AMONG THE LESS LURID headlines about Rio Ferdinand yesterday, as he came to terms with the fact that his mobile phone bills had been leaked into the public domain, was one suggesting that he is on the verge of a “dramatic return” to London to join Chelsea. Homesickness is central to the England defender’s purported interest in joining the gold rush to Stamford Bridge but, if he does not feel at home at Manchester United after the events of the past fortnight, in which everyone from his team-mates to the chief executive has rallied to his cause, he never will.

As Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, David Beckham and others will testify, Manchester United is a club that looks after its own in times of adversity, even if occasionally it involves defending the indefensible. The morality of their stance over Ferdinand, after his failure to attend a drugs test, may be open to question, but, as a statement, the reaction of the club says much for the siege mentality imposed by Sir Alex Ferguson.

It is a mentality that enabled them to reclaim the Premiership title last season from a technically superior Arsenal team, and which was visible again on Saturday, when solidarity was the order of the day at a predictably hostile Elland Road. With most of the bile aimed at Ferdinand, a hate figure in the eyes of those famously unforgiving Leeds United supporters since he crossed the Pennines to join their most hated rivals, it was an afternoon that called for concentration and, above all, unity. In the end, those qualities were enough to see off a limited Leeds side that Ferdinand would hardly have recognised.

On the evidence of the first nine matches of the new Premiership season, this Manchester United side, bereft of the vision of Beckham and Juan Sebastián Verón, are not the great football team they were. The failure to sign Ronaldinho and Harry Kewell this summer has left Ferguson with a somewhat disjointed side, one that relies too heavily on Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy for inspiration, but the spirit that has been a constant feature of their success over the past decade remains as strong as ever, reinforced, perhaps, by the knowledge that it is now their most important asset. The embodiment of that mentality is Keane, who was their outstanding performer at Elland Road, shading a compelling midfield battle with another ageing warhorse, David Batty, and popping up to head the only goal of the game from Gary Neville’s cross with nine minutes remaining.

Keane once said that there is “something solid, something real, something identifiably Mancunian that players have to plug into” when they move to Old Trafford. The past fortnight should have taught Ferdinand what Keane was talking about.

Whatever it is — and Ferguson hinted at it by suggesting that Old Trafford becomes “like Colditz” in times of trouble — Leeds could do with more than just a dose of it. No team managed by Peter Reid will ever be accused of lacking spirit but, after a torrid 12-month spell in which Ferdinand was followed out of Elland Road by just about every other player of note, self-belief is in short supply. Against United, they were up for the fight, led by Batty, who was starting a Premiership match for only the second time in 18 months, but there was little conviction in their play.

It had been billed as the supreme test of character for Ferdinand, but while that may have been the case, his defensive skills were rarely put under examination. He underlined his determination by throwing himself in the way of a shot by Dominic Matteo and making a series of interceptions in the second half, but this Leeds team lacked the ability to stretch him any more than that. Just like their supporters, whose imagination went no farther than booing his every touch and the occasional shout of “druggie”, Reid’s team could not find anything of substance to throw at Ferdinand and company. There will be another frenzied atmosphere when United visit Rangers on Wednesday. It promises to be an evening on which they require every last drop of that famed spirit, but Ferdinand will hope to get by with a little help from his friends.

Leeds United (4-4-1-1): P Robinson 6 — G Kelly 6, Z Camara 7, D Matteo 6, S Olembe 7 — J Pennant 4 (sub: A Lennon, 86min), D Batty 7, Seth Johnson 6, J Milner 4 (sub: L Sakho, 64 4) — A Smith 6 — M Viduka 4 (sub: M Bridges, 69 6). Substitutes not used: Roque Junior, S Carson. Booked: Pennant, Batty, Kelly, Smith, Johnson. NEXT: Liverpool (a). FORM: LWLLLW

Manchester United (4-4-1-1): T Howard 6 — G Neville 7, R Ferdinand 7, M Silvestre 6, Q Fortune 5 (sub: J O’Shea, 40 5) — D Fletcher 4 (sub: D Forlan, 60 5), R Keane 8, P Neville 6, C Ronaldo 6 (sub: N Butt, 90) — P Scholes 7 — R van Nistelrooy 5. Substitutes not used: E Djemba Djemba, R Carroll. Booked: Ronaldo. NEXT: Fulham (h). FORM: WWWDWL

Shots on target: (h) 2 (a) 11. Fouls: (h) 19 (a) 8. Offsides: (h) 2 (a) 2

Referee: G Poll 6. Attendance: 40,153