Sir Alex Ferguson’s psychological warfare against his rivals has become a hallmark of his reign as Manchester United manager. Here The Times takes a look at some of the exploits from the master of the mind games down the years.

July 2008: Ferguson sought to pile the pressure on Luiz Felipe Scolari shortly after the Brazilian took charge at Stamford Bridge by claiming that Chelsea’s present squad of players was getting old and that Scolari would struggle to exorcise the ghost of José Mourinho.

“I’m not concerned about Chelsea,” he said. “Mourinho won the title two years in a row and beat us in the FA Cup Final [in 2007], so there’s no one who can improve on Mourinho’s record really. I don’t know how far that team has got to go. Maybe [they've] plateaued in a way. How can they accelerate beyond what they’ve done.”

Scolari has hardly set the world alight at Chelsea since and his team will lead United by only a point, having played two games more, if they lose at Old Trafford tomorrow.

July 2006: Andriy Shevchenko had joined Chelsea from AC Milan a month earlier for £30.4 million, which prompted Ferguson to ask: “If you look at us signing Eric Cantona for £1 million and how much you’re seeing centre forwards like Shevchenko going for, you have to ask yourself: is Shevchenko 35 times better than Cantona?” The Ukraine striker subsequently flopped at Chelsea.

April 2003: Ferguson scoffed at Arsène Wenger’s suggestion at the start of the season that Arsenal could go through the campaign unbeaten. “I’m sure they’d love to turn the clock back — it might come back to haunt them,” the United manager said. Cue an Arsenal collapse during the final month of the season that handed the title to United.

April 1997: After Wenger had claimed that the fixture programme was extended so “Man United can rest and win everything”, Ferguson responded with the putdown: “He’s a novice and should keep his opinions to Japanese football,” referring to the Arsenal manager’s arrival from Grampus Eight, of the J-League, six months earlier. United went on to win the title by seven points.

May 1996: The sight of Kevin Keegan, then in charge of Newcastle United, finally succumbing to Ferguson’s mind games with his infamous, “I’d love it if we beat them — love it!” rant live on Sky Sports ranked No 17 in Channel 4’s list of the 100 Greatest British Sporting Moments.