betting
Manchester United
By David, BettingExpert.com | Edited
Payback time
As the old Red Devils adapt to a place out of the spotlights Ferguson keeps looking around for young devils able to live up to the expectations at a club such as Manchester United. Last season’s runner-up position will have elicited much regrets in Ferguson who will therefore be focusing on dethroning Chelsea this season. But does he have all the necessary elements to contrast one of the better equipped sides in Europe?
Coach: Ferguson
Tactics: 4-4-2
Players In: Hernandez, Smalling, Bebe
Players Out: Foster, Mame Diouf, Cathcart, Cleverley, Welbeck, Tosic
Current Probable Formation: van der Sar, Rafael, Vidic, R. Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia, Scholes, D. Fletcher, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez
Once again Ferguson has done away with the glamour signings.
After all that has always been his policy. Whenever there have been the right
offers tabled for the club’s stars they were never turned down. Beckham, Stam,
van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo were all offloaded in favour of huge
profits and new blood. Ferguson and his scouts have always managed to come up
with more than decent replacements, even if this entailed splashing out the big
cash, as in the case of Rooney and Berbatov. 
Not all have lived up to what was
expected – have a look at Berbatov who still struggles to find the form that
made him big at White Hart Lane, and Veron who was a flop in England.
Incidentally they are two of the highest ever purchases for the club.
This time round Ferguson has kept the money in the coffers, not only to prevent any mistakes as he had done before but also because of enormous club debts. Enough for most United fans to keep insisting with the yellow and green scarves and a wish to have the club taken over by ‘someone who cares’ rather than the present business-minded owners.
Is there no one on the market who Ferguson could have taken on board in order to set a decent challenge for the title? He thinks he is set up well enough but a quick analysis of all the departments of the team project them as invariably weaker when compared to main rivals Chelsea.
In between the posts it will once again be van der Sar. 41 years old and expected to keep away from the frequent injury setbacks that characterize his seasons. At that age it is unthinkable to suddenly reverse the trend and be available for all the matches. He is a reliable goalkeeper though so he should not be victim of the blunders for which he is still remembered in Italy when in his younger days.
Defenders Vidic and Ferdinand are a solid central duo but
both suffer too many injuries. When not available there are no decent
replacements. Smalling was signed on, and goes on to wait for his turn along
with Brown and Evans. Twin brothers Rafael and Fabio are very good full-backs
but often forget about their defensive duties. Rafael should be getting more
match time when compared to his brother given that his competition goes under
the name of Gary Neville whilst that of Fabio is of ex-France captain Evra.
When all the elements are available Ferguson can rely 
on a pretty solid
backline. Unfortunately, injury setbacks will be a common problem if past
records are to propagate themselves into this season as well.
In midfield it is wingers Nani, Giggs and Valencia that are the major threat for opponents. The Welshman will of course need to be used with less regularity as he heads into his 21st Premier League season. In the middle of the park another veteran, Scholes, should find space if Anderson keeps underperforming as he did in the past for United. Fletcher, on the contrary, has impressed Ferguson with his work rate and if his goal scoring becomes a habit there are enough reasons for him to displace Carrick, often too inconsistent, from the starting eleven. Park, a very decent winger, still needs to get back into Ferguson’s plans. When brought over to England he had been a forward. Ferguson tried to deflect him towards the wings were he did perform well for the club. However, the South Korean has fallen down the pecking order in time and is nowadays inexplicably not even trusted to start in United’s squad. He should be given some chance in the wingers’ roster.
In attack is United’s savior. Rooney is the team star, or at least he was upgraded to that role after the departure of Ronaldo. The Portuguese had been the man to solve any woes in-play when the match seemed to turn its back on the Red Devils. A shot from outside the box, a run down the flank and a delightful assist into the box, a suspicious fall into the opponents’ box… He tried them all to get that one-goal win which ultimately proclaimed them as better than Chelsea and good enough for the title. Without him they have been unable to get that edge over the Blues. The Londoners can still count on a number of stars able to solve the game in their favour. United can only count on Rooney and he too can be very inconsistent.
The ex-Everton man is apparently still too young to be able
to shoulder responsibility for the team without giving way under the pressure.
Last season’s sudden unplugging in March had left the team almost disbanded.
Despite Chelsea’s 
slip ups towards the end they still could not focus on the
title and ultimately they lost the battle, and deservedly so.
Will Berbatov be able to help out this year? The Bulgarian is, unfortunately, another one of those players who lacks the spark that can carry the team along on a wave of enthusiasm. Ronaldo’s arrogance and endless determination will be missed and at this point, without a man like him, Manchester United lose out the comparison with Chelsea. Does that mean that they will once again be runners-up? Not necessarily. Two important aspects that may tilt the balance in favour of United are the Champions League and Hernandez.
The European competition can be a major distraction for Chelsea. Club president Abramovich has already made it clear that it is his main objective to lift the trophy in London’s Wembley. That will take a lot of the team’s energies, just as it did last season until they got the boot from Mourinho’s Inter.
Mexican starlet Hernandez is the other major aspect to consider. Nicknamed el Chicharito and still 22 years old he does not really fit the profile delineated above for Cristiano Ronaldo. He does not have that charisma and neither does he emanate the strength and ambition which was so engrained in the Portuguese. However, he has a wonderful goal scoring instinct and a way of penetrating opposing defences which most teams in England will struggle to get to grips with. His speed and off the ball runs are something which the often tactically undisciplined defenders in the Premier League are yet to experience. He reminds a lot of Michael Owen before he was overrun by a wave of pressure that silenced his talent once and for all. For Hernandez, however, it should be a different story. Son and nephew of footballers he has the game running in his veins and his ambition to carve out a name for himself will push him forward despite what criticism may be leveled at him.
The question now is: ‘will Ferguson recognize the need for a true striker in attack and give the Mexican a chance to shine?’. Judging by how fast he relegated Macheda back to the bench it looks like it will take more suffering for the fans before the Scotsman understands that he needs his van Nistelrooy upfront. The answers are all there at his disposal. He just needs to be asked the questions by a difficult run in the league hoping that it will be sooner rather than later so that United can finally overcome Chelsea’s challenge.
Predicted finishing position: 1st
It will not be easy and it will not depend solely on them. If Chelsea do not embark on the Champions League mission than it is them which will win the Premier League battle. However, we prefer to think that they will go through those dark patches along the way to that fabled Wembley final. The Red Devils should be quick enough to take advantage of those situations and of a young and ambitious Hernandez ready to trouble any defence in the Premier League.
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