United take on Lyon tonight knowing a scoreless draw would be good enough to take them through to the next round of the Champions League. A United win would however, put them at par with the record set by Juventus in 1997 of 10 straight home wins in the Champions League.

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted the midfield selection dilemma which he faces with all the United midfielders being in top form off late. While Anderson and Hargreaves have built a formidable partnership in the middle, the likes of Fletcher, and Carrick have also given a good account of themselves in the recent games. Scholes is getting back to full match fitness with every passing game. Sir Alex played a 4-5-1 formation at Lyon, but at home he could be tempted to play a more attacking 4-4-2 with Tevez and Rooney up front, Nani/Giggs and Ronaldo on the flanks and a midfield pairing of Anderson and Hargreaves. In other team news, Nemanja Vidic who has been out due to calf strain is expected to make a comeback. The return of the ever-dependable center-back could prove to be vital for United as Lyon hitman Benzema has already shown what he can do in front of the goal. Ryan Giggs was rested for the Fulham game, and should make it to the United line-up, he however faces a stern competition for places from Nani whose form has been on the up. The manager may prefer the Welsh winger ahead of the Portuguese one on account of his experience in big games though. 

United have shown tremendous firepower upfront smashing as many as 26 goals in the last nine Champions League games, and if they continue to do so in tonight’s game there is every reason to believe that they will make it to the last 8 of the competition.
 
Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Evra, Hargreaves, Ferdinand, Brown, Ronaldo, Anderson, Saha, Rooney, Giggs, Park, Vidic, Carrick, Nani, Scholes, Pique, O’Shea, Fletcher, Simpson, Kuszczak, Tevez, Eagles
 
Kick Off: 19:45 UK
 
Prediction: Manchester United 2-0 Lyon

It is a battle between the second from the top and the second from the bottom, with the former trying to boost its surge towards achieving the Premiership while the latter making a bid to avoid the drop. United will be keen to repeat the kind of performance they gave at St. James’ last weekend as they take on Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Ryan Giggs is expected to miss out on the game due to a calf strain and probably also as a precaution with United to face Lyon in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The top 3 kick off at the same time this weekend, Arsenal entertain gritty Aston Villa while Chelsea face a difficult away trip to their London rivals West Ham. United supporters will recollect, last season in this fixture Ronaldo came up with a late winner when it looked almost certain that United would drop 2 vital points. Fulham have been woeful this season and United would be expected to get all 3 points without much problems. Speaking of problems, Louis Saha has had his problems with injuries this season (again). However it is good to see that whenever he gets on the pitch he does give United a new dimension, and does look likely to score. “In training he has been unbelievable. He looks sharp, strong and, most importantly, angry. You can see it in his eyes. He wants to do well. Louis is back”, says United full-back Patrice Evra. Hopefully Louis would be able to channelize some of his anger to score against his former club if he is given a chance on Saturday.

Teams:
United (from): Van der Sar, Brown, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Nani, Rooney, Tevez, Scholes, O’Shea, Saha, Kuszczak, Anderson, Park, Simpson, Eagles.

Fulham (from): Niemi; Stalteri, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Murphy, S Davies, Bullard, Bouazza, Nevland, Stefanovic, Kamara, Bocanegra, Volz, McBride, Smertin, Seol, Healy, Keller.

Kick Off: 15:00 UK
Prediction: Fulham 1-3 United
 

If United’s recent performances against Tottenham and City were poor, the one against Newcastle was nothing short of spectacular. A thumping 5-1 win with Ronaldo and Rooney proving that the blip, if at all there was one, is certainly over. Showcase football resumed its display at the feet of Ronaldo, who was involved in the first three goals, and Rooney who scored the opener, and the fourth and set up a late one for Louis Saha.

Now we enter into what is known as the business end of the season. With United competing for silver-ware on the three major fronts, fixtures will certainly come thick and fast from now on until the end of the season, and will thereby test the strength of the squad. Sir Alex’s decision to play Fletcher and Carrick in the midfield came in as a bit of a surprise given the exploits of Scholes, Hargreaves and Anderson against Lyon in the midweek. The fixtures that lie ahead may have played on the mind of the United manager, whose decision was vindicated as Fletcher showed great industry to ward off the Newcastle attack and Carrick displayed his guile by threading a great ball through to Ronaldo for his first goal.

Meanwhile, Carrick has admitted the pressure he faces to retain his place in the United starting line-up.

“While you want to play every game, you have to accept you might be in and out of the side. The manager wants to keep everyone fresh and at the moment we are looking good.”

