As far as everybody at Old Trafford is concerned the start of the season is going well. The team was also going to come under more scrutiny than usual after the departure of Ronaldo and what some saw as unspectacular activity in the transfer window.

In a sense the defeat at Burnley handed the world an early opportunity to suggest we are not the same side as last season. It’s never easy playing newly promoted sides at the start of the season. They are full of adrenalin and United at home for them is probably the biggest game of the season. The atmosphere at Turf Moor was an old fashioned cup-tie atmosphere.

We went one down to a wonderful strike early on, dominated possession, missed a penalty and came away with nothing. In the past, for some reason when we have been defeated it has usually come against sides we were expected to roll over. It’s just one of those things that you can’t explain, like why United have the knack of  winning games late on.  Last season on the opening day we drew with Newcastle, we went on to win the Premier League and Newcastle went on to be relegated.

United have always hung in there around the top of the table until Christmas and then pushed on.  To listen to some people you would think we are in some kind of post-Ronaldo crisis. All I will say is look at history and look at Sir Alex Ferguson’s record.

The phrase “there’s a lot to live up to” was probably invented at Old Trafford and it has been applied to Ben Foster. He has a chance to establish himself in goal in the absence of the injured van Der Saar. 

Moreover, Ben is expected by the media and fans alike to perform brilliantly from day one because the England goalkeeping position is uncertain and if Ben immediately excels then a problem is quickly solved with South Africa looming on the horizon. That’s why he has come under so much scrutiny for a supposed shaky start.

We all know different rules apply to goal keepers. An outfield player coming into the side can make mistakes and they may not necessarily affect the game. A goal keeper can make one and, of course, it can result in a goal. An outfield player can hide away if he isn’t haven’t a good game. There’s nowhere to hide for a goal keeper.

Some critics have suggested he could have done better with Arshavin’s goal in United’s 2-1 win over Arsenal. But hold on there, later in the game he made a great save from van Persie. Not only did the save stop a goal it lifted the rest of the team at a crucial time in the match. That’s an aspect of a keepers game that critics don’t see.

Ben needs ten or twelve games to settle in. It’s just a shame he is getting judged differently from an outfield player in the same situation.

Because it doesn’t happen much I’ve been asked a lot how Sir Alex responds to defeat and the answer is a lot more complex than him dishing out the hairdryer treatment. His has this ability to tweak and push along change in players that go on improving the team.

I arrived at Old Trafford as a centre forward and ended up playing in midfield. You can only affect change if there is flexibility in the side. That flexibility is the real response to defeat.

At United we tend to concentrate on ourselves and do not dwell on others. The Carlos Tevez poster that Manchester City put up in the City that caused a bit of furore didn’t really bother us. Those sorts of things are more about bragging rights between fans.

It’s great being a club with plenty of money to spend but there’s still a long way to go before anybody on the City side can out brag a United fan.