Premier League - Countdown: Manchester United

Eurosport - Fri, 14 Aug 17:07:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! completes its countdown to the Premier League season with a look at defending champions Manchester United.

FOOTBALL 2008-09 Premier League Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson raises trophy - 0

Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson

Last 10 seasons in the Premier League (2008/09 to 1999/2000): 1/1/1/2/3/3/1/3/1/1/

POSSIBLE STARTING XI:

Van der Sar

Rafael da Silva - Rio Ferdinand - Nemanjar Vidic - Patrice Evra

Michael Carrick - Darren Fletcher - Paul Scholes

Antonia Valencia - Dimitar Berbatov - Wayne Rooney

Back-ups from: Ben Foster, Tomasz Kuszczak, Michael Owen, Wes Brown, Fabio da Silva, Richie De Laet, Corry Evans, Jonny Evans, Gary Neville, John O'Shea, James Chester, Danny Drinkwater, Darron Gibson, Anderson, Owen Hargreaves, Nani, Ji-Sung Park, Zoran Tosic, Dong Fangzhuo, Ryan Giggs, Federico Macheda, Gabriel Obertan, Danny Welbeck

POSITIVES: Where to begin? United are hunting a fourth successive title under a manager who tolerates only the highest standards from his players. The signing of Antonia Valencia should offer Ferguson goals from midfield, while the surprise move to bring Michael Owen to Old Trafford could prove a masterstroke. Owen will relish the opportunity to feed off Wayne Rooney and chances should be plentiful. In Ferdinand and Vidic, United boast arguably the best central defensive pairing in club football and have the impressive Jonny Evans as back-up if one of those gets injured. United's squad boasts a wealth of experience, but this could be the season we see the generation of Evans, Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck, Ben Foster and Co. stake their claim. There will also be the added bonus of Owen Hargreaves's return to action.

NEGATIVES: The loss of Cristiano Ronaldo will surely be felt at Old Trafford. The Portuguese superstar was deemed by Ferguson his best player and will take some replacing - especially in terms of the goals he contributed from midfield. United's attacking credentials are also in doubt. Berbatov was patchy at best last season and Macheda remains unproven. If Owen fails to fire there will be tremendous pressure on Rooney to deliver, and if he gets injured United could end up turning to veteran Ryan Giggs in attack.

VERDICT: Ferguson has made a few small changes, but United's core remains from last season. Providing they can find the goals of Ronaldo elsewhere, United should just about have enough to see off Liverpool and Chelsea once again. Champions.

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Eurosport

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  1. Vidic in the staring XI...? he was out injured, as was­ Rio. Good research makes good journalism. Eurosport­ must be employing rhesus monkeys to churn out this kind­ of nonsense...

    From shambala180, on Mon 17 Aug 11:11AM
  2. powell m, would you spell it for me love?

    From United, kids, wife, on Sun 16 Aug 10:26PM
  3. Man U will win

    From xbox, on Sun 16 Aug 9:32AM
  4. ....YOUR most memorable­ players went to the other side­ and is scoring for­ united... stolen_starh
    hahaah...u­ really make me laugh... when he score for liverpool..i­ like him but i support the club so now he is injured­ and went over to Odd trafford...i pity him for the fact­ that he just wan to play n fuc*kieson jus do not wan to­ spend or his american owner also has to use the pounds­ to service the dollar loans... n yes.. #73 has­ mentioned, is fun taking the manure... if u wan non­ manure fan to stop comment on manure..first of all you­ have to tell your own manure fan to stop commenting on­ other team...difficult right? so jus shut the fu*ck up­ and continue comment...before i forgot.. yeah..manure­ is down falling..Owen is INJURED....(and sori!! Owen­ happened not to be my most memorable player..maybe­ Tevez..hahaha....eat it!!)

    From powellm, on Sat 15 Aug 3:17PM
  5. YEAH LETS GET THE GAME GOING CANT WAIT TO WIPE THAT­ SILLY MAN URE FANS OFF THE CAGE ANFIELD RULES TWO TIMES­ AGAIN AGAIN

    From Danny J, on Sat 15 Aug 3:12PM
  6. frerg-turps knows a top keeper in owain fon williams !!

    From nlwarburton, on Sat 15 Aug 2:22PM
  7. stolen_starh # 67 and powell m # 68

    Hughsie stole a­ march on us by buying Shay Given last season. We missed­ out there bigtime. He's the only City player­ I'd like to see with a United shirt on.

    C'mon­ Fergie, get the cheque-book out and get a solid keeper.

    From Ronaldo in ten years time, on Sat 15 Aug 1:52PM
  8. stolen_starh # 72 - " 72.Powell M... Could it get­ any sadder for scouser­ scum...Goin on Uniteds page and­ Commenting on Uniteds­ countdown... "

    Probably­ for the same reason why it's more fun taking the p­ on the Liverpool pages than on United's pages !!

