So we host ‘Pool at Old Trafford today. It’s a huge match that, if we win it, will end Liverpool’s title dreams for another season and bring us one step closer to that eighteen titles mark that’s currently held by Liverpool. Let’s do it..

Here’s a few quotes from Fergie regarding today’s match:

“I won’t be holding anybody back,” he said. “It’s United-Liverpool, it’s not the time to hold back. It’s the time to go forward, to enjoy it, to express ourselves in the way we have been doing, and not to fear the situation.

“That’s what we’ve been doing for the past two or three years. This team is full of optimism, with great belief in themselves. They’re young and only going to get better.

“These matches don’t change. No matter what happens, it doesn’t make it any more intense. This game will have all the usual intensity.

“It will be fierce and competitive, it’ll be a wonderful atmosphere and one you don’t want to miss. The number of people who have phoned me up for tickets… one lad, who I haven’t spoken to in 20 years, phoned and said, ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you for two weeks’. I said, ‘Really, what for?’ He was just thinking about coming down for the Liverpool game. I said, ‘You can keep thinking about it, because you’ve got no chance!”

Some typically jumbled words from Rafa:

“We are both in a good position and have done well. You can say yes, but it would just create headlines. Looking at Europe, you can see the four English teams are still there, but I’d rather be in the final and then we can talk about these things.

“Yes, this is the kind of game everyone wants to play in. It was the same against Real Madrid. They all want to play.

“Clearly we’re still the title race, if we can beat United you never know what can happen. If we can reduce the gap it will give us more confidence and we will approach the forthcoming games with positivity.”

Sorry for the bad quotes, couldn’t find anything better.

Anyway, in the spirit of the match here’s my starting XI for the match, as I’d pick it.

GK: VDS
DF: Evra – Vidic – Rio – John O’Shea
MF: C-Ron – Scholes – Carrick – Nani
FW: Berba – Rooney

It probably won’t be that line up but that’s what I’d like to see, with Scholes pulling the strings in the centre and Nani plundering the wings.

C’mon United!

After a cracking performance at the San Siro fifteen days ago which should have resulted in a few goals, United fans were a little annoyed that we hadn’t scored. We dominated the match, bar a few minutes here and there, and made Inter look very, very ordinary. Now we’re back at Old Trafford, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Since the game with Inter on February 24 United have won the Carling Cup against Spurs, beaten Fulham to reach the FA Cup Semi-Final (where Everton await) and beaten Newcastle in the EPL to keep a very tidy lead at the top of the Premier League. In that time Inter, too, have played three games, a 3-3 draw with Roma, a 3-0 defeat in the Coppa Italia Semi-Final First Leg against Sampdoria and a 2-0 away win at Genoa.

Both sides are in good form, but United are obviously in the better form of the two, with fourteen wins in their last sixteen games in all competitions. Both sides have had injury worries; both Rio and John O’Shea went off injured at Craven Cottage last Saturday, btu thankfully are expected to be fit while Inter are having a bit of an injury crisis themselves with Jose confirming that “Christian Chivu, Walter Samuel, Materazzi and Burdisso are out.” Now, personally I wouldn’t be at all suprised if we saw all four of those defenders fit to play. I wouldn’t put it past Mourinho to try and make Utd think that they’ll have an easy time of it against Inter, subconsciously at least.

But regardless of what team either manager puts out, and it will be the strongest teams available for both sides, without doubt, there is absolutely no chance of Utd taking this game lightly, resting on their laurels after a great run of form and slipping up. I just can’t see it happening whatsoever. This United team is so good at winning that it’s actually ridiculous. They have the experience of winning the Champions League and the Premier League and know exactly what is necessary when the moment of reckoning comes. This is probably our biggest week so far this season, with the FA Cup game last weekend, this massive game tonight and Liverpool at the weekend.

United, tonight, should not fear Inter in the slightest. They bossed the Italians in their own backyard and were unlucky to not come away with anything. Now United have them in their place. Forget about Fergie’s record against Mourinho, foget any mind-games or anything like that. This comes down to eleven vs eleven on the pitch, and when thinking about it like that I’m immensely confident. Simply put, we’re better than Inter. We play beautiful football, have a rock-solid defence and are going to be playing at home, with the fans roaring the players on. Inter have some good players who do well in what’s a poor Serie A (in my opinion) but are consistently inconsistent in Europe. Like I said last week, if Inter want any chance to win tonight, Zlatan needs to be in top form.

