The Indy:
Ferdinand's faith in his new employers will not yet be shaken unduly, but after two defeats in three days – and still no victories after three away games – these are disturbing times for Ferguson's team. At least the defender's return here after his £29m summer move was not quite the excruciating experience for him that it had been suggested. Indeed, it was less a cauldron of hate and more a lightly simmering pan of contempt.
Initially there were cries of "One greedy bastard", which was hardly likely to have the England defender reduced to tears of anguish. By the end the crowd had grown bored with inventing something even more horrible to describe their former player who was, anyway, utterly unfazed by such behaviour.
By then, anyway, they were glorying in the prospect of a rare victory, one to which the visitors' response was, according to the Leeds manager, Terry Venables, like "an injured, angry animal". More than once the passions of Ferguson's men were too easily aroused. David Beckham appeared fortunate that the referee, Jeff Winter, took a benign view or did not appreciate the gravity of the England captain's elbow across the head of Lee Bowyer as both challenged for the ball in the first half.
Mysteriously, Beckham did not receive a card of either hue, although Winter saw enough to award a free-kick. Predictably, neither manager witnessed the moment clearly. Ferguson declared "I'm sure David wouldn't do that", while Venables' contribution was: "I remember the incident, but I can't make a judgement on it". Late in the game, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, scarcely the world's greatest hatchet man, swung a late boot at Kewell as the Australian international cleared the ball. Ian Harte reacted and immediately some players began jostling, but fortunately most exhibited restraint. Solskjaer and Harte were cautioned, as was the tigerish England discovery Alan Smith earlier.
THE OBSERVER:
This was Manchester United's second successive Premiership defeat and perhaps the currency is not what it once was, though the home supporters were pleased enough at the end.
So they should have been, having seen their team outplayed in the first half by the weakest Manchester United midfield for years. In the absence of Roy Keane, Juan Sebastian Veron and Paul Scholes, Sir Alex Ferguson played Phil Neville alongside Nicky Butt in the engine room. This showed surprisingly little faith in David Beckham's central midfield ability, since Ferguson could have started with Luke Chadwick on the right, although it mattered little when Leeds vacated the midfield area and allowed Ryan Giggs all the space he wanted.
The visiting team did end up with Chadwick on the right and Beckham in the middle, but only because Butt joined the list of injured midfielders after a 63rd-minute collision with Eirik Bakke. The Norwegian was the key substitute that Venables made at the interval - replacing a peripheral Nick Barmby - with instructions to get closer to Manchester United, although possibly not that close. Harry Kewell was also brought back to help the midfield rather than labouring in vain up front, and Lee Bowyer was told to play farther forward.
Ruud van Nistelrooy had a couple of chances to score his first goal of the season from open play, but he finished unconvincingly when Giggs played him through in the first half and was denied by a first-class save by Robinson in the second. Ferguson eventually replaced him with Diego Forlan, a move that should improve his confidence no end, and though Venables praised Manchester United for never giving up until the final whistle, there is no denying they lack punch if Van Nistelrooy is off his game or off the field.
Ferguson still thinks that Scholes might be the answer - 'He's a great striker, he shouldn't believe all he reads about only being able to play in midfield' - although perhaps he should be looking more closely at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The normally reliable Norwegian concluded a quiet match by provoking a mini-brawl after lashing out at Kewell in frustration. He was lucky just to get away with a booking, but if even Solskjaer is losing his temper heaven knows what the pressure of Manchester United's worst Premiership start is doing to Ferguson.
THE TELEGRAPH
Worse still for the Manchester club, as they prepare to meet Maccabi Haifa at Old Trafford in their first Champions League fixture proper, they lost yet another midfielder to injury when Nicky Butt limped off with a bruised hip just before Kewell's goal.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson said it was a question of wait and see for Wednesday, but he can ill afford to be without Butt at a time when Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Juan Sebastian Veron are all hors de combat.
Ferguson's team could easily have been further denuded had the referee, Jeff Winter, taken exception to the elbow David Beckham appeared to plant in Lee Bowyer's face after 22 minutes. However, Winter was so convinced the offence was accidental that he did not even book the United and England captain. It is unlikely, therefore, that the Football Association's video panel will be activated.
Understandably, Ferguson continued to talk up his team afterwards. Astonishingly, he claimed they had played "fantastic" football in the first half, did not have any luck and - more justifiably - should have been awarded two penalties, one for a tug on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's shirt by Jonathan Woodgate and the other for a collision between the same Leeds defender and Butt.
"We are getting some horrendous decisions against us at the moment," he ranted. "It seems to me referees are afraid to make decisions." Needless to say, the United manager claimed not to have seen Beckham elbow Bowyer in the face and did not mention the wild tackle from behind by Solskjaer on Kewell that nearly caused a full-scale brawl near the end.
Ferguson went on to argue that all his team needed to do now was dig in and find more of a cutting edge in attack. To the less biased eye, however, the signs of serious decline seem to multiply match by match. The air of authority with which United used to overwhelm opponents appears to have evaporated.