Absolutely UNITED

Does the team of all the talents have a weakness? …

Does the team of all the talents have a weakness?

That is the question which Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez will hope to resolve sooner rather than later.

Next season’s United first team and subs bench will be an awesome testament to Sir Alex’s desire for dominance. United were too strong for the Premiership last season and have since improved the quality of personnel, with players good enough for today and ones destined to be stars of the future. Jose Mourinho may claim that his squad is the better but United will surely test that argument from the first to the last day of the next campaign.

Yet, football is thrilling because of its unpredictability. Real Madrid were supposed to have turned the Spanish league into a one horse race when their team contained the likes of Figo, Zidane, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo. It didn’t quite work out as predicted and United’s opponents will be hoping that United fall short too.

Perhaps, the key to stifling and then beating United will lie in upsetting the rhythm of the champions. Chelsea used this strategy to clinical effect in the Cup final and Arsenal scored a double over United by establishing midfield supremacy in their encounters.

Sir Alex has addressed this flaw by bolstering his midfield with steel and flair, theoretically allowing United to play 4-4-2, 4-5-1 or 4-1-4-1 without any lessening of impact or strength.

Some observers have wondered whether Rooney and Tevez, if he is allowed to sign for the club, are a natural partnership? The versatility of both players makes the task of combining their talents easier but the return to fitness of either Ole or Saha, both natural leaders of the line, will afford Sir Alex extra time in deciding how best to use his front men together.

Nevertheless, the fitful Ole apart, United do not have a razor sharp finisher in the Van Nistelrooy mould, upon whom to call in the tightest of matches. This could be an important deficiency as it proved in last season’s FA Cup final.

The manager might not be unduly worried, given his team’s capacity for creating and scoring goals and the excellent contributions of Ronaldo and Rooney last term. Sir Alex might also expect an improved return from Scholes now that Hargreaves is on hand to protect the defence and impede the development of opponents’ play.

The notion that United lack height in attack can be disregarded too. The days of the battering ram centre forward are over and in any case, the team will look to Ronaldo and Vidic to connect with corners and crosses.

If United look strong in attack and at last, in midfield, the same cannot be said for the rearguard, hitherto the source of the team’s greatest strength. United have depth in the defensive ranks but as last season revealed, disarray is threatened whenever the principals are unavailable for duty.

Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic will be expected to confirm the solidity of the pairing they established last season and to transfer their Premiership dominance to European competition. Equally important will be their ability to remain fit throughout the campaign.

Sir Alex faces far more uncertainty at fullback. Gary Neville’s recovery from injury sustained last March has been slow, raising again the prospect of the unsettled Wes Brown filling in for the skipper at right back. Brown is prone to unforced errors and is no Neville when asked to support the team’s attacking enterprise. With United expected to take the game to opponents, especially at Old Trafford, this aspect of the team’s play cannot be underestimated.

If the manager overlooks Brown, he will hope that the pre-season allows one of his freshmen from the second string to step out of the shadows.

If the position at right back is far from certain, the left back slot offers scope for unease too. Patrice Evra made the position his own last season and will be expected to maintain that progress during the next campaign.

Evra has already admitted to the pressure he is under. “I’m not the first choice,” Evra conceded. “I say when you do not give your best, the boss will take you on the bench.

“I did well last season and my job this season is just to confirm that. Football is quick and you don’t know. I will just give my best to confirm last year. I don’t want people to say ‘maybe he is lucky or maybe it is an accident’.”

If Evra falls short of his goal, the manager might not be able to turn as usual to Gabriel Heinze, who is expected to move on later this summer.

The versatile John O’Shea made his bones at left back and could fancy a return to the position in order to stay in the United first team picture. Creatively however, O’Shea is closer to Brown than Neville and thus less of an asset in an offensive game plan.

United’s greatest cause for concern may lie in goal. Edwin Van Der Sar is 36 and approaching the end of his top flight career.

Already, the Guardian suggests, EVDS is showing some of last season’s frailty on the tour of Asia.

“United’s attacking prowess is unquestioned but the worry for Ferguson could ultimately stem from increasing concerns over Edwin van der Sar’s ability to hold on to his place in goal,” the newspaper reported.

“The Dutchman is into the final year of his Old Trafford contract and he has already confessed that the new season may be his last, both for club and for country, so the former Ajax and Juventus goalkeeper will be hoping that his first-half error which gifted Hideki Uchidate the opener for Urawa is the last in a recent line of mistakes.”

With Ben Foster unavailable for the next eight months, reserve keeper Tomasz Kuszczak is the next in line in the event of EVDS suffering injury or loss of form. Crikey!

newsteam posted this article under Sir Alex Ferguson, Players on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 7:48 pm You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment or trackback from your own site.