New Fergie mind games

Sir Alex Ferguson insisted today that he was not jealous of Claudio Ranieri's star-studded squad.

Indeed the United manager admitted ahead of the game he called "a title six-pointer" that Chelsea's embarrassment of riches had its problems.

Ferguson, who is well-versed in football's mind games, knows team selection and unhappy players is Ranieri's biggest problem.

"I think Claudio would admit himself, buying players with an open chequebook is not the easiest job in the world," said Ferguson, who called an early morning press conference before attending the funeral of former United chairman Sir Roland Smith.

"You can't fit them all in. You have to leave good players out to accommodate others. That's the experience he's going through. I've had it myself and I know exactly how he's feeling.

"When we won the treble, I had Teddy Sheringham, Ole Solskjaer, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke up front. I always had to leave two out and you worry about how they would feel - it was important the way you told them.

"Now Claudio has the same problem. For instance, he's got four excellent strikers in Crespo, Mutu, Gudjohnsen and Hasselbaink."

Ferguson added: "In normal circumstances I wouldn't have said you could buy the title. But Chelsea are defying that by their results.