Sir Alex Ferguson used his press conference on Monday to heap more
praise on his title-winning team and ponder additions to it in the
summer.
"This title is the team's greatest achievement to date simply
because it's a relatively new team and really it's their first
attempt at winning a title together," said Sir Alex.
"That's why we're all encouraged, I think this team will get
better."
As for the prospect of players being added to the champions in the
summer, Sir Alex said: "We have outlined three targets (ourselves)
and David Gill is aware of them.
"We identify players as quietly as we can so we can do things
quickly, because when there is competition, it costs. Chelsea paid
£27m for Michael Essien. They can outbid us all."
Transfer targets like Essien, Arjen Robben and one or two others
may have ended up in London rather than Manchester but Sir Alex
still made some key signings in the four years between his eighth
and ninth Premiership titles. And many of these additions were at
the forefront on his mind on Monday as he reflected on the fruits
of his team-building.
"We had a good foundation (from 2003) in players like Giggs,
Scholes, Neville, Solskjaer and Ferdinand. Then we brought some new
players in like Heinze, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Rooney and Ronaldo,
Park... they gave us a far more balanced and powerful squad.
"Vidic (for example) has been the best centre-half in the country
this season. He's been absolutely outstanding. You could see the
difference his partnership with Rio Ferdinand made to us on
Saturday against Manchester City. It was absolutely peerless, a
fantastic performance by both of them.
"That foundation of strength in the central defensive position is
something we've been wanting for a long time, going back to
Pallister and Bruce. We've had some good combinations but none
lasted as long as hopefully these two will do."
Sir Alex was asked about his chances of monopolising the
Premiership title, just as he did in 1993-94, 1996-97 and
1999-01.
"For us to dominate the league again will be a difficult task," he
replied.
"I expect Arsenal, Liverpool and obviously Chelsea to add to their
squads in the summer. I thought the signings of Shevchenko and
Ballack were really designed to win Chelsea the European Cup but
they were, in fact, involved on all four fronts until almost the
very end.
"It tells you a lot about their strength in depth, and how
difficult it will be for us next year."