Lessons United need to heed

AFTER their false start in Turin, Manchester United are up and running in the Champions League. But the length of the gallop will still depend as much on their manager's overall strategy as the tactical nuances of any one match.

United's 2-0 victory over Rapid Vienna at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, combined with the 1-0 win Juventus achieved over Fenerbahce in Istanbul, has given Alex Ferguson something to play with.

If Juventus continue to win regularly, moreover, leaving Manchester United to feed on the left overs, then a draw would suit both sides when the European Cup holders visit Old Trafford on November 20th.

In the meantime, United will be meeting Fenerbahce twice, starting with the encounter in Asia Minor a fortnight next Wednesday. Four points from these matches and Ferguson will be sitting pretty. On Wednesday's evidence it is hard to imagine his team losing their final Group C fixture in Vienna on December 4th.

So much depends on the way Ferguson treats his renewal of hostilities with Turkish opposition. Previous Manchester United failures - the Champions Cup in 1993 and the Champions League a year later - have seen them share goalless draws with Galatasaray in Istanbul which a more positive approach might have turned into victories.

When United lost 1-0 to Juventus just over a fortnight ago, Ferguson set out to cramp the opposition's style by tucking people into midfield in order to deny the Italian side their usual attacking avenues. As a tactic it was sound in principle. The problem was that Ferguson's players froze, especially in the first halt, and kept giving the ball away. Alen Boksic did the rest.

If Manchester United go to Istanbul this time seeking a win, they may well come away with nothing worse than a draw. But if Ferguson again folds his wings and has Eric Cantona ploughing a lonely furrow up front, then the initiative may again pass to the opposition, whose attack includes the experience of the Bulgarian striker Emil Kostadinov.

Not that the experience of another Bulgarian, Trifon Ivanov, counted for much at Old Trafford on Wednesday. Sweepers are of little use when the rest of a defence is allowing dust to accumulate in every nook and cranny.

No doubt the speed and ingenuity of United's attacks did much to unsettle Rapid at the back, but the Austrian champions' supine attitude meant that from the outset a home win was virtually guaranteed.

Manchester United should have won by more goals, but with points the priority the failure of Ole Solskjaer, in particular, to take more than one of the chances that came his way was a minor irritation. The 23 year old Norwegian is linking well with Cantona and Ryan Giggs and this should continue to see him preferred to Andy Cole in United's starting line up. When Cole replaced Solskjaer for the last quarter of an hour the line went dead.

David Beck ham, by no means United's worst performer in Turin, had an outstanding first half which epitomised the speed with which Ferguson's younger players are learning about life in Europe. His goal, and United's second, was a prime piece of opportunism.

Yet Beckham, like Gary Neville, will need to curb their yellow card tendencies. Each is on a booking and Manchester United cannot afford to lose either player through suspension.