Vidic boost for United
Nemanja Vidic is expected to return to Manchester United’s injury-ravaged defence for Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Aston Villa.
Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to employ a back four of Patrice Evra, Park Ji-sung, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher against Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night.
Ferguson was missing 14 senior men for the clash in Germany, eight of them defenders, with his midfield trio forced to drop back to play alongside captain for the night Evra.
The hat-trick heroics of Michael Owen fired United to a 3-1 success and top spot in Group B as the makeshift backline performed well.
Serbia international Vidic has now recovered from the illness which kept him out of the victories over Wolfsburg and West Ham and will slot back in against Villa.
“I expect Vidic to be fit and if he is available we would have him and Michael Carrick, plus Darren Fletcher and Patrice Evra,” Ferguson said.
“I would be happy enough with that.”
System
Ferguson also expects to have Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov available to face Martin O’Neill’s men, who have once again moved to the fringes of a top-four place.
That might mean a quick relegation back to the substitutes’ bench for Owen, who marked a rare start by converting his first Champions League treble since 2003.
Ferguson is delighted with the contribution of his free transfer summer signing and admitted United’s regular formation goes some way to explaining his lack of starts.
He added: “I made the point some weeks ago that his training performances have improved steadily. I have had no worries about him.
“Obviously in some games recently we have only played with one striker and Wayne Rooney has been it. Here we used a different system.”
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Alex Ferguson, Aston Villa, Backline, Darren Fletcher, Dimitar, Heroics, Ji Sung, Manchester United, Martin O Neill, Michael Carrick, Nemanja Vidic, Park Ji Sung, Patrice Evra, Red Devils, Ryan Giggs, Senior Men, Sir Alex Ferguson, System Man, Uefa Champions League, Wayne Rooney
Wolfsburg v Man Utd preview
Manchester United go into their UEFA Champions League game against Wolfsburg with a severely depleted squad.
The Red Devils take on the German champions at the Volkswagen Arena with 15 players missing, although they only need a draw to ensure they finish Group B on top of the pile.
Patrice Evra is the only recognised senior defender in the squad as Sir Alex Ferguson’s men have been ravaged by injuries.
With Nemanja Vidic, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, and Fabio and Rafael Da Silva all sidelined, United’s defence will be unrecognisable to the one that has taken the field so far this season.
The long injury list means the Premier League champions have named a number of youngsters in the squad, with club chief executive David Gill’s son among a number of emergency players submitted on the list.
Oliver Gill, 19, is joined by fellow rookies Magnus Eikrem, Matthew James, Oliver Norwood and Cameron Stewart, although Ferguson has vowed not to treat Gill with preferential treatment.
Ryan Giggs will be rested for the game, while Owen Hargreaves is still to make his first appearance this season following major knee surgery.
Evra may line up in central defence, away from his orthodox position of left-back, and Ferguson has revealed he is likely to play alongside midfielder Michael Carrick.
Fellow midfielder Darren Fletcher is expected to fill-in at right-back, as the makeshift back-line attempt to quash the threat of Wolfsburg marksman Edin Dzeko.
Dzeko was on the scoresheet when the two sides met in September, United coming out on top 2-1 on that occasion, and the Bosnian has been linked with a move to Old Trafford in the future.
With United’s usual midfielders dropping down to defence, the likes of Anderson, Park Ji-Sung and Gabriel Obertan could start in their place, as strikers Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov miss out.
Wolfsburg news
Wolfsburg are still not assured of a place in the knockout stages of the competition and are currently level on points with Russian outfit CSKA Moscow.
The Bundesliga champions will have one eye on CSKA’s game against Besiktas in Turkey, but will be buoyed by United’s long injury list.
Wolfsburg will be without Obafemi Martins who is sidelined until January with a shin problem, while Jonathan Santana (thigh) and Alexander Madlung (calf) will also be absent.
The home side have scored more goals than United in their European campaign so far although they are not in the best run of form – having not won in their last four games.
However, the Red Devils have not lost an away game in the Champions League since they were defeated by AC Milan in 2007, although they lost last year’s final on neutral soil to Barcelona.
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Alex Ferguson, Anderson Park, Dimitar Berbatov, Gary Neville, German Champions, John O Shea, Knockout Stages, Magnus Eikrem, Michael Carrick, Nemanja Vidic, Old Trafford, Orthodox Position, Owen Hargreaves, Park Ji Sung, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Ferguson, Uefa Champions League, Wayne Rooney, Wes Brown
United duo out until New Year
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that John O’Shea and Jonny Evans will not play again this year.
