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Every time Alex Ferguson feels someone new has arrived to breathe down his neck as King Manager of the Premier League, he send venom, in tiny bits, flying in that direction. Andre Villas-Boas and Chelsea were his latest target, as Ferguson warned Chelsea fans and alerted them to be concerned about Villas-Boas’ inability to bring in any major signing to Chelsea and rejuvenate the squad, one of the oldest in the league.

As expected, the Portuguese manager, beginning his first season as manager in the English Premier League, didn’t remain silent. Following his teams 4-0 win over the Thailand All-Star, Villas-Boas backed his ‘again yet experienced’ players – These players still have a lot to offer. Just look at the trophies they’ve won…’ He forgot to mention the trophies, or trophy, they haven’t won. The Champions League. They only made the final once, in 2008, and it’s been three years since…

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Still, Villas-Boas couldn’t get around the age issue – We are the second or third oldest team in the Premier League and I must respect the recovery periods of the older players. Lets help him with the numbers – Ashley Cole will turn 31 in December, Frank Lampard is 33 and missed a big chunk of games last season. Yossi Benayoun is 31, Drogba is 33, Florent Malouda 31, Captain John Terry will be 31 in December. Nicolas Anelka is 32. Almost every key and dominant player on this team is in his 30’s.

Chelsea opened last season firing with cylinders, but quickly fell into dangerous quick sand. It had to do with a lot of things – Abramovich showing who’s boss again, firing Ray Wilkins, Carlo Ancelotti’s job safety and also injuries and what looked like overall mental and physical exhaustion. It’ll be a huge challenge for Villas-Boas to avoid the mishaps of last year while attempting to make Fernando Torres that wonderful striker he used to be.

Alex Ferguson? As every year – he’s hungry for everything, including (probably) some rival manager to trade comments with. This might be the beginning of a beatiful feud/friendship.