In his programme notes ahead of Manchester United's 2-0 win over Stoke at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson condemned TV pundit Alan Hansen's assessment of his team. Ferguson claimed Hansen had said United had not played well for 18 months.
However the former Liverpool legend denied he had said what Ferguson accused him of.
"What I said was that, over a period of 18 months, they haven't been as good as they have been in the past.
"I have also said that if you take the three teams at the top, Manchester United have consistently played worse than Tottenham and Manchester City.
"But it is to their credit that they are where they are and they will be the team to beat.
"In 1995 I said you can't win anything with kids. In 2012, I never said you can't win anything if you are hopeless." "I really don't know where that has come from," he said. "I never said that at any stage.