Both players were already sidelined, but now the club have confirmed both will be out until January at least.
Evans has been struggling with calf and ankle problems, whilst O’Shea had been sidelined with a dead leg but now the injury is obviously worse than first thought – although United have not gone into detail.
At the weekend, United were forced to field the likes of Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick in defence and things are not improving.
First-choice central defenders Nemanja Vidic (flu) and Rio Ferdinand (back) are out, whilst Wes Brown and Gary Neville joined the injury list over the weekend.
With Brazilian twins Fabio and Rafael also out, Patrice Evra is the only recognised senior defender travelling to Germany for their trip to Wolfsburg for their UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
Youngster Oliver Gill has been called into the squad and although he has no first-team experience, he could be handed his debut.
Other options also include moving Park Ji-sung to right-back and switching Fletcher to left-back with Evra playing in the centre alongside Carrick.
Bad news
Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that Evans and O’Shea were out until January and also revealed that Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov were left behind from their trip to Germany because of fresh injuries.
“There’s no good news with all these injured players,” Ferguson said.
“We have left several players behind and we have a lot of thinking to do about team selection. That’s going to be very important.
“As we’ve explained, with Rio Ferdinand we have no scheduled return date yet. Wes Brown has a hamstring strain. We hope to have him fit for Saturday but you have to be careful with hamstring injuries.
“And John O’Shea and Jonny Evans are both out until January. They’re out for a few weeks.”
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Alex Ferguson, Ankle Problems, Central Defenders, Darren Fletcher, Dead Leg, Dimitar Berbatov, Gary Neville, Ji Sung, John O Shea, Manchester United, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Ferguson, Team Experience, Uefa Champions League, Wayne Rooney, Wes Brown, Worse Than First Thought
Rooney slept through draw
Wayne Rooney has revealed he did not find out the World Cup draw for next summer’s finals until five hours after it had been made.
The draw for South Africa was made on Friday evening, although the Manchester United ace had spent the afternoon travelling to London ahead of their match at West Ham.
Rooney, who is sure to spearhead England’s attack next summer, missed Fabio Capello’s men being paired with Algeria, Slovenia and the United States.
The 24-year-old was only looking to rest upon arriving in the capital, but nodded off at the crucial time and had to be informed of England’s opponents by friends later in the night.
Asleep
“I was asleep until 10pm,” explained Rooney.
“We got the train down to London and got to the hotel about 5pm.
“I lay down on my bed to watch television.
“I fell asleep and didn’t find out what the draw was until five hours later.”
Draw
When Rooney did eventually catch up on the news he, like most of the country, was happy England had avoided the big guns.
However, he is taking nothing for granted having seen the ever-improving USA topple Spain in last summer’s Confederations Cup.
“It was a good draw. I saw USA beat Spain in the Confederations Cup. That will be the difficult game,” he continued.
“I don’t know too much about Algeria but I’m sure the manager will have loads of information for us before the game.”
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Big Guns, Capello, Confederations Cup, Friday Evening, Wayne Rooney, West Ham
Portsmouth 1-4 Man Utd
Strangely appropriate, really, that the first meeting between Avram Grant and Sir Alex Ferguson since Moscow 2008 should be dominated by penalties. There were three here (and could have been more) and Manchester United had the better of the team in blue.
Not that this one was ever close. The chasm between the champions and the team propping up the table was unshrinkable. Grant knows opponents of United’s calibre are not helpful barometers of what is needed to kickstart their season, but the man who watched unemotionally from the dugout in his donkey jacket as Wayne Rooney tore up any new-chapter optimism now appreciates at first hand the sheer size of his rescue mission.
Portsmouth were left to digest a hammering which was a variation on a familiar theme. Different instrument, same old tune. The deficiencies that dogged them all season despite the best efforts of Paul Hart – a capacity to bumble in both boxes pretty much sums it up – are not easily cured. “It was very strange,” Grant said. “We created a lot of chances and our goalkeeper almost didn’t touch the ball but lost 4-1.” Welcome to Fratton Park version 2009-10, where spirit alone does not equate to points.
Sir Alex is evidently not a man who enjoys being distanced from his natural domain of the dugout, away from the smell of the grass and the earshot of his players. His chewing gum got a pneumatic hammering as he sat in the directors’ box for the first of his two-game exile as punishment for airing prickly observations about referee Alan Wiley. But being a member of the audience, from the United perspective, turned out to be very pleasant viewing.
