In the Premiership - otherwise known as the League of One - Manchester United are proceeding serenely towards their title destiny, the weekly praise of victims ringing in their ears.
Tottenham's George Graham was the latest to pile on the plaudits. For the sake of competition, and possibly for United themselves, everyone must hope Europe is not listening.
The Sturm Graz spy probably went home knowing little more about United than his club did last season, when Sturm surrendered 3-0 in Austria.
No one expects Sturm to be an impediment, but there are better equipped teams lying in wait on the continent.
Alex Ferguson is guarding against the enemy within. "They are all sharing responsibility in terms of guarding against complacency, I don't think there was any trace of that today. Anyway, we tend to do better in the second half of the season."
If that was not disturbing enough for English opponents, then rumours of United adding Lazio's Pavel Nedved to an already rich mixture of midfield options is a fear for the future.
For now, rivals should take some heart from Tottenham who, after being tormented in the first half, made a contest of it until Ole Gunnar Solskjaer terminated the affair six minutes from time.
"Irresistible," said Graham in tribute to United's domination of the first period. The team ethic, no doubt, had Tottenham's manager purring in admiration.
Yet Neil Sullivan had little to do, even if he was picking the ball out of the net after Paul Scholes's curving shot. The opportunity, almost inevitably, was created by Teddy Sheringham.
For a further 45 minutes, it was a fragile advantage and, Arsene Wenger will be pleased to note, Tottenham increasingly sensed it.
Far from rolling over, they rolled forward and would have equalised after 79 minutes had Gary Neville not cleared and removed Fabien Barthez's embarrassment at being by-passed by Les Ferdinand's run to the far post and cross in front of an empty goal.
Past statistics suggest United will become even stronger, deeply worrying given that Ferguson's team already lead by eight points - double their advantage over Arsenal at this stage last season.
Wenger has already suggested United enjoy another edge, that many opponents under-perform in the face of United's reputation.
Ferguson's response was caustic: "It's not even worth answering that." But then he did. "Anyone who comes to play Manchester United are in their biggest game of the season."
Manchester Utd: Barthez; G Neville, P Neville, Brown, Silvestre, Beckham, Butt (Giggs 72), Keane, Scholes, Yorke (Solskjaer 72), Sheringham. Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Irwin, Greening. Booked: Yorke, G Neville. Goals: Scholes 40, Solskjaer 84.
Tottenham: Sullivan; Campbell, Carr, Perry, Anderton, Sherwood, Ferdinand, Armstrong (Korsten 63), Clemence, King, Thelwell. Subs Not Used: Walker, Freund, Davies, Vega. Booked: Ferdinand.
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
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