Rio confident of title defence

Rio Ferdinand insists United will be fighting tooth and nail to retain the Barclays Premier League title this season.

Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have enjoyed busy summers strengthening their respective squads, but Reds defender Ferdinand is typically unflustered ahead of the new campaign.

"There's no chance of us giving up our title easily," he said. "I had a great end to last season and a great summer. You can't beat that kind of feeling. You can't put it into words and we'll be doing all we can to retain the title. But any year it's hard to win the league."

While United's title rivals are heavily reinforced going into the season, Ferdinand is hopeful the Reds' own new signings can bed in quicker than those elsewhere and give Sir Alex Ferguson's side an early edge.

"The fact other teams have spent a lot of money poses questions," he said. "But will they gel? Will they become better teams? Will it be harder for their manager to cope with loads of players in their squad? Will he be able to juggle things around?

"So it's all ifs and buts, really. We'll know by Christmas which teams have dealt with their new acquisitions well and how everyone is doing.

"We're very experienced in that capacity, so hopefully that will give us the step in front that we want. I don't really care what the likes of Chelsea or anyone else do. I'm happy with what we're doing - that's all I'm concentrating on."

United have enlisted Anderson, Nani and Owen Hargreaves this summer, with Carlos Tevez set to follow, and Ferdinand feels the Reds are in good shape for the new season.
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"The manager's moves in the transfer market have been very good," he said. "Nani and Anderson are very good players with great potential. Hargreaves, as we know, is a great player and will prove a great acquisition as well. It looks good for us - but you always need a bit of luck in terms of injuries."