Now that is the third time Carrick has spoken to the press this month, and it would be better if he kept performing on the pitch, because talking too much with the press won’t earn him a start.

We are certainly looking good though, for in the next couple of weeks we have what they call, ‘winnable’ fixtures. We take on Fulham at the Cottage on March 1, then we travel to Derby County on the 15^th, in the Premiership. Despite of being away from home, United would be expected to get maximum points from both the games so that we would have built up nice momentum before we face our arch-rivals Liverpool on the 22^nd of March.

I have never been a fan of the 4-5-1 system; I think our team plays the best with two men upfront, a vibrant 4-4-2 system. Hence when I saw our line-up last night, I was worried that we may just have to pay the price for being cautious. A midfield of Scholes, Hargreaves and Anderson, with Giggs and Ronaldo on the flanks left Rooney all alone upfront and that for me was the biggest concern. Rooney doesn’t really fancy playing all alone upfront, and with the kind of understanding that he and Tevez have developed it was sure that he was going to miss the company of the United #32. So here is the match report.

Lyon started off quite well, and for the first 20 minutes, ran the show almost entirely. However, they were not able to create any clear cut opportunity, and the only real threat to the United goal came from Rio Ferdinand who sliced his clearance and was relieved to see it go just wide of the goal. As the half went by we seemed to settle nicely, and Rooney had arguably the best chance of the first half, but was unable to chip the oncoming Lyon goalkeeper. United finished the half better than Lyon with Scholes getting another chance to make a forward run and have a shot at the Lyon goal, but it was blocked by Boumsong.

United started the second half just well as they had finished the first, but a moment of brilliance from Karim Benzema helped Lyon gain the lead. It has to be said that the goal came much against the round of play. With less than half an hour left, Sir Alex brought on Nani, Tevez and Carrick, and the substitutions showed their value straightaway. Tevez got his head to one of the crosses, the ball fell awkwardly for Coupet, and was tapped in by Rooney only to be disallowed as Rooney was in an offside position. I think Tevez might well have scored had Rooney not intervened as Coupet did not seem to have it covered. Into the final 10 minutes, United were still trailing by a goal to nil and it seemed that despite of playing well for a major part of the game United would not have any advantage to take with them back to Old Trafford. Ronaldo struck a good free-kick from just outside the box, the angle was quite acute but he managed to get a nice swerve on it, only to be tipped wide by Coupet. United finally scored in the 87^th minute through Tevez who scored from close range, latching onto a parried save which resulted from Carrick’s shot.

The standout players yesterday were Patrice Evra, and Tevez. Hargreaves and Anderson should start every game, it seems they have formed a brilliant understanding and complement each other very well. Nani also seems to be getting better every game, and from the opposition’s point of view, he has a tremendous nuisance value about the way he plays his football, alike his compatriot at United. Overall, a decent result for us and we should be able to finish the job in the return leg in two week’s time.

I can understand the emotions of most of the United fans after the FA Cup 6^th Round draw took place last evening. How many mirrors has Sir Alex broken? How many ladders did he pass under? It just had to be another Premiership team, no matter how poor the odds maybe of drawing against it.

Rooney had quoted yesterday that he would be happy to face Chelsea in a home tie for the 6^th round rather than facing them in the Final. He did get half of his wish, we do have a home tie but it is against Portsmouth. Personally, I agreed with Rooney’s take on Chelsea. I would have liked to take on Chelsea at home early in the competition rather than at the end when most of our players are tired after a long campaign. If not, I would certainly have preferred a Barnsley or a Bristol Rovers. However, it is a home game for us, and in cup competitions that is a big advantage to have on our side. So it is not as bad as some of us may think. However it does mean that we would have to field a fairly decent squad, and would certainly need to take some calculated risks like the ones we took against Arsenal.

FA Cup 6th Round draw:

Sheff Utd or Middlebrough v Cardiff
Man Utd v Portsmouth
Bristol Rovers v West Brom
Barnsley v Chelsea

Looking forward to Champions League action coming up this mid-week; we have a mouth-watering away tie with Lyon. Fletcher who was enormous against Arsenal is hoping to make it to the starting eleven against Lyon on Wednesday. While Arsenal face AC Milan, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is surely going to be under immense pressure once again as following his team’s abject defeat against Barnsley, their entire season rests on the game against Inter.

