Light at end of tunnel for Reds

August 27, 2007

SIR Alex Ferguson is finally starting to see an end to Manchester United's massive injury problems.

Including suspended winger Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferguson was without eight members of his senior squad for yesterday's 1-0 win over Tottenham at Old Trafford.

Some of his absentees, notably Park Ji-sung and Ben Foster, will not be seen again until the new year after major knee surgery, while Wayne Rooney is out for a couple of months after fracturing his foot in the opening game against Reading.

However, Ronaldo has just one more game of his three-match suspension to serve, while both Louis Saha and Anderson should be involved next Saturday when Roy Keane returns to his old stamping ground as manager of Sunderland.

The duo were expected to be part of the squad that faced Spurs but in the end, Ferguson decided they would benefit from an extra week's training.

"We have some excellent players to come back, so we have to be patient," said the United boss.

"Louis Saha and Anderson will be fit for next Saturday's game and Gary Neville will be back in a couple of weeks.

"We are getting there but it is just going to take a bit of time."

Do Unitid need to strengthen their squad? Have your say.

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charbel (27/08/2007 at 15:12)

The good thing about United's start to the season is that now I know how it feels to watch paint dry... on your expensive suit.

Nani's stunning strike reminds me of the goal Rooney scored against Newcastle a couple of years back when he volleyed a curling blockbuster from outside the area. We had been going through a rough spell but that goal released the tension in an explosive manner. Hopefully Nani's goal would have the same effect.

I dare not imagine how our lineup and bench would have looked like yesterday if we hadn't bought Tevez, Nani and Hargreaves.

Badilla, Malta (27/08/2007 at 15:12)

United were poor in defence against Spurs. Ferdinand was below average, Vidic was poor, while Wes Brown, is a good player but not out of this world. So why the Spanish kid Piquet, who had a great season in Spain, is not being picked?

Against Spurs I would have put him on for either Ferdinand or Vidic. It was only Evra who had a good game at the back.

Another player who had a good game is Hargreaves. Scholes was out of form against Spurs, while Giggs did not perform in any of the four league games.

Tevez, will be vital but needs more time. Nani was a good buy, and Anderson we'll have to see. But the biggest mistake was selling Giuseppe Rossi.

Pepe (27/08/2007 at 15:16)

If Saha starts is the first XI,who should be sent to the bench ...Giggs or Carrick. i'll start with Giggs and sent Carrick if we are winning in the 2nd half.Don't take Sunderland lightly, remember 2 years ago when we lost the title with a draw against them.

bremen red (27/08/2007 at 16:00)

I`d like to see us sign a striker, like everyone else I suppose. Even when Wazza n Saha are back, we are still too injury prone to feel safe.

Get the cheque-book out and sign a good cheap German!

Devil's Own,, malaysia (27/08/2007 at 16:13)

Charbel, a very very good point on your last sentence.
I definately agree with u. They save us from worst scenario.
No one ever mentioned that before, and probably think about it, especially those who keep on complaining on those new boys.

Te quiero, Walton Le Dale (27/08/2007 at 16:21)

I notice that Rossi scored in Parma's first match of the Italian League Season!!!!!!!! Did we let him go too soon?

John Thompson (27/08/2007 at 16:36)

We need another Van Nist up front, a 'poacher' who is capable of tapping those crosses in. Torres would have been just right, never mind. Chelski have Drogba, L'pool have Torres, we need a player of the same quality. It's the one thing that's missing to complete our great side. We have a great attacking team....there's just no-one there to tap the ball in the net!!!
Tommo

David Kelly (27/08/2007 at 18:15)

Ferdinand was his usual dosey self yesterday. He needs a kick up the backside, put in Pique for a while. Vidic also had a poor game but unlike Rio this is an exception rather than the norm.

COLIN, CANADA, Canada (27/08/2007 at 18:15)

Injuries and suspensions aside, if we are realistic, Giggs and Scholes have not had a good start. Brown is not a right back and Rio and Vidic have been wobbly. Nev is the key return because he will stabilize the back four and get some urgency back into our game. I think the only way to play packed defences (and we just played four of them) is to play really wide and have our crosses coming in from the byline where you will get deflections and defenders backing into their keeper. I would bhave preferred Eagles and Nani wide with Scholes up front instead of giggs who doesn't play well in that role. Carrick is a playmaker and Hargreaves will do a great job in the hole. They are our future midfield pairing. Right now I haven't seen enough of Anderson to figure out his future role. Carrick is our next captain. I don't honestly think Fergie is even contemplating buying another striker with Louis fit again and Anderson ready to go.

ChrisMUFC9000, Dublin, Ireland (27/08/2007 at 18:18)

weres he getting 8 players from? foster wudnt be starting, niether would park or anderson, wat a ridiculous statement... injury problems? maybe neville and rooney but the others arent injury problems they never start... and ronaldo is out to suspension over his own actions..

