No News Is Good News

Jose Mourinho's re-invention as the "mellow" man of the Premier League is likely to be welcomed by Rafael Benítez, Arsène Wenger and countless others. Whether Sir Alex Ferguson believed reports of Mourinho's new outlook as he paced through Macau's Venetian Hotel was difficult to gauge but "about time" appeared to be the United manager's initial reaction.

"It's probably a good thing for him because he was getting himself into all sorts of difficulties," Ferguson said. "He's not stupid. I think he has realised that everything he tries is just for a reason and to suit himself."

The two men talk of sharing a love of red wine but winning is what matters most to the pair of them and, if Mourinho genuinely is preparing to button his lip from now on, there will be a reason for it and it is unlikely to have been a desire on his part simply to be nicer guy.

"I do like him but maybe he has realised that everyone has cottoned on to it all and that it doesn't have the same impact," said Ferguson. "He obviously hasn't relished the bad publicity and he has obviously learned his lesson a little bit. Everybody does. But he's young, isn't he? What is he? 45? [he was 44 in January]. I was 44 when I came to United."

Whether a new Mourinho will deny Ferguson a 10th title is one of the forthcoming season's great fascinations but the Scot admits he is happy to see his Chelsea counterpart alter his approach. "I think the most important thing is that he has changed the way he does the publicity side before games and things like that; that's not a bad thing.

"He came over [from Porto] and brought a bit of colour and he did really well on the publicity side in his first year because he was brash and young and making all his comments and he endeared himself to a lot of people. There's no question about that. He caught the attention of the press and had them right where he wanted them, right by his side.

"None of it worries me. I'm quite happy for other people to get publicity. I've said time and again that my job is to keep us out of the press. That's my biggest job."

But Ferguson can probably thank Mourinho for providing the spark he needed to reignite United. Just as Chelsea began to prosper under their new coach two years ago, United appeared to be on a downward slope, with Arsenal looking the more likely long-term threat to the Roman Abramovich revolution at Stamford Bridge.

"I think we made decisions a couple of years ago about where we were going and the need to build a new team and that wasn't easy," Ferguson admitted. "When you've been there for 20 years, it's bound to happen. You have to rebuild. This is probably my fourth team - you could even say it's my fifth - so there are moments when you have to make decisions regarding players' futures, which isn't easy because you get attached to them.

"It changes all the time when you've had players for so long. It happens. You have to make these decisions. You can't keep them forever and give them a pension. There comes a point where they have to move on. Sometimes you have to capitalise on their abilities and sell players and let them go."

Ferguson expects Arsenal to "improve" and Fernando Torres to offer Liverpool a new dimension this season. "They've [Arsenal] signed a right-back, a midfielder and a striker, although I'm not sure about the striker [Eduardo da Silva] because I don't know too much about him. I don't think they'll suffer too much [without Thierry Henry] because they lost him in December. His time had gone and I think Arsène knew that."

Of Torres Ferguson said: "He's good in the air and got physique. He's quicker than you think."