‘Expect Alex Ferguson to play his strongest team when United go to Middlesbrough on Thursday. No room for sentiments now. Some of the players that saw him through the injuries to Roy Keane and David Beckham will have to make way to ensure United do not drop any more points over this Christmas period.’
Hansen is ready to start taking Chelsea’s title challenge seriously:
‘It will have to happen sooner or later. Those cynics, like me, who refuse to believe in the possibility of a first Chelsea championship since 1955 will have
to start taking Claudio Ranieri's team seriously.They have had a team capable of winning the Premiership during the last 10 years but they have rarely looked so strong in the middle of the park. Now they have to prove they have the endurance and spirit to stay in touch with Arsenal in the new year.
That's where I still need convincing. In one-off games this lot are a match for most sides, but there has been something ephemeral about the form of even the best Chelsea teams. Ranieri did not change the team at all this summer, apart from the addition of Enrique De Lucas. Perhaps that continuity has made a difference and allowed this group of players to know each other better.’