FERGIE:
"I am glad he (Saha) is back. He is a fantastic striker. If we improve our goal threat we improve our chances and I think Louis does that.
"We probably have harder away games than Chelsea and we have to acquit ourselves properly in these matches. We should expect every game we play to be a hard one now.
"We have got to be ready for the difficult tasks because challenges are what winning a championship are all about. We go into it knowing we have to perform to the highest level and if we can continue as we are at the moment it improves our chances.
"In my experience we have never been handed titles, we have had to go and win them, and we have to do that again. Analysing all the games is pointless really. We have got a tough game on Sunday and if we get through that it is one more up the road."
About Jol:
"Martin is a talented coach. You only need to talk to Michael Carrick, who enjoyed playing for him at Spurs. It can't be easy for Tottenham with Arsenal above them. If they keep consistency of management it will give them a better chance. Martin has ambitions to make them better. You can't just do it in a year. You need four or five years to implement your vision of the club.''
On Ferdinand:
"I don't think there is any doubt he has always had a fantastic talent with balance and use of the ball, and his technique for a centre-back is probably the best in the game. The area in which he has improved in is his concentration," Ferguson said.
"He and Vidic have formed a good partnership and it will get better because they are young.
"I think I rested him for one game and I don't think the number of games will affect him. He is a strong athlete and I have been delighted with him."
Rooney:
"I think he has taken encouragement from getting a rest. We left him out for the Pompey game and I think that was worth doing from his perspective because it gave him the opportunity to realise how important it is for us.
"Even just an hour's rest seemed to galvanise him. He came on as a fresh player almost, and I think that was important for us. These odd goals he is scoring give me great encouragement that he is coming into his best form now.
"If he can get to that one goal per game thing then the odd goals and deciding goals make all the difference to our season. We haven't had that off him but if it comes it definitely gives us a massive chance.
"He is not a goalscorer who is going to stay in the penalty box. He wants to link the play and be in the box at the same time and because he is 21 he has not got the knowledge to do both things.
"The part we want to see the development in is where he starts getting these odd goals. It will make a hell of a difference to him as a goalscorer because he is a finisher, there is no doubt about that."
JOL:
"Chelsea have invested hundreds of millions on players but have a problem when Terry isn't there.
"They may have bought Khalid Boulahrouz, Mikel John Obi, Salomon Kalou and Andriy Shevchenko but that doesn't solve the problem.
"They are all good players but don't have the qualities of Terry. He never wants to lose and he is so important to them.
"We've realised we miss Michael Carrick. His biggest quality was to move play from defence to attack and win the ball. Because of him, other players played better.
"Tom Huddlestone has that quality but he has just turned 20 and he still has to make the next stage in his development."
A comparison for Lennon and Ronaldo:
"He's [Lennon] younger, he has less experience. Ronaldo, he's scored 12, 13 goals already. Lennon didn't. So, let's be honest. Look at the production: Ronaldo is probably the best in England on the wing. With assists, he's probably been involved in 20 goals. Lennon has probably been involved in five or six. But you have to see how many chances Lennon already has created. He's on his way to being, possibly, like Ronaldo."
O'SHEA:
"We are just looking at ourselves and we know it is going to be a tough game on Sunday and we have got tough games to come. But with the form we are in we are feeling very positive at the moment.
"You know what games are coming up and how difficult they are but we keep thinking after each game that that is another game down. Last time we won the league we went to these places and won these games, and that is what we have to do now."
About Larsson:
"You can see from the impact he has had and the goals he has scored already that he is a top-class player and it is a privilege to train and play with him.
"He gave the squad a little boost at a good time when difficult games were coming up, and it will be sad to see him go if he does go."
TOTTENHAM NEW BOY RICARDO ROCHA TALKS ABOUT RONALDO:
"He's unpredictable and can do amazing things. It's very difficult to stop him.
"I have to put pressure on him, not let him take the ball because, if he does, he's difficult to stop. You always have to have your eye on him.
About the summer shenanighans with Rooney;
"It was difficult for him but he showed he deserved to stay here and show his game.
"I'm not surprised how well he is playing. I know he is a great player and. even with all the pressure on his back. he is proving his value at all levels.
"We have many great players in the national team but Ronaldo is the icon of Portugal."
THE OBSERVER
If Aaron Lennon starts for England against Spain at Old Trafford on Wednesday and reproduces the form he has shown for Spurs recently, Martin Jol will, finally, let the merest smile cross his normally immoveable features. More immediately, the Tottenham head coach would like him to tear Manchester United to shreds at White Hart Lane this afternoon. He is not, though, one to get carried away about the flying winger.
It is not that the Dutchman does not rate Lennon - on Friday he spoke about him as being in the same class as Cristiano Ronaldo - it is just that, when quizzed about anything to do with his team, his inclination is to leaven his response with negative, downbeat mutterings. He is the Doctor No of football. He does not want to leave the impression of celebrating a Spurs revival prematurely.
Is Lennon as good as Ronaldo, someone wondered? Long, long pause. 'No. He's younger, he has less experience. Ronaldo, he's scored 12, 13 goals already. Lennon didn't. So, let's be honest. Look at the production: Ronaldo is probably the best in England on the wing. With assists, he's probably been involved in 20 goals. Lennon has probably been involved in five or six. But you have to see how many chances Lennon already has created. He's on his way to being, possibly, like Ronaldo.'
