Sir Alex Ferguson hits out at Manchester United critics

Sir Alex Ferguson has reacted with scorn to suggestions that Manchester United could regain the Premier League title by default. Preparing for their encounter at Tottenham Hotspur, the United manager said it was nonsense to suggest that his side had been handed their advantage because of failures at Chelsea and Arsenal. "You are always going to have a different appraisal of Manchester United to other clubs," said Ferguson, who predicted United would improve over the coming weeks. "But it is good for the players to be reminded that sometimes we have to be perfect. It's a fact of life. We have to keep raising the bar. "Our performances have been wrongly assessed. There have been some away games that have been disappointing but there has not been a single home game that we did not dominate. Not one. "Even the Arsenal game we dominated. We could have scored five against Arsenal, truth be told. In the press you read it was a bad game, a terrible game. Arsenal had one shot at goal against Manchester United. That's the truth of the matter. Our performances at home have been very good." Although they have not lost at White Hart Lane for a decade – and that when they had already won the title – United have won fewer away games this season than Blackburn, Stoke and Blackpool. This is an argument that Ferguson does concede. "Away we have played badly at times," he said. "Sunderland yes, West Brom, yes. We threw four points away at Fulham and Everton." Ferguson was speaking before Manchester City overtook United at the top. Despite looking forward to the next six weeks – "our time of the year" – Ferguson said he would, for the first time in his managerial career, be going to White Hart Lane to face a Tottenham side genuinely capable of winning the championship. He praised the efforts of Harry Redknapp: "He has not won anything yet [at Spurs] but his achievements are beginning to be recognised for what they are. Anyone who serves their time in the way Harry has done deserves to get recognition."