Sir Alex Ferguson ponders happy dilemma before Newcastle United game

That might sound faintly ridiculous, but it is a philosophy that is actively promoted within the club itself. "When we lose a game, we have to recover," Sir Alex Ferguson said before Sunday's visit to Newcastle, clearly spelling out the message that improvement will be demanded after last weekend's 3-2 home defeat by Tottenham. "Newcastle is always a difficult place to play, but, at the moment, we have real strength in our attacking options," the Guardian reports.

Newcastle was in fact the last English ground at which United suffered back-to-back league defeats, going down 3-0 last season after an even more surprising 2-3 defeat by Blackburn at home, on New Year's Eve. However, Ferguson's side recovered well enough from that double setback to win 11 of their next 12 games and open up a lead at the top of the table that prompted Manchester City to conclude the title was out of reach. The immediate response to the Newcastle defeat last January was to bring Paul Scholes back from retirement, which seemed to help, though it was the transfer business conducted this summer, with the recruitment of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa, that gives United such an enviable range of front-end options.

Kagawa sat out the midweek victory over Cluj, with Wayne Rooney dropping back into midfield to provide the supply line to Van Persie. The pair showed a promising understanding, though - partly because Rooney is only just coming back from injury - they have yet to start a game as an attacking partnership. In Romania, the two up front were Van Persie and Javier Hernández. Many people, including the Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew, think Rooney and Van Persie would make a sensational front pairing, though not only has Ferguson yet to try it, he is reluctant to confirm it was even what he had in mind when he bought the 29-year-old striker from Arsenal. "They could play up front together, there's no doubt about that, but one would always have to drop off a little and I think that would happen naturally," the United manager said.

"It is possible I will use them as a front two, but to be honest I am still exploring all the options. All the strikers we have at this club now, apart from Chicharito [Hernández], can play right at the front or drop in."

Pardew will be fascinated to see what permutation Ferguson comes up with. "We might be a bit unlucky; we might be the first team to face Rooney and Van Persie in tandem," he said. "At least that would mean we don't have to play Hernández, though who's to say Sir Alex won't play all three?"

That seems unlikely, unless Ferguson intends to consign Kagawa to the bench for a second game in succession, so it will either be the dream team up front or one of them plus the Mexican or Danny Welbeck. "I think it might be the big two," Pardew said. "Of course they will be able to play together, they are both class players."

Van Persie still has his Manchester United reputation to earn, though he has made a flying start with seven goals already, but as far as Pardew is concerned, Rooney is the main man. "He's fantastic, I love him," he said. "I love his passion and his toughness, he's my favourite player and England's best. He's the game changer for Manchester United, he gives them focus. In fact, I would go as far as to say Wayne Rooney is the difference between Manchester United being a top-four team and a top-two team. That's how influential and powerful he is."

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