This year he’s had a rest and will be back much fresher, and with that experience of playing in England he’ll be a fantastic player next year.”Some critics had expressed a few doubts from time to time, but overall it was a remarkable first season, one of the highlights of which was a stunning save against Manchester City at Old Trafford. When Sir Alex Ferguson chose to rest Howard and give Roy Carroll a run shortly before the final, it looked briefly as though the prospect of a first American Cup winner might be disappearing. But the manager knew what he was doing and the two players had an inkling.”You get fatigued mentally and physically, but you never go to the manager and ask him to send you down,” Howard said, lapsing into American sports venacular. So I think it was a good decision on his part and I trust him. It’s a team effort but I knew I’d done some good things in the FA Cup and helped get us to the final, as did Roy, so I think we were both deserving of a final spot.”Lo and behold they got it when Ferguson, clearly going soft in his old age, sent on the Ulsterman for the American with a few minutes to go and the Cup safely won.”I should maybe have rested him in December,” Ferguson admitted this week, “rather than waiting until he started showing sings of fatigue. “He’s a good manager – that’s why he’s the best, ‘cos he makes those decisions and when he sent me down then I came back better than I felt in a long time.

I think that’s expected.” The all-American boy is learning fast about the realities of football in England and, especially, Manchester.Third place in the Premiership and winning the FA Cup goes down as an average sort of year, redeemed from absolute under-achievement by beating Millwall at Cardiff after a more significant victory over Arsenal in the semi-final. After the season when I went home I was able to get a better perspective and it was good to look back, but there was also pressure to perform again, come back and do the same thing.”I got clauses in my contract that I got a bonus if I was goalkeeper of the year and if we won the FA Cup, and I looked at those and laughed at the beginning of the season, thinking I won’t hit those in my whole career, let alone both of them in the same year.”Is there a bonus for qualification for the Champions’ League, he was asked “No, that’s a given that we need to be making that. From a distance it was impossible to tell whether Tim Howard blushed as he unconvincingly fumbled a curling centre from Celtic’s Aidan McGeady and looked up to see the huge electric scoreboard flashing “Great save!” There is nobody in the four British squads who have been touring the United States these past 10 days more used to the eccentricities of American soccer than the Manchester United goalkeeper. The 3-5-2 system used so far is unlikely to be seen much this season, however, and may be ditched today now that Brown and Silvestre are available to play in the middle of a back-four.Meanwhile, Celtic conclude an exhausting four-game tour in Toronto. “We’ve got four games in eight days, because it’s a lucrative trip, and would probably have preferred one less and more time to prepare,” he said.The main consolation for his team, apart from beating United, has been the form of the young, quick striker Craig Beattie who has scored all four goals in the three games so far.. Their manager Martin O’Neill, who arrived in time for the triumph over United after better news of his wife’s illness, has admitted his club took on one game too many. Chris Eagles has made more of an impression with wild tackles on Bayern’s Michael Ballack and Celtic’s Alan Thompson than for his other work in midfield, but the American Jonathan Spector has shown up well in defence alongside Roy Keane, which Ferguson calls “the greatest benefit he’ll ever get, like the Sorbonne finishing school”.

“Last year we had all our players here and it was all nice and smooth. This time our pre-season has been very fragmented.” Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha have remained at home for treatment, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gabriel Heinze must report for Olympic duty and now the Brazilian midfielder Kleberson has returned from the Copa America with a knee injury, as well as a winner’s medal, which will keep him out for up to a month.The injury list also includes Quinton Fortune, Darren Fletcher and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, so there will be further chances today and in two Vodafone Cup matches at Old Trafford next week for some of the youngsters who have already appeared on the tour. Scholes, Silvestre, Wes Brown, Ryan Giggs and Diego Forlan will all start as Ferguson seeks the right balance between pleasing the large crowds and preparing his players properly in a demanding schedule.”I always want to win,” he said. United take on the Serie A champions Milan in New York’s Giants Stadium at lunchtime (6.0pm BST) and Celtic, who have followed Liverpool over the border to Canada, meet the runners-up Roma in Toronto this evening (1.0am BST).
Unexpectedly, following their 2-1 defeat by the Scottish champions, it is United who are seeking a first victory of the trip. Paul Scholes and Mika?Silvestre, expecting a more extended rest after Euro 2004, have been summoned from England to play as Sir Alex Ferguson reacts vigorously to criticism for fielding such a weak side in the opening game against Bayern Munich – a tedious goalless draw that the Germans won on penalties. Manchester United and Celtic wrap up their United States tours today against the two leading Italian sides from last season.

Dinamo look certain to book a two-legged meeting with United next week, having secured a 1-0 first-leg lead from their second qualifying round visit to Slovakia’s MSK Zilina.Liverpool will also fancy their chances of advancing at the expense of AK Graz. The trip to Austria, also on 11 August, will be Rafael Benitez’s first competitive game in charge since succeeding G?rd Houllier.Shelbourne also have reason to be satisfied despite missing out on the English pair. If the Irish champions can overcome Hajduk Split’s 3-2 first-leg advantage at Tolka Park next week, they will book a meeting with last season’s semi-finalists Deportivo La Coru?Shelbourne excepted, Rangers have the toughest task with a likely trip to Russia to face CSKA Moscow.. He’s a true Blue – you can’t have any better Blue than Lord Grantchester.”His involvement is a severe blow to Kenwright.