Nani prospers from Fergie’s right-minded approach

THE major luxury for Alex Ferguson is that he rarely has to even think about what his strongest XI might be, but as Manchester United’s season belatedly begins to pick up some momentum, it is starting to show itself.

With Ferguson having a clear idea of the team he will select for up to three games in advance, the campaign is beginning to map itself out, with the Champions League starting again next week with a juicy tie against David Beckham’s AC Milan, the Carling Cup final with Aston Villa at the end of the month, as well as the title race turning from simmer to boil.

Although it has only been five games since Nani has been in the side after an ankle problem, the Portuguese’s return to action, in the form of his life, has given United the edge they have been missing in the opening months of the campaign.

They took their time to open Portsmouth up but with Antonio Valencia on the right and Nani on the left, they were able to stretch Avram Grant’s side, which also gave licence to United’s full backs to join in and could be crucial to their chances of collecting a fourth straight title.

Granted, it was only Portsmouth, who helped out with three own goals, but there was a flow to their play, a natural and positive feel, that has been absent even in convincing victories and can only bode well for the important weeks ahead.

A total of eight defeats by February tells a story despite Wayne Rooney’s outstanding form papering over cracks, but now it seems that Ferguson has finally hit on the right blend in his midfield, an area where there seemed to be all too little strategy.

His refusal to consider buying a holding player last summer despite Owen Hargreaves’ injury problems, meant that there was always a patched-up feel to the United engine room but the new-found purpose in Nani’s play has given them the balance they have been lacking.

Nani, 23, was supposed to be the man to fill the role left by Cristiano Ronaldo but his desperate form in the early weeks of the campaign meant that, after a couple of years of playing in a more central role, Ryan Giggs was sent back out to the left flank.

But since he has been back in the team there has been an end product to the tricks and flicks and a new directness about his play, even when he was on the left again against Portsmouth.

Ferguson had acknowledged, that with Valencia giving him width and quality on the right, Nani tends to cut inside and look for a trick when he is on the left, but he is doing it to good effect now. His selection and performance in the 3-1 win over Arsenal last week was significant.

On Saturday, there was a point to everything he did and no-one did more to help United break the deadlock. Ferguson has spoken of a new maturity he sees in Nani and Gary Neville thinks the Portuguese has learned some lessons.

“He’s doing the right things at the right times,” Neville said. “It’s very difficult to stay with a player like Nani because he’s so quick. He can go either way. In the last couple of weeks he’s come on leaps and bounds.”

The former Sporting Lisbon man has returned a different player and if United had to play in the Champions League final tomorrow, you could bet that Saturday’s midfield four would start, with Giggs, or with Dimitar Berbatov partnering Rooney.

Darren Fletcher continues to shine as the team’s enforcer – though his cross for United’s first demonstrated that he is a better player than Arsene Wenger might think – and Michael Carrick has also regained his spot after some problems with Ferguson in the early part of the campaign.

With the United manager refusing to discuss claims that he has fallen out with the Brazilian Anderson, it appears he has stumbled on a neat formula once again, and the thumping of Portsmouth was only the second time that Ferguson’s team have put together four straight wins in the Premier League this season.

“It’s just about playing to a good standard now and on a consistent basis and hopefully that will be enough for us,” Carrick said.

“We can’t worry about other teams or other results to that extent but there’s still a long way to go.”

Although United were dominant, Portsmouth had the better chances before Rooney headed United in front from Fletcher’s cross and Anthony Vanden Borre’s own goal, after he was fooled by Nani and then could not do anything with the cross, doubled the lead.

Carrick will argue that he should be given the third, after his shot flicked off Richard Hughes and flew in off the underside of the bar, Berbatov showed a cool head to fire in a fourth, after he held on to the ball for an age around the Portsmouth box, before Marc Wilson lashed a volley into his own net from Patrice Evra’s whipped cross.

Even after such a demoralising defeat, former Chelsea coach Grant, who has faced allegations about his own private life in recent weeks, had words of comfort for his former Chelsea captain John Terry, who has been stripped of the England captaincy.

Grant said: “He will be a leader and we need to remember no-one is perfect. Even the people that criticise John, no-one is perfect.”

MATCH RATING: *** – Decent viewing, with United going for it from the very start and Portsmouth putting up a decent fight in the first half. More to come from Ferguson’s men.

REFEREE: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 8/10: Did not have too many tough calls but allowed Portsmouth to put themselves about while clamping down when they crossed the line.