nice to hear rooney is even up for this match and wanting the armband. personally i feel rooney or rio are the true captains in the side not giggs if nev is out!

my starting line up
Kit Kat, Evans, Brown, Pique, Oshea, nani, carrick, Hewson, Eagles, Brandy, Rooney.

then at some point give, simpson, dong and saha a crack

Hope it does not end up as a DISASTER trip

Fingers cross..

My team for the game would be

1.TK

2.Simpson 5.Evans 6.Pique 3.Oseah

7.Nani 8.Carrick 4.Fletcher 11.Eagles

10.Rooney 9.Saha

I just dont want to see wholesale changes and our youngsters get a pasting because that could have a very detrimental effect on their confidence.

Surely Simpson has to start with Nev out for even longer? These are ideal games to see where one or two youngsters can fit in the team, not five or six.

I'm extremely excited by that line up of school boys. It should be a dream come true for them. Even if Roma hammer us 7-1, it will be us happier still.

It will be interesting to see how they cope and how Rooney copes as captain (will he be more controlled in his protests to the ref?)

I dont see any reason why they should lose heavily and even if they do, resting key players can only be a good thing.

Meanwhile let's hope the 'pool have a really tough runout tonight.

Why risk rooney in the 1st place, rather we played saha and dong instead

We will get beaten, hopefully just by one or two goals and not by four or five As Roma will feel this is there best opportunity to gain some kind of revenge for the 7-1 last year and i fear for them a little even with Rooney although it will be interesting to see how he copes without Giggs, Ronaldo and Tevez ect .Take Ronaldo, Rooney and Scholes out of the first team or swap a few players around and we just don't seem to perform. .i'd rather not give Roma the opportunity to put four or five past us.Some of the younger ones they may never play in Europe again so that's extra motivation to play well ,but with Liverpool next it makes sense to rest the better players, It might not be the team that destroyed them at OT but i don't think that will bother Roma.
Rooney as captain of Manchester United isn't right to me, i don't think he deserves the armband.

He probably needs the 90 mins Edinburgh Red. He's only had 2 games back since his ankle injury. With Liverpool coming up the wknd another 90 mins would do him the world of good, provided obviously that he doesnt get injured, but you cant wrap him in cotton wool either. He needs matches to regain his sharpness so what can you go do?

He's obviously trying to start Rooney off on a scoring run again, which would set him up nicely to face the scousers on Sunday. Any penalty or free-kick around the box you can guarantee Rooney will take it to try and get himself a goal ahead of Sunday's game.

ER i think Rooney just wants to play, lets not forget he has just come back from injury too.

I would also play the same team as Billy S.

chris, oxford - you are completeley right but i think even though this is a CL tie, it is still less important than even a carling cup tie as we have already qualified so it is a great chance to give improtant players a good rest and to regain rooney's post-injury sharpness. its also good to show the youngens how tough a real football match will be for them.

Don't think for one minute that Roma will play their 1st eleven, anyway I have a feeling that it will probably be a good open game and actually worth staying up to watch for a change ...win or loose. Don't forget its a really good opportunity for some of the youngsters after the coventry mess to redeem themselves. A high scoring draw for me.

I hope that the fringe players will still be able to give a good account of themselves despite wearing their "FOR SALE" signs ready for the January transfer window.

Quote. "He's been pestering me for a while so I've given in". What happened to this beeing a marvoulous opportunity for ALL the fringe players?

It's a meaningless game, and even if they do get well beaten it's against Roma in Rome, and defeat surely can't dent the confidence more than getting turned over at home against Coventry in a domestic cup competition we were being touted to do well in.

I agree with Edinburgh Red overall I think. I do get your point Birdy about Rooney needing the minutes but so does Saha, and I I'd rather risk him ahead of the battle with Liverpool.

I have nighmares now of seeing some obscure Roma player scything into Rooney to make a name for himself and putting him out of action again.

By the way, non related subject but I'd really like to see Kenwyne Jones at Old Trafford as a fourth striker option.

we are man utd, we should want to win this game, 6 wins out of 6!! wouldn't that look great, after all doesn't winning breed confidence!!

i feel as though we should expect our so called fringe players to be able to cope and to win this game, after all why do they get paid so much, is it for meaningless games were a defeat is acceptable??? not in my eyes.

my team would be Kusczak, Simpson, Pique,Evans & O'shea.
Eagles,Carrick,Fletcher & Nani
Rooney & Saha

we say we have a great squad, so lets prove it...

also i hope Anderson starts on Sunday, he has been superb!!!!

Champions!!

This match is unimportant. How fantastic will it be if the bindippers go out of Europe tonight and we thump them at the weekend. What more could a man want for christmas?

Great point Davey Boy, Kuwait. I was getting concerned about Utd playing a weak team and getting a hammering from Roma, but I'd forgotten that there's little in this for Roma also, except for some pride. They have as much an incentive to play a second string as Utd do!

Fingers crossed for a Liverpool loss, and that they get exhausted, plus maybe an injury on Reina, cause they're back-up is complete rubbish

Kit Kat
Simpson, Brown, Pique, JOS
Eagles, Fletcher, Carrick, Nani.
Roo and Saha.
2-2. Lots of yellows and a good warm up for the Olympics diving events.
My favourite sequence is where your shirt gets a tug, you immediately clutch your face, collapse followed by the triple rollover. Difficulty level one.

History shows we need our near best team out to give a good account of ourselves. As soon as SAF gives the second string a chance, it's usually a disaster. We dont have Arsenal's depth and shouldn't give Roma the opportunity for revenge. They are, after all, a tad better than Coventry, Southend, Burton and Exeter.

Agreed Djano,, and all these games you mention had one thing in common,, fringe players like JOS and Fletch supposedly helping the younger players, and what happens,, no guidance at all, in fact its the type of games where, if you are a fringe player and you wanted to make the manager to pick you ahead of the rest, you would expect to excel,, standout from the rest,,
The fact is in all these games I can,t think of them even performing up to a decent standard let alone a top class performance,, Guiding the young players,, well I know not every player can be like a Keano of Butt however the performances of JOS and Flecth are virtually annonymous.
I know the young players need to show their worth however it must be getting very close to the "last chance saloon" time for JOS and Fletcher.
I don,t like to critisise United players however if a player consistently shows after many "Chances" he is not up to Unted standards then, not only is a benefit to the club he moves on, but surely a benefit to the player himself.

I`m more worried about the Roo getting a red card than an injury.... imagine him getting a one or two match ban.... hope it`s a low level game with Rooney still on the pitch after the final whistle!

Well, now that we knw what kind of team we're sending, let's not overreact after we get creamed. Our weakened teams do not succeed generally (Exeter, Burton, etc..), and I can't see this being any different. Despite this match being totally insignificant, I'm still surprised Fergie decided to weaken the team so much.
Best lineup: Kuszczak, Simpson, Brown, Pique, O'Shea, Fletcher, Carrick, Eagles, Saha, Rooney, Nani. Not too bad, but not much on the bench if needed.. unless this ends up being the making of Dong.

U dont have Arsenals depth or Man citys money, u will have plenty of support though, londons nearer to Rome than manchester.