DOMINATION
ImagesGetty Imagescoming to the end. All good things come to an end. I’m not being
over-dramatic, but if we don’t win the European Cup this year then
there will be changes.”
Keane was proved right that summer. Ferguson twice broke the
British transfer record to sign the Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy
from PSV Eindhoven for £19 million and the Argentinian midfielder
Juan Sebastián Verón from Lazio for £28.1 million.
However, United’s momentum was somewhat slowed by
Ferguson’s surprising decision – which he would later admit was
a “mistake” – to also sell his best defender, Jaap Stam, to Lazio and
buy 35-year-old French defender Laurent Blanc from Inter Milan.
While Van Nistelrooy scored 36 goals during the 2001–02 season,
Verón and Blanc initially struggled, and United’s defence suddenly
appeared fragile, as they lost nine league games to finish third in the
table and surrender their title to Arsenal, who became champions
with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in May.
At the start of the 2002–03 season, the jubilant Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger had claimed “a shift of power” was happening in
the Premier League, but nine months later United reclaimed the
title, their fourth in five years. In March 2003, Arsenal had been on
course to successfully defend their title with an eight-point lead over
United in the table, but Ferguson’s side, partially stung by losing the
League Cup final to Liverpool in the same month, completed an
incredible run of 18 unbeaten Premier League games to overtake
them and reclaim the title.
The brilliance of Rio Ferdinand in the centre of defence, who had
been signed a year earlier from Leeds, and the goals of Van
Nistelrooy, who scored a total of 44 that season, were major factors
in United’s revival.
“This is the sweetest one, without doubt,” Ferguson said at the
time. “It has been an heroic achievement by the players and
everyone at the club, simply because of the lead Arsenal had and all
the triumphant talk that the title was theirs.”
The following season, Arsenal responded by going through the
2003–04 Premier League season unbeaten to claim both the trophy
and the title of ‘The Invincibles’, while United had to be content
with beating them in the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park before
overcoming Millwall 3-0 in the final in Cardiff.
In the summer of 2004, the arrival of José Mourinho – who called
himself ‘The Special One’ – at Chelsea, fresh from winning the
Champions League with Porto, would present both Arsenal and United
with a new challenge, and they were soon placed in his shadow
as he won consecutive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006.
During these years Ferguson was rebuilding a new side, adding
18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon for £12.4
million (then a world-record transfer fee for a teenager) in 2003,
and a year later, 18-year-old Wayne Rooney from Everton for
£27 million, the experienced goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in
2005, and in January 2006, two new defenders, Patrice Evra and
Nemanja Vidić.
In 2004–05 United endured a rare trophyless season, losing an FA
Cup final to Arsenal they had dominated, but in the following season
they won the League Cup with a 4-0 victory over Wigan Athletic in
Cardiff in February 2006.
After three seasons without winning the title, United were now
ready to challenge Chelsea, and they finally overhauled them in
2006–07, finishing six points clear at the top of the table.
“It was a great feeling winning the title for the first time since
2002–03, claiming it back after all the doubts,” Gary Neville has
since reflected. “There had been calls for the manager to quit.
There were times, even in the dressing room, we wondered if long-
term decline had set in. Chelsea had spent all the money, they had
looked so dominant, so we had a massive celebration that we were
back on top.”
United had been inspired to the title by the emerging talent of
Ronaldo, who that season was transformed from a promising
youngster into one of the best players in the world, scoring 23 goals
and being voted the Footballer of the Year.
“We were champions mostly thanks to Ronaldo,” Neville has said.
“The way he carried us in 2006–07 marks it as his best season.
I felt I owed him my championship medal.”THE NEW
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