Champions' League: Leverkusen v Man UAlex Ferguson is rarely eager to defuse an argument but, while relations between Old Trafford and Soho Square remain more frosty than friendly as Keane-gate rumbles on, yesterday brought a veiled and belated thanks directed towards the Football Association.
In the absence of the crocked Roy Keane, David Beckham will lead Manchester United out in Leverkusen tonight, virtually 10 years to the day since making his first-team debut, with his manager admitting he had not earmarked him as a natural leader until he assumed the armband with England.
The FA, courtesy of Peter Taylor's initial faith and Sven-Goran Eriksson's subsequent common sense, for once finds itself in Ferguson's good books.
"When we lost Roy I looked to David because I was after continuity," said Ferguson, who revisits the scene of last season's Champions League semi-final elimination this evening.
"He is so fit that you rarely lose him to injury, but what impressed me most was how he had grown into the captaincy with England.
"If I'm honest, I never saw him developing into that kind of leader before he was appointed at international level. He's a quiet lad in the dressing room, but becoming England captain brought hidden qualities out."
From the Goldstone to the Bay Arena, Beckham has come a long way in the decade since his tentative entrance as a substitute in a Rumbelows Cup tie on September 23rd 1992.
That game ended 1-1 with the young midfielder forced to wait another three years before he featured in the Premiership. Now, while he has yet to rediscover his pre-cracked metatarsal sparkle, he finds himself a pivotal figure for club and country.
"You have to say that his best years are still ahead of him because, at 27, he is close to reaching his peak," said Ferguson. "These next few years will be his best. It's strange looking back. He was always going to mature a bit later than the other players of his generation - Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville.
"The potential was always there, but he was just skin and bones and it was his strength, or lack of it, that made us send him out to Preston on loan. It was a case of building up his physique.
"We won the FA Youth Cup in 1992 (with Beckham scoring in the second leg of the final), but David only really got into the team for the semi-final. That group has served us well - it's unusual to see so many players come through the ranks simultaneously, and it may never happen again."
Unconvincing success over Tottenham on Saturday did little to suggest that United are on the point of rediscovering their awesome poise. On April's visit here, Keane - in the autobiography, sections of which have prompted an FA disciplinary hearing to take place on October 15th - scowled at the sight of one of his team-mates shaking with nerves. "He was afraid," wrote the Irishman with disdain, "afraid of taking the big step up."
That game ended 1-1, with United slipping out on away goals.
"To say that hurt us is an understatement, but I don't believe in revenge as a motivation," said Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Guardian Service
BAYER LEVERKUSEN: (probable; 3-2-3-2): Juric; Zivkovic, Ramelow, Lucio; Vranjes, Babic; Schneider, Basturk, Simak; Neuville, Berbatov.
MANCHESTER UNITED: (probable; 4-4-2): Barthez; P Neville, Blanc, Ferdinand, Silvestre; Beckham, Veron, Butt, Giggs; Solskjaer, Van Nistelrooy.
Referee: J Wegereef (Netherlands).
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