Why the experience and genius of Sir Alex Ferguson has taken Manchester United to the brink of a record 19th title

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By Greg Stobart at Old Trafford

As he walked towards the tunnel, Sir Alex Ferguson stopped in front of the Stretford End and performed a grandiose bow that prompted the whole of Old Trafford to roar their admiration. This was the moment when Manchester United knew they had knocked Liverpool off their perch.

The 19th league title in this club’s history is all but mathematically secured, with United needing just one point from their final two games, away at Blackburn next Saturday and at home to Blackpool the week after.

“It’s fantastic being the most successful team in the country in terms of championship victories,” reflected an almost disbelieving Sir Alex after the game.

“Are you watching Merseyside?” was the cacophonous chant around the ground as United put a lacklustre, disappointing Chelsea side to the sword with a fitting performance of vibrancy, speed and creativity.

If United have spluttered somewhat at times this season – and they certainly have – here they were at their very best, taking just 36 seconds to establish their superiority as Javier Hernandez raced through and kept his head to sweep the ball home.

The sheer noise around Old Trafford as the Mexican struck his 20th of the season was something to behold. It really did feel like the Theatre of Dreams and, in the first half in particular, United played some football that was out of this world.

Park Ji-Sung seemed to have added the vision of Andres Iniesta to his tireless harrying and hassling; Ryan Giggs defied logic as he pulled the strings in midfield alongside Michael Carrick; Wayne Rooney was able to play with complete creative freedom while Antonio Valencia gave Ashley Cole a restless afternoon with his classic wing play.

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At the end of a season in which no-one seemed to want to win the Premier League title, Manchester United grabbed the nettle and showed both the playing ability and the mental strength to get the job done, despite Chelsea’s late rally to haul in a 15-point deficit.

That this United side will deservedly win the league is down to the genius of Ferguson, who has had to use all of his qualities and draw on all of his experience with a squad that has obvious deficiencies.

Ferguson knows he does not have a particularly strong squad at his disposal, that is why he wants to do some major reconstruction in the summer transfer market to add quality to his team, particularly in midfield, where United have struggled to dominate games this term.

The way Ferguson can handle his squad, how he gets the best out of so many different characters in the squad, makes you fear for the rest of the league if he can invest significantly this summer.

On New Year’s Day, United had won just one league away game and serious questions were being asked about the lack of depth in the squad and the apparent absence of quality in the final third.

But Ferguson is the master of making the best out of the tools at his disposal and United stuttered through – in no small part thanks to some late goals and stunning comebacks – before finally hitting some genuine form in the last two months of the season, when the pressure was on and it really mattered.

The Scot’s ability to utilise his squad was highlighted this week, as a second-string impressed with a thumping victory over Schalke on Wednesday in the Champions League semi-final, allowing the first choice players to be fit and fresh to face Chelsea in a de facto cup final itself.

Old Trafford has been a bona fide fortress, with United dropping just two points at home all season, in a bizarre draw against newly promoted West Brom.

That confidence at home has allowed Ferguson to blood young players as he prepares for a new generation of players to come in. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are an imperious central defensive partnership, the best in the league, but United would not be in such a strong position had Chris Smalling not stepped in with such aplomb when Ferdinand has been injured.

In Javier Hernandez, United have a legitimate claim for the signing of the decade. Not only is the Mexican a sensational finisher, but his razor sharp movement and unrelenting running make him the perfect partner for Rooney to play in a playmaker role. Hernandez cost just £7 million last summer – he must now be worth four or five times that after less than a year in England.

United have not only had to cope with Ferdinand’s injury problems, but also the creaking legs of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar.

Van der Sar will retire at the end of the season and Scholes may follow him – but all three have played absolutely vital roles at various times this season. Giggs, in particular, has been utterly brilliant in central midfield and a pinpoint cross on Sunday for Vidic’s header meant he has got four assists in his last three outings against Chelsea.

Ferguson has managed to get the best out of young and new while re-affirming his powers of persuasion and his mastery of using the media when it suits him by convincing Rooney to sign a new contract after the striker had put in a transfer request in October.

Those felt like dark days for the club as the England striker questioned whether United could challenge for trophies – but as he now says himself: “How wrong was I?”

Ferguson has achieved many great things in his time at United and he will most probably rank the treble triumph of 1999 as his greatest achievement.

But this, when everyone questioned the quality of the side, must surely rank high. Knocking Liverpool off their perch by winning United’s 19th title must surely feel extra-special.

What Ferguson has done this season would be impossible for most managers but the 69-year-old has proved he is still the master. Now he will be keen to open up the gap by winning No.20 – and the United fans will be bowing to him.

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