Man Utd boss Ferguson happy to hear Gullit rates Van der Sar

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says the return of Edwin van der Sar has seen his team step up a level.

And he welcomed the praise of his Dutchman by Ruud Gullit, telling manutd.com: “There’s no doubt that van der Sar back makes a difference. In Moscow, with the experience of Gary Neville, Rio and Nemanja, that was a good solid back four.

“In the last year there have been a lot of changes at the back because of injuries. But last season we went through that period of not losing any goals.

“Van der Sar kept breaking records – although I’m not sure exactly whose record he beat because I kept hearing about goalkeepers from some Honduran league who’d gone so many more games without conceding!

“Edwin is a fantastic goalkeeper, though.

“It was interesting recently that Ruud Gullit claimed he is the best goalkeeper in the world.

“He got no argument from his fellow panellists, and I think his argument is quite right – just look at Edwin’s record over the years, his composure and organizational ability.

“He does make a difference to us.”