The fluency of his front players, who progressively squeezed the fight out of Portsmouth, was quite a sight. Ryan Giggs’s imagination and Antonio Valencia’s velocity were a mesmerising foil to Rooney’s power play, which yielded a thumping hat-trick. If it applies some pressure on Chelsea before they visit Arsenal at teatime on Sundau, so much the better.
United profited from their first rapier counterattack in the 25th minute, as Valencia and Rooney surged down the right, exchanging passes as they went with surgical precision. Skill at speed – it was an intoxicating enough combination to tempt the more agricultural instincts of Michael Brown into a risky tackle inside the penalty area. He appeared to catch Rooney’s foot. Mike Dean incurred the wrath of the Fratton End by awarding a spot-kick, which United’s top scorer dispatched nonchalantly.
The second penalty awarded by Dean, courtesy of information from his linesman, was far more contentious. United were flabbergasted when Tomasz Kuszczak punched away O’Hara’s lofted free-kick fairly routinely ahead of Frédéric Piquionne. There was a suggestion that Nemanja Vidic tugged at the Portsmouth striker’s shirt, but the decision was so marshmallow soft it was tempting to wonder if Ferguson might have had his touchline ban extended were he inclined to comment on this one.
Gary Neville led the bitter complaints but to no avail. Kevin-Prince Boateng rifled the ball past Kuszczak’s dive. There might even have been another penalty before half-time as United appealed for a Hermann Hreidarsson handball.
“The linesman has put the referee under terrible pressure and he has to listen to the linesman who is 50 yards away,” Ferguson grumbled. “You see these things every weekend in the penalty box. If you are saying everyone who wrestles at a corner or tugs at a jersey concedes a penalty-kick then that’s fine. But it doesn’t happen that way and this linesman has changed the whole course of normal decision-making. So it was a very disappointing result for us to get a penalty against us in that situation.”
United used their frustration in the best possible way, easing back in front after half-time through a piercingly accurate attack. Giggs supplied Rooney with the ammunition, and the finish was unerring. They made it look effortless.
There was no way back for Portsmouth, who unravelled in the second-half downpour. Piquionne defended with all the gut reaction of a striker as he squandered possession in his own box and fouled Giggs in a vain attempt to grasp it back. Penalty number three. Hat-trick for Rooney. Thank you and goodnight.
Portsmouth’s next league match is Burnley’s visit to the south coast, a game in which a repeat performance would be disastrous. “We have games coming up against teams close to us – in our league – and we need to win them,” Grant said.
Giggs finessed his own performance with a curved free-kick for United’s fourth three minutes from time. Ferguson thought it an appropriate celebration for a player who turns 36 this weekend. “Happy birthday,” he said. “He’s had it 36 times in his life, wait till he gets to 67. I think he’ll be retired by then. He’s an exceptional player. A rarity. He will play for two years yet.”
For Ferguson, watching this from undercover in the comfort of the directors’ box was not so bad after all.
THE FANS’ PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
Glenn Duggan, Observer reader In the first half we were more than equal with United and created at least seven good chances. Portsmouth never seem to be able to take their chances, though, and Kuszczak made three world-class saves. Our tempo in the first half was excellent, but we came out after half-time and took our foot off the gas. We got a football lesson from United in the second half. Valencia was exceptional. Mike Dean had a strange game – he booked seven players yet it wasn’t a dirty game.
The fan’s player ratings Begovic 6; Ben Haim 5, Kaboul 7, Wilson 7, Hreidarsson 6; Piquionne 5 (Kanu 63 6), Yebda 7 (Utaka 78 n/a), Brown 6, O’Hara 6, Boateng 7; Dindane 8 (Smith 81 n/a)
Mark Harrison, Observer reader Good result for us – we struggled a bit in the first half but came alive in the second. Rooney and Giggs were absolutely phenomenal, and Valencia had the best game he’s had since he joined us, putting some great crosses over. Fletcher has been outstanding every game. Kuszczak made three brilliant saves. Portsmouth’s penalty looked quite weak, but then so did Giggs’s. I really think United have a chance of winning the league – we’ve played all our tough games now.
The fan’s player ratings Kuszczak 9; Neville 7, Brown 7, Vidic 8, Evra 7; Valencia 9, Fletcher 9, Scholes 8, Carrick 7 (Anderson 76 5), Giggs 9; Rooney 10
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Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Alan Wiley, Alex Ferguson, Avram Grant, Barometers, Chewing Gum, Donkey Jacket, Dugout, Earshot, Fratton Park, Game Exile, Man Utd, Manchester United, Paul Hart, Rescue Mission, Ryan Giggs, Sheer Size, Sir Alex Ferguson, T Touch, Teatime, Wayne Rooney