Sir Alex Ferguson has set his Manchester United strike force a target of 100 goals this season as the Premier League champions adjust to life without Cristiano Ronaldo.
United scored 99 times last season with the Portuguese attacker, sold for £80m to Real Madrid at the start of the summer, contributing 26 of those strikes.
Ferguson says the club will have to change tactics and he wants his midfielders and defenders to contribute to the tally. "Obviously Cristiano is a big loss in terms of the goals he gave us," he said. "But we will just have to find the goals from somewhere else and our tactics will adjust accordingly. Fans will see us playing a slightly different style of football this season.
"Usually you look to score about 100 goals in all competitions, so we are aiming for that again. If we are going to win the league again or do well in Europe we certainly need players to step up.
"Going back a few years, we could always guarantee goals from Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, who always pitched in with about 10 a season.
"Those goals from midfield have dried up a little in recent years, so we have to address that. I will be looking to [Ji-Sung] Park, Nani, [new sigining Luis Antonio] Valencia – even [Danny] Welbeck and [Federico] Macheda – to contribute 40 goals between them. The defenders will contribute a few from set-pieces, too."
Ferguson added in an interview with Inside United magazine: "Wayne Rooney's capable of scoring 18 or more a season and Michael Owen can get us 15 goals."
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