In recent matches they have also started to echo some of the outstanding football that characterised their autumnal rise to the top – a passing and pressing style that went missing through most of the troubled period.”When you lose, you lose all the confidence quickly and you gain it back slowly,” Wenger explained “When you gain it back you have to fight more than to play. The instructions were the same, but it is something that comes spontaneously, or not. “I’m very angry whenever we lose, but I had the feeling then that something really wasn’t right.”Not that it led to a Fergie-style dressing-room inquest. When you live every day with somebody you know when he is happy and when he is angry.”The team’s response has been to put together a run of 10 games unbeaten, one that has seen them retain their interest in both cups and move back among Manchester United’s chasing pack. “I will keep that to myself,” the Frenchman said guardedly.
The topic under discussion was how the Arsenal manager communicated his anger, an intriguing concept that conjured visions of glasses wiped more ferociously than usual or the use of a particularly shocking French swearword You don’t throw tea cups, he was asked. “I was really annoyed because I had the feeling that we were just throwing our season away,” he said. “I can if you want,” he replied with a smile, making it quite clear that this was not his way.

Cappuccino cups maybe.The issue arose after Wenger had disclosed his reaction to Arsenal’s home defeat by Blackburn last month, their fourth reverse in six matches. Substitutes not used: Sealey (gk), Bishop, Mean, Coyne.Everton (3-5-2): Myhre; Bilic, Watson, Ball; O’Kane (Allen, 69), Barmby, Grant, Farrelly, Ward; Madar (Cadamarteri, 80), Ferguson. Substitutes not used: Gerrard (gk), Dunne, Oster.Referee: M Reed (Birmingham).Bookings: Everton: O’Kane, Farrelly.Man of the match: Ferguson.Attendance: 25,909.. Arsenal 3 Southampton 0

After 18 months of urbane leadership at Highbury Arsene Wenger was suddenly on the defensive, unable to fend off the question with his customary poise and patience.

“Just well done,” he said.Things may be changing for Kendall as much as they have for Redknapp. A year ago, West Ham’s manager was under the sort of heavy pressure Kendall knew until his team’s recent improvement.Largely through the purchase of John Hartson and Paul Kitson, ridiculed at the time, Redknapp turned things around. For Kendall it is a case of keeping Ferguson on the boil.Goals: Sinclair (10) 1-0; Barmby (25) 1-1; Sinclair (48) 2-1; Madar (60) 2-2.West Ham United (3-5-2): Forrest; Pearce, Potts, Ferdinand; Breacker, Lampard, Lomas, Berkovitch, Lazaridis; Sinclair (Hodges, 85), Hartson. Had the substitute, Danny Cadamarteri, lifted his head in the final minute to see Ferguson unmarked, they would probably have taken all three points.Kendall’s explanation for showing up promptly in the press room was that it had not been necessary to address his players at length. That is certainly the impression he sometimes gives, one shared probably by West Ham’s defenders in the 25th minute when he headed across goal for Nick Barmby to equalise Sinclair’s opening effort.The enterprise shown by both teams (there is more to Kendall’s team than hitting high balls to its central striker) made this as good a match as you are likely to see in a largely overrated Premiership.Sinclair’s second goal, after a smart combination with Eyal Berkovitch, further livened up West Ham’s supporters, but Everton, level again through Mickael Madar, appeared to last better.

For Ferdinand, whose career is not best served by premature comparisons with Bobby Moore, it was an advancement in education.It is no exaggeration to suggest that Ferguson is capable of getting up higher than the crossbar. After all, Scotland are not so well off for strikers that they can afford to ignore the unnerving effect Ferguson has on Premier League defenders.Ferguson even managed to upstage Trevor Sinclair, who made a fine start at West Ham after a pounds 2m move from Queen’s Park Rangers. Alert and lively (“I’ve had my eyes on Trevor since he was a schoolboy,” Redknapp said) Sinclair scored twice and left the field to an ovation.It was Ferguson, however, who stood out – literally, you might say – as the game’s outstanding attacker, causing West Ham’s defensive markers, Rio Ferdinand and Ian Pearce, no end of difficulties. Factors common to all outstanding players are consistency, determination and a willingness to co-operate fully in team matters.Ferguson’s form on Saturday suggested the realisation that he should have made a great deal more of his talent. “The skipper did well for us,” Kendall smiled, before adding seriously: “If we can get quality balls to Duncan, he is unstoppable.”Of course, it is not enough to have the gifts (in Ferguson’s case the spring to go with his 6ft 4in and surprising nimbleness). If so, this will be greatly to Everton’s benefit and could even persuade Scotland’s manager, Craig Brown, to reopen negotiations.In all probability, Ferguson’s past misdemeanours will go against him in Brown’s mind, but the risk could be worth taking.

“Even when goalkeepers are up at full stretch, he can outjump them.”
If problems of temperament have prevented Ferguson from fulfilling the potential that took him into Scotland’s squad for the 1992 European Championship when not much more than a teenager (the Germans had him down for special consideration) his attitude at present cannot be faulted.And who did Howard Kendall turn to as captain in the absence of unsettled Gary Speed? Not the veteran Dave Watson, not Slaven Bilic, but Ferguson. Strategic developments are no safeguard against the threat posed by players equipped for aerial combat. Add Ferguson’s quick feet, the commitment he showed when helping Everton to a 2- 2 draw at West Ham on Saturday, and it is no wonder that his presence causes consternation “He really is a handful,” Harry Redknapp said. In this form, maximising his heading ability and disruptive strength, what a threat the big man would be in the World Cup finals.