European Preview: Dynamo Kiev v United
A match with Ukraine’s finest awaits United tonight. Is it too much to hope that after the Villa Park slaughter, the team can monster European opposition too on away soil?
United were efficient and composed in beating Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League opener. This evening, Sir Alex would like the same result but will his team selection err on the side of caution?
Form would suggest the manager is best served by sending out the side that despatched Aston Villa so mercilessly. The logic of an away European match encourages a more conservative view.
The Telegraph reports that United will field a strong team with Ronaldo starting, O’Shea doing defensive midfield labours in place of Anderson and Vidic returning to central defence.
The manager has options with his squad gathering strength through good results and the return to fitness of O’Shea, Fletcher and hopefully Neville.
Press reports encourage greater optimism, claiming that United’s selection should be too strong for the home side. Sir Alex however, is wary of the opposition.
“Kiev have some talented players,” he said. “They were unlucky against Sporting Lisbon. They had some chances and should have won that game.
“Whatever we do, the intention will be for us to win the match, because the rewards are great for us.”Ferguson knows that the blossoming partnership of Rooney and Tevez gives United the opportunity to inflict more pain on Ukraine.
“This is a team that is coming together, and in Tevez and Rooney we have two exceptionally good players who are a real threat to defenders,” he added. “We’ve had some fantastic partnerships at the club over the years and most of them took time to develop, apart from [Andy] Cole and [Dwight] Yorke, who were terrific in their first season together. Wayne is only 22, Carlos is 23. They are both young players. Hopefully in three or four years time we will see something really special from them.
“Both have got great attributes as strikers. Courage, speed, the ability to beat men, vision. All the things are there. But it’s maturity. Once you see that, you see greater authority, better timing. And when that comes, hopefully they’ll still be at this club and people will see what really special players they are.”
The manager’s fulsome praise went some way towards deflecting talk about the state of Louis Saha’s fitness. Rooney and Tevez sparkled against Villa but cannot be expected to perform similarly in every game until the season’s end. Tonight’s match would have been an ideal opportunity for Saha to stake a claim. To little surprise, a knee injury means he is missing from the squad.
Sir Alex said: “Louis got his injury in the Wigan game, now it’s just a matter of taking it carefully. It’s nothing different from our normal procedures with him.
“You’d like everyone fit. The starts to our last three or four seasons have been the same, disrupted by injuries. We’ve had to deal with it and this team are dealing with it very well. The important thing is to have the squad available and cope with it, which I think we’re doing.”
A good performance and the right result tonight would certainly underline Ferguson’s confidence.
