FA PREMIERSHIP/Man Utd...2 Blackburn Rovers 1: Questioning the wisdom of Alex Ferguson this season has been as perilous an occupation as that of the journalist who used to follow Dr Bruce Banner around the United States in the late 70s. "You would not like me when I am angry" could well be Ferguson's motto in his valedictory term at Manchester United, and the Incredible Sulk is a monster that it is best not to cross.
United's manager can do almost anything he likes and nobody at Old Trafford can do anything about it. Yet it is a shame that Ferguson, someone who can talk for hours on almost any subject, is still cold-shouldering the press. It would be fascinating to hear from him as to how his team have gone from champs to chumps and back again with mind-boggling alacrity.
Ruud van Nistelrooy's remarkable form in establishing a Premiership record of scoring in eight successive games, is, undoubtedly, one of the most significant factors. Yet from watching United overcome Blackburn despite one of the weaker performances in their eight-match winning Premiership sequence, it was clear their powers of recovery go far beyond one man's ability.
Blackburn's manager Graeme Souness put it eloquently. "I wouldn't say Arsenal, Leeds or Liverpool were out of it, but the thing this United side have got that the others don't is simple: self-belief.
"Everyone was watching them fall down the league but they were thinking to themselves: 'If we keep doing what we have done for the last five or six years we will win this league'. That is the way top players work, and these are top players."
And his former employers, Liverpool? "They are a long, long way behind." If United beat Liverpool tomorrow they will have made up 19 points on their rivals in six weeks. Yet there were signs on Saturday that it is too early to cast them as champions in waiting.
Souness will reflect on what could have been: the one-on-one when Damien Duff came out second best to Fabien Barthez; the chance Mark Hughes had to go clear late on only to be let down by his first touch; and the free header that Lucas Neill put over in stoppage time. Andy Cole, received warmly on his return, had no such obvious chance.
With Diego Forlan watching, Ferguson must have felt uneasy about certain aspects of United's display, not least another futile effort from David Beckham and the increasing criticism directed at Juan Sebastian Veron. There were cheers when he was substituted.
Those portraying Veron as a £28 million white elephant have got it wrong, but his revelation in Corriere dello Sport that he would relish a return to Lazio was badly timed, at best.
Van Nistelrooy may have got the plaudits for his record-breaking penalty, Uriah Rennie correctly ruling that Brad Friedel had upended Laurent Blanc, but it was Roy Keane, magnificent throughout, who won the match. Not just by scoring the decider, but the way in which he rallied his colleagues once Craig Hignett had finished a fine Blackburn counter with a diagonal shot. "It would be hard to say there is anyone better than Keane in the world," said Souness.
He could not resist adding that United were not as good as the Liverpool side in which he once played. "We would have passed them to death." What Ferguson would say to that is anyone's guess.
•The Independent Manchester United Supporters Association has taken legal advice over the ticket allocation for the FA Cup tie at Middlesbrough next Saturday. United wll receive only 2,400 tickets, some 3,000 short of their entitlement under FA Cup rules.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Barthez, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, Blanc, Silvestre (Irwin 45), Beckham, Scholes, Keane, Veron (Butt 84), Solskjaer (Giggs 55), van Nistelrooy. Subs Not Used: Carroll, O'Shea. Booked: Irwin. Goals: van Nistelrooy 45 pen, Keane 81.
BLACKBURN ROVERS: Friedel, Neill, Johansson, Taylor, Bjornebye (Grabbi 84), Dunn (Flitcroft 65), Hignett, Tugay, Duff, Cole, Jansen (Hughes 72). Subs Not Used: Kelly, Berg. Goals: Hignett 49.
