Sir Alex Ferguson has urged his players to justify his claim that he boasts the best squad of his 21 years in charge of Manchester United.

Ferguson pinpoints the double winners of 1994 and the famous treble-winning side of 1999 as his two greatest teams.

Yet he recently proclaimed his present squad to be the strongest yet, thus pouring belief into his players and in the process laying down the gauntlet to United's challengers.

Ferguson, who turns 66 on New Year's Eve, admits his current crop will ultimately be judged by the amount of trophies they win.

The United boss said: "The 1994 side was arguably the best team I've had and if we hadn't had the ruling on the amount of foreigners you could play then we could possibly have won the European Cup then.

"The team was that good. It was powerful, had great personalities and was tough as nails with some real matchwinners.

"The treble-winning 1999 team's achievement are unparalleled and the present squad can go on to great success - but you can only judge a team on what it has achieved."

That the famous 1999 Champions League final win against Bayern Munich remains Ferguson's solitary European Cup glory is a source of gnawing frustration to the Scot.

But he believes the time is right for his blossoming young side to recapture the most prized trophy of all and add to the Nou Camp success and the 4-1 win over Benfica under Sir Matt Busby in 1968.

"I'd love to win it again," admitted Ferguson.

"We've only won it twice and it's ridiculous that this club has only won it twice.

"This club is made for European Cups and we have a chance this year."

The Red Devils boss has also pinpointed Eric Cantona as the player who perhaps did more than any other to kickstart his glorious era at the club.

"Eric came at a very important time," recalled Ferguson.

"We were sort of getting there without actually being able to open the door.

"He was the charismatic figure that this club needed - and he had a great belief that United was his destiny.

"When he came on the pitch, he stuck out his chest and the crowd loved him.

"He changed everything for us and winning the league for the first time opened the door forever."

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