A win tonight would be a great boost to the Quadruple chances, but no doubt that Fergie will be telling the lads to just take things one game at a time, not to look too far ahead. With that in mind, and this game just a few hours away it is the most important game of our season. We win tonight and we move onto the next round, where a good team will be waiting. But I’m not gonna get ahead of myself, because this match has to take place first.

All I’m gonna finish with is that I hope you enjoy the match, get behind the lads and cheer them on, from either your couch, a pub, a PC screen or a seat at Old Trafford.

If you’re at home, get a beer, try and relax and cheer on the boys!

So, first off, what a game on Saturday! Many people had predicted a tight match and Daryl even predicted United’s Quintuple dream to end. How wrong some people were. United were brilliant against Fulham, controlling the match from start to finish and showing again what depth we have. Two goals from Tevez and goals from Park and Rooney settled a tie that United never looked like losing, or drawing! If you haven’t seen them already, highlights here.

The FA Cup Semi-Final draw was yesterday and United drew Everton, who disposed of Middlesbrough 2-1 at Goodison yesterday. I’m kinda happy with the draw. Don’t get me wrong, Everton are good but I’m glad we haven’t drawn Arsenal or Chelsea. Of course Arsenal still have to play Hull, but I expect Arsenal to overpower Hull. I hope that it’s an Arsenal-United Final. The reason I say this is that I don’t want a repeat of the borefest of an FA Cup Final that was United vs Chelsea in 06/07. Aside from losing that one, it was such a poor match to boot. I don’t think United vs Arsenal would be that bad.

I’m really looking forward to the Everton match. They’re a good side with shitloads of spirit and it’ll be a good test for United to play against them.

So, Fergie took my hint and rested Ronnie for the FA Cup game. So presumably the boy from Madeira will be fresh as a daisy on Wednesday. A note of worry however is that Rio got injured after 40 minutes at Craven Cottage and is a doubt for Inter on Wednesday. Of course, Jonny Evans can stand in, preferebly we’d have Rio playing but Evans showed what he can do at San Siro.

As I said, this is a short post so I’m gonna end it with some intriguing tidbits I found on my travels;
Over at TEAMtalk, Simon Welkes thinks that Fergie should retire if United win the Quintuple, to be replaced by one man, and one man only.
While over at the Guardian, Sir Alex thinks that Internazionale will play for penalties.

He could be right. Until next time (either tomorrow or Wednesday), peace out!

So here we are, on the eve of the big Champions League game against Inter Milan and the identity of the man to partner Rio at the back against the Italian giants is no clearer. It was enough of a mystery a while ago when all we knew was that Vidic wouldn’t be playing. But whereas back then we thought that it might be Jonny Evans, John O’Shea or Wes Brown who’d partner Mr. Ferdinand, it looks increasingly likely that it’ll be none of those men. Wes Brown is out for sure, and it’s looking like O’Shea and Evans have got knackered legs too, which sucks ass, really!

So if those guys are out, and they probably are, who is going to play alongside Rio Ferdinand at the San Siro on Tuesday night? There’s no obvious choice, Christ, there isn’t even a hint of who could play there. There has been talk that Fabio could make his United debut, but c’mon! Talk about throwing the little guy in at the deep end!! He could prove me wrong if he plays, and I really hope he does prove me wrong. If he’s as good as people are saying he is (better than Rafael) than he might actually be able to cope with the cauldron that is the San Siro.

Then of course there’s another young lad. Sir Alex brought Richard Eckersley to Italy but that’s probably a precautionary measure on his part. Sir Alex obviously thinks highly of the guy, otherwise he wouldn’t have brought him. But he’s one for the future and I really don’t think he’d flourish in this situation so early in his career.

But what if there are no defenders available to play at centre back? Who’ll fill in? You’d want experience for sure, but Giggs and Scholes don’t seem like stand-in centre backs to me. So who’s our most defensive-minded midfielder? Owen Hargreaves! But that’s right, he’s injured for the rest of the season. So maybe Michael Carrick? Me and a friend discussed this the other day and it seems like the logical choice. He’s a top quality player, is good defensively and more than anything, needs must!

I think I’d go for Carrick if all other avenues were closed, but what do you guys think? Should he play Fabio? Or perhaps the incredible risk of Eckersley?

What do you think?

