Park can be Gigg's successor: Fergie
Alex Ferguson believes he has found the eventual successor to Ryan Giggs in new South Korean import Park Ji-Sung.
Despite hitting 31, Giggs has been awarded a two-year contract extension which should allow him to call time on an entire career at Manchester in 2008.
The length of the deal proves what faith Ferguson still has in the Welsh skipper, who has played a part in all eight of United’s Premier League titles and is now the most decorated player in the Old Trafford club’s illustrious history.
But Ferguson is also aware that the ravages of an incredible 15-year career are eventually bound to take their toll on Giggs and, in the ultra-energetic Park, he has found the perfect replacement.
“You have to look at Ryan’s age,” admitted Ferguson, who paid £4m (€5.8m) to PSV Eindhoven for Park, who he watched personally in last season’s Champions League quarter-final triumph over Lyon.
“He has been going up and down that left wing for 15 years. There is no player in the Premier League who has lasted that long, or achieved what he has in that time. We have to view that very importantly.
“In Park, we have signed a very mobile, quick, energetic player who can play on the left and right hand sides, as well as in central midfield.
“But the games where he impressed me most were the ones when he was playing on the left and then come infield, which I find very interesting. We will start him from there to begin with and then see how it develops.”
Park should get his first United outing at Clyde tomorrow as Ferguson looks to get his side into prime shape for their Champions League qualifier on August 10 and the opening-day Premiership trip to Everton three days later.
Having seen Arsenal and Chelsea lose just a single game between them in winning the title over the last two seasons, Ferguson has been forced to abandon his previous policy of tapering his team’s training to ensure they hit peak form around Christmas.
Rather than anticipate a drop in standards, Ferguson is aiming to match them, and believes the first unbeaten campaign United have ever produced may be required to reclaim the championship.
“We have to make sure we are flying right from the first game of the season,” said the Scot, who has won eight Premiership titles in his time at Old Trafford.
“In a lot of seasons in the past we have been behind at Christmas and gone by the leaders by the middle of March.
“But over the last two years, Chelsea and Arsenal have suffered an average of half a defeat a season. The game has changed. It looks as if we are possibly starting the Premier League saying we cannot afford to lose a game.”
Ferguson is likely to be missing three senior stars for his return to Scotland, with Quinton Fortune already ruled out following knee surgery and neither Roy Keane nor Wes Brown expected to make the trip as they battle hamstring and Achilles injuries respectively.
The United boss has not yet given up hope of Keane and Brown joining the Far East tour party next week, although the odds appear to be against both recovering in time.
While their absences from such a significant portion of the summer programme would be a blow, of infinitely more importance to Ferguson will be the form of his £60m (€87.2m) strikeforce, which let him down so badly last season.
Ferguson is honest enough to admit all the goalscoring problems which affected his side throughout the season came to a cruel conclusion during the FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal, a game the Red Devils dominated almost completely without being able to find the net.
“What happened in the cup final was not an accident,” he said. “It had been happening all season.
“There is a greater responsibility on players to take chances but I am sure it was just a one-off. You cannot dismiss Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s scoring abilities but he had a terribly fragmented season last year because of injuries. The continuity just wasn’t there for him in terms of his injuries.
“We also hope Louis Saha stays fit and when you throw in Wayne Rooney’s fantastic tally, the potential for goals in this side is there without question.
“We are very positive about the new season. What we cannot do is miss chances at the rate we did last year because that was just incredible.”
