in at Old Trafford. He speaks of Fergie’s reaction in the
dressing room at half time at Goodison Park as an indicator
of just how different things are at United:
"We'd played them off the park and I thought I'd done well. At
Fulham under Chris Coleman or Jean Tigana we'd have been
more than satisfied, but the boss charged in and went mad.
He was raging. We'd been complacent, we'd been lazy, we
should have been seven up, and I was the worst culprit. That
tells you a lot about the man, but also about this club.
They're perfectionists. They're winners. That's why I came
here.
"The dream's become the reality, even if I never thought it would
work out quite like this. Arriving at Carrington on my first
day for training, it dawned on me what was happening. Roy
Keane, a player I'd been so wary of when at Fulham, just
shook me by the hand and said matter-of-factly: 'Welcome to
United.' As an opponent he was daunting. As a team-mate,
he's helped me find my feet.
"I take Roy's attitude into games now - his drive, his
competitiveness, his desire to succeed. The strength of
Roy's character is extraordinary, but there's quality all
around you here and my game should improve by 20% to 30% in
this company. I can't fail to improve. Look at the creative
players at this club. The chances just flow.
"Sir Alex has given me little bits of advice, telling me to vary my
runs down the flanks and through the centre, but it's the
pace at which they pass and move which hits you from the
outset. There's no time to think or the ball's gone, you've
given away possession and, whether it's the boss or Roy,
whether in training or in a match, no one puts up with that.
"Ruud is easy to read. I can sense his moves and track his runs.
It's the same with those behind me. Keane is always there,
ticking over in possession, while Paul Scholes has a range
of passing I've never seen before. At any one moment when
he's got the ball, he knows there are at least three passes
on. He's got eyes in the back of his head. Some of the runs
Ruud makes help, but Scholes is the new Zinedine Zidane.”
Louis would have preferred a less acrimonious exit from Craven
Cottage, but feels that his behaviour was justified:
"Don't get me wrong, leaving London was difficult. It wasn't the
manner in which I'd have chosen to go because Fulham are a
club I loved and still do, but I'm ambitious. What do you do
when United tell you they want you? You go. My team-mates -
even the manager deep down - understood. There was no choice
to make. You have to improve.
"I'm at a club who have the means to win the Champions League. The
quality is here, the confidence that we can claim that
trophy, and the whole place is completely geared to making
that a reality this season. Porto will be difficult
opponents, but the objective is to win it.
"It's amazing that I can talk about competing against clubs like
that. It was only a few weeks ago that a friend of mine rang
me up singing that Champions League song they play when the
teams come out, having a laugh because that was as near as I
was going to get to the competition. Now, if I'm picked,
I'll be playing in it."