'We did some early business and I was happy with the squad by the time I went on holiday.
'I felt I could switch off from football for a while, though that changed when the fixtures came out halfway through my break. As soon as that happens you start looking and planning the way the season might go.
'We've signed a couple of players for the future in Nani and Anderson, the kind of midfielder we need for European games in Owen Hargreaves, and we've got experience running right through the squad. What I'm hoping for this season is to be able to improve in the later stages of the cup competitions. I think anyone facing the challenge of an English season is the same, you need to have enough resources to still be strong at the finish. Sometimes you can get away with running on empty in the league, take the victory we ground out at City at the end of last season, but you can't win cups like that. You have to stay fresh.
'You can't just look players in the eye any more, you have to go into their background and get reports. Managing millionaires is not that hard, as long as you've got the right sort of player in the first place. You still need players with good ability and the right amount of desire, just like you always did. You don't want to sign players who think they are better than they really are.
Prospects this year and upcoming games:
'A good start is imperative.
'If you are setting yourself a target of 90 points to win the league, which is what it has been over the last few seasons, you have to get off to a good start and then be consistent throughout the season.
'It would be fantastic to win it 10 times, especially for someone like Ryan Giggs. That would be a tremendous incentive and I wonder if it could be done by a player or manager again, but the challenge is more for the players than for me.
'A team that has won the league has more authority, continuity and consistency. We noticed that in the training sessions in the Far East. It is a far more settled situation now and weexpect the young players, Rooney and Ronaldo, toimprove. We would expect far more authority from Fletcher, O'Shea, Vidic and Evra. We have people to call on in terms of experience in terms of Neville, Giggs, Ferdinand and Van der Sar.
'There is no doubt that Rooney and Ronaldo can improve. At 21 it is three yearsbefore you get anywhere near your maturity, when that brings you authority, timing and control of your game. As I player I felt I was at my strongest at 25, 26. When you are 21 you do daft things on the pitch. You might score a goal, then miss one. You producemoments of ability but there is no consistency.
'I think Portsmouth are going to be difficult to beat again, especially on their own ground.
'Harry has made some good signings, and I'm especially impressed with them picking up Sulley Muntari. We had a good long look at him and liked him a lot. [Muntari spent time at United as a youth, on a visit with Michael Essien.]
'Aston Villa will be hard to beat too. Martin O'Neill's teams usually are, and this is going to be his first full season at the club, with a proper amount of time to prepare. I'm expecting Reading to finish in that middle band, too. I've been very impressed with what they have done. They are a common sense team. They don't spend big or make silly signings, and every time I hear their chairman speak about football matters I usually agree with him. They strike me as a very well run club.'