Defending Champions Manchester United travel to Premier League leaders Arsenal this weekend, equal on points and with just three goals scored separating the two sides. Both managers have assembled teams packed with outrageously gifted young players and Ferguson has faith that his side can retain their Premier League title. Sir Alex Ferguson took time to assess his team’s progress with Sue McCann.

“I think it is a team coming together really. I certainly think that having the start we had, minus Rooney for 4 games and Ronaldo for 3 games, was certainly not the start we wanted; particularly as Tevez hadn’t done any pre season work, Anderson had missed the pre season, Saha wasn’t 100% and Hargreaves was missing. We have had some incredible injury situations, but over the last few years we’ve been like that at early season with a lot of injuries. I hope and pray that by the time we come to December, because the second half of the season really is where it really begins, that we have got a good strong squad together. I feel that once we get that strong squad together we are capable of going and winning the league again.

"At the moment I think it’s looking between Arsenal and ourselves at the top but you know football changes. When you come to January and it really does start, then you expect to see Liverpool and Chelsea. You look at Tottenham for instance, they are in a false position and everyone knows that and you are wondering when they are going to start to motor. They are really a top 5 or 6 club with the quality they have got in their team. Sometimes the starts of the season nowadays, when there’re so many international fixtures, it’s hard to get the momentum and rhythm going. You’ve got six and a half weeks at the start to the season when you don’t have your players, so for a lot of clubs they find it hard to get the rhythm and continuity of their game. Once the internationals get out of the road, then I think you’ll find that the Premier League will settle down, we’ll get a true perspective of who is going to be really challenging and you will get some consistent results. At the moment there have been some surprise results."

Carlos Tevez is a delight to watch because he plays with so much heart; how have you got this knack of identifying these players that play with so much heart. Do you identify it when you speak to the player or is it something you can pick out purely from watching them play?

“It’s about assessment. We watched Tevez quite a bit when he was at West Ham simply because we knew that his contract situation with West Ham was unclear and he was a revelation for them really, he kept them up, there is no question about that. I know that Alan (Curbishley) and quite rightly because he has got a squad of players to deal with , said it wasn’t down to one man, but it was down to one man...he was absolutely fantastic. He showed the same things that you are talking about, great enthusiasm to play, determination to win personal battles on the pitch. What I have noticed about the boy here, since he has come to us, is that when he loses the ball he wants it back which is a great attribute to have as a striker really, not every striker thinks that way. So he’s got a lot of great things about him and most importantly that great enthusiasm to play.”

The fact that he didn’t speak English could have made it really difficult for him to settle in the Premier League, plus he is very young but he just seemed to get on with it and didn’t let it phase him...

“I think he lets the football language talk. I listen to him with our own players and it’s quite an interesting feature actually, they are all sitting at the one table and are able to communicate which is fantastic. I think that’s the benefit of the work we are doing actually in terms of he’s got a language teacher that comes to his house; he’s not finding it easy, I must say that, but he is improving and he’s working hard at it. But it’s great because it doesn’t seem to matter when they are all on the training pitch; they just seem to communicate very well.”

Obviously you have lost a managerial adversary this season in terms of Jose Mourinho leaving Chelsea. He was such a flamboyant addition to the Premier League that it still seems a little odd without him at the moment. Jose said he will be back...do you think he will be at some stage and would you like to compete against him again because you were fond of him and he was a challenge?

“Yeah, I’ve been in touch with him a couple of times now. I don’t know if he will come back into the English game, I’m not sure of that. I think Jose will end up at a top team in Spain or Italy, I’m almost certain of that. There certainly is no one on the radar at the moment obviously, he’s taking a break and I think he’s aiming to come back fresh. I don’t think there’s any problem about him coming back into management, I think it’s where he comes back in and I don’t think anyone has any clues to that at this moment in time.”

You talked about coming back ‘fresh’ and it doesn’t matter whether it is Jose Mourinho or a lower league manager, people do need breaks after the intensity of management don’t they?

“It does them good but they can’t be out of the game too long because you can be forgotten. I don’t think people like Jose Mourinho will be forgotten I must say that. I was reading an article the other day where a club was talking to Brian Little and Brian has done great work in his management career at Darlington, Aston Villa, Leicester etc. He’s been around quite a few clubs, Brian, but he’s been out of the game for about three years now and you get forgotten about. It is ridiculous, but being out of the game that long is a handicap because with his qualities and his CV, Brian Little could quite easily manage 80% of the clubs in England.”