"The New Maradona Arrives in Manchester!"
"Maradona Reborn at Old Trafford, Five-Man Dribble Stuns Europe!"
"The New Zidane Shines, Stunning Volley Conquers Old Trafford!"
...
For a time, all of Europe was talking about the Red Devil Derby.
Not because of the scoreline.
A 2-1 result was hardly extraordinary.
It was the way the match had unfolded that stunned everyone.
For almost eighty minutes, New Manchester United had been second best.
Manchester United had disrupted their rhythm, controlled the midfield, and forced them onto the defensive.
Worse still, Cristiano Ronaldo had been sent off.
Then Palacio, their starting right winger and most dangerous attacking player, was injured and forced to leave.
With his team trailing 1-0 and down to ten men, Mourinho gambled.
He sent on a sixteen-year-old.
Remember the name.
Lionel Messi.
An Argentine teenager who had already spent several years developing in Manchester.
Small in stature.
Extraordinary with the ball.
And, unlike many technically gifted youngsters his age, already strong enough physically to withstand the demands of English football.
Then, in front of tens of thousands of supporters at Old Trafford, Messi produced a goal that immediately invited comparisons with Diego Maradona.
He carried the ball almost half the length of the pitch.
Fortune.
Kléberson.
Silvestre.
Ferdinand.
Howard.
One after another, Manchester United players were left behind.
The goal did more than equalise.
It shattered Manchester United's control of the match.
And Messi was not finished influencing the game.
In stoppage time, another star took over.
Kaká.
The Brazilian international was already one of the most highly rated young players in Europe.
He met Messi's hurried cross with a spectacular volley from outside the penalty area.
The difficulty of the strike immediately drew comparisons with Zidane's famous Champions League final goal.
Two moments of individual brilliance.
Two goals.
And Manchester United were beaten.
It was New Manchester United's seventh Premier League victory since promotion.
They also remained one of only two unbeaten teams in the division.
The other was Arsenal.
The following day, Sky Sports quickly produced a special programme devoted entirely to the derby.
The discussion focused on the two late goals, but also on the tactical battle between Ferguson and Mourinho.
There was little disagreement over one point.
For most of the match, Ferguson had outmanoeuvred Mourinho.
After the Community Shield defeat, the Manchester United manager had gone away, studied what had happened, and returned with a completely different plan.
This time, it worked.
Manchester United disrupted New Manchester United's passing.
They denied Beckham space.
They crowded Kaká.
They isolated Drogba.
And they repeatedly interrupted the rhythm of the game before Mourinho's side could build sustained attacks.
Yet football could never be reduced entirely to tactics.
Sometimes an exceptional player produced something no tactical plan could account for.
At Old Trafford, New Manchester United had two of them.
Martin Tyler, invited onto the programme as a guest analyst, was asked first about Messi.
"He's another outstanding product of Newton Heath," Tyler said.
"What makes him special isn't just the technique."
"He has incredibly close control, but he's also much better equipped physically for English football than people might expect from a player of his size."
"He isn't the fastest player over a long distance."
"But his changes of pace are exceptional."
Tyler smiled.
"He'll slow down for half a second, make the defender relax, then accelerate again before the defender can react."
"Combine that with his balance and ability to change direction, and he looks much faster than he actually is."
The presenter asked the obvious question.
"How good can he become?"
Tyler barely hesitated.
"Exceptional."
"I've thought that for years."
He had watched Messi develop through the academy and had seen his progress long before most of England knew his name.
Then the presenter turned to Kaká.
"And what about the Brazilian?"
Tyler smiled again.
"He's a different type of player from Zidane."
"Kaká has tremendous acceleration."
"Earlier in his career, he relied on that much more heavily."
"But this season, you can already see the difference."
"He's learning to beat players with changes of direction and tempo rather than simply trying to outrun everyone."
"That's important."
"Players who depend too much on explosive pace can place enormous stress on their bodies. Owen is an obvious example."
"Kaká is becoming more efficient."
Tyler continued.
"His goalscoring ability has always been excellent."
"He used to play closer to a second striker."
"This season Mourinho has pushed him into a more advanced attacking midfield role and clearly wants to make even greater use of his ability to arrive in scoring positions."
"He's responded brilliantly."
"For me, he's already one of the best players in the Premier League."
"And yes, he has the potential to become a truly elite player."
At that point, Sky showed footage from Mourinho's post-match press conference.
The Portuguese manager had described Messi and Kaká's goals as priceless.
Works of individual creativity.
Moments of pure footballing imagination.
But when reporters immediately asked whether Messi would now become a regular starter, Mourinho dismissed the idea.
"He's sixteen."
"We're not going to rush him."
"Leo and I speak regularly, and we both understand where he is in his development."
"He's not ready to start every week."
"He needs to keep improving."
Mourinho paused.
"And stop calling him Maradona."
"Maradona had his career."
"Leo is sixteen years old."
Back in the studio, Martin Tyler laughed.
"Mourinho is certainly never dull."
"I imagine Ferguson enjoys having someone like him around, even if he'd never admit it."
"Wenger doesn't exactly give him the same kind of argument every week."
The programme then replayed clips of Mourinho and Ferguson celebrating in front of each other during the match.
Tyler shook his head with amusement.
"But beneath all of that, Mourinho is an excellent coach."
"His progress over the last few years has been obvious."
"I remember the doubts when he first took charge."
"People questioned whether he was ready."
"Then he built one of the most disciplined defensive teams in English football."
"Look at their defensive record over the last few seasons."
"You have to respect that."
The presenter smiled.
"They haven't exactly struggled to score either."
