"Maybe outside the club people felt it would be the same story again, but we knew that from midway through last season we were getting better," says Giggs. "For a long time the midfield every week had been me and John O'Shea, which wasn't good enough, but we had Michael Carrick coming in and Scholesy (Paul Scholes) coming back, so we knew we were going to be stronger there. Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) and Gabby (Gabriel Heinze) were also available again, and those players gave us that extra edge that comes from real competition for places.
"Having 20 players fit and competing has been the difference this season. Nearly all the time the manager has had 18-20 to pick from, so the lads in the side are looking over their shoulders, thinking, ‘I've got to play well every week, or else . . .' We didn't have that last season."
"He[Fergie] was looking forward to the challenge. He'd seen the foundations for a new team laid last season, when we finished strongly, he knew important players were coming back and he'd seen the potential of Patrice (Evra) and Vids (Nemanja Vidic), who he had signed in the transfer window 12 months ago. Putting that all together, he knew we'd be better equipped to compete for every trophy this time, not just the Premiership. The feeling in the dressing room was of great confidence. We thought we'd have a really good chance, as long as the big players stayed fit."
About Ruud's departure:
"When you lose somebody who scored so many, and who was such a great player, it does worry you a bit.
"But when you think about it, whenever we've been successful it has never been down to one man's goals. When we've won the league the burden has been spread around, between the likes of Sparky (Mark Hughes), (Andy) Cole, (Dwight) Yorke, Teddy (Sheringham), Ole, myself, Scholesy, Becks (David Beckham), Brucey (Steve Bruce) and of course Eric (Cantona). That's what we're doing now in the league, with Cristiano (Ronaldo, 14 goals), Wayne (Rooney, 10), Louis Saha (eight), Ole (six), Scholesy (four) and now Henrik Larsson (two).
"When the manager addressed us in the summer, he said we couldn't afford to let Chelsea establish a lead the way they had the two previous seasons. We had to put them under pressure. Above all, he stressed the need to get off to a good start. We scored five on the opening day (beating Fulham 5-1) and never looked back.
"It was important not to get paranoid about Chelsea and have them weigh on our minds all the time, so we made a deliberate effort to concentrate only on our own game, to make a good start and build on that."
About Ronaldo/Rooney situation in the summer:
"What happened in the summer, the sort of publicity it got and the away fans' reaction, that sort of thing can sometimes be the making of you. You either buckle under it and leave or show your mettle and let your football do the talking. For such a young man, Cristiano has handled it unbelievably well. The way he is playing and the goals he's scoring have been a major part of our improvement.
"They are mates, genuine mates. They have the same interests in music, watch the same things on TV and get on really well. They are the two pranksters in the dressing room. If shoes go missing or clothes get soaked, it's them. They are a bit like Butty (Nicky Butt) and I used to be when we were their age — with all the banter and the practical jokes."