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Sir Alex Ferguson on the Europa League – should Manchester United listen to his advice?
Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken to to reveal that he believes that the club should go all out in their attempts to win the Europa League this season, with an upcoming quarter-final tie against Anderlecht which could put them into the final four. Ferguson said:
“The thing is, we’ve never won the Europa League. We’ve never won UEFA Cup, what it used to be. And we’ve got a great draw. I’m not saying it’s a certainty, but they’ve got a great chance. It gets you into the Champions League, too — it didn’t used to but it does now, and so that’s a great incentive. If you win a trophy, it’s important.”
“It’s a European trophy. It doesn’t matter that it’s not the Champions League — it’s still a European trophy. And if you win it, you get into the Champions League. The incentive is greater to do that. And your CV gets bigger. If we won the Europa League? Fantastic. Add it to the European Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup, the Champions League — It’s bigger and bigger.”
“We also want to be the most successful club in England.”
But Jose Mourinho may not agree and with the fixtures coming thick and fast, he may need to decide quickly on what his priority is in the coming weeks with it highly likely that the club’s fortunes will look markedly different come the end of April.
Why should the Europa League be the priority?
Whilst trophies should be more of a motivation, it seems likely that the Champions League place on offer to the winners of the competition may be what really catches the eye of the most influential figures at Old Trafford. Now into the last eight, there is a realistic shot of victory and given the financial resources and squad strength available to Mourinho, the Red Devils must be the favourites.
Why should the Premier League be the priority?
With the club climbing above sixth place for the first time since October last weekend, and with a potential top four finish now in their own hands, the safer option would be to gamble on the domestic league. A top four finish would show great intent to any potential summer signings and would surely have been the very least expected of Mourinho after a summer of big spending.
It seems as though the Europa League could be worth a gamble, but it would be exactly that. Liverpool made the European competition their priority last season, resting key figures in the Premier League, but lost out to Sevilla in the final and such a defeat in the final stages could prove disastrous for United if they have already thrown away any chance of a top four finish. Results in the three league fixtures before meeting Anderlecht could prove decisive with Mourinho likely to be in a better position to judge whether or not the club can make the top four.
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