No room for improvement at Chelsea, says Ferguson

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has said Luiz Felipe Scolari's Chelsea squad has already peaked with the new Premier League season less than a month away.

Scolari, 59, has inherited a squad brimming with experienced internationals, but with nine of them 30-years-old or over, including new signing Deco, Ferguson believes there is little room for improvement.

"Maybe they've plateaued in a way. How can they accelerate beyond what they've done up to now when you see the ages they've got?" Ferguson said yesterday.

The average age of United's first-team squad is 25.4 compared to Chelsea's 27.3 and United only have five players over 30.

"I'm not saying necessarily they're (an) old (team) because with the modern-day training methods, you should be playing into your thirties, but I don't see outstanding progress in a team that's in their thirties," Ferguson added.

Other than John Obi Mikel, 21, and Salomon Kalou, 22, Chelsea have no established first-team players under 25, while United have Anderson, Carlos Tevez, Darren Fletcher, Nani, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo within their ranks.