was suicidal and the inclusion of Park after 3 months without a start proved to be a weak decision from the red devils manager.

Ferguson has stated that he believes this season will make his side stronger, but surely he must also know the City will also be much stronger. Ferguson was quick to congratulate his neighbours and hinted at United also opening the cheque book to ensure the title next year, with rumours of Eden Hazard and Yohan Cabaye being suggested as possible transfer targets. Bringing in players to strengthen his squad is a necessity especially in central midfield and defence. With Ferguson still hungry to continue at the helm at old Trafford, United will be ready for battle as they look to overcome their rivals next season.

Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Manchester United need to kick on following their impressive 4-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers during the weekend. The 4-1 victory over Wolves went some way into patching up the hard feelings after the Champions League exit.

Manchester United had exited the Champions League group stages only one three times since the inception of the league in 1992. The event into the match against FC Basel needing a win, but lost 2-1, which meant that FC Basel – and not Manchester United – qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League.

Many expected the backlash against Wolves during the weekend and it arrived in the best possible way. Nani scored the opening goal after just 17 min, which helped ease the pressure on the Old Trafford. Manchester United soon doubled their lead in the first half itself through Wayne Rooney, who had previously gone nine games without scoring a goal. Perhaps, he was revitalised following the news that his Euro 2012 ban had been reduced to 2 games from three. However, it would be tough to read into the win over Wolves because Manchester United usually perform well against the teams from the lower half of the table.

“You hope (the win over Wolves puts City under pressure) but the important thing is to have our game right and if we get to New Year’s Day in the frame, we’ve got a great chance in the second half of the season. On Wednesday (in Basel) we worked our socks off and didn’t get a break but against Wolves we worked our socks off and got the breaks. Some of the football was fantastic,” Sir Alex Ferguson said following the impressive win. As a result of this, Manchester United now close the gap with Manchester City to just two points.