The enormous TV contract – both for the home market and overseas – negotiated by Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore suggests the appetite for English football remains high despite the apparent predictability around the top end of the table.

And Ferguson believes England can now claim to be top of the pile.

“The Premiership is the best league in the world,” he said. “These things go in cycles. English clubs dominated in the 1980s, the Italians were fantastic in the 1990s and the Spanish in the early 2000s. They had three teams in the semi-final one year, so they were the best in Europe at that point.

“But, gradually, the English clubs have gone above that. The form of Barcelona and Real Madrid this season has not been up to their usual standard anyway, and the English clubs have moved ahead.”

While some pundits continue to argue against the inequality of Premiership life, it is an inescapable fact that last Saturday United were beaten by a Portsmouth side who then went on to lose against Watford on Easter Monday.

The form line may not be much for Hornets boss Adrian Boothroyd to cling to ahead of this evening's FA Cup semi-final, but it is probably a more positive focus for attention than United’s seven-goal rout of Roma on Tuesday.

Having emerged victorious from each of his seven semi-finals in the competition to date, few expect Ferguson’s perfect record to be spoiled at Villa Park.

Yet the Scot, who could be forced to play Patrice Evra at right-back if John O’Shea fails to recover from a calf problem, is not taking anything for granted.

“We are well aware of what can happen in semi-finals,” he said.

“We respect the fact Watford have a good manager. They have an honest bunch of players and they have bit of pace in their team. They are not in the semi-final by accident, but I have never lost a semi-final and hopefully that statistic still exists after the game.”