Manchester United vs. Sunderland: 5 Lessons on Ferguson's 25th Anniversary

On the anniversary of Alex Ferguson's 25th year at the helm of Manchester United, his team picked up a 1-0 over Sunderland to go back into second place and keep the pressure up on leaders Manchester City.

A Wes Brown own goal was enough to settle the game in first half injury time but it was an unconvincing performance by the Red Devils who will be glad that Sunderland turned up ready to play equally bad and more than offer their fair share of sloppiness and fear to a dull game bereft of quality attacking football.

Ferguson will have seen most things in his time in football by now. Here are five things the rest of us might have learned from United's latest 1-0 win.

Manchester City seemed to have shown the rest of the league the way forward against United a few weeks back with their attack-first mentality leading them to victory at Old Trafford, but since then United's four opponents have barely mustered a decent shot between them against the Red Devils.

Not for the first time, United's goalkeeper—Anders Lindegaard today—was given a free pass by the opposition who were seemingly too intent on not losing by too many goals rather than attempting to actually go and win the game.

By the time Sunderland grew a set and actually tried to have a go, the fourth official was already showing the minutes to be added on and it was far too late to gather any attacking momentum.

With just three substitute appearances to his name in the league this season, Michael Carrick must be wondering how many players have to be missing from the United team sheet for him to get a game these days.

For the last few league games he has had to watch Wayne Rooney play in a central midfield position while he keeps the bench warm.

The passing, cultured midfield playmaker, once so coveted by Ferguson that he paid Spurs around £18 million to prise him from White Hart Lane, is now so much of a back-up that Ferguson would rather play his best forward in midfield rather than call upon him at this stage of the season.

Carrick will play at some point for United this season; he might even get a run of games from the start, but it won't last. Also, if Carrick has any aspirations of being a regular Premier League footballer again before he retires then he needs to make this season his last as a Red Devil.

Roy Keane, Mark Hughes, Paul Ince, Gordon Strachan—plenty of former players who spent time under Alex Ferguson have gone on to make a mark for themselves at the managerial level of the game.

For Steve Bruce though, another former Ferguson player—indeed, the captain who lifted the first Premier League title under Ferguson back in 1993—it is now 18 games against his former mentor, and not a single victory.

In total, Ferguson has now achieved 50 wins over his former players.

Luck can certainly play its part in injuries—the bad kind, anyway—but United must surely be concerned that they have no less than seven players currently sidelined, more than any other side in the Premier League.

Rivals Chelsea and Arsenal are missing barely more than half that amount with four players out each (Mikel, Drogba, Essien and Hilario; and Chamakh, Wilshere, Diaby and Sagna). Liverpool are missing just two (Gerrard and Carragher) and Manchester City only one in ex-United midfielder Owen Hargreaves, who has previously commented himself about United's poor standard of injury treatments. United, however, are missing a whole midfield and more: Ryan Giggs, Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young and Darren Gibson, plus Chris Smalling in defence and Michael Owen and Federico Macheda up front.

Out-on-loan winger Bebe is, coincidentally, also out injured.

25 years down, who knows how many more to go.

Whatever the final total is, rest assured that Ferguson is a long way from done right now.

Especially if City go on and win the league this season.