CHORE OF DUTY

Oliver Kay in the Times on Fergie’s views on the Far East tour.

Reluctant Ferguson puts brave face on long-haul schedule

THE last time he took his Manchester United team to Asia, four years ago, Sir Alex Ferguson suggested that he was glad that he would never have to do so again. The adulation of the club’s supporters in the Far East was wonderful, he said, but there was a downside: an obligation to travel relentlessly from one country to the next, meeting and greeting and squeezing in the odd match against mediocre opposition when time allowed. By the time they next visited the region, it would be someone else’s problem.

By committing at least another five years to United, though, Ferguson took everything that goes with their status among the world’s elite clubs. Commercial considerations hold greater sway at Old Trafford than Ferguson would like.

The schedule facing United over the next ten days is unforgiving. They will fight jet lag to train in the humidity of the National Stadium this afternoon and pop into the local United Megastore before playing a match against the national team tomorrow. The next morning they go to Beijing, where there will be demands for press conferences, public training sessions and photo opportunities at the Forbidden City or the Great Wall of China, before a match against Beijing Hyundai on Tuesday, and then move to Tokyo, where another two matches are sandwiched between media obligations.

It has not gone unnoticed by the United manager that each of the four seasons in which his team have failed to win the Premiership title since 1997 have followed jaunts of this nature. Their only success in the past four campaigns came in 2002-03, preceded by a summer in which they went no farther than the Netherlands and Denmark. While it would be wrong to attribute the failures solely to the pre-season tours, Ferguson may be speaking more with hope than conviction when he says that this time it will be different.

“When the club announced it would be travelling to the Far East, I knew there would be a huge buzz,” he said in the latest issue of United’s official magazine. “This will be our fourth visit to Asia and I don’t think we will ever get used to the reception we get there.

“These tours are always valuable for us in terms of helping new players settle in and get to know their team-mates. It’s a fantastic opportunity. I’ll never forget playing in front of 80,000 last time we were in Asia. The fans even applaud when we get a throw-in.

“The travel and conditions in Asia can make this trip quite daunting for the players, but their preparation will be spot-on. They have completed a great deal of their fitness work in Portugal and the four games we will play will add to their sharpness. Chelsea turned last season into a sprint from the start and this season we have to hit the ground running.”

The concern for Ferguson is always that these trips become something of a circus, which is why he was happy for his players to enjoy relative anonymity in the United States in the past two summers. This time, the circus element may be provided by an American or three as at least one of the sons of Malcolm Glazer, the club’s new owner, is expected to travel from the US to make an appearance at some stage.

Perhaps that would be another distraction, but, for Ferguson, anything to divert attention from his players may prove to be a good thing.