"That's the interesting part," Tyler replied.
"The early version of this team was much more direct."
"They didn't have the technical level they do now, so they played simply."
"As the players developed, and as they became more familiar with Mourinho's ideas, the football changed."
"More movement."
"More support runs."
"More short combinations."
"More positional rotation."
"By last season, the system had become very mature."
"They could beat Lazio 4-0 at home."
"Then go away from home, shut the match down, and draw 0-0 if that was what the situation required."
Tyler paused before continuing.
"But the biggest change this season is Beckham."
The presenter nodded.
"He's been playing centrally almost every week."
"Exactly."
"And we're seeing a different Beckham from the one people became used to at Manchester United."
"He's still running constantly."
"He still has the diagonal passing."
"He still has the free kicks."
"But now he's also receiving under pressure, supporting possession, protecting the ball, playing short combinations, threading passes through midfield, and controlling the rhythm of matches."
"His progress has been visible almost every week."
Tyler leaned forward.
"The coaching staff have clearly unlocked parts of his game that were always there but weren't used consistently."
"And he hasn't lost any of the qualities that made him famous."
"His long passing still changes matches."
"His free kicks still decide games."
"Defensively, he and Essien complement each other very well."
"At the moment, he's doing almost everything."
Then Tyler added:
"If I were Eriksson, I'd be paying very close attention."
"England don't have many players capable of controlling the tempo of a match from central midfield."
"New Manchester United are increasingly building their possession around Beckham."
"England could do something similar."
The presenter asked one final question.
"If you had to choose the best player in the Premier League over the opening nine rounds, who would it be?"
"Beckham."
Tyler did not hesitate.
"Then Henry."
"And Kaká."
That was close to Sky Sports' own player rankings.
Beckham sat first.
Henry was second.
Kaká was fourth.
Three New Manchester United players appeared in the top ten.
Curtis was tenth.
His inclusion attracted plenty of attention.
Since the UEFA Super Cup defeat against AC Milan, Curtis had changed noticeably.
His game had become calmer.
More controlled.
More mature.
With Terry suspended, Curtis had been asked to operate as the deeper centre-back while Vidić stepped forward more aggressively.
The eighteen-year-old had handled the responsibility remarkably well.
Experts increasingly described him as composed and mature beyond his years.
He had become the organiser of New Manchester United's defence.
Čech was receiving similar praise.
In the latest Premier League goalkeeper rankings, he was voted first.
That was not simply because New Manchester United had conceded fewer goals than anyone else.
His individual performances had been outstanding.
By now, almost nobody questioned Ethan's earlier decision to use the special talent provision to bring him to England.
What had once looked like a gamble now looked like another outstanding piece of recruitment.
...
Inside Newton Heath, the coaching staff were equally pleased with the squad's development.
The team looked more mature than the previous season.
More composed.
More experienced.
Yet they had not lost the energy and aggression that came with having such a young squad.
That balance was exactly what Mourinho wanted.
The defeat to AC Milan in the UEFA Super Cup had played an important role.
The players had been forced to confront their weaknesses.
They realised how far they still had to go.
And instead of damaging confidence, the defeat had sharpened them.
New Manchester United continued their strong Premier League run.
After beating Manchester United, they had twenty-three points from seven wins and two draws.
That left them second in the table.
One point ahead of Manchester United.
Two behind Arsenal.
Three days after the Red Devil Derby, Leicester City visited Old Trafford.
Given the intensity of the Manchester United match, Mourinho rotated several players.
Villa started in place of Drogba.
The Spaniard responded well and scored.
Beckham added another with a powerful long-range strike from midfield.
2-0.
Another victory.
On October 29, New Manchester United travelled to face Notts County in the third round of the League Cup.
Mourinho had already decided that the competition would be his lowest priority.
The Premier League title race was becoming increasingly demanding.
The UEFA Cup second round was approaching.
Something had to give.
So he rotated heavily.
Ishmael.
Messi.
Fàbregas.
John Obi Mikel.
Chiellini.
All started.
Once again, the youngsters delivered.
Messi continued the form he had shown at Old Trafford.
One goal.
Two assists.
Ishmael scored.
Mikel scored as well.
Notts County 0-3 New Manchester United.
The Red Rebels advanced to the fourth round.
Even Mourinho was pleasantly surprised by how well the youngsters handled the occasion.
He praised them afterwards and encouraged them to keep showing the same confidence whenever opportunities arrived.
Then New Manchester United returned to league duty.
Their next destination was Middlesbrough.
Before the season, most analysts had expected Middlesbrough to avoid relegation comfortably without seriously challenging near the top.
Their performances so far had largely matched that assessment.
The loss of Geremi, who had returned to Real Madrid after his loan spell, had weakened them badly on the right.
Mourinho immediately targeted that side.
Cristiano Ronaldo was serving the suspension resulting from his red card against Manchester United, so Robben started on the left.
The Dutchman took full advantage.
Again and again, he attacked Middlesbrough's right side.
Direct runs.
Quick changes of pace.
Inside cuts.
By the second half, the home defence looked completely overwhelmed.
New Manchester United won 3-0.
Beckham scored.
Palacio scored.
And Ishmael, introduced in place of Drogba, added the third.
It was Ishmael's first Premier League goal.
Farther north, Arsenal were continuing their own relentless form.
They travelled to Leeds United and won 4-1.
For Arsenal, it was another impressive victory.
For Leeds, it deepened the sense of crisis.
The club's financial problems were already severe.
Their results were deteriorating with them.
And for the first time, serious questions were being asked about whether Leeds United could actually be relegated.
(To be continued.)