Shield won't obscure Ferguson's vision

SOCCER: Alex Ferguson's thirst for honours turns out not to be utterly unquenchable. He has barely sipped at the FA Community Shield recently, having seen Manchester United defeated on their last four appearances in a match that gives seething rivals a rare opportunity to be amiable towards one another.

"We're probably at our sharpest at this stage for a while," the manager maintains. However, it is precisely because of the exertions made during the prestige friendlies in the United States that the players might have a warm-down in Cardiff instead of getting themselves fired up.

Ferguson, by contrast, cannot be ready to relax. He has so far signed Tim Howard, Eric Djemba-Djemba and David Bellion, but even with Kleberson's arrival imminent it still feels as if wealthy United have been window-shoppers in the transfer market.

It has been a staid period and it is timely that the captain Roy Keane, in the updated version of his autobiography, should remind everyone that the familiarity of the Old Trafford scene is an asset so long as Ferguson is among the same old faces.

Keane reflects on the inspirational tirade that followed the defeat by Manchester City last season.

"It is interesting to wonder why the words spoken by Alex Ferguson on this occasion had such an effect," he writes. "The answer is that when he talks about character, hunger and pride, about courage and loyalty as well, you know that he is the embodiment of those values himself. He had the character, and courage, to defy conventional wisdom and sell David Beckham."

The appeal to the faithful is particularly appropriate now that Beckham's departure has been followed by the peculiar transfer of Juan Sebastian Veron. On this occasion, the main effect of Ferguson's psychological subtleties has been to baffle the public.

What advantage did he glean by virtually denying that the Argentinian was about to be sold even when everyone else was confident that the midfielder's move was in process? Having championed Veron strongly and even angrily, the manager may not have wanted to be closely associated with a deal that saw the player's value almost halved.

"Seba did not want to go," said Ferguson yesterday, with a phrase that epitomised the hesitations and enigmas of the transaction. "He knew what was happening all right. As a manager you like to keep every player but you just can't do that in the modern game. We took a long-term view and it was too good a package to turn down."

Ferguson also conceded that Veron had sometimes "found the Premiership very difficult", no matter how much the midfielder flourished in the Champions League. The parting discomfits a manager who had invested such faith and money in Veron, but Ferguson has always been a believer in perpetual revolution and the real concern for him may lie in the lack of alterations at Old Trafford.

"I'm not necessarily looking to change the team," he said guardedly, citing wins at Anfield and St James' Park achieved without either Veron or Beckham. He does indeed have an admirable squad, but there is no disguising the fact United are still living in the aftershock of the failure to buy Ronaldinho.

If there was a predictability about the focus on Beckham's long crosses, the advent of the Brazilian might have introduced an enhanced elusiveness. Having seen Ronaldinho join Barcelona, United were left to agonise and reflect.

Would the energetic Carles Puyol be worth £15m from Barcelona? Might it be too soon to take the 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon, even assuming he is available? There have been rumours that Juventus hold an option on the teenager.

No matter what the names, Ferguson will surely be relieved if he can diminish the dependence on Ruud van Nistelrooy. A recurrence of the Dutchman's hamstring problems would more than cramp United's style. The manager is certainly doing nothing to dispel speculation about a bid for West Ham's Jermain Defoe.

"It's never wise to come out and say you are looking at a specific player because you are dealing with another club who, quite rightly, could be annoyed if you publicly declare an interest," he commented.

The Community Shield will engage Ferguson for a while tomorrow, but his concentration on the August 31 transfer deadline will not be broken by a pleasant match at the Millennium Stadium.