Rio Ferdinand paid testament to Sir Alex Ferguson's motivational methods and credited a paint-stripping battle cry from the Manchester United manager for the team's victory in the World Club Cup despite losing Nemanja Vidic when the defender was sent off for elbowing Claudio Bieler.
"The manager's team talk hit the nail on the head," said Ferdinand. "I won't get into what he said but he got us into gear and that's the sign of a great manager.
"Winning could be the turning point of the season — from being quite mediocre results-wise to challenging for all the big titles. Sometimes you need to be told the basics and we were reminded what got us here in the first place. Even great players need reminding and we've got a few of them in our squad."
The Premier League champions became the tournament's first British winners when a Wayne Rooney goal gave them a 1-0 victory over Liga de Quito in Sunday's final in Yokohama.
With their mission in Japan accomplished, the newly-crowned world champions face a tough turnaround with a visit to Stoke City in the Premier League on Boxing Day. After completing a dream treble of the English, European and world titles, United can ill afford a slip-up at Stoke or at home to Middlesbrough three days later as the fixtures pile up.
"We have to make sure we get as much sleep as we can before Stoke," said Rooney, who was named player of the tournament after scoring twice in the 5-3 semi-final victory over Japan's Gamba Osaka.
Vidic's red card was a major blow to Ferguson, ruling the Serbia centre-half out of United's next Champions League game against Internazionale at the very least. His ban could be as long as three games if the incident is judged as violent conduct.
"It depends how Fifa interpret it and how Uefa act on the information they get," said Ferguson. "Vida is disappointed but he gave the referee no option."
The Club World Cup has traditionally been viewed with scepticism in Britain and the $5m (£3.35m) United earned for winning is relatively small beer for the club. However, Ferguson defended the competition, insisting it had merit and would give his team an important psychological lift. His side are fourth in the league with 32 points from 16 games, seven points behind leaders Liverpool with two games in hand.
"To be world champions in December is a huge mid-season boost," said the Scot. "It gives us a platform to start playing with real purpose and chase the leaders."
Rooney, already an English, European and now world champion with Manchester United, said that the victory has given him the appetite for international glory. "It's been a childhood dream to be a world champion," said Rooney, who won a car after being named player of the tournament. "I knew we were capable of winning all those trophies in one year but credit to the team for doing it.
"I love England and it would be fantastic to win something with the national team. We're playing really well as a team and [Fabio] Capello is the right man to help us win things."
Capello has guided England to the top of their World Cup qualifying group and rebuilt the confidence of a side that had hit rock bottom after failing to reach Euro 2008. Rooney, back to his rampaging best in Yokohama, said the Italian had changed the mentality of England's underachieving players during his first year in charge.
"The manager and the staff he has brought in have really knocked our heads together," he said. "The players have really responded."
