The Manchester United boss believes that the achievements made by Jose Mourinho cannot be surpassed by new boss Luiz Felipe Scolari.

"Mourinho won the title two years in a row and beat us in the FA Cup final, so there's no one who can improve on his record really," Ferguson said.

"It's hard to see where there's going to be a big improvement with a team that's really very experienced.'Plateau' is maybe not the word, but how can they accelerate beyond what they've done up to now?

"I'm not saying necessarily that they're old because, with the modern-day training methods, you should be playing in your thirties.

"What I am saying is that I don't see outstanding progress in a team that's in their thirties."

Only Chelsea

Essien, who has just extended his stay with the Blues until 2013, has no doubts that his side can make up for last season's misfortune against United.

"For me, only Chelsea. Chelsea is going to win the title," the Ghana midfielder told the Sun.

"We have got a lot of the best players in the world. They are world-class players and it's a privilege for me to work alongside them.

"As you can see in training or during the games, they can always change the games. They have a winning mentality so it's going to be good for us.

"Hopefully this year we will win more trophies. Last year was unlucky for us, these things happen in football but you just have to forget about it."