2012/2013 Champions League Squad, Fletch Is In !

Manchester United looks set to start the European journey come September 19th at home to Turkish outfit Galatasary. Darren Flecther has been included into the European squad while Bebe has been the only casualty. He has not been included in the 33-man squad. B-list player are young players coming through the academy ranks. B-list player who do not appear in the current squad can be included later on.

Van The Man, He Scores When He Wants !

Robin Van Persie is certainly the man on fire at the moment. The ex-Arsenal striker is certainly carrying on from where he left off at Arsenal last year. It was not an vintage United performance, Southampton striker Rickie Lambert had scored a header in the first half after he had towered over Rafael. Robin Van Persie had leveled things for the devils with sublime left-foot shot past Kelvin Davis.

Rickie Lambert' scores past Lindergaard.

The Saints had restored their advantage in the second half after Morgan Schneiderlin scored from a similar goal past Anders Lindergaard. Things seem to have gone from bad to worse for the Red Devils when Van Persie failed to convert a penalty from the spot. Things looking really bad, everybody was anticipating for a surprise. This was the 1000th match for Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge of Manchester United, certainly ending in defeat would make this milestone one to forget for the legendary manager.

Van Persie's first goal.

Robin Van Persie had made sure that the Red Devils would not be heading into the international break with a defeat. He had scored a typical poacher's goal thanks to a Rio Ferdinand header which had bounced off the cross-bar. Right place at the right time. The Dutch international had scored his 100th goal in the Premier League and his third goal in the match and his first hat-trick as a Manchester United player by scoring a header thanks to a Luis Nani corner in stoppage time.

Football is a cruel game. Southampton had the feeling of  'deeja vu', first game back in the premier league after a 7-year absence had finished in the same score line however at that time losing to the other Manchester outfit in the league, Manchester City. Sir Alex Ferguson would definitely take note of Unted's leaky defense. Patrice Evra does not look like himself as he wants once, the left-flank always looks vulnerable due to his eagerness to go into the opponent's final attacking third. Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand need to rekindle their relationship in defense, after having not playing together for a long time due to injuries.

Manchester United are no strangers to slow starts. They have done before and have gone on to win the title. Many of us were quick to point fingers at our midfield. Tom Cleverley had just came back from a injury-hit season and to add insult this is just his third in the middle of the park. He certain has shown some promise by  being a menace to other teams. He has shown it against Everton, Fulham and against Southampton. Come Christmas time United would certainly kick into high gear.

Van The Man, He Scores When He Wants!

Manchester United-Southampton Preview

The Saints and The Red Devils gear up to go head-to-head this Sunday at St.Mary's stadium. It will be the second away game for Manchester United who look set to carry the momentum that they had gained during the last match against Fulham at home who they had beaten with a 3-2 scoreline. The new boys Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa had made their home debut in some fashion by scoring a goal a piece against their cottagers. Johnny Evans look set to start for the Reds at Centre-back position with Rio Ferdinand injured.

The Saints are definitely hoping to kick start their season which so far produced defeats to defending champions Manchester City and Wigan athletic respectively. They have strengthen the squad by acquiring the services of Uruguayan international Gaston Ramirez for a fee of £11m from Bologna.  All is not doom and gloom for Southampton, they had shown resilience during the first game against defending champions, Manchester City by finding the back of the net twice before losing to City 3-2.

Since Wayne Rooney has been ruled out for a month with a bad gash on his right leg which he had picked up during the game against Fulham last Saturday, Robin Van Persie now has to show Manchester United fans why the board had splurged £24m for him. Shinji Kagwa has already giving orders to his team-mates instructing them to give him the ball more frequently.

Southampton vs Manchester United at St.Marys/The Dell:


Played 13 matches at The Dell/St Marys since the Barclays Premier League was first formed
Manchester United: Won 7, Drawn 1, Lost 5 – Scored 24 goals, conceded 19 goals and kept 3 clean sheets
Southampton: Won 5, Drawn 1, Lost 7 – Scored 19 goals, conceded 24 goals and kept 2 clean sheets

*Stats courtesy of MUFC Blog

Squad:



GK: David De Gea, Anders Lindegaard

DEF: Rafael, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Scott Wootton, Alexander Büttner

MID: Antonio Valencia, Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, Nani, Paul Scholes, Tom Cleverley, Darren Fletcher, Nick Powell, Shinji Kagawa

FOR: Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck, Robin van Persie, Federico Macheda, Bebe

INJURIES/DOUBTS: Rio Ferdinand (hamstring injury), Darren Fletcher (bowel condition), Phil Jones (back injury), Chris Smalling (metatarsal fracture), Wayne Rooney (deep leg laceration), Ashley Young (knee injury), Patrice Evra ? (injured in training).

Prediction : Southampton 1-3 Manchester United.

The Road To Wembley

Take a good look at the group draw for the UEFA Champions League 2012/2013 competition. Learn them carefully, come december, i am absolutely certainly that we will be talking about a certain underdog team qualifying for the knockout phase while a European powerhouse face the embarrassment of an early exit from the competition.

Sir Alex Ferguson has already spoken about avoiding 'stupid errors' right after the draw was made in Monaco Thursday evening. In addition, Micheal Carrick has come out vowing not to 'crash out before christmas'. Last season, proved what could happen if a team gets to complacent about other teams in their group, we had crashed thanks to Basel and at the same time lost our captain fantastic, Nemanja Vidic to injury that lasted six months.

Manchester United would certainly use last season's group stage exit from the competition as a valuable lesson and will try to qualify for the later stage of this year's competition and not forgetting that Wembley would the venue where the final of this season's competition would be played. Extra-motivation and another chance to emulate the 1967-1968 United side which had won the competition on home soil by beating Benfica 4-1 at that time captained by Sir Bobby Charlton and also to avenge the bitter 3-1 loss to Barcelona in 2011.

Then Manchester United Captain Sir Bobby Charlton carrying the Champions League trophy exactly
10 years after the Munich Air Disaster which he survived. 

Manchester United group opponents certainly are not ones that we have faced before with the exception of Galatasary who we have played in the past and frankly did not enjoy playing especially away where the banner 'Welcome To Hell' hangs welcoming every visiting team. The other two teams, Portuguese outfit Sp. Braga and Romanian outfit, Cluj would certainly cherish this opportunity to face one the finest teams in Europe so hold on for some surprises from them.

The banner that welcomes every away team. 

Would Manchester United be able to make it to the final?

It's too early to answer that question, there are the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the midst of us. Also, not forgetting dark horses such as Ac Milan, Juventus and also Ajax. Manchester United fans are expecting a big things from this season's team and i don't see any reason to disagree after all we have acquired 6 new signings and also we have kept our present core squad intact with the only Berbatov and Pgoba, Owen leaving. This team is certainly destined for big things, the only thing they need to worry about is their consistency and also not forget to play like champions.

It's never too early to start dreaming of a 4th European title.