Manchester Utd v Arsenal Managers are depicted as team-builders, but they also have to be demolition men. With a couple of swings of the wrecking ball, Alex Ferguson knocked David Beckham and Juan Sebastian Veron out of the fabric of Old Trafford.

Anyone who stays in the job for 17 years has to master the art of redevelopment and the Scot has always set about the work with a provocative boldness.

The contentious sale of Paul Ince in 1995 helped clear a space for Beckham and the other youngsters who were instrumental in United's command of English football and the 1999 triumph in the Champions League.

Now the squad is being put through another transformation and tomorrow's match with Arsenal will be a guide to the latest phase in Ferguson's restlessly progressive career. By acting with alacrity, he has again ensured the alterations are matters of choice rather than necessity.

Tim Howard, Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Bellion were all signed this summer while Rio Ferdinand and, in effect, John O'Shea are just easing themselves into their second season as regulars. This time, however, spectators do not have to familiarise themselves only with new faces.

Ferguson has been reviewing his own thinking. The manager has strayed further than ever from that British comfort blanket, the 4-4-2 system. So committed is he to placing at least two covering players in front of the defence that Ferguson has the quintet of Roy Keane, Nicky Butt, Phil Neville, Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson as candidates.

The manager is looking for greater stability, particularly in the Champions League. It is as if he hopes to merge the best qualities of the two memorable sides he has so far constructed at Old Trafford. The first of them had to be hardy to withstand the pressure of securing United's first League championship for 26 years, in 1993, and completing the double the following season.

Much as Eric Cantona was adored for his panache, the team was packed with individuals whose ability was complemented by so great a degree of aggression that Ferguson had to call a meeting to rage at the squad over its indiscipline. With Steve Bruce, Ince, Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes and, from the summer of 1993, Keane in the ranks there was certainly no timidity to prevent the team from getting into scraps.

"The thread that links all of Ferguson's teams is the strong characters they contain," said Denis Irwin, the left-back on the side.

Gary Pallister, the centre-back, recalls the combativeness nurtured in the early 1990s. "If teams wanted to play us at football we could deal with that," he said, "and if they wanted to test us physically we had more than enough in our ranks to cope with that. In previous years when we had played the likes of Wimbledon there had been a bit of a soft underbelly."

Apart from the silverware, United also had stability as a prize for re-establishing themselves. "Once we had won the title, there was no longer that pressure on the younger lads," said Pallister. "The standards were getting higher and higher. They could relate to that. It eased the passage for Scholes, Butt, the Nevilles and Beckham, although they obviously had a great amount of ability."

Irwin went on to win the Champions League with the rising generation that touched new levels from the mid-1990s.

"United's teams have got quicker and technically better since then," said the defender, now with Wolves.

Despite the defeat of Bayern Munich in the 1999 final, however, the club's status will be limited until, like Real Madrid, they turn themselves into regular winners of the Champions League.

"The changes have been coming over the past year or two when we've seen Giggs and Scholes being used somewhere around the centre-forward," said Gordon McQueen, the former United defender.

"Alex has obviously sat down and thought: 'We've been to one Champions League final and that's it. We're a big, big club and we should be doing better.' He's trying to rectify the situation."

Last season's defeat by Real Madrid had a profound effect on Ferguson, who has reflected on the damage done to his back four by players running from deep positions. He wants to guard against that while also emulating Real's attacking methods. In recent seasons Real did offset the flamboyant style with the covering provided by Flavio Conceicao and Claude Makelele.

Ferguson has something similar in mind. With Ruud van Nistelrooy intimidating an entire defence by himself, United can use two banks of midfielders. The Dutchman can therefore benefit from the support of, say, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Scholes and Giggs.

"Picking up late runs from midfield has always been a nightmare for defenders," said McQueen approvingly.

United may previously have been too conventional. "Maybe Alex believes they were a little bit predictable in a 4-4-2," said Pallister. "The big weapon was Beckham's crosses from the right and teams were determined to snuff that out. Sometimes they succeeded. I think the manager is looking for that little bit of trickery that will make something happen in a split second."

Having failed to buy the quicksilver Ronaldinho for that purpose Ferguson must now trust that Cristiano Ronaldo matures rapidly.

United's ideas may be sound, but it remains to be seen whether the sheer technique of Beckham and Veron will be missed.

United have minor injury doubts for tomorrow's game over Roy Keane, Nicky Butt, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and John O'Shea. Ronaldo has an outside chance of a start. Arsenal defender Martin Keown is on standby as Sol Campbell decides whether he feels able to play following the death of his father.