Have United lost ability to frighten their opponents?

THESE are difficult times for Manchester United.

Sunderland became the latest club to demonstrate that the fear factor surrounding Alex Ferguson’s team no longer circulates around the dressing rooms of the Premier League’s lesser lights.

There was a time when a visit from United was the signal for opposition teams to pack their defence, soak up the pressure and accept the inevitable late winner from one of Fergie’s array of fine finishers. No longer.

United are yet to win away from home in the Premier League, with Sunderland joining Fulham, Everton and Bolton as teams that have held them this season.

Ferguson will have targeted far more than four points from a relatively easy quartet of trips at the start of a season. And his reluctance to come up with an excuse for this lacklustre performance illustrates that he knows the underlying problems cannot be obscured.

Lee Cattermole and Jordan Henderson embarrassed Paul Scholes and Darron Gibson in a midfield where Nani and Anderson were anonymous. And, while the supply line to Michael Owen and Federico Macheda was cut, the pair’s failure to make an impression still left a question mark against Ferguson’s decision to rest Dimitar Berbatov.

Berbatov, who made a difference when he replaced Owen at the interval, may have played in midweek, but he is also going into a two-week break thanks to his retirement from international football.

His omission hints at arrogance from Ferguson, an arrogance that is no longer justified by his team’s performances or results.

At least there was an improvement in the defence which has leaked goals in recent weeks. Rio Ferdinand was reunited with Nemanja Vidic in the league for the first time this season and they emerged with a clean sheet.

But only a mixture of good fortune and an assured show from goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar ensured that Sunderland were frustrated as manager Steve Bruce chased his first-ever win over Ferguson in nearly 15 years of managerial encounters.

The keeper, whose best moment came when he blocked a 16th minute shot from Steed Malbranque, was in a realistic mood. He said: “I think it was two points dropped and we have dropped too many points in away games.

“It is good to get a clean sheet after getting one in Valencia on Wednesday, but we weren’t really good enough in our offensive game to claim all three points.

“I was busy in the first half but you expect that with the way Sunderland play. They knew we had a game on Sunday and one on Wednesday and there was a lot of travelling involved getting back from Spain and getting up here.

“We were happy to come in at half-time at 0-0 and hope that Sunderland would die down a bit after half-time. In the last 15 minutes we had a few chances but not enough to get the winner.”

For once, Ferguson might have been justified in switching the spotlight away from an insipid performance by his team and towards peripheral factors, particularly the 20-minute delay in starting the game after a burst toilet pipe forced them to evacuate their dressing room.

He claimed it had little effect on his players, whose clothes were ruined by the flood, but the disruption may have been a factor in their failure to make any impact in the opening half.

John O’Shea’s club suit was among 10 hurled into a skip. “It’s being burned for health reasons,” said defender.

“There was a strange smell when we came back from our warm-up and we knew what had happened. Thankfully, we weren’t sitting down underneath it when it happened!”

And van der Sar revealed: “I finished my warm-up and they put us in a different room. We were told not to go in the dressing room – the smell was horrendous.

“It was not normal. A lot of the lads had suits, wash bags and shoes, which they had to throw them away. It was a rare moment of something special.”

Sunderland’s failure to capitalise on United’s difficulties aggravated Bruce, who almost overcame his nemesis when Bolo Zenden’s shot struck the post in the first half.

But Bruce’s side are now unbeaten in five league games when the opposition has included both Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Arsenal.

It is a run that offers a glimpse of their potential, according to Phil Bardsley, the defender they signed from United. But he also warns that the Premier league will write off United at their peril.

He said: “If you want to write them off you are silly. I don’t think they wanted to come here after their exertions in Valencia. It is tough for them but that is why they are a top team and they have to be up to scratch in every game whether it be Europe or the Premier League because they know they will be in for a game.

“They are top players and they are focused for every minute. But no one should take any credit away from Sunderland who excellent all over the pitch and made it hard for them. I don’t think they will be in a mad rush to come back to the Stadium of Light.”