Boss eyes improvement

United's clutch of burgeoning young talents has Sir Alex Ferguson in confident mood ahead of the new campaign.

Although the likes of Nani and Anderson shone last term alongside the ever-improving Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, the United manager fully expects further improvement from them in the coming months and years.

"I think we’ve got a good team and there’s some development still to come.," he said. "There are some young players who for a period last season did very well, and for a period showed their youthfulness by being inconsistent. Those young players will come on a bundle now.

"That triumph of winning the league and the European Cup can only help us. Players like Anderson, Nani, Rooney and Ronaldo will emerge from that without doubt, and be really top players for us. We’re pleased at their progress."

The betterment of those youngsters will allow Sir Alex to sustain his side's success, although he insists old guards such as Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes still bring plenty to the table, despite being 34 and 33 respectively.

"Giggs still gives us a bit of real quality," said the manager. "He won’t play every game, but if he can give me 25 games of real quality - which he can do because he’s looked after himself and doesn’t carry any weight - then that can still keep us at the forefront in terms of players who can decide matches.

"Anderson and Nani will improve and that’s the reason we bought them; to replace Giggs and Scholes in the long term. Scholes without question will give us another couple of years at the top level. Age-wise we’re good, those are my only two concerns."

Sir Alex knows his side will face stern challenges at home and abroad to retain the Double this season, and he expects the usual suspects of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool to pose the domestic questions.

"I don’t see anyone outside emerging so strongly that they’re going to interrupt that four," he said. "You expect Liverpool to buy players, and Arsenal have shown their hand and bought Nasri and the young boy Ramsey. They (Chelsea) will obviously be up there too, and I expect the same ones."