This is becoming the year of the rant, writes DANIEL TAYLOR, but the United manager was right to feel aggrieved

IT IS a curious war-dance: a little hop, a skip, then a flurry of frantic hand movements, like someone trying to swat away an invisible swarm of bees. You can see it pretty much every time a split-decision goes against Manchester United and the little black puffs of toxic smoke start to come out of Alex Ferguson’s ears as he gets to his feet.

His team, though, take dignity from defeat. They played with a sense of control that made them look the more accomplished side, but there was a sense of injustice, too, and not just because they were convinced that Didier Drogba’s proximity to Edwin van der Sar established him as offside – and, equally, that he had committed a foul in the congested penalty area – when John Terry headed home in the game’s decisive moment.

Ferguson has to be careful that with all this weekly ref-bashing he is not in danger of suffering the yapping dog syndrome that afflicts the likes of Sam Allardyce and Neil Warnock (yap and yap until nobody takes notice) but he did, in fairness, have legitimate issues among his extensive list of complaints.

The free-kick for Chelsea’s goal, he said, should not have been given against Darren Fletcher, who had connected with the ball before Ashley Cole. As well as being offside, Drogba was accused of manhandling Wes Brown when the cross came over.

This is becoming the season of the Ferguson rant.

Blaming the officials is nearly always a cop-out, but on this occasion there was at least some substance to his complaints.

An aggrieved Ferguson could also reflect on the moment, 14 minutes into the game, when Antonio Valencia ran into the penalty area and made to go past Terry, only for the Chelsea captain to grab at his shirt and bump him to the ground.

A few minutes earlier, Wayne Rooney had run clear of a wonky offside trap and was bearing down on goal before being given offside – wrongly.

We will never know whether he would have gone on to score, but United had good reason to be outraged. For all their crisp passing and measured build-up play, this was their best chance of the match, denied to them by a trigger-happy linesman.

Once the arguments have subsided, however, the upshot is that United have now lost three times at a point of the season when the leaves are still dropping from the trees.

They have slipped five points behind Chelsea, and Ferguson’s exasperation will not be soothed by the fact that his team had, at least, looked like champions in every sense but their inability to score.

When United lost 2-0 at Liverpool a fortnight ago the most dispiriting part for Ferguson was that his players did not measure up to the task.

There are boxes that need to be ticked inside the manager’s mind and, first, he wants players who will always want the ball, will never hide and will never be satisfied to be on the fringes. Talent is not enough; a certain mentality is required.

At Anfield, Ferguson did not see enough leadership, enough players who would puff out their chests and demand the ball.

This he got at Stamford Bridge. United dictated the game, their system perplexing their opponents.

The winning goal will continue to be disputed but, when the dust settles, Ferguson may actually reflect this was one of their better performances this season.