SOCCER:TOTTENHAM MANAGER Harry Redknapp believes there is no chance Manchester United will emulate Arsenal's "Invincibles" and go through the English Premier League season unbeaten.
United went back to the top of the table and kept their unbeaten league record intact following a goalless draw against Tottenham at White Hart Lane yesterday in which United full-back Rafael was sent off.
But after a match of few clear-cut chances, Redknapp said: “I couldn’t say they (United) are on another level and are going to walk away with the title. I can’t see them going the year unbeaten. There are lots of teams who could beat them on any given day.
“You can’t be as good a team as you were a year or two ago when you had (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Carlos)Tevez.
“I think other teams have improved and got closer to them, but at the moment they are still top of the pile after losing players like that.”
Redknapp admitted Rafael’s sending off, for a foul on Benoit Assou-Ekotto in the second half after receiving a yellow in the first, was harsh.
“He’s just run in and clipped his heels. He hasn’t stuck his leg out. It was Mary Decker and Zola Budd, wasn’t it? What can you do about that? He hasn’t broken his stride.”
Alex Ferguson, however, refused to comment on the sending off by referee Mike Dean.
“I’m not going to discuss it,” Ferguson said. “It’s not worth discussing because everyone can see that. It’s out of my bounds.”
The United manager preferred to concentrate on the form of his defence which was back to its best with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic back in harness.
“We defended very well, they never gave us any trouble with their attacking. We had one or two good opportunities at times when we got to the last third of the field but we just didn’t quite have the cutting edge.
“The kind of pressure we were under was just long balls into the box really. With Ferdinand and Vidic as your centre-backs you know you can cope with that. They were fantastic. The whole back four did really, really well.
“We showed good possession but were also careless in possession at times.
“In the context of Tottenham’s home record this season and the performances they have given, we have got to take it as a good point for us. It’s about winning games and keeping your nerve and today, defensively, we kept our nerve.”
Everton manager David Moyes said they had accepted an offer from Chelsea for Steven Pienaar but the South Africa midfielder had still to agree terms with the London club.
Pienaar, who is out of contract at the end of the season and also the subject of a bid by Tottenham, asked to be left out of the team for yesterday’s 2-2 draw at Liverpool.
