Cannot work out how Man Utd won the title

I have been racking my brain all day trying to work out how this pretty average Man Utd side won the title so convincingly last season? I guess Fergie really was a tactical genius, because they were a very good side last season. I was particularly impressed with the way they outplayed Madrid in the CL.

At the time, I spoke to Man Utd fans who claimed that they had their best squad since their 1999 side, so its amazing how much a good run of results can deceive the fans, because last season's squad was significantly worse than their 2007/08 one for example.

For me, Young, Wellbeck, Nani, Anderson, Ferdinand, Hernandez are not title-winning players this year. So how did Fergie do it last season? I think just his presence probably did a lot for the team. Effective tactics. And he seemed particularly enthusiastic and hard-working last season, which was partly down to the fact that he knew it was his last. But that is not enough, if you have a relatively mediocre squad.

So what was did it? RVP was a huge reason I guess. Carrick had the season of his life, and Ferdinand was a lot better last season than he appears to be this season.

But I believe that without the mere knowledge that Fergie is watching over them, a manager who appears to be taking his time finding his feet, a lacklustre Ferdinand, and generally quite a mediocre and old squad, they will definitely not win the title this season and may only just scrape into the top 4.

But of course it is United we are talking about so I may have to eat these words come May 2014.....but i'm pretty confident I won't. 8 points is a huge gap so early on.

Thoughts?