Ex-Man U manager Sir Alex Ferguson: Club needed 'big injection' signings
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson says the squad needed the "big injection" of players they signed after a disappointing finish to last year's Premier League season.
Ferguson retired at the end of the 2012-13 campaign, and his successor David Moyes was canned in April after less than 10 months on the job as United struggled to a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.
United replaced Moyes with Louis van Gaal, who signed a three-year contract.
United went on a spending spree at the start of the new season, bringing in $238 million worth of new players, including signing former Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria for a record fee of $95 million, shattering the previous record a British club has paid for a transfer.
"It was really important because you need quality at Manchester United, you need the best players," Ferguson said to MUTV, according to the BBC. "That's the way the game is going today with fees likes £85m for Gareth Bale. When you can identify ability like that needed by Manchester United, they have the resources to do that.”
This season, Manchester United is fourth in the Premier League with 11 points after seven matches. United is eight points behind Chelsea entering Monday's match against West Brom.
Ferguson, who won 13 Premier League and two UEFA Champions League titles in his 26 years at United, was asked to assess van Gaal’s start to the season.
"Maybe he's doing the right thing to clear the decks and build his own team, because he's got the experience and coaching ability to do that,” Ferguson said. "I think the way he's approached [it] is brilliant."
- Scooby Axson
