07-09-2009, 06:20 PM
Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has challenged his players to hit 100 goals this season to show they don't need Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese winger, who joined Real Madrid for a world record £80 million this summer, hit 68 goals for United in the last two seasons.
Despite having much of that transfer fee available to spend Ferguson has yet to buy a direct replacement, with Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan and Michael Owen the only newcomers to Old Trafford so far.
But the United boss is confident his side can overcome the loss of the former Sporting Lisbon man by spreading the goals across the team.
He said: "Obviously Cristiano is a big loss in terms of the goals he gave us. But we will just have to find the goals from somewhere else and our tactics will adjust accordingly.
"Usually you look to score about 100 goals in all competitions, so we are aiming for that again.
"I will be looking to Park, Nani, Valencia - even Welbeck and Macheda - to contribute 40 goals between them. The defenders will contribute a few from set-pieces, too."
So that's ten between those midfielders, plus the other midfielders goals, five each for Macheda and Welbeck, and the contribution from the defenders. That means Fergie wants the strikers to score about 60 goals.
The Portuguese winger, who joined Real Madrid for a world record £80 million this summer, hit 68 goals for United in the last two seasons.
Despite having much of that transfer fee available to spend Ferguson has yet to buy a direct replacement, with Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan and Michael Owen the only newcomers to Old Trafford so far.
But the United boss is confident his side can overcome the loss of the former Sporting Lisbon man by spreading the goals across the team.
He said: "Obviously Cristiano is a big loss in terms of the goals he gave us. But we will just have to find the goals from somewhere else and our tactics will adjust accordingly.
"Usually you look to score about 100 goals in all competitions, so we are aiming for that again.
"I will be looking to Park, Nani, Valencia - even Welbeck and Macheda - to contribute 40 goals between them. The defenders will contribute a few from set-pieces, too."
So that's ten between those midfielders, plus the other midfielders goals, five each for Macheda and Welbeck, and the contribution from the defenders. That means Fergie wants the strikers to score about 60 goals.