Graphic: Forward-thinking United wing it on way to last eight

If, as no longer seems implausible, Manchester United’s class of 2009 are to carry out their threat to sweep all before them this season, they will be remembered not as one of the all-time great teams but as an astonishing squad whose depth of talent is surpassed only by the willingness of their ever-changing cast to accept whatever role is required of them.

Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes and Carlos Tévez spent the afternoon on the bench at Pride Park yesterday. Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov did not even travel, while Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Wayne Rooney were missing through injury. The list of absentees was so long that Derby County’s supporters might either have been tempted to demand a refund or put a fiver on their team to pull off an FA Cup upset, but instead they were subjected or, depending on their mood, treated to an awesome exhibition of the talent at Sir Alex Ferguson’s disposal.

What took the breath away was not only the quality of United’s goals — with Danny Welbeck, the 18-year-old forward, rounding things off in style after strikes from Nani, Darron Gibson and Cristiano Ronaldo — or another majestic performance from Ryan Giggs, but the way in which this makeshift team, without a recognised centre forward in the starting line-up, came together so successfully. This victory, their fourteenth in 15 matches in all competitions, came against a club from the lower reaches of the Coca-Cola Championship, but, as the only team to have beaten United over that period, Derby were not overawed yesterday, just overwhelmed.

There were times in the opening 25 minutes, with Robbie Savage briefly getting the better of Ronaldo in their tussle, when Derby’s players might have wondered whether they could repeat the 1-0 victory they enjoyed when the teams met at Pride Park in the Carling Cup semi-final, first leg last month. But a characteristic strike from Nani in the 29th minute was followed either side of half-time by goals from Gibson and Ronaldo, leaving Nigel Clough, the Derby manager, to be grateful that the visiting team settled for just four in the end, the last of them coming when the impressive Welbeck curled a delicious shot past Stephen Bywater.

It was the kind of display that made you wonder just how many trophies United will win this season. The Community Shield and the Club World Cup are already under lock and key at Old Trafford, with the Carling Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur to come on March 1 before the biggest trophies, the Barclays Premier League, the Champions League and the FA Cup, are handed out in May. Ferguson has always said that injuries are the greatest threat to his team’s ambitions, but United’s recent run of victories has been achieved without several key players, a tribute to the strength of their squad rather than the significance of any individual.

“If anyone can do it, they can,” Clough said afterwards when asked to assess United’s hopes of winning another four trophies. “The majority of that side wasn’t first-choice, but they could have been playing Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea or anyone today and put four past them, they were that good. It’s impossible to prepare for playing against them. We watched them for six consecutive games and they played six completely different teams with different ways of playing.

“And how do you prepare for Ryan Giggs? He can play wide, central midfield or up through the middle.”

Operating as a centre forward, Giggs was superb, his performance showing Savage, his former Wales team-mate, that it is possible for footballers to grow old gracefully. Savage was one of Derby’s better players, but he could not get close to Giggs. Nor could anyone, with Giggs playing a part in three goals and unfortunate to be denied a fourth assist when Paul Tierney, the assistant referee, incorrectly ruled that Ronaldo had been offside when racing on to the 34-year-old’s wonderful flick to beat Bywater in the 37th minute. Ferguson was not impressed by the decision, though even at that time it seemed likely to prove academic.

At that stage, United were 1-0 up, Nani taking a pass by Giggs and cutting in from the left to unleash a shot of fearsome power with his right foot. It became 2-0 a minute before half-time when Ronaldo’s free kick bounced up off the wall and into the path of Gibson, who struck a volley past Bywater from the edge of the area. It was not the cleanest of strikes — and it might have been saved had Bywater’s view not been obscured by Rafael Da Silva, who was in an offside position — but the midfield player deserved his goal for a composed display which, according to Ferguson, cemented his place in the team for the Carling Cup final.

Three minutes into the second half, the tie was over, as Giggs’s corner was headed in expertly by Ronaldo, but Derby would salvage a little pride eight minutes later when Miles Addison arrived in the area undetected to beat Ben Foster with a firm header from a cross by Kris Commons. Briefly, the more optimistic Derby supporters dared to dream again, with Gary Teale forcing Foster into a fine save and Addison missing with a free header, but the final word went to United, with Giggs and Darren Fletcher combining to set up Welbeck, whose first-time shot had the precision and the power to beat the luckless Bywater.

Derby were out, but certainly not down. Clough said that, while the scoreline was the least favourable, the performance was the best his new team had produced in three recent meetings with United. The unfortunate aspect for Ferguson’s rivals is that his team are getting better and, with home matches to come against Fulham on Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, they could be eight points clear at the top of the Premier League by the time Liverpool take on Manchester City on Sunday. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Derby County (4-4-1-1): S Bywater 6 - P Connolly 5, M Addison 6, M Albrechtsen 6, J Stewart 5 - N Barazite 4, R Savage 6, G Teale 6, P Green 6 - K Commons 6 - R Hulse 4. Substitutes: M Sterjovski 4 (for Barazite, 63min), C Porter 4 (for Hulse, 69), S Pearson (for Savage, 82). Not used: R Carroll, A Todd, L Nyatanga, S Davies.

Manchester United (4-4-2): B Foster 6 - Rafael Da Silva 7, R Ferdinand 7, J Evans 6, P Evra 6 - Park Ji Sung 7, D Fletcher 6, D Gibson 8, Nani 7 - R Giggs 8, C Ronaldo 7. Substitutes: J O’Shea 5 (for Evra, 55), D Welbeck 7 (for Park, 55), R Possebon (for Ronaldo, 72). Not used: T Kuszczak, N Vidic, P Scholes, C Tévez.

Referee: A Wiley Attendance: 32,103