Early, because the young Porto coach wanted to hear what Sir Alex Ferguson had to say in his press conference that lunchtime, to listen to the trap he believed the Manchester United manager would set for him and make sure that, in the rebuttal he delivered, he would show his players he was not afraid of the Godfather of English football. On that day, with Porto leading 2-1 from the first leg, and United trailing the Premiership leaders - and eventual champions - Arsenal by eight points, Mourinho arrived to inflict a shattering blow on Ferguson's season. The similarities between then and now could hardly be more foreboding for United: they are 13 points behind Chelsea in the Premiership and, like the match with Porto, they have to beat one of the emergent teams of Europe - Villarreal - to stay on course in the Champions' League. The major difference is that this crisis is taking place four months earlier in their campaign than it did two seasons ago.. Manchester United were the most successful team of my generation. When I was playing for Blackburn Rovers we were their main threat for a while When I moved back to Chelsea we were a side on the up.
So for most of the time I played them I was in a good team who felt they had a chance We were good enough to beat them 5-0 once But United usually had that edge, that extra something You never really felt you had beaten them. I thought I had a good record against them, I've got good memories, but looking at that record I see I won only six times and lost 15 (while eight were draws) So not as good as I had imagined. Now though, that little extra something has gradually eroded. You can see it is something they cannot find any more, at least not consistently. It is the difference between a team which is really successful, and the team they are now This is not jumping on a bandwagon. Even before Roy Keane's interview, the whole atmosphere there had changed.
People were getting frustrated with each other, you could sense they had come off their peak. I don't mean they have lost the plot or suddenly become useless. The tendons in my ankle snapped."The knocks and strains came thick and fast, exacerbated by Turner trying to come back too quickly. Upset with himself because he could not perform to the standard he wanted, he lost his appetite for the game "Not everyone is going to live the high life on big money. I made a decision to come out of full-time football and find an alternative career."The leisure industry provided it, yet Turner's first love was rekindled after joining Chasetown last summer. "I was four months past my 17th birthday and wasn't even in the squad But Nayim got injured 36 hours before the game. Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence, who ran the team under the overall supervision of Terry Venables, pulled me aside and said: 'You might be playing.'"All I can remember is it was 0-0 and I got subbed on 70 minutes because I was knackered.