Premier League - United kids could decide drop

Eurosport - Wed, 20 May 11:09:00 2009

Manchester United's second string could decide the Premier League's relegation battle when they face Hull City on the final day.

2008-2009 Manchester United Federico Macheda - 0

Hull are one of four teams who could be relegated, along with Sunderland, Newcastle and Middlesbrough.

And the Tigers could find themselves up against inexperienced players such as Federico Macheda (pictured) and Darron Gibson instead of superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

A Hull victory at the KC Stadium will keep them in the top flight and would cause uproar among the other relegation candidates.

The last game of the league season comes just three days before United play the Champions League final against Barcelona.

Alex Ferguson's side have already wrapped up the Premier League title and it is inconceivable that the Scot will pick his strongest side to play Hull on Sunday, as he will be eager to rest his stars ahead of the Rome showdown the following Wednesday.

Ferguson has shown he is unafraid to choose a weakened team for big games, having selected a virtual reserve side for the FA Cup semi-final against Everton.

Lesser-known players such as Macheda, Gibson, Danny Welbeck and Fabio da Silva held the Toffees to a goalless draw over 120 minutes before going out on penalties.

There is no guarantee that a Hull side with two wins from their last 28 Premier League games would triumph, but Phil Brown would rather take his chances against the second-string.

Ferguson has a large squad and he will use it, especially if the game is not a priority for United. A 'dead' game against Hull three days before the Champions League final certainly qualifies.

Ferguson has caused controversy before, notably on the last day of the 2006/07 season.

Having already clinched the title and with the FA Cup final a week away, he rested Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand for the visit of West Ham.

The Hammers won 1-0 at Old Trafford, courtesy of a Carlos Tevez goal, and stayed up at the expense of a livid Sheffield United.

In May 2001, the Reds handed a survival lifeline to Jim Smith's Derby County, having already won the title at a canter.

An inexperienced side containing Ronnie Wallwork, Michael Stewart and Luke Chadwick were beaten 1-0 by the Rams, who went on to stay in the top flight.

There is no suggestion that United would deliberately go easy on an opponent, and few managers would seriously consider risking their biggest names 72 hours ahead of a European final.

Neverthless, expect howls of protest if Hull stay up because Ferguson refuses to pick his best XI.

FINAL DAY FIXTURES

SUNDERLAND - 36 points

Chelsea (h)

HULL CITY - 35 points

Manchester United (h)

NEWCASTLE - 34 points

Aston Villa (a)

MIDDLESBROUGH - 32 points

West Ham (a)

WEST BROM - 31 points (relegated)

Blackburn (a)

Alex Chick / Eurosport

Comment 204 - 223 of 223

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  1. Macheda, welbeck and gibson will do enough damage to­ hull city. if they cannot play
    well in 34 league­ matches.. where the hell are they going to get the­ technical
    expertise to play well in the last­ match????????????

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Thu 21 May 4:28PM

  2. Macheda, welbeck and gibson will do enough damage to­ hull city. if they cannot play
    well in 34 league­ matches.. where the hell are they going to get the­ technical
    expertise to play well in the last­ match????????????

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Thu 21 May 4:28PM

  3. Macheda, welbeck and gibson will do enough damage to­ hull city. if they cannot play
    well in 34 league­ matches.. where the hell are they going to get the­ technical
    expertise to play well in the last­ match????????????

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Thu 21 May 4:26PM

  4. Haha! What a sore bunch of losers. I guess they should­ just quit with the whining and focus on the job at­ hand.

    Okay, so most likely Sir Alex is going to field­ a weak side. With a CL final in three days, who'd­ do otherwise? The title is staying at United for­ another season, and there is no need to risk injuries­ and fatigue for, really, an unconsequential­ game(atleast for United. Haha!).

    Besides, for all ye­ chums stuck in the relegation mire, if your team was­ good enough, they probably wouldn't have been stuck­ where they are presently, and wouldn't have been­ moaning about it, at all.

    Sounds a bit like Rafa. Sour­ grapes. Haha!

    From loads_of_codswallop, on Thu 21 May 12:33PM

  5. who told ya that mach is inexperienced, after all he is­ better than huntelaar and fabregas

    From Fahad, on Wed 20 May 7:39PM

  6. Just because it's Man United, everyone is­ questioning the line-up and talking about the relegated­ clubs suing and all sort of rubbish. How come nobody­ have asked the same question of Chelsea? They have a­ game against Sunderland before the FA Cup final and if­ they fielded a weakened team, would anyone question the­ line-up too? The FA Cup is Chelsea's only chance­ for silverware this season and I'm sure they will­ not field their strongest line-up against Sunderland.­ Sunderland need a point too to be safe against­ relegation.

