Football: United already showing signs of strain

SIR ALEX Ferguson may have been publicly unconcerned about Manchester United's failure to beat Croatia Zagreb at Old Trafford on Tuesday night but, privately, his sense of unease about this season's global challenge will have deepened.

United are 10 matches and 46 days into the most demanding season ever undertaken by an English club and already there are cracks appearing. The most obvious are physical but there are also signs that the team is being affected by concerns over the club's financial position and, for the superstitious, that luck is deserting them.

United went into Tuesday's match with a whole team injured or unavailable*. Over-playing is the prime cause, especially as United's high-tempo style places strong demands on players' bodies, however much Ferguson tries to rest them. Not that he can at the moment. With so many defenders out, Phil Neville had to play on Tuesday, and at Anfield on Saturday, despite feeling ill.

Some of the injuries will be a reaction to the stresses of last season, a campaign which would have been long enough even if it had ended on May 29, when United concluded their European odyssey. Instead several players continued playing for their countries until mid-June. After this one would have imagined a long rest was required but, no sooner had the players reported back at Old Trafford, than they were whisked away on a tour of Australasia and the far East.

Foolhardy? Possibly, but necessary to maintain the club's economic expansion in order to both reward shareholders and keep up with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Those clubs, like the major ones in Italy, are coming into television-generated riches beyond even United's dreams. Unlike the Premiership, where collective bargaining ensures a relatively equitable distribution of wealth, leading Spanish and Italian clubs are free to negotiate their own television deals. These can be up to five times as lucrative, bringing in an extra pounds 40m per year.

United's limited financial power is one reason for the limited and belated nature of the club's summer transfer dealings.

And then there is Lady Luck. Having been a regular on United's European excursions last year, she appears to have chosen another cause, possibly that of Barcelona given their recovery in Sweden. United, by contrast, failed to force a late winner.

United ought still qualify from group as the mini-league system allows for the occasional bad day at the office. Last year Bayern lost their opening game and United drew theirs.

However, they do need to get back into the groove in Austria, against Sturm Graz, next week. Nicky Butt and Denis Irwin may be back by then but most of the injured, notably Gary Neville and Roy Keane, will not.

The news is particularly bad for Keane, who is likely to be out for another month with his hamstring injury. He needs to recover quickly, both for the team and, given the interest he will attract from foreign sides towards the end of the season, his own purposes as well.

*United's absent XI: Injured: Brown, G Neville, May, Irwin, Johnsen, Butt, Keane, Blomqvist. Ineligible: Taibi, Silvestre, Wallwork.