Barry Lee, USA (27/08/2007 at 18:19)

Rossi scored for Villareal yesterday by the way.
News about Saha is good, but it won't do us any good if he finds a way to put Tevez in behind and plays 4-5-1 again. It should be a straight 4-4-2 with Tevez and Saha up top.
I would play Eagles on the right, Nani on the left and Scholes and Hargreaves in the middle. Anderson should come on for any midfielder who's not playing well or for Saha when he runs out of gas, which he probably will.

CaptainPark (27/08/2007 at 19:02)

Badilla, Malta, what's wrong with people like you. Circumstances has conspired against us, so be patient and stop finding fault. Rossi wanted to leave, so we had no choice but to sell him. Its not like we pushed him out deliberately.

bobbyc, manchester (27/08/2007 at 21:04)

Frazier Campbell is the man ,wait ,and see!

MATT - is a Red and he hates scousers!, Manchester (27/08/2007 at 23:19)

Just heard the sad news Ole has been forced to retire, I feel for the guy so much, not once has he moaned in his 11 years, what a complete professional and what a shame he had to end his career this way. You will always be in United's fan's hearts, take it easy Ole and please stay and coach our lads to be professionals like yourself. Just come across a great recent interview of Ole, it says everything about the lad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbZ8sjAaNko . And for those with poor memories, here's the lad in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbSYjq4j7Os Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhXQo0KwDSA Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6xoDQyyWQE . Let the hunt for a new striker begin ASAP.

Kevin, Tralee, Eire (27/08/2007 at 23:24)

Just been announced here that Olé has retired! That chequebook may have to come out again to replace the ledgend.

Jesse Cole (28/08/2007 at 01:10)

I'd love to see Adriano arrive at the club, he could be the answer to our problems up front.

Oni Andoko - Jakarta, Indonesia (28/08/2007 at 05:06)

Yeah, another stupidity to let Rossi go. Even SAF have put a specific clause to the agreement for buy-back Rossi, but it won't be happened in the 1-2 years.

So, Check ESPN.com, open USA MLS soccer league. Check Jozy Altidore name. SAF & Gill should call David (Becks) and ask his opinion on this young striker....He is prolific & as good as Anelka but not so expensive to buy.

Wunderkid (28/08/2007 at 06:57)

You know full well that there aren't any good cheap German strikers Bremen Red.

Klose's the only great striker they have (and he's Polish anyway) and he's just signed with Bayern Munich for 10 billion Euros (and scoring for them already).

It's seriously starting to look like Andy Cole outside the transfer window's ('cos he's now a free agent) our only option for an additional striker (seriously, all we need is someone to get into scoring positions and play off Tevez and later Ronnie and Rooney, and wouldn't it be great to see Andy back in the red!).

The conservatives keep saying "wait till Saha & Solskjaer are back" but seriously they would both probably slip on the soap in the shower before the game.

Either take the Glazers, hold them upside down until cash drops out, then make a late dash at Berbatov, Eto'o, Lita, Yakubu, Martins, Villa or Anelka or get Adriano on loan or Cole.

And, yeah where is Gerard Pique?

Jaco, South Africa (28/08/2007 at 07:28)

There is some light at the end of the tunnel, yes, but also some sad news: Ole has retired due to injury. What a shame it is that Fergie did not play him more when he was at his best and uninjured... We'll never forget you OLEGEND!!!!

This also has some implications on our transfer activity going forward. Ole retiring means we have only 3 recognised strikers in our team, of which 1 is highly injury prone. In my opinion, we need to get another target man, preferrably Anelka or McCarthy...

Christer, Norway (28/08/2007 at 07:41)

Solskjaer has retired with immediate effect. That leaves us with that nervous dwarf, mr. Glass and Wazza. We need to sign another striker, quick. Inter is offering Adriano on the cheap...

LeythBlue, Leigh (28/08/2007 at 09:48)

Saha gets injured on a question of sport!!

bobbydazzler (28/08/2007 at 10:04)

colin were are you coming from carrick as captain are you serious when the going gets tough carrick dissapears

DrPhil, Donegal (28/08/2007 at 10:23)

Wunderkid, Andy Cole signed for Sunderland the last I heard. Also congrats fo Rossi for scoring for Parma in Serie A, when he actually plays for Villareal. Must have been a hell of a long range strike...

Birdy, Ireland (28/08/2007 at 11:48)

Colin strange shout for captain. Carrick is certainly not the player i'd like to be relying on to rally the troops when the going gets tough. For some reason last season people were falling over themselves to lavish plaudits and praise on him, claiming he was instrumental in our success and a fantastic signing, best passer in the league was another. Rubbish. He's a decent player. He did a good job for us, but he had a lot of poor games too, and other games where he was too annonymous to be called bad. In a straight 442 i wouldnt have him in the side now. He's certainly no captain

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