PRESS BOX VIEW – TELEGRAPH

‘Most Premiership footballers have to undergo coaching in how to deal with the media, as well as a football, and this usually means adopting the kind of diplomacy that would earn a posting with the Foreign Office. Ruud van Nistelrooy has been well-taught by Manchester United.

During a post-match interview, he said that "Villa Park is always a difficult place to come to" which, unless he meant the M6 can become abysmally clogged with traffic, is nonsense.

Manchester United have come to this corner of Birmingham and won consistently.

Pig Face:

"He is not at the same level as Rooney but I had Alan Smith at Leeds. He is part of a certain breed, like Roy Keane, who would play for nothing. Their life and their biggest turn-on are about playing football. Rooney is the same and Alex Ferguson would tell you that if you took him off with five minutes to go, he would spit his dummy out.

"They have settled back into a way that Manchester United used to play - 4-4-2 with two wingers, with Scholes getting forward and with Rooney and Van Nistelrooy sparking off each other. That's the Manchester United we all know, the Manchester United at their best. Speaking to Rio Ferdinand, they are happier playing that way."

Ferguson was still trying to rally the troops:

"That's the only thing you can do at our club, respond," said Ferguson. "You can wither and die or get off your backsides and do something about it."’