How the Perfect Preseason Has Given Manchester United the Edge over Their Rivals

The work done by Manchester United during the summer break was nothing short of clinical. Three signings were all completed within a few weeks of each other, fringe players left with minimal fuss and even the retirement of Paul Scholes was handled in a respectable and dignified manner.

It is these components that help form the basis for what could be United's best season yet.

Jones, Young and De Gea are names that would not have excited much of the United faithful at the start of the window, but the clear tip-off for many fans was the investment that Ferguson was putting into these three youngsters.

All three cost around £20 million each. Even though Young and Jones have been unproven at the highest level and De Gea was widely regarded as the second-choice signing behind Manuel Neuer, faith that he knows when a player should be signed should still be put in the old tactician.

With these signings completed during June and early July, these players had the luxury of a full preseason tour around the USA, which allowed the three young players the chance to experience every aspect of playing for the biggest club in the world.

The America tour introduced the players to games with 80,000 screaming "soccer" fans and the mayhem that follows a team like Manchester United around the world. This tour produced an unbeaten stretch (including a win against Barcelona) and, more importantly, a confidence that could be seen throughout the team.

United's preseason was in stark contrast to their Premiership title rivals; Arsenal, Chelsea and, dare I say it, Manchester City.

Arsenal were at the centre of arguably the two biggest transfer sagas of the summer with Cesc Fabregas moving to Barcelona and Samir Nasri making the switch to Manchester City. Without being too dramatic, these late transfer moves have left the London club up a certain creek without a paddle, even with an uncharacteristic last-minute panic buy.

It should be said that deals that take place at the start of the summer make so much more sense for every party—it seems strange that any club would wait until the final day.

Chelsea seemed almost dumbstruck when the new manager took over; no signings or any player movement at all happened in the month after Andres Villas Boas' appointment. When the signings did come, it looked as though Chelsea had taken a leaf from Manchester United and invested in largely unproven youth, a very smart move when a new manager comes in.

However, the Chelski board could not help but get involved in a couple of big transfer stories by pinching Raul Mereiles from Liverpool at the last second and making a number of persistent moves for Modric, which proved unsuccessful.

Manchester City continued to play fantasy football with the other teams around the world and throw cash at the board until they were beaten into submission and let their prize possession go. I am, of course, mainly talking about the fantastic signing of Sergio Aguero (there may be a small amount of jealousy attached to this section of the article).

Aguero has the potential to be the signing of the window. The only problem for City is that the sheer amount of players coming in means they have no concrete starting 11. And with the selfish and petulant Mario Balotelli looking unhappy on the bench and unhappy on the pitch, this could be a theme that catches through the squad.

Carlos Tevez has largely been overshadowed by some shrewd PR moves by the Manchester City board and Edin Dzeko's storming start to the season; the attention-seeking Tevez might get back down to playing football again.

In short, a largely uneventful preseason has set up Manchester United to dominate the Premier League and any other competition that they choose. The confidence that has come from a lack of big-name transfers, a successful preseason of winning and a youthful team should not be underestimated—even by the noisy blue neighbours.