9 to go…

Aston Villa (H) – Sunday 5th April, 4pm

Sunderland (A) – Saturday 11th April, 3pm

Portsmouth (H) – Wednesday 22nd April, 8pm

Tottenham (H) – Saturday 25th April, 5pm

Middlesborough (A) – Saturday 2nd May, 3pm

Manchester City (H) – Saturday 9th May, 3pm*

Wigan Athletic (A) – Wednesday 13th May, 8pm

Arsenal (H) – Saturday 16th May, 3pm*

Hull City (A) – Sunday 24th May, 4pm

Can the Reds get back on track?

After a long spell out of action, GloryGloryManUtd is now back – at the most crucial part of the season.

There’s certainly lots to talk about – 2 consecutive losses for the first time in 147 games…what is all that about?! Having just got over the misery of losing to the Scouse scum at Old Trafford, most expected United to come roaring back from their defeat, as they’ve done countless times under Fergie over the the years. But let’s not dwell on that – that’s all in the past.

We must look ahead to our clash against Villa in 9 days’ time at OT. Villa have had a superb season, despite their season catching up with them in the last few matches (they’ve lost their last 3), and so won’t be a walkover. The boys will have had 2 weeks since the Fulham upset as well, and this should be a healthy break for United – to re-group, get their act together and prepare for the crucial 9 remaining games of the season. Yes, we may have Scholes, Rooney & Vidic out for the Villa clash, but we’re the Champions after all; we’re United – losing just isn’t in our nature. Save the last 2 games, our defence has been awesome, and our attack the most feared in the Premiership.

The worrying thing is that the last couple of games has somewhat weakened our “invinicble” status, and so other times may feel a little more confident against us. But this shouldn’t make a huge difference. What we need is a good solid game against Villa = an early goal would be brilliant.

Interestingly, Liverpool play Fulham away the Saturday before; let’s hope Roy Hodgson and his men can pull off something against them. Of course, Liverpool also have the chance to go ahead of us, as they play on Saturday, whilst we meet Villa on Sunday.

Fingers crossed, there won’t be any major injuries sustained in the coming Internationals, and the United boys will come back rejuvenated on Sunday, and push into 5th gear against Villa from the word go.

We’re still a point ahead,  we’re still in all 3 competitions, and there’s still a game in hand (Portsmouth), so let’s dust ourselves off, hold our heads up high, and remind the rest of the League exactly who we are and what we’re made of.

A win against Villa will not only get us back on track in the League, but will up our confidence for the crucial FA Cup & Champions League games – we play Porta at OT just 2 days after the Villa tie.

 

Bring it on!

Video: All 3 United European finals – 1968, 1999, 2008

1968: Manchester United 4 – 1 Benfica; 3 United goals scored in the first half of extra-time.

1999: Manchester United 2 – 1 Bayern Munich; 2 United goals in injury-time.

2008: Manchester United 1 (6) – 1 (5) Chelsea; United win on penalties, in one of the most thrilling finals ever.

3 dramatic finals. 3 European titles. Long live United.

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Next Stop: Moscow

Manchester United and Chelsea have set off for Moscow ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League final. The sides are due to land at 10pm Russian time (or 7pm BST), and will have their first training sessions on Tuesday.

Sir Alex has taken a squad of 24 players with him, and says he has picked a starting lineup, but picking the substitutes has proven to be difficult:

“I know my team, but picking the substitutes is the big problem. I’m not going to enjoy it, there will be some very good players left out.

I hope one day they extend the substitutes’ bench to 11 players as they do in World Cup games. The dilemma should be taken from me.”

Ferguson certainly has a point, being faced with the difficult task of choosing 7 subsitutes from a possible 13; having so many players to pick has its disadvantages too, it would appear.

Meanwhile for Chelsea, worries over John Terry and Didier Drogba have eased and the pair are likely to play, meaning both sides have fully-fit squads ahead of the final.

But United’s more youthful squad will have the experience of Ferguson, who’s already been through a European final, of course.

Travelling United squad:

Goalkeepers: Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Heaton

Defenders: Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Brown, Neville, O’Shea, Silvestre, Pique

Midfielders: Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Hargreaves, Anderson, Fletcher, Park, Nani

Forwards: Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Saha, Wellbeck