What neither Ethan nor many others expected was just how boldly Eriksson would use young players during the two European Championship qualifiers played over the international break.
In England's first match against Slovakia, Eriksson paired Southgate with Curtis Davies at centre-back.
The partnership combined Southgate's experience with Curtis's youth and athleticism, which on paper made considerable sense.
Even so, there was no denying that Southgate was beginning to show his age.
Curtis produced an outstanding performance.
He even scored on his international debut.
Beckham delivered a set piece into the box, and Curtis rose to head it home, almost exactly as he so often did from Juninho's deliveries for the Red Rebels.
Defensively, he was equally impressive.
He dominated in the air, read danger accurately, and stepped forward aggressively whenever necessary.
Slovakia's forwards created almost nothing from his side.
England's only goal conceded came from an attack down Southgate's side.
Curtis tried to recover and provide cover, but even he could not prevent the goal.
Fortunately, England won comfortably, so little attention was paid to the one defensive lapse.
Then, against Macedonia, Eriksson made an even more surprising decision.
Southgate was dropped.
John Terry came into the starting lineup alongside Curtis.
The decision confused many observers, while some of the more conspiratorial newspapers even suggested Eriksson must have been pressured into selecting two young defenders from a League One club.
On the pitch, however, the decision was justified.
England encountered stubborn resistance from Macedonia, but Terry and Curtis worked extremely well together.
With Gary Neville and Bridge operating at full-back, England's defensive line remained remarkably secure.
The most impressive aspect was the way the two young centre-backs covered behind the full-backs whenever they pushed forward.
Their positioning and coordination were almost flawless.
England eventually secured a difficult 1-0 away victory.
The scoreline was narrow, but the match provided a severe examination of Terry and Curtis.
Both handled the pressure extremely well.
Curtis, in particular, had now produced two excellent performances in consecutive starts.
After England's two victories, captain Beckham praised both defenders during his post-match interview.
"Youth can be a weakness for defenders because it usually means a lack of experience," he said.
"But with Curtis and Terry, it almost feels like an advantage.
"They already have plenty of experience, yet they're still extremely young.
"They have enormous futures ahead of them."
Gary Neville offered similar praise.
He said both players were extremely comfortable to play alongside because they seemed to understand instinctively what needed to be done.
Their positioning made teammates feel secure.
In his opinion, both fully deserved their places in the England squad and should continue receiving opportunities.
Several other England players echoed that assessment.
So did Eriksson.
Everyone understood, however, that once Ferdinand and Campbell returned from injury, Terry and Curtis would struggle to retain their starting places.
Even so, both now appeared capable of remaining in the senior squad despite facing competition from established Premier League defenders such as Southgate, Woodgate, and Ugo Ehiogu.
...
After the international break, New Manchester United returned immediately to League One action with a home match against Nottingham Forest.
Forest possessed one of the most distinguished histories in English football.
There had once been a time when they stood at the summit of Europe.
Those days were long gone, and the club had gradually declined, but they remained dangerous.
Their attacking record that season was the third best in League One, behind only the Red Rebels and Wolves.
They currently sat fourth in the table.
Nobody at Newton Heath expected an easy match.
The Red Rebels also had several important players suspended following the trouble at Millwall.
Drogba, Essien, and Curtis were all unavailable.
Curtis's absence was particularly significant.
He had become one of the foundations of New Manchester United's defence, and his recent performances for England had only reinforced his importance.
Mourinho treated the fixture with great seriousness.
During his pre-match press conference, he described Nottingham Forest as New Manchester United's toughest opponent of the season so far.
Even so, he believed his players would demonstrate the Red Rebels' character and quality at home and produce the result they wanted.
The starting lineup contained several changes.
Villa started up front.
Ronaldo played on the left, with Hleb on the right.
Robben had completed the full ninety minutes for the Netherlands youth side during the international break, so Mourinho decided to rest him.
Kaká remained in the central attacking role.
Juninho and Senna formed the midfield pair.
Evra, Terry, Vidić, and Kolo Touré lined up across the defence, with Čech in goal.
With one key attacker and one key defender suspended, many observers worried about New Manchester United's chances, particularly against one of the division's strongest attacking teams.
...
The Red Rebels attacked from the opening whistle.
Hleb was extremely active on the right.
His movement and close control repeatedly unsettled Forest's defence and created openings for his teammates.
In the fourteenth minute, he cut sharply inside and was tripped near the edge of the penalty area.
Free kick.
Juninho stepped forward.
Encouraged by his teammates, the captain struck it cleanly beyond the goalkeeper.
1-0.
After falling behind, Forest became even more aggressive.
They committed more players forward and began threatening New Manchester United's goal with increasing frequency.
Terry and Vidić, however, formed a strong partnership.