According to The Guardian, Wayne Rooney has suffered a setback in training during his rehabilitation from the hamstring injury he suffered against Wigan in January. The injury ruled him out of England’s friendly tonight with Spain and out of United’s past few games.

Ferguson had been saying last week that he would let Fabio Capello decide whether or not to bring Rooney into the squad, but he has apparently suffered an injury in training and it’s said that Ferguson has already ruled him out of the weekend’s FA Cup tie with Derby. He’s only a ‘maybe’ to be back for the midweek against Fulham.

There’s not been much on this so I can’t imagine it’s too serious, especially as Fergie regards him as a ‘maybe’ for the Cottagers match. Hopefully he’ll be up and scoring soon.

Little United fact that I read over on the Man Utd website; 923, yes 923 Football League managers have lost their jobs since Fergie took the United reins in 1986! That is one hell of a statistic, in my opinion.

Wayne’s Fact Of The Day: Although Fulham’s nickname is The Cottagers, a ‘cottager’ is actually a man who has anonymous sex with other men in public toilets, rendering Fulham’s nickname rather amusing. Hope that’s brightened up your day!

He won’t start but Wayne Rooney will be on the bench for United’s EPL game against West Ham at Upton Park on Sunday. Wayne has been out since the Wigan match in January, getting injured only minutes after he scored the decisive, and only goal. It’s a boost for us, even though things are going brilliantly anyway. Seeing Rooney back will be great for the team and the fans, hopefully providing the goals that ahd been missing for a while. He starts on the bench and I could put my house on the fact that he’ll replace Tevez at some point during the game.

Strangely, although Rooney’s been out for a while, Sir Alex has said that he won’t stand in Fabio Capello’s way in picking the striker for England’s upcoming match with Spain.

Ferguson said, “I have no strong issue with that. It is a question of whether he would play or be a substitute, which is the same position as I am in.

“It is up to Fabio. I really have no strong objection to that.”

All of which I’m pretty surprised about. But he must be pretty confident about Rooney’s fitness. It also hints that Fergie and Capello have a good relationship, or perhaps I’m over-analyzing. I have a habit of doing that.

In another wee bit of news, United are believed to be front-runners for the signature of Michael Jackson circa 1982. The American singer’s displays since joining Wigan a few years back have apparently convinced Fergie he’s good enough to play for Man Utd, but United have competition in the form of nearly everyone, including Madrid. Will Jackson circa 1982’s potential arrival spell the end for United’s current Michael Jackson lookalike, Nani? Only time will tell.

We all knew it, we just barely heard Sir Alex saying it. But after some stellar performances Fergie’s come out and said, that given Rafael’s current form (sensational really) there’s pretty much nothing that Gary Neville can do to stop the young Brazilian usurping him as United’s first-choice right back.

Obviously, with over 500 United performances we’d be pretty stupid to say that Neville definitely can’t get his place back. But he’s getting old, and his most recent displays haven’t inspired confidence. But what a difference two years make. In the 2006/07 season, Neville was United captain and played the whole season as United won the EPL. Two years later, he’s recovered from a long-term injury but is being kept out of the team by a plucky little Brazilian.

The fact that no-one really doubts that Rafael is good enough is down to how well he’s played. His goal against Arsenal at the Emirates was a sign of the great performances that have now become the norm when he plays. He’s a fantastic attacking player and is also a good defender, everyday learning the ins and outs of being a defensive right back. Probably being taught by none other than Gary Neville himself.

Ironic, huh?

If you want to read some quotes from Sir Alex on the subject, click here.

Well, you learn something new everyday. Apparently, Villarreall’s nickname is El Submarino Amarillo (The Yellow Submarine)! I’m not going to go all tabloid and start coming up cheesy headlines to do with ’sinking’ the submarine, Berbatov scoring with ‘depth charges’ or a spurious link to the Yellow Submarine being inspired by a long and heavy association with mind-altering drugs. Oh no, I’m far too professional than that.

Ahem.

It looks like we are struggling a little in midfield after a bruising encounter with Liverpool. Carrick is definitely out, Scholes suspended (the senseless Zenit sending off) and Ronaldo increasingly unlikely to feature. Couple this with Evra being doubtful through a late discovered concussion (got sick on the team coach!), O’Shea is likely to feature on the left side of defence. Let’s hope that Hargreaves is fully fit as otherwise this will allow us only to choose from the relatively odd group of Fletcher, Nani, Anderson, Giggs and Park. However, an option could be to hand the young Fabio da Silva his début at left back and bring O’Shea into central midfield with Fletcher or Anderson….whatever the pairing, it sounds like a bit of a patch up job, lets hope Hargreaves is fit.

