Rooney, Saha and Ronaldo have the pace and mobility to spearhead an effective title charge

The first twenty minutes of Man Utd's opening match of the season at home to Fulham yesterday afternoon was extraordinary to watch. Man Utd found themselves four goals up within twenty minutes thanks to a firecracker start by the forward line of Louis Saha, Wayne Rooney, and Cristiano Ronaldo ably supported by one of the best ever Premiership players, Ryan Giggs.

Each goal stemmed from lightning fast attacking moves that blew open the Fulham defence and were rounded off by clinical finishes. It was exhilarating period of football and vindicated the decision made by Ferguson last February to include the more mobile Louis Saha in front of Ruud Van Nistelrooy. VNR is a pure goalscorer- but he could not have contributed to the sheer speed of Man Utd's attacking play in the opening of yesterday's match.

The final score was 5-1, and it is fair to say given the high level of Man Utd's team performance that they were good value to have won by an even bigger scoreline.

If Saha, Rooney and Ronaldo can approach each match this season with the same verve and energy as they did yesterday, it could well be a very exciting season for Man Utd who also welcomed back the excellent Paul Scholes to their central midfield yesterday after six months out with an eye injury, and who have the £18.6m signing from Spurs, Michael Carrick, also waiting in the wings to make an impact in CM.

Of course, it may not be wise to read too much into one match- especially as Fulham do have a traditionally appalling away record. However, the pace and quality of Man Utd's attacking football in the first twenty minutes yesterday was outstanding, and clearly signalled to me that they are ready and have the hunger to make an effective title challenge this season.