She's Lost Control

Coverage of the match takes centre stage with comparisons between Avram Grant and Sir Alex on the agenda.
The Guardian sum up the difference well:

Sir Alex Ferguson's body language and general demeanour yesterday was of a man completely in control of his own destiny, unlike his Chelsea counterpart Avram Grant, whose impromptu game of "yes/no" with the press on Thursday suggested he was starting to feel the strain. "I'm not going to lose my temper at this stage of the season," the Manchester United manager remarked before a weekend in which his team hope to take another significant step towards moving within one of Liverpool's haul of 18 league titles.

The Guardian are pretty much on their own in the belief that this losing temper comment didn't constitute "mind games":

One intriguing change in Ferguson's personality over the last couple of seasons has been his reluctance to indulge in anything that could be perceived as mind games and, yet again, he bluntly refused to talk about Grant's stewardship at Stamford Bridge.

The Independent offer the understated, "with a heavy dose of irony", in describing his attitude in the comments, while The Telegraph just come straight out and say it:

...the Manchester United manager could still not resist allowing some of his mind-games to sneak in. This time, however, it was via the back door rather than the front.

Calling one sentence from an interview, said in response to an asked question, "mind games" seems a trifle over dramatic. The Times agrees:

In previous seasons, Ferguson might have seized upon the apparent moment of weakness displayed by Grant during a bizarre press briefing after Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Everton, but it is a reflection of the confidence of the United manager that he dismissed out of hand all talk of the Israeli.

A quick look at what else Sir Alex had to say:

“It's a massive game against Blackburn, but I have been dealing with massive games all my life. This one will not be making me lose any sleep.

“I am not saying it gets easier over the years, but you do get accustomed to this stage of the season and what exactly it is like. There has been a lot of drama over the years and there has been a lot of drama this time, too. That is when you call on your experience and I have knocked on that door 100 times and so have some of my players.

“On occasions, we have had great ends to the season. Other times we have not and we have ended up with a bitter taste in our mouth, like at West Ham when we should have scored six but we didn't and lost the league. The important thing is that we are relaxed - the players are and so am I.”

The Telegraph have an interview with Bryan Robson:

"I don't know where he gets the energy from," said Robson of his former manager. "It's an inner drive. I was at a lunch on Monday - the day after the Arsenal game - and I was on Sir Alex's table. You could just see the focus in his eyes. It wasn't a case of 'relax and enjoy your lunch'; he was waxing lyrical about his players. The enthusiasm is infectious."

Also cuts through some of the Arsenal hype:

"People go on about Arsenal's kids but when you look at United and the age of their team?…?Anderson and Tevez came on against Arsenal last week and completely changed the course of the game. And as for Ronaldo, over the past two seasons he has developed into the best player in the world.

And so (should) say all of us...

The Telegraph also report that Kevin Keegan thinks that Roy Keane will one day be Man Utd manager:

"In my view, one day Roy will be given the opportunity to do what I did with Newcastle, and that is manage a club he played for," said Keegan, who ended his playing days at Newcastle in 1984.

"Sir Alex [Ferguson] could still be there for another 30, 40 years, so he might have a long wait, but it's like I said to Alan Shearer, you know this job will come for him at Newcastle, and it will come for Roy Keane at United."

Also in The Telegraph is some words of advice for Ronaldo from Mark Hughes:

"I think the Premier League is the hardest league in world football and Ronaldo is playing with the top club in it. Why would he leave? There is absolutely no reason to do so because everything is there for him.

"He is the top player in the top club in the top league, so there is no reason for him to leave. Barcelona, for instance, is a fantastic club and has the tradition and standing in world football that United has, but I don't see them as the top club at the moment.

"Ronaldo has had a great season. A stand-out, career-defining season, you could call it and it is fantastic for him to be a couple of goals away from forty. He did exceptionally well last year and I felt it would be difficult for him to top that, but he has managed it. That is a credit to his drive and his ambition to be the best player in the world, which he is obviously very close to being."

The Mail reprints some comments apparently made by Rooney in The Express:

However, Rooney believes even Argentina star Messi plays second fiddle to United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, who the striker hailed as greatest player to grace English football since the Premier League began.

Rooney said: "He has not just been the best player of the last two seasons, he's the best player the Premier League has ever seen - and that's including Thierry Henry, Gianfranco Zola, Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp and Alan Shearer.

"Cristiano is rightly talked about as the best player in the world. I was surprised he didn't get the world player award last season. He's got to get it this time."

And has some words from Sir Alex on Rio Ferdinand following the example of Maldini:

"Of course, Maldini is an exception and whether Rio wants to go on until he is 40 is another matter," reflected Ferguson.

"But with his athleticism and pace - and the fact he has no weight problems, there is no reason why he cannot play on well into his late 30s."

And the news on contracts also includes Michael Carrick now, a story which I just missed when I posted yesterday, so I briefly include in today's round up.

And I couldn't find anyone saying anything stupid to finish with. I'm sure there's something out there, bound to be, but I am a little hurried today, so they escape...