No let-up for Rio Ferdinand
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Rio Ferdinand claims Manchester United face 11 cup finals in their bid to retain the Premier League title.
United made it 22 points from the last 24 on offer with a 3-1 victory at White Hart Lane on Sunday, their toughest fixture on paper until their April 30 showdown with Manchester City, who have a two-point cushion at the top of the table.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men appear to have the easier build-up to what could well be a title decider at the Etihad Stadium but defender Ferdinand was taking nothing for granted.
“All we have ever said is to keep putting points on the board,” he said.
“Our last two away games have shown the professionalism in the camp and that has been fantastic. We have to continue that.
“We have big games coming up. Each game will be like a cup final. I know that’s a cliche but it’s true.”
City have been unable to shake United off and know they may have to keep picking up maximum points to avoid being overtaken by their arch-rivals in the coming weeks.
Ferdinand added: “We have just got to keep winning games. If we do that, we will put pressure on the other teams.
“It is about keeping our own house in order and making sure we remain resilient and keep putting points on the board.”
Resilience is something United have shown in abundance to win their last two games, scoring a stoppage-time winner at Norwich before producing a classic smash-and-grab victory on Sunday.
“It was a huge win for us because this was one of the games people probably expected us to drop points in,” Ferdinand said.
“It is tough stadium to play at and Spurs are a very good team now, so we had to come and produce a good performance. I thought our performance was very professional.
“At half-time, the manager told us to go out and play a bit better than we had done in the first half because we hadn’t really played at all.
“It was more or less a backs-to-the-wall display in the first half but we nicked a goal before half-time and set ourselves up for the second half.”
That second period witnessed two sublime finishes from Ashley Young, who is back in the sort of sensational form that was the hallmark of his start to life at Old Trafford.
Ferdinand said: “It is fantastic to see Ashley Young back. He has been injured and it takes you a couple of games to get back into the groove.
“Before his injury, he was flying and now it looks like he is back into form.
“It wasn’t just his goals, it was his all-round work ethic. He was helping Patrice (Evra). He was doubling up and helping and, when you have a dangerous player like Aaron Lennon, that is great.”
Ferdinand was not far behind in the man-of-the-match stakes as he, Jonny Evans and a rejuvenated David De Gea continued to make light of Nemanja Vidic’s season-ending injury.
He said: “When they play two big lads like (Emmanuel Adebayor and Louis Saha), you have to make sure you defend right to come away with anything. Jonny played really well again and the whole team defended well.
“David De Gea is making good strides in goal. He is learning. He wants to be a better keeper and that is vital in a young player.”
United won the title last year despite struggling away from home but, ominously for City, they have already doubled their tally this season with 10 victories on the road.
Ferdinand joked: “The secret is doing the opposite to last season!
“Last season, I don’t know what it was. It could have been complacency, expecting to win games, rather than at the moment where we are being very professional.
“We are making ourselves hard to beat and we have players on the break who can beat anybody.”
