Man Utd boss Ferguson insists English football not on slide

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson insists there's no reason for English football to panic over their European failure.

Ferguson believes that English sides are merely at the bottom of a cycle that sees particular countries dominate in Europe at different times and that the Premier League clubs are not "on the slide".

The United manager said: "First of all, success in Europe can sometimes go in cycles. Spain had a great cycle about 10 years ago when Valencia, Deportivo, Villarreal, Real Madrid and Barcelona were all dominant. There were three of them in the semi-final one year.

"We have had a great cycle in the Premier League for the last eight years with teams getting to the semi-finals and finals. I don't see that subsiding. I think the English teams will still be dominant.

"We have had a bad year this year. We have in particular - I can only judge myself. We are disappointed with how we have done. Arsenal and Chelsea have had disappointing results but both clubs have had injury problems and you can't expect them to get the best results without their best teams.

"It is maybe a little bit disappointing season but to my mind, it is not definite that we are on the slide."