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2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses isnt bad against our nearest rivals. The Liverpool game was won late but both of the Arsenal defeats came in the last few minutes too so luck has more than evened out over the 5 matches. As for the win at Anfield, Utd didnt have to win at all, a draw would have been a good result as our lead was effectively 7 points with the goal difference included. Liverpool wanted to win to overhaul Chelsea though losing ended their hopes of that, and if that wasnt motivation enough the chance to derail Utds title bid would have ensured they played at 100%, dont underestimate the depth of rivalry between the clubs 
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At the time of that game at Anfield, there were 10+ games left to play in the EPL with one of them seeing ManU visit Chelski ... with that in mind, 7 pts were far from enough and it was indeed a must win game for manU - and if I am not wrong, manU's current lead over Chelski is quite curiously exactly 3 pts with that game at Stamford Bridge yet to come
As for Pool, you can't compare fighting for the title with hoping to maybe get 2nd spot. By then Pool were already out of the title race and the dif between 2nd or 3rd spot was not a season-defining one, so for them that game was everything but a must-win one with CL coming before anything else, given that they were virtually guaranteed a spot among the first 4 in the EPL.
And as you said, the intensity of rivalry shouldn't be forgotten either - but the same argument works for ManU too ... my point however was that it was Pool who dominated the game - their domination was quite obvious - and that was one of the 2 games vs quality teams manU has managed to win so far in the EPL.
You are right, a 2-1-2 record isn't bad but it is not that impressive either, actually, it's quite average considering how one of those wins came at Anfield.
The dif between that ManU win and the game they lost to Arsenal in the dying minutes of regular time is that Arsenal won a game which they dominated, while ManU won that game completely against the run of play and "luck" like that strikes only once in a while.
All in all, don't get me wrong Steza, I do see ManU as a solid, a very solid team - they wouldn't be on top of EPL and at the SFs of CL if they weren't - but the reason I am going after them is this whole ManU-mania that has overwhelmed fans and "experts" alike after one odd result in that game vs Roma when, if one takes a more sober look at their results vs quality opposition this year, one would be anything but mightily impressed.
All you could see in British tabloids and manU forums is people wondering not who between ManU and Milan will go thru but how many goals ManU will manage to score in the process of reaching the final ... not much of a dif than what it was 2 years ago when Rooney and CR were supposed to run circles around Milan'd old rearguard ... now, the least they could do is show some respect ... why lessons have to be taught twice, I am asking
on a dif note: do you know when Neville, Vidic, Saha, and Park are supposed to be back? I think I read that neville is out for the season, same with Sylvestre, while Vidic had a collar bone broken and may very well miss both Milan ties.