When will Sir Alex give it a rest?

Alright, alright, fair enough there are many managers out there who just can't get enough of playing the media and forcing their way into the spotlight but Sir Alex Ferguson is something else.

As Chelsea were taking on Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals in their first pre-season friendly of the Summer, Manchester United manager Sir Alex was firing the first 'psychological shots' of the season towards his new title rival in the shape of Luiz Felipe Scolari hinting that a clever bet would be on United again this year.

What annoys me about this is that we have not heard one single comment from Scolari in the form of anti-United comments since his arrival at Stamford Bridge at the start of the month. There were reports which claimed that the former Portugal manager had told Cristiano Ronaldo that he should move to Real Madrid. These claims were refuted by Scolari as soon as they came out yet perhaps this is the reason that the gas-bag that is Ferguson has decided to come out with his latest comments.

Ferguson may well be still basking in the glory of last seasons triumphs in the Premier League and Champions League and after watching his side beat Orlando Pirates by a solitary goal 1-0 on Tuesday the Scot claimed that it would be a struggle for Chelsea to reclaim the dominance which they enjoyed under Jose Mourinho who appears ready to take Italian football by storm.

In a press conference Ferguson said that Chelsea's squad is ageing and may find it difficult to take their game up to a new level with nine of their first team over the age of 30.

Ferguson said,

"Chelsea are an experienced side and I don't see outstanding progress coming from a team in their 30s", Scolari is yet to make a comment regarding his peers statement.

Ferguson may have welcomed the rivalry with Mourinho which itself was based heavily on what was said in the press but it seems that Scolari is a completely different kettle of fish, in a similar mould to that of his predecessor of Avram Grant.

Grant himself was never roped into commenting on Ferguson's media claims much to the obvious frustration of his United counterpart and through modesty won over many of the neutral fans before his departure following Chelsea's Champions League defeat to United in May.

Scolari may well be cut from a similar cloth of the Israeli coach, in his initial press conference he even claimed that he was 'so-so' as a manager. Those of us who are interested to see how their relationship will develop may well have to wait and see until the Season is in full swing but Ferguson is obviously determined to get under the skin of the Brazilian as soon as he can. He went on to say in his press conference,

"I wouldn't write off Liverpool or Arsenal. It has been understated what Arsenal achieved last season.

"I'm not concerned about Chelsea, I just don't know how far that team has got to go", The mind-games don't appear to have affected the Blues so far as they ran out 4-0 victors over Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals.

Written by John Ford - A Freelance Football Journalist