Pat Nevin: 'Ferguson will look to win Europa League'

The Europa League cranks back up into action this week with more interest in it than there has ever been in England. A quick look through the clubs still standing will underline to anyone who doesn’t rate this competition that this is far from an easy one to win. Lazio, Udinese, Sporting Lisbon, Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven, Hannover, Schalke and Anderlecht are only some of the great European names still in there slugging it out.

More importantly these clubs and all the others are in it to win it. They are not just there to make up the numbers with second string elevens being sent out. For most of Europe this is still a major competition with pride and glory at stake.

To be brutally honest all the English clubs haven’t always been so committed over the past few years, but here is a promise, if you are Manchester United or Manchester City and you send out second stringers you will not be in the final in Bucharest come the ninth of May. Stoke City are however exempt from this discussion as they have thrown themselves into this adventure with total commitment, focus and a keen determination to go as far as they possibly can.

In fact there is a case to argue that Tony Pulis’ team have been grotesquely unlucky as the public interest outside their own fan base has waned a good deal since United and City dropped down from the Champions League. They also managed to pull out an incredibly tough tie against Valencia in this round of 32 with the further difficulty of having the first leg at home. On top of that they have stumbled a bit of late with their form, but this European run just might be the thing to get them back on track.

Unsurprisingly continental Europe has found the Brittania boys boisterous style hard to cope with and I for one dearly hope they get through this tie to get within striking distance of the final. They deserve it and of course they would treasure further adventures.

On the other hand City and United may see it as a distraction with the Premier League title race understandably still at the forefront of their minds. There is however nothing better than being in the winning habit and if you ask most players what they would like to do between a hard weeks training or a midweek European tie in front of a big crowd, players go for the game 99 times out of 100. So the team sheets this week will make very interesting reading when Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini have stopped scribbling.

Fergie (am I still allowed to call him that?) loves winning, loves records and understands the history of the game. Hence I will not be too surprised if the number of reserves is limited when they face Ajax in Amsterdam on Thursday on Channel 5. He has never won this tournament and there are not many you can say that about! He also knows that Ajax v Manchester United has a great ring to it; a defeat will still hurt even if it isn’t in the Champions League which was by their own standards an awful campaign this season.

Even if there are quite a few who trot out who are not considered automatic first time starters most weeks, they will be desperate to impress the gaffer and push themselves to the front of his mind for the run in. There is also of course the valid point that there is no FA Cup or indeed league game to consider between the home and away fixtures with Ajax. The lads will not be too tired and there is a perfectly good argument to say that keeping their match fitness ticking over is pretty damn useful, so why not play them all.

United are doing their usual at this time of the season, they are embarking on an incredible run just when the going gets tough. Whatever anyone says about how well the reds are playing, recent wins over Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City on top of an incredible fight back from 3-0 down at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea tells you that the force is still strong.

I couldn’t possibly go on without mentioning the Luis Suarez incident last weekend. United's Patrice Evra hasn’t always been everyone’s cup of tea but I thought his actions before the game were dignified and brave. He probably didn’t particularly want to shake Suarez’ hand but he offered it unselfishly for the good of the game in the widest sense; I would go so far as to say I was very proud of him at that moment. So much so that I was not inclined to think too ill of him when he, shall we say, over celebrated if front of Suarez afterwards. Suarez has now eventually but rightly apologised and I just hope he can find it in himself to behave in a less disrespectful way in future..I will wait, hope and see.

It did briefly overshadow the fact that Wayne Rooney is right back on the scoring trail, Hernandez seems to have rediscovered his mojo and Valencia has been one of the players of the season. Put simply, if United want to win the Europa League they can, but only if they want to and are prepared to take it totally seriously.

The fly in the ointment could of course be the noisy neighbours. Looking through City’s side and indeed the squad, they might actually be better prepared than anyone else left in the competition. For me they can change ten or eleven players and still field a team that is strong enough to get to the latter stages. David Silva remains my favourite player currently plying his trade in the UK, but there are many other creative types that can come in and do a more than adequate job. Super Mario is one and he is among the most intriguing players currently playing anywhere on the planet.

I will admit that I didn’t take to the Italian right away but have slowly but surely been swayed and not just by his skills. In fact over the past few weeks I have been making a radio documentary about him, travelling all the way to Brescia and Milan to try and find out what he is really like - it has been fascinating and very surprising. I could write a book about what I have discovered already but I leave you with this thought. I talked to a former manager, a former Italian centre forward who coached him and two other Serie A players who have watched him closely and they all said the same thing, ‘He will be the best player in the world.’ I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more evidence of that in this seasons Europa League even if Porto are probably just about the last team you would want to pick to play at this stage.