Rio Ferdinand believes a thorough pre-season workout over the next few weeks will be crucial to United's chances of success in 2009/10.
The Reds embark on a four-game tour of Asia late next week and Rio says the conditions and varied opposition in the Far East will provide ideal preparation for the long campaign ahead.
"The most important thing about pre-season is getting some good training done," the Reds defender told MUTV. "One of the main reasons we’ve been successful in the last few years is because we’ve had a good base from pre-season.
"It takes a bit of time to get acclimatised to the humid conditions in Asia, but it’s a good exercise to play against different teams that pose different threats."
First up for Sir Alex's men is a game against a Malaysia XI on Saturday 18 July. During pre-season in 2001, the Reds thrashed a team largely comprising Malaysia Under-23 players.
And next week's opposition will be similarly youthful after coach K.Rajagobal named only four senior players in his 28-man training squad. Rajagobal believes the experience of facing United will benefit his younger players in December's South East Asian Games.
"I hope everyone understands that the national team's main objective is the SEA Games, involving the U-23 players," he said.
More than 65,000 tickets for the friendly at the Bukit Jalil Stadium have been sold already and tour organisers ProEvents expect a complete sell-out.