Fergie lets players do the talking

During Sir Alex Ferguson’s 22-year managerial reign at Old Trafford he has claimed almost as many victims with his notorious mind games as he has won trophies.

Ferguson simply revels as the pressure of a title race increases and loves nothing more than to see other bosses struggle to cope.

This week it seems Rafael Benitez was the latest to have his feather’s ruffled by the Glaswegian but for all the heated accusations flying about the back pages over the last few days, Ferguson
let his team make the most emphatic statement of all against Chelsea at Old Trafford.

With Liverpool having stumbled to a 0-0 draw with Stoke the previous evening, United seized the title initiative to win 3-0 in a game which will also raise serious questions about the West Londoners’ table-topping ambitions.

In truth United were far from breathtaking but they were solid at the back and clinical up front and managed to make Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side look very ordinary.

A far cry from their free-flowing performances at the start of the campaign which saw Chelsea compared to Scolari’s Brazilian sides, the Blues looked bereft of ideas up front with Didier Drogba woefully out of sorts and were crying out for an attacking wide player in the mould of Arjen Robben.

Chelsea never looked like breaking down United’s solid defence and with the reinvented Ryan Giggs revelling in his role as midfield prompter, the Reds strolled to victory.

There is still a long way to go and there will doubtless be more twists and turns between now and May, but with Ferguson at the helm United are likely to only get stronger as the final run-in approaches.