Terry remained as composed as ever.
Vidić filled Curtis's role effectively.
Like Curtis, he still had a tendency to become slightly overaggressive and occasionally rushed into challenges, but his overall performance was excellent.
He produced several crucial tackles and powerful headed clearances.
Behind them, Čech once again demonstrated why many regarded him as the finest goalkeeper in League One.
He made several outstanding saves and preserved the lead.
At half-time, Mourinho adjusted the attack.
Forest were concentrating heavily on Hleb and Kaká.
Mourinho therefore instructed Ronaldo to become more aggressive, make more runs, and accept greater responsibility on the left.
The effect was immediate.
Ronaldo became far more influential after the restart.
New Manchester United increasingly attacked through his side, and he repeatedly challenged defenders with his pace and technique.
His dribbling was excellent.
His crossing after reaching the byline, however, still needed refinement.
As the players began tiring, Mourinho introduced Ribéry for Kaká and Palacio for Hleb.
Using Ribéry centrally had originally been one of Ethan's suggestions before the season.
The Frenchman had shown considerable promise there during several substitute appearances.
Since Palacio was more naturally comfortable operating from wide areas, Mourinho had increasingly begun using Ribéry as Kaká's understudy.
The two substitutes immediately injected fresh energy.
Forest's defence had even more problems to solve.
With attention divided elsewhere, Ronaldo found additional space.
His performance grew increasingly impressive.
Then, in the seventy-eighth minute, he received the ball near the corner of the penalty area with three defenders surrounding him.
There appeared to be nowhere to go.
Ronaldo disagreed.
With a rapid sequence of touches, feints, and changes of direction, he slipped between the first two defenders, escaped the third, and burst into the penalty area.
A Forest defender panicked and brought him down.
Penalty.
Old Trafford erupted.
The Red Rebels supporters had been completely captivated by Ronaldo's dribble.
Beating three defenders in such a tight space was something rarely seen in English football.
Even Palacio might have struggled to reproduce it.
Juninho was New Manchester United's designated penalty taker.
He began walking towards the spot.
Then he stopped.
He turned and called Ronaldo over.
"Take it."
Ronaldo stared at him in surprise.
Juninho simply gestured towards the ball.
The message was clear.
Ronaldo accepted.
One by one, his teammates came over to encourage him.
Some embraced him.
The Portuguese youngster had worked extremely hard since arriving at the club.
He trained diligently, listened to Mourinho, and had gradually earned the respect of the dressing room.
Now he had produced his finest performance in a Red Rebels shirt.
A goal would complete it.
"Don't worry, Cristiano," Juninho said with a smile.
"You've got this."
Ronaldo nodded gratefully.
He stepped backwards.
A slow approach.
Then sudden acceleration.
He struck low towards the bottom-right corner.
The goalkeeper guessed incorrectly and dived left.
Goal.
Ronaldo exploded with joy.
He turned to begin the celebration he had imagined so many times.
Before he could get far, Juninho grabbed him from behind.
"The ball!
"Get the ball!"
Juninho pointed towards the goal, where the frustrated goalkeeper had already kicked it back towards midfield.
Ronaldo hesitated.
Then he remembered.
When he first joined New Manchester United, he had been shown the club's exhibition room.
The original display area at the City Ground had disappeared when the stadium was demolished, and Manchester United would not allow the Red Rebels to establish a permanent museum inside Old Trafford.
Ethan had therefore relocated the collection to Newton Heath.
The first time Ronaldo saw the footballs preserved there, each commemorating an important moment in the club's history, he had immediately thought:
One day, my first goal will be in here too.
I'll become part of this club's history.
Now he had finally scored.
In his excitement, he had almost forgotten.
Ronaldo sprinted towards midfield.
The Forest players watched in confusion as he picked up the match ball and carried it towards the New Manchester United bench.
He handed it to one of Mourinho's assistants.
The coaching staff congratulated him warmly.
Only then did Ronaldo collect a replacement ball from the touchline and return to the pitch.
The goal transformed him.
His confidence soared.
For the remainder of the match, he was almost unstoppable.
Again and again he tore into Forest's defence from the left.
Even when they assigned a player specifically to mark him, they could not contain him.
Then, in the eighty-fifth minute, Ronaldo beat his defender with another sharp piece of dribbling, entered the penalty area, and picked out Villa.
The Spaniard finished.
3-0.
A match that had been expected to test New Manchester United severely had turned into a comprehensive victory.
More importantly, two players asked to accept greater responsibility had delivered outstanding performances.
Vidić had been excellent in defence.
Ronaldo had been devastating in attack.
The Portuguese winger was named Man of the Match.
And with that performance, Ronaldo completely conquered the hearts of the Red Rebels supporters.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
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◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)