United licensed to thrill

The secret to United’s exquisite attacking play is a freedom for players to express their ability, which all stems from Sir Alex Ferguson’s attacking football philosophy.

The Reds boss claimed on Sunday that this is the strongest squad he has ever had, and United’s recent performances merely endorse his assertions.

While some teams have achieved success on the back of regimented tactical organisation, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and co. are given free licence.

“The manager really wants everyone to be care-free in the sense of expressing themselves on the pitch, and at the moment we are doing it to great effect,” Darren Fletcher told ManUtd.com.

“We’ve had some great attacks during the time I’ve been around the first team, but what defines this team’s attack is the youthfulness of it. It’s a long time since we’ve had such a young group of forwards and wingers.”

Ronaldo got the goals to give United a 2-0 victory over Blackburn. But it’s by no means been a one-man show; the Reds have had ten different goalscorers already this season. “Like last year, the goals aren’t just coming from one area, everyone is chipping in,” adds Fletcher. “You need that, you have to be a threat from all over the pitch otherwise you’ll become predictable, and that’s an accusation you certainly can’t throw at this team.

“We didn’t score that many goals at the start of the season, but we all knew it would come, and it has. Opposition teams can’t look at us and say, ‘mark that player and we’ll stop United’. We attack from every direction, up front, from either wing, or from deep in midfield. Each game, somebody new steps up and puts in the star performance.”