McCarthy says Chelsea are the best, but Ferguson says "We will catch them!"

The Wolves manager Mick McCarthy is convinced that he is playing the best team in the League tomorrow when his team take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

McCarthy said: “I think they are the strongest team.”

“If they end up being the best team in the Premier League they will not be far away from being one of the winners in Europe.”

So was he impressed with Ancelotti since his arrival?

“I have been impressed, but he wasn’t a rookie manager was he?” he replied.

“He has won the Champions League twice so I am not surprised with what he has done.”

“He has got a good group of players and they look to me like they were under Jose Mourinho when he first arrived.”

“They look a really happy bunch together and there is no tittle-tattle coming out of there anymore.”

But the Man Utd manager Alex Ferguson still believes that the five point gap is easily able to be closed on Chelsea by the end of the year.

“Five points is not insurmountable, that has been shown time and time again in the Premier League, you can come from behind and you can be in front and lose it, as we did in 1997. It is a challenge,” he said.

“I always think if you get to New Year’s Day a point in front or behind, with our experience in big-game situations over the run-in, we have a great chance,” he said.

“Probably the league will start now. You will get some sort of consistency and we won’t be worrying about which players are coming back from international duty, where they have been and arranging flights for them to come back in time.

He added: “We have got them now right through until March. We are delighted with that.”

Again the fiery Scotsman seems to have discounteed Arsenal in his equations. The fact is that he may not have to just catch Chelsea, but Arsenal as well. This could be one of the most exciting seasons for years.