Ferguson wants plenty of goals from Owen

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson knows how many goals he wants new signing Michael Owen to score next season — “plenty.”

• Owen moved to the English champions as a free agent after a torrid couple of years at Newcastle United, but Ferguson backed the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker to maintain the same scoring rate he has over his career.
• Owen has already found the net twice in three games on United’s pre-season tour of Asia, which concludes with a match against Hangzhou Greentown Sunday.
• Ferguson was asked at a news conference Saturday how many goals the 29-year-old would score.
• “I hope it’s plenty,” the Scot replied.
• “If you look at his goal-scoring record over the years, even the last two years at Newcastle in difficult times, he’s scored at one in two.
• “He’s easily capable of that level, one in two games, so if he plays 25 games for me next season, I think he’ll get 15 goals.”
• Despite losing Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentine Carlos Tevez from his strike-force in the close season, Ferguson has no shortage of fire-power at his disposal.
• BEST COMBINATION
• Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Federico Macheda all scored in United’s 3-2 win over FC Seoul Friday, and Ferguson said he was still figuring out the best way to use his forward talent.
• “We’ve actually been rotating all the four strikers, because we’re bringing new players like Owen into the team and also there’s young players like Macheda coming through,” he added.
• “We have to find out and understand the best possible combination.”
• With domestic and European rivals such as Manchester City and Real Madrid breaking the bank with big-name signings this close season, Ferguson was asked whether he was feeling more pressure in his 13th year at Old Trafford than in the past.
• “Every year there’s a big expectation, that never changes, our aim is always to be number one and win the major trophies,” he said.
• “In order to maintain that level of success we have to expect challenges from everyone, be it Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa, all the major clubs are always a big challenge to us.
• “We hope they will find it difficult.”
• Ferguson was amazed by the reaction to his team’s arrival in China, where United believe they have 71 million fans.
• Thousands lined the streets outside their hotel to welcome them to Hangzhou Saturday, a frenzied reception that exceeded those received in Malaysia and South Korea, according to members of the squad’s entourage.
• “It never ceases to amaze me the admiration that Manchester United have in the Far East and, we’ve seen today, China in particular,” said Ferguson.