    From Ronaldo in ten years time, on Sat 15 Aug 1:47PM
  9. Powell M... Could it get any sadder for scouser­ scum...Goin on Uniteds page and Commenting on Uniteds­ countdown...Scared Already R Ya?!
    Plus Owen is­ Fyn...Dont get sad just cz one of YOUR most memorable­ players went to the other side and is scoring for­ united

    From stolen_starh, on Sat 15 Aug 1:23PM
  10. m.fowler771....no problem wif crotch kissing spurs­ badge for me...I am the real reds fan n only hate­ manure.. matter of fact..i dont really feel that bad to­ lose to spurs,gunner than to fu(cking manure.... so you­ can imagine how ecstatic i was when 2-1 n 4-1 were the­ result vs manure!!! Yeah...manure is down falling­ ..latest is Evans injured..Owen as well...eat it!

    From powellm, on Sat 15 Aug 9:46AM
  11. powell m....i,d really love it if peter crouch scored­ infront of the scouse muppets and then kissed the spurs­ badge...prior to doing the robot dance.

    From m.fowler771, on Sat 15 Aug 9:36AM
  12. now we've got valencia,we'll ween him of pies n­ other wigan delicasies,hes gonna rip the opposition 2­ pieces

    From ANDREW, on Sat 15 Aug 9:13AM
  13. i will prefer Froster in goal..then Ferdinand in front­ of him.. so that rio can pass to him slowly for­ birmingham to score.... lol... a mistake by rio is a­ mistake... stop giving excuses but that is typical of­ fuc*kie and manure team ...blame all but­ oneself.....manure!!

    From powellm, on Sat 15 Aug 2:33AM
  14. Foster In Goal But i trust Kuszczak much more from­ pre-season matches...His reflexes have been much­ sharper
    fletcher with carrick in midfield..Giggsy will­ sub
    Valencia and Rooney will run the match so will Nani­
    Attacking wise...No Problem
    Defensive...Opposite ­ From pre-season Our back four were no way near as­ solid as they were last season but i dno they myt­ strengthen throughout the season..Puttin my trust in­ Evans to take over for Vidic or Rio and oshea will def­ play Personally Thnk Rio Didnt play his best against­ holland on purpose Cant have 2 centre backs injured­ now can we
    i can see fabio playin aswell but only as a­ sub..Think he shud go on lan to get more first team­ experience..With Evra Playin the way he dus(Great­ Player) Fabio wont get a chance
    Still Think We Need a­ STRONG midfielder...Hargreaves maybe..If He stays­ fit
    Cant Wait for the match

    From stolen_starh, on Sat 15 Aug 12:23AM
  15. nemanjar?

    From graceleeyinhui, on Fri 14 Aug 11:56PM
  16. Kaiser Willhelm You are a plum !
    Its only sport, stop­ winding your self up !!!!!!!

    From Bike 69, mabaho ka !, on Fri 14 Aug 11:56PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I predict sadness and woe for man ure this season,­ firstly they gotta payback the dons Glazier their­ massive dept and then they gotta sort out sick note and­ laze disease berbatosser, not forgetting the 3 OAPs­ coppernob piggsy and van der suck, last but not least­ trying to stop ferdinand floating away before each­ match !!!!!!!!!

    From Bike 69, mabaho ka !, on Fri 14 Aug 11:49PM
  18. Eurosport/Yahoo, C'mon this is just getting stupid.­ I'm on the verge of going back to Sky's rubbish­ journalism.. @#$% Fangzhuo as a back-up for united­ first team? He left United on 28th August 2008. I'm­ not being picky or petty as that would be pointing out­ simple spelling and grammatical errors, which there­ atleast half a dozen in both your article and my­ comment, but the difference is I'm not getting paid­ for this.

    PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ARTICLES!

    Oh and­ while I'm having this rant, Just because the­ spaniard down the M62 is having a rant about Manchester­ United and every other team in the world who he­ doesn't like doesnt make it a Manchester United­ story. It makes it a Liverpool story, as they are the­ only people that seem to care about what he says.. (IN­ THE WORDS OF THE SPANIARD) FACT!

    From bealds6, on Fri 14 Aug 10:58PM
  19. ronaldo;turps is his tipple-purps is the pickle­ ;i'o'county.

    From nlwarburton, on Fri 14 Aug 10:50PM
  20. nlwarburton # 3 - old'e purps will find stockport­ too strong for the­ title!!!

    Is that old'e purps­ or old'e turps?

    From Ronaldo in ten years time, on Fri 14 Aug 10:31PM
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