English FA PremiershipKevin McCarra examines how Manchester United have transformed themselves after an appalling start to the season
Manchester United dare not brag about being nine points adrift of the Premiership leaders, but the team has needed to transform themselves just to stay afloat. The public at large has forgotten how abject they were in the opening phase of this season. One particular day in the autumn, the side was holed below the waterline and the bid for the title appeared to have gone down with all hands at Fratton Park.
On October 30th, United were meek 2-0 losers. "It's a real kick in the teeth," Alex Ferguson said.
The three points his side had taken off Arsenal in a cacophonous game the previous weekend had been quietly surrendered to Portsmouth. With only four wins from the first 11 fixtures, United had made their worst start to a Premiership season and stood seventh in the table.
It might have been the sharp pain that jabbed the team into life. They are unbeaten in 15 league games since then, and the fact that Chelsea continue to hold a nine-point advantage simply has to be tolerated. No other club in the Premiership has even come close to keeping pace with Jose Mourinho's side over that period.
United would be making a visceral challenge for the title if they had hit upon such form sooner. Ferguson must experience self-reproach as well as regret whenever he thinks of that hobbling start to the programme. He seemed to feel that United could afford it, since those players who had been involved at Euro 2004 were given an extended rest before getting back into training. Mourinho did not spare his men to so great an extent.
Ferguson was so intent on his policy that Paul Scholes and Mikael Silvestre were flown out to join the pre-season tour of the US only when the promoters began to mumble about legal action over the makeshift line-up he was fielding.
The manager believes his players have to be nursed along so that they will glow with energy at the "business end" of the season. As the trophies show, he has often been right, but it could be that Chelsea have made that sort of thinking obsolete.
Ferguson can at least protest that a fast start would have been impossible even if it had been his dearest wish. The team selection for the opening-day defeat at Stamford Bridge was so haphazard that Roy Keane filled in at centre-half. A 3-0 victory over Juventus in 2003 gave rise to a faddish belief that he ought to play in the middle of the defence. Recalling how he kept failing to read the strikers' runs on that Turin night, Keane himself has never agreed, and by the end of the Stamford Bridge game many onlookers had come round to the Irishman's way of thinking.
Injuries were part of United's woe. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney got their first outings of the season on, respectively, September 11th and 28th. There were other types of delay as well.
One fan sums up the welcome menace of Gabriel Heinze by saying that he plays "with a stiletto tucked up his sleeve", but the Argentinian was busy at the Olympics until a gold medal was hung around his neck on August 28th and did not make his United debut for another fortnight. The crowd also had to wait for Rio Ferdinand to be freed from his FA ban and no yellow ribbons were tied round oak trees until September 20th.
And to think that Mourinho is getting tetchy just because Arjen Robben has hurt his foot. Ferguson scarcely knew who he could count on. Paul Scholes' goal against Charlton in November was his first in the Premiership for eight months and he needed it to revive his talent. Ryan Giggs's form, coincidentally or not, was shaken into life only when he became agitated by United's foot-dragging over the duration of a new contract.
More than determination, experience or acumen, Ferguson has had to call on his patience. He has had to wait, and only in the past month or two has everything cohered. The formidable spirit that blazed at Highbury, for example, was the sign of a group becoming used to playing well together on a regular basis.
It is now a serious undertaking to get Keane into shape for an appearance, but the captain is contriving to have his better days when United need him most. He may continue to exercise some influence on the side all the way to an expected retirement next year.
With the squad settled down, Ferguson is beginning to get some benefit from tactics that, in one version or another, he has been tinkering with for the past few years. The fans prefer the gung-ho 4-4-2 of the 1999 treble, but the use of a single striker is at present seeing United score regularly while retaining defensive cover.
It is an outlook designed for Europe. Ferguson's side are readying themselves for their Champions League tie with Milan 11 days from now, and, on present form, they may will prevail.
The domestic prospects are less encouraging. Even if there should be an opportunity tomorrow to make up ground on the leaders, they will have to do so on enemy turf. United go to Manchester City's stadium, where they were beaten 4-1 last year.
They will not agonise over the title while its destination is so far beyond their control. Ferguson can still dream of Champions League glory to blind everyone to Chelsea's exploits in the Premiership.