    From anuar_mu4ever, on Wed 20 May 2:33PM

  7. Kick Hull out of the table ^^

    From RaZoR, on Wed 20 May 2:04PM

  8. Alan, Hull city supporter living in Spain.If my memory­ serves me correctly,didnt Hull give a FULL strength Man­ U team a bit of a game at old trafford,I think they­ scored 3 goals.Did they not also beat Newcastle home­ and away?

    From Alan PeterD, on Wed 20 May 1:58PM

  9. i have never heard of such a ridiculous thing on earth­ !! sir alex has no rights to select his own team for­ the game !! come on the relegation candidates , dont­ blame the others .. you just blame yourself why you­ didnt play well enough and earn enough points in the­ previous games !!!

    From victorkwan8868, on Wed 20 May 1:57PM

  10. If the teams at the bottom of the prem played good­ enougth football in the first place they would'nt­ be crapping themselves about the drop, hope united play­ there youth team, and flush the @#$% down the bog.

    From marc_kelly, on Wed 20 May 1:49PM

  11. Here's Hoping the Red Devils put the Tigers out of­ their misery early on, 2nd string or not!

    From Marv, on Wed 20 May 1:26PM

  12. Hey, wtf is going on? USUALLY MIDDLESBROUGH AND­ NEWCASTLE ARE ONE OF THE KILLERS! NOW THEY'RE BEING­ KILLED??? WHAT THE F**K IS GOING THE F**KING­ ON????????????????????????????

    From Angelos, on Wed 20 May 12:36PM

  13. firstly, they are hardly kids. secondly, I hope­ newcastle get relegated. aahhahaha cheeer up alan­ shearer, oh what can it be.... lol...

    From lee, on Wed 20 May 11:56AM

  14. The MU kids are no push overs. Everton can testify to­ that. So why all the noise?

    From CHANDRA S, on Wed 20 May 11:50AM

  15. This, I'm afraid, is just a pretty typical­ shitstirring attempt by the media to get the fans­ going! Every single manager worth the name would keep­ his top players off the park for this one, and everyone­ knows it, but the media would love this to be hyped up­ enough to sell their products! If SAF fielded the same­ team that he fielded against Everton in the FA Cup, the­ same team selection that the media ripped him to bits­ for, the same team that held Everton over 120 minutes­ before losing in a penaly shootout, then how would that­ constitute fielding a "weak" side against­ Hull?

    From johnny.brandie, on Wed 20 May 11:47AM

  16. come on boro!!! even though u dont have a cat in hells­ chance of escaping relegation BUT u know what they say­ be loyal to your team

    From smiley123, on Wed 13 May 3:24PM

  17. If it were any team other than United, they'd be­ doing the exact same thing. They'd be resting the­ top players for the Champions League Final and fielding­ a team of reserves. Might be a different story if we­ drop a point or two between then and now.

    From David, on Wed 13 May 6:25AM

  18. Sir Alex is queuing in his local building society, when­ a gunman bursts in through the door demanding money.­ Ferguson attempts to tackle the raider, but gets­ knocked over...as he falls, his head smashes the­ counter and Sir Alex is out cold. The robber escapes­ and the cashier tries to revive Ferguson. After a few­ minutes he comes round and looks bewildered. His first­ words are "Where the hell am I?". The Cashier­ replies: "don't worry, its ok, you're in­ the Nationwide." Ferguson replies, "F**k me,­ is it May already?"

    From Stoney McTony, on Wed 13 May 1:40AM

  19. 207 MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU.... GRASS.GRASSS,­ GRASSS,GRASSSS.GRASSSSS , GRASS

    From Gerry, on Tue 12 May 11:22PM

  20. BEACHBABE, I THINK THAT I HAVE JUST FELL IN LUB. YOU­ ARE THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS USED OUR LANGUAGE IN IT'S­ CORRECT CONVERSE.
    WHY DO WE PUT UP WITH THIS WHEN WE­ SHOULD BE ENJOYING A TEA/COFFEE .
    PLEASE DO NOT BE A­ GUY.

    From Gerry, on Tue 12 May 11:17PM
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