WHAT THE ‘EXPERTS' SAY

If there is one thing football managers detest even more than boardroom votes of confidence it is sympathy from rivals. Sir Alex Ferguson will be duly appalled by the way in which not just his sworn enemy Arsène Wenger but Rafa Benítez, Jose Mourinho and Sam Allardyce have been queuing up to ladle the stuff on to the airwaves and across back pages.

Such head-shaking expressions of sorrow about Sir Alex being booed during last Saturday's defeat against Blackburn were presumably offered in a spirit of utmost sincerity but they imbue Ferguson with an unaccustomed aura of vulnerability.

He went some way to dispelling it here by reverting to his personal default mode and fielding an ultra-attacking ensemble. For so long a patron saint of the "attack is the best form of defence" managerial mantra, Ferguson has latterly appeared inhibited by his assistant Carlos Queiroz's strictures on the wonders of 4-5-1 but last night the pair appeared to achieve a reasonably happy compromise with the formation evolving into something often looking more like an audacious 4-3-3.

Sporadic chants of "Stand Up if You Love Carlos" may have been ironic but at least Cristiano Ronaldo's step-overs, Ryan Giggs's reassuring restoration to the left and Ruud van Nistelrooy's timely return to match-winning ways enabled season-ticket holders to revel in such humour.

Ferguson's detractors will surely cite the out-of-position Kieran Richardson's often unusual interpretation of the left-back role and Alan Smith's positively hammy attempt at emulating Roy Keane as evidence that he is losing his grip but, generally, pluses just about outweighed minuses.

If memories of Smith's reckless lunge in the preamble to Simao Sabrosa's equaliser suggest the erstwhile striker is a strictly ersatz central midfielder, Giggs's incisive free-kick prompted a wallow in nostalgia for happier times, heightened briefly during the second half when Paul Scholes pushed up alongside Van Nistelrooy leaving Ronaldo and Giggs patrolling the wings in a passable imitation of good old 4-4-2.

By then the pre-match exhortation from the man on Old Trafford's public address system, who had come over all Butlins Red-Coatish, to "Let's get right behind United," was largely being adhered to even if the crowd at times mirrored their teams struggle to control the game's tempo when endeavouring to sustain a decent decibel level.

At times it was quiet enough to hear mutterings of discontent from supporters. No one accused Ferguson of delegating too much tactical responsibility to Brian Kidd during the 1990s and, coincidentally, his one-time sidekick was the man responsible for drawing the half-time raffle.

As the former coach was applauded to the echo you wondered if Ferguson would be any more secure if Kidd, or possibly his immediate successor, Steve McClaren, were seated alongside him in the dug-out instead of Queiroz. Happily for the Portuguese such musings were, temporarily at least, rendered academic by Van Nistelrooy's winner.

Oliver Holt in the Mirror:

It started midway through the first half, a chant rippling down the ground from the heartland of the old Stretford End.

"Stand up if you love Fergie," the supporters sang. And gradually, all around the ground men and women began to rise to their feet.

Perhaps it was borne out of guilt for the way some of them behaved during the defeat to Blackburn here on Saturday. Perhaps they wanted to make amends for the fact some of them had booed and harangued Sir Alex then.

A crowd is a fickle thing but Old Trafford's conscience had been pricked by suggestions that the manager who has brought them so much glory needed to be protected from them by security guards at the weekend. Soon the whole ground was on its feet, clapping and cheering their manager to express the renewal of their support and to say sorry.

Two minutes later, Sabrosa Simao ran at the heart of the United defence, played a sweet one-two with Fabrizio Miccoli and shot just wide. Old Trafford fell silent again.

It was that kind of knife-edge evening against Benfica last night, a night plagued by the uncertainty that hovers over Sir Alex and his side at the moment.

No one wanted any rancour. No one gave Carlos Queiroz any stick even though he had appeared to lambast the fans for their stupidity.

Everyone here wants to believe that Ferguson will get it right again just like he has always got it right before.

But there is no escaping the fact that his side is clinging on to its decade-long presumption of superiority by its fingertips.