Contrary to the popular image, Sir Alex Ferguson's rage is not always on autopilot. He does not always "slam" or "blast". Manchester United's manager did not lose his temper in the way that might have been anticipated after Saturday's mauling by Liverpool. It was a stern lecture, naturally, but nothing like the old days when a performance that feckless would have seen a wedding set's worth of crockery smashed against the dressing-room walls.
Ferguson concluded a long time ago that screaming and shouting at players (particularly foreign players) does not work as it used to – especially when he wants a positive reaction in the next game. And that, says Ferguson, is the crux of the matter now: getting that 4–1 defeat out of United's system as quickly as possible and making sure there is no lasting hangover.
Ferguson made himself look so absurd with his game of bluff about United being the "better team" that his more reasonable remarks scarcely reached public notice. But sure enough, Ferguson was already thinking of Saturday's game at Fulham. "We always respond at this club," he said. "When you lose a game, respond."
This is something of a looped tape when United's manager is trying to make sense of a bad result. "It's how you react to adversity that counts" is one of Ferguson's mantras. It is what you do about making sure you come back stronger, he says.
There was the time his players "threw the league away" in 1992 with Easter defeats against West Ham United and Nottingham Forest. Before the first game of the following season Ferguson pinned up a photograph, titled 'Dante's Inferno', in the dressing room. It showed the distraught faces on the bench when Steve Bruce missed a late header against Forest and it was there, Ferguson explained, to "make sure it never happens again".
Perhaps he should put up a picture of Steven Gerrard kissing the television camera in front of the away end after giving Liverpool the lead in their most emphatic victory at Old Trafford since November 1936. It is unlikely to happen.
Though United's advantage at the top of the Premier League is only four points, it will be seven if they win their game in hand and the mind casts back to April last year when United lost 2–1 at Chelsea to leave both clubs level on points after 36 games. United's superior goal difference meant two wins would still confirm them as champions but Ferguson could detect an unrestrained excitement in the voice of one post-match interviewer. His eyes narrowed and that thick Glaswegian accent sounded even more noticeable than usual: "We've got a European Cup semi-final [against Barcelona] next week, a home game on Saturday [against West Ham] and then a game against Wigan away. Disaster!"
Ferguson called a meeting of his players, told them to remember the way Chelsea's supporters had enjoyed beating them – a common Ferguson trick – and that just about every non-United follower in the country wanted them to fail. Within a fortnight he had won his 10th – and United's 17th – league title.
Never before, however, has Ferguson had to worry about the potential repercussions of a 4–1 home defeat by their fiercest rivals. The 67-year-old may have thought he had been there, seen and done it all during his 22-and-a-half years at Old Trafford – but Saturday was a first.
United have not been mauled by Liverpool so comprehensively on their own ground since Spain was in its first days of General Franco's regime and Jesse Owens had just won four gold medals in Berlin. So we can only guess how United will react, how it will affect their confidence and how long it will take Nemanja Vidic in particular to get it out of his mind.
They have lost another handsome lead before when Arsenal, with three games in hand, came from 11 points behind in 1997-98. But what happened 11 years ago has no real bearing on what happens now. Just because the team lost its nerve then, does not mean they will do so again. Likewise, just because United saw off Chelsea last year does not necessarily mean they will keep them, and Liverpool, at bay this season.
About the only certainty is that Ferguson's confidence in his players will not have altered too much. He has talked of his current squad being the best he has had in terms of their worldliness and the balance between youth and experience. He called another team meeting yesterday and it is easy to imagine him going through all the same pointers as after the Chelsea game at Stamford Bridge 11 months ago. As for the man himself, Ferguson often appears immune to nerves. His fingernails, however, give him away. They are bitten to the quick.
