Darren Fletcher, "If we didn't think we could challenge it would really depress us to think Chelsea had won the league already. That is all I have read all summer. But fair play to them for the way they performed last season and started this one. They have raised the bar. The season before Arsenal were unbeaten and last season Chelsea only lost once and set a new points record.
"Manchester United have yet to reach that standard but we hope there are players around the place up for the challenge. The manager certainly is. I think being completely written off has hurt everyone. The manager is a very proud man.
"To be honest, last season was a disaster from the beginning, for our tour of America we basically had a reserve team with a sprinkling of first teamers and because of players being missing our results suffered.
"I think it wasn't so much the disappointment of last season but the way the season started. We didn't give ourselves the best possible chance. That wasn't anyone's fault. It wasn't bad planning or anything like that, it was just the way things panned out and it wasn't the best for Manchester United."
Gary Neville joins in the snooze-fest and repeats the mantra he’s been coming out with all summer, "The start of the season has been solid and quietly determined and we look like at all costs we are going to win the game. You need that ruthless attitude. We were a bit wasteful last season. We always think at Old Trafford 'oh we'll get another chance' but you just never know.
"There were games last season here that were 0-0 where you just thought 'I can't see a goal today', but against Aston Villa (this season) we knew we were going to get the goal and keep that clean sheet.
"There does seem to be that win-at-all-costs attitude where we have got to keep a clean sheet and we know even if it gets to 60 or 70 minutes we know we can produce that moment of quality.
"The first chance you get in the game could be your last chance and you have to try to take it. It might be in the first 10 or 15 minutes that you get three chances, and those might be the best three chances you get in the match."
Gaz feels that Van der Sar has had an impact on team confidence, "Every goalkeeper makes mistakes, but he just does things so calmly, there's no panic. Every time it's played back to him, he clears it 70 yards up to the attack, every time the ball is played into the area, he has caught it. There have been no fumbles. He has done the simple things properly and we feel safe with him."