Manchester United's fans are many, and merciless

More than halfway through a soccer season in which the world's most valuable sports franchise has yet to lose a match, the singing and banners proclaim, "We're Man United, we do what we want."

If such a declaration seems arrogant, perhaps it is because the haughtiness has not yet been fully earned. Through 24 matches, Manchester United sits atop the English Premier League with 15 victories, 0 defeats and 9 ties, even though the team has not yet wholly coalesced.

Still, the Red Devils are seeking to become only the third top-flight English team to finish undefeated since the Football League was established for the 1888-89 season. It is now widely considered the world's most competitive soccer league. Preston North End built an 18-0-4 record that inaugural 19th-century season and Arsenal finished 26-0-12 in 2003-4 with a team known as the Invincibles.

The nearest American comparison, though imprecise, might be the Los Angeles Lakers' winning 33 straight games during the 1971-72 season.

An awakening occurred Tuesday in United's 3-1 victory over Aston Villa at Old Trafford Stadium. The star forward Wayne Rooney scored two goals, emerging from a scoring slumber that began when he sprained an ankle last spring. Since then, he has made headlines mostly for a contract squabble and revelations about his personal life that are more often written about Charlie Sheen.

"They haven't played up to their potential, but if Rooney starts playing his best, that's a real key," said Jonathan Spector, an American who plays in the Premier League for West Ham United. "Sometimes for a striker, it can take one goal to boost confidence and it snowballs."

Perhaps no other team has the global reach of Manchester United, which is seeking a record 19th English title and is valued by Forbes at $1.84 billion, first among all sports franchises, ahead of the Dallas Cowboys ($1.65 billion) and the Yankees ($1.6 billion).

Manchester United counts 139 million core fans worldwide fans and as many as 339 million followers, has a jersey sponsorship with the insurance broker Aon that pays $34 million a year and a long-term deal with Nike worth $470 million plus profit sharing. Some fanatical fans have their ashes spread beside the field when they depart for that Premier League in the sky.

"That's something he would do," Zega Brown, 29, said Monday of her husband, Steven, also 29, to whom she gave a tour of Old Trafford as a birthday gift.

Steven Brown, who has a tattoo of the Manchester United crest on his left biceps and a shrine to the team at his home in North Yorkshire, nodded in affirmation.

Manchester United has struggled on the road with only three victories and eight ties in league play. Few consider it equal to the 1998-99 squad, which won the Premier League, the Football Association Cup tournament and the European Champions League. Yet it possesses resilience and a flair for the dramatic comeback, as evidenced by last week's 3-2 victory at Blackpool in which Manchester United trailed, 2-0, until the 72nd minute.

"You know at some point we're going to do something," Manager Alex Ferguson said after the victory.

That night, and frequently this season, Manchester United was rescued by forward Dimitar Berbatov, who can be as playful as a seal with the ball and leads the Premier League with 19 goals - having scored 5 in one match and hat tricks in three others. He is ascendant after being called Berbaflop in the past, criticized because he played with a detached elegance that did not always coincide with the Premier League's demand for industry and speed and muscle.

Given his pallid features and widow's peak, Berbatov was also derided as a Count Dracula lookalike. As this season opened, The Sun newspaper wrote that Berbatov had "something of the night" about him. The tabloid noted that he had struggled to meet expectations after arriving from Tottenham in 2008 on a transfer fee of $49 million, saying Berbatov had found the burden "as easy to handle as a crucifix."

Never mind that the comment was pitiless. It was also geographically challenged. Berbatov, 30, happens to be from Bulgaria, while the Dracula myth is centered in the Transylvania region of Romania.

"People are always quick to point their finger at a foreigner," said Zuckernain Abbas, 22, a Manchester United fan here. "Now he is our savior. It shows you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

Ferguson, too, has defended Berbatov, saying, "It's an old habit when players who come to United and they're not scoring three goals a game or making 50 passes; they get slaughtered. You can't dispute the man's ability - he's a genius at times."

With its own television channel that reaches 192 million homes, 20 million unique monthly visitors to its Web site and 8.5 million followers on Facebook, Manchester United can control its message. A reporter seeking interviews was told that nothing was possible without three to four weeks' notice.

The club reaches its fans directly, and averages nearly 75,000 in attendance at Old Trafford, with another 300,000 taking annual tours of the stadium and visiting its team museum.