Elsewhere on the realism front, Jol knows Tottenham are seriously weakened by the continued absence of King, their captain, and, as good a job as Robbie Keane is doing in his place, they miss the calm control the England defender provides from the heart of the defence. Michael Dawson did splendidly against Arsenal and Ricardo Rocha, the new Portuguese signing, despite his slip to allow a goal on Wednesday night, is a solid replacement. But Jol wants dominance and strength as well as expansion. He needs a sound midfield voice and, contrary to what some think, the physically imposing Tom Huddlestone is not that man.
THE TELEGRAPH RECALL THE 5-3 COMEBACK OF 2001:
It's always rewarding to ramble through the memories with Sir Alex Ferguson and today's visit to White Hart Lane with white-hot Wayne Rooney and company threw up one of the richest. As he said at the time: "It might not have been good for the blood pressure, but I will be able to look back upon this day and remember it vividly for the rest of my life. Not many managers could say that."
The sense of experiencing something special has not diminished from that day, Sept 29, 2001, when United emerged from the dressing room at half-time 3-0 down, but rode home winners 5-3 with goals from Andy Cole, Laurent Blanc, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastian Veron and David Beckham. "I was almost threatening to get back on the bus at half-time," he said as the sunlight shafted in through the windows of the United Youth Academy at the Carrington training ground on Friday. "As we came out for the second half, Teddy Sheringham was leaving their dressing room when I heard someone say, 'Now don't let them score in the first five minutes.' We scored in the first."
He laughed at the memory, but today is about keeping United flowing towards the Premiership title, holding off Chelsea and taking three points. Someone has to score the goals and Rooney has struck such spell-binding form there could be diamonds on the soles of his boots. Sir Alex was a striker himself and when he talks about Rooney the words become a rhapsody.
"He's got wonderful feet, a great touch on the ball,'' he said. "He has always had bursts of scoring. The goalscorers are the ones who get one almost every two games. I said to him some weeks ago that if he could get into that scoring one goal a game thing - odd goals, deciding goals - it would make a hell of a difference to our season. It would give us a massive chance."
United gave him a rest recently. He was on the bench for an hour before Ferguson brought him on against Portsmouth, who were threatening to stifle their FA Cup tie. His two goals were sublime. He followed them with another against Arsenal and one more in Watford's submission.
"It was only an hour's rest, but it seemed to galvanise him," said Ferguson. "Those goals gave him encouragement and hopefully he is going into his best form now. He's not a goalscorer who wants to stay in the penalty area, because he wants to link the play and be in the box at the same time. When he drops into these positions and surprises a defender, you know it is a great contribution."
The final piece in the United jigsaw? "I thought he was a while ago. He's come up against obstacles in matches and he is overcoming all that. His goalscoring will make the difference. Everyone matures. He is a young lad [21] and he has fantastic enthusiasm. It's good to see young lads. They want to train all the time. It becomes a discipline they enjoy. It's great to see Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and the young players enjoying the discipline."
MORE FROM THE TELEGRAPH:
Robbie Keane became so accustomed to the consummate service provided by Michael Carrick in Tottenham colours that when the pair and their partners went out for dinner a couple of weeks ago, he would not have been surprised if his former team-mate had draped a napkin over his arm before handing round the bread, fetching the food from the kitchen and pouring the wine.
That is why it will be strange for Keane at White Hart Lane today, where Carrick returns for the first time as a Manchester United player, to see his old friend now at the elbow of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha.
Yet though his departure has forced Keane to adjust to several different kinds of deliveries from midfield, he is satisfied that the silver service to the top end of the pitch will continue now that young Tom Huddlestone has stepped into Carrick's butlering boots. Or as some besotted Spurs supporters call him, Tom Hoddlestone.
Keane says: "You could say he is a younger version of Michael, a young man who's got tremendous maturity for someone who's just 20. Like Michael, he is one of those midfield men who can pick a pass that maybe other players wouldn't see and, when you've got someone like that, it makes your job as a striker that bit easier. Tom can see a pass and deliver it with both feet and he's making that position his own at Tottenham. If he keeps progressing, keeps working, then I believe he will have a big future for Spurs and England."
For all his shrewd interceptions, killer passes and slide-rule mind, Carrick was not always appreciated by Spurs fans, partly because he does his best work so deep behind his own lines, cleaning up and keeping the play moving in a manner deliberately designed not to be eye-catching. United punters also initially asked what all the fuss was about, as supporters used to with Martin Peters.
Keane says: "When Michael first went there, people didn't realise that he is one of those players who breaks up a lot of things that normal punters wouldn't recognise or see but the manager would, which is why Alex Ferguson praises him so much. He gets the ball and moves it forward quickly, that is his game and people are finally starting to realise how good he is at doing that and how important a player he is for United."
BBC:
Tottenham's Ledley King has been ruled out for up to eight more weeks so he misses out along with the ill Teemu Tainio and the suspended Mido.
Aaron Lennon has recovered from illness and Dimitar Berbatov and Jermaine Jenas have shrugged off injuries.
Louis Saha is pushing for a return to the Manchester United starting line-up after recovering from a knee injury.
He missed the win against Watford but will replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer up front alongside Wayne Rooney.
Tottenham (from): Robinson, Cerny, Alnwick, Chimbonda, Lee, Assou-Ekotto, Dawson, Gardner, Rocha, Lennon, Ghaly, Malbranque, Huddlestone, Zokora, Jenas, Keane, Berbatov, Defoe, Murphy.
Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, O'Shea, Evra, Heinze, Park, Fletcher, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Richardson, Ronaldo, Rooney, Saha, Larsson, Solskjaer.
BBC WEATHER:
Dry and 9°C at kick off time.