Up front, Rooney will face Villarreal three years after he was sent off against them for mouthing off to the ref. Rooney says, regarding the incident, “It was a reality check for me. It was a ridiculous thing to do. That was a big turning point for me. I have learned from that. I made sure I did.” Is it me or is he beginning to talk like Fergie? Berbatov and Tevez are also fit and ready, so we have an abundance of riches in the forward line. Will we go with 3 up front? Well, Fergie went for it away at Liverpool so maybe he likes that formation. Personally, I don’t believe the 4-3-3 formation particularly suits us as it commits too many men forward when we are defending leaving us vulnerable as well as making less likely to break quickly with numbers.

The final question is whether VdS starts? Fergie is pretty loyal to his players so I expect so, However Kusczak or Foster will be available, the former probably potentially getting the nod after his contract extension this week.

Villarreal are a strong side coming to the game with a win and a draw in La Liga. Former United target Senna will start after an excellent Euro 2008 with Spain. Their wide players will be dangerous, not just from the usual strange-footed Robert Pires (could be out injured) but also the lively full back pair of Javi Venta and Capdevila. The Argentine Ariel Ibagaza will play a free role in the centre of a five man midfield and United’s success in defence will be much to do with stifling his creativity, especially playing in the wingers and full backs.

Villarreal are certainly no pushovers and United will struggle if they lack fight and a cutting edge as they did on Saturday as Villarreal are flying with confidence after finishing second in La Liga last year, their highest position ever. Composure is needed in the early stages and maintenance of possession. A few shots on goal might help too, we only had two on target on Saturday and only 3 off, which is clearly not good enough. Overall I think United will win but it will be an edgy 2-1 affair whilst we are still finding our feet this season.

You can’t help thinking that Fergie is relieved that the International break is over as he will be no doubt be dying to try out his brand spanking new signing, Dimitar Berbatov, who has been burning a hole in his pocket (in more ways than one) since the end of the transfer window.

Although, undoubtedly a great signing, it raises many questions as to how he is going to play him and, indeed, whether he will start him. Rooney and Tevez have been busily buzzing around up front so far like a pair of excited chipmunks around a juicy redwood, but, being similar players, they haven’t really produced an attacking display that has had a real cutting edge. However, after Rooney’s creative display for England, especially as it was next to a big man with quick feet, Berbatov will be looking forward to a lot quality ball. I doubt Fergie will worry about showing any restraint against Liverpool by not playing a front three. The y will recycle the responsibility to drop deeper for the ball, although I doubt Berbatov will venture past the half way to many times.

Luck has been a feature of all Liverpool’s games so far and who’s to say they’re not going to get more. Sulky face Gerrard and Man-child Torres have surprisingly returned from injuries, which is a big boost for them, but then again, so have Hargreaves and Carrick for United which equally will provide a good stable platform for the forwards to menace, in my opinion, a suspect back four. Could this game, or at least Liverpool’s attacking flavour, be decided on where Rafa decides to play Keane? So far the wide positions have been awful for Keane and have created many problems when he cuts in to join up with Torres and Kuyt leaving lots of space behind him in the breakdown. If he plays as a second striker he will feel he has a lot to prove and may try to do too much. However, Liverpool’s play has been so lacking in width it’s practically anorexic at the moment, if Babel and Riera play those channels Keane and Torres may get more ball to run on to.

United have a full squad to choose from except for Ronaldo, who is expected to be fit for Villarreal on Wednesday. I expect the starting line up to be Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Hargreaves, Carrick (or Fletcher), Scholes, Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov. The last four names fill me with expectation of industry, creativity, flair and most of all goals, which is what we have been lacking.

With speculation rife about our developing injury hoodoo – it’ll be worth watching when the teams make their way onto the pitch. Hold your breath if there’s a Kieran Richardson sighting.

I can honestly say that I’m extremely nervous about this fixture. Bolton are a handful at the best of times – but when your a little thin in the goal scoring department they’re a less than ideal team in which to face. Of course, it’ll still be a shock if we fail to win – and Bolton’s Kevin Nolan assesses the chance of that happening in his regular BBC column.