Soccer: Ferguson questions where it all went wrong

MANCHESTER - Manchester United's failure to win an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title has left Alex Ferguson questioning whether the squad was strong enough following Cristiano Ronaldo's departure, or if tactical mistakes were made during the season.

United's three-year reign as champions ended today despite beating Stoke 4-0, as Chelsea stayed a point ahead by routing Wigan 8-0.

So all Ferguson has to show for his 24th season in charge is the League Cup - won in March by beating Aston Villa - after losing to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals.

"Did I always make the right team selections with the appropriate tactics? Do we have a strong enough squad?" Ferguson said in a rare moment of introspection. "I have to weigh up whether to move into the transfer market, considering our own youth development and the players we have.

"It's an assessment that has to be set against injuries, bad luck and of course the fact that there is a harder competitive edge in the Premier League these days. It's a tough old league, very unforgiving, and a lot of the teams at the top have lost games they expected to win."

One of the most costly losses for United turned out to be its third match at newly promoted Burnley, which survived just one season in the Premier League.

But Ferguson was still angry today that the team lost 1-0 at Chelsea in November when John Terry headed home from a free kick that the manager disputed.

United managed to finish second despite reinvesting barely a quarter of the 80 million pounds ($165 million) Real Madrid paid for Ronaldo last June, while neighbour Manchester City finished fifth despite splurging more than 200 million pounds.

"I always knew we would miss Cristiano Ronaldo," Ferguson said.

But the 68-year-old Scot ignored the loss of Carlos Tevez, the Argentina striker who defected to Man City last July and went on to score 29 goals.

That was 17 more than record United signing Dimitar Berbatov, with the languid Bulgarian failing to shine in his second season at Old Trafford.

Berbatov had to share second place on United's goalscoring leaderboard with "own-goals."

And the 12th own-goal of the campaign came today, with Stoke's Danny Higginbotham turning the ball into his own net for United's third. Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung scored the rest for the home side.

There was an over-reliance on Wayne Rooney - top scorer with 34 - who thrived in a more central role following Ronaldo's exit but was plagued by injuries toward the end of the season.

"The way Wayne stepped up, not only to fill the gap but to demonstrate that he has taken his game to a new level, has been thrilling," Ferguson said. "Certainly his contribution has been one of the upsides of our year."

Amid the despondency, Ferguson reminded fans to put United's hat-trick of titles in context. When he arrived in 1986, the team hadn't won the title in 20 years - a woeful run that ended in 1993.

"We have to measure the success against the disappointments and, taking everything into account, I think we are on the credit side," Ferguson said. "It's not complacency, just common sense to conclude that we have had a good season that has not been without its rewards. It could have been better, but overall we are finishing in good shape."

Ferguson remains confident that United will next season "be ready and able to challenge for all the top honours," with the signings of Fulham defender Chris Smalling and Mexico striker Javier Hernandez from Chivas already agreed.

But the fans, whose protests against the owning Glazer family have provided the backdrop of the second half of the season, fear that the club's debt of 709 million pounds will neuter Ferguson's ability to compete in the transfer market.

Ferguson conceded in the last offseason that his pursuit of Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema was ended by the cost of signing them.

- AP