Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand: It's not a burden being Premier League title favourites

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes the expectation for his side to retain their Premier League trophy will not hinder performances this season.

After helping the club win a record 19th league title, the 32-year-old claims it is inevitable for Sir Alex Ferguson's side to maintain high aspirations.
Ferdinand told the BBC: 'I think it’s just acknowledgement of the season we had before really, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to win it just because you’re favourites. It’s nice to be favourites, but end of the season we’ll see where we finish.
'It’s not a burden at all, I think we relish anything that’s put in front of us. To be honest the pressure comes from within the club; the players, the staff, the manager himself, the fans. We put pressure on ourselves to win things and we’ll be doing the same this year.'
United's season kicked off with an impressive 3-2 victory over title rivals Manchester City in the Community Shield, which saw the Premier League champions come back from a two-goal half-time deficit to secure the win.

'It’s great, it’s what Man United’s all about, I’ve always said over all the years if we’re one or two goals down in a game we’ll beat them and we proved that again on Sunday,' said Ferdinand.

'That will continue hopefully for the rest of the season. Last season one of the reasons we won the league is because of the way we dealt with situations like that and when we’re in those situations most of the time manage to pull it back and regain a point or take all three.'

Tom Cleverley was one who shone in United's Community Shield performance after coming on at half-time and Ferdinand believes the midfielder, who spent last season on loan at Wigan Athletic, has developed into a contender for a regular first-team place.
'Well he’s been here a long time, he came on as part-time when he was youngster and everyone remembers he had a little bit of an injury when he first signed, but he’s grown and matured and he’s gone out on loan, done his apprentice so to speak and has come back a fantastic young player,' said Ferdinand.
'I think everybody knew he had the talent, it’s about realising it and pushing on, but everything everyone’s worrying about, his height, his size and stuff have been knocked on the head and he’s showing people he’s true worth.
'But that’s one game he’s played, he done it on loan last season for Wigan, the manager speaks highly of him, [Roberto] Martinez has spoken many times about him and how good a player he is, his attitude and stuff and if he brings that to Manchester United I’m sure he’ll have a fantastic career.'
Ferdinand has dismissed claims suggesting Cleverley will become a direct replacement for Paul Scholes, who retired at the end of last season, and insists the 22-year-old will become a player who's influential at Old Trafford for his own ability.
'I think if he does [replace Scholes], he’s done well,' said Ferdinand.
'I think Tom is his own player, I’m sure he’d rather be his own player than being the next this or that.
'It’s a huge burden to have on your shoulders to be the next Paul Scholes, but he’s someone who’s got great traits, he sees the game clearly and well as a young player and as a midfielder and he plays the ball forward in a nice way.'
United start their season with a trip to West Brom and Ferdinand believes his side must improve their form on the road to be sure of a successful title defence.

'We had a tough game last year, they’re tough opponents,' said Ferdinand.
'They’ll probably feel a bit hard done by not getting a penalty they feel they should of had that could have changed the game maybe. But again, another situation where we pulled ourselves up from above and at the end we were intent we were going to win it.
'If we can maintain our home form and improve our away form then sure we’ll be amongst the titles again this year that’s what the aim is.
'The numbers don’t really mean much to us, but to be honest just winning would be fantastic.'
: We had a tough game last year, they’re tough opponents. They’ll probably feel a bit hard done by not getting a penalty they feel they should of had that could have changed the game maybe. But again, another situation where we pulled ourselves up from above and at the end we were intent we were going to win it.