Do you think Fletcher should start against Lyon? What are your views on the FA Cup draw? Take it over from here…

One warm sunny day in 2004, I was strolling through the streets of Fort, Mumbai; a place where you can find literally anything. However this time what I was looking for was something very special. Kaká, Ronaldo, (Fat) Ronaldo, Nedved, Henry, Gerrard, and a few other names hung brilliantly on most of the stalls. With Euro 2004 just round the corner, the demand for England (yes, *sigh* England) jerseys had also risen, and it was evident that any person willing to buy from these stalls, either had a monetary constraint or was far too less intelligible to actually ask, “Is this thing original?”

I queued up against a throng of alleged ‘Beckham fans’ who wanted the Beckham “No. 7” jersey of Real Madrid. The stall owner I think, was very obliging as he assured the customers that the jersey was out of stock at that moment and that he would surely ‘have it ready’ by the next day. To my good fortune, they had little interest in any footballer but Beckham and they decided to pursue their hunt for their coveted No.7 jersey at the neighboring stalls. It was my turn now.

“Have you got a Paul Scholes No. 18 one?” I could read the reply in the eyes of the stall owner, who probably thought that I was joking around with him. “Paul Scholes, Manchester United”, I repeated. This time the shopkeeper was not having any of it, “we keep jerseys of only the famous players”, he responded curtly. It struck me like a jolt out of the blue. 6 League titles, 3 FA Cups, 1 Champions League title, 50 plus caps for country, how much more should a player do to gain recognition? However, I realized that ‘Scholesy’, or ‘Ginger Prince’ as he is affectionately called, is one player who thrived on the lack of recognition, a perfect family man; you would seldom find him in any tabloids. At a time when footballers are in the news for everything from their girlfriends to their hairstyles, Scholesy made news for nothing but his football.

Born in Salford, England, Paul Scholes is another gem from Sir Alex Ferguson’s Class of ’91. Early on in his career, Scholes liked to play upfront, more like a striker. However, Sir Alex identified his strengths and settled him into an attacking midfield position where he could have more of the ball and also make the occasional forward bursts. Ever since, his long range pile-drivers from just outside the edge of the box have become his trademark. Not only does he have an eye for goal, but he is also adept in creating goals for his team-mates. While the likes of Ronaldinho, Lampard and Gerrard hog the limelight for their skills and passing abilities, Scholes, seemingly unnoticed, has maintained a pass completion percentage of near 100% throughout his career.

Scholes made his debut for Manchester United in September 1994, against Port Vale in the League Cup. United won the game 2-1 with Scholes scoring on both the occasions. Despite of being in a class of his own, it took some time for Scholes to establish himself as a first-team player at Old Trafford. The presence of the likes of Eric Cantona was seen as a primary reason for this delay, and just like the departure of Kanchelskis saw the coming of age of David Beckham, Scholes became a vital player of the United first-team in the 1997-98 season, and was largely instrumental in helping United secure the Treble in the famous 1998-99 season.  He scored in the 2-0 victory over Newcastle in the FA Cup Final that season; however, suspension in the continental games meant that he had to sit out of the Champions League final which United won eventually, thanks to two late goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Scholes was capped 66 times for England, and scored 14 goals for the 3 Lions, before he finally announced his international retirement after Euro 2004, reportedly to focus on his career at Old Trafford and for reasons pertaining to his family. However it was speculated that he was upset of being pushed out to the left wing on account of Lampard assuming a central midfield role in the England side. New coach Steve McClaren tried twice but in vain to persuade Scholes to return to International duties.

In 2006, Scholes suffered from a mysterious eye problem which left him with blurred vision in his right eye, and threatened to end his playing career. The impaired vision kept him out of action for the second half of the 2005-06 season, and it was rumoured that he would eventually announce his retirement from football. However, his determination, coupled with the state-of-the-art optical equipment at Old Trafford, meant that Scholes could make his return to the squad, fit and rejuvenated for the 2006-07 season, and play a pivotal role in helping the Red Devils secure yet another Premiership crown under Sir Alex Ferguson. The highlight of his season was his long-range blockbuster against Aston Villa which was considered to be his best ever strike. In October 2006, he scored the opening goal against Liverpool to mark his 500^th appearance for United in style, Rio Ferdinand scored the second in a famous 2-0 victory over the arch-rivals. In the return fixture, labeled by Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard as a Championship decider, Scholes was sent off for swinging an arm at Xabi Alonso. The disappointment was short-lived though as O’shea won it for United, in front of the Kop, with virtually the final kick of the game. Gerrard was proved to be right, for once, as United lifted the Premiership title in May 2007.

At a time when just about every next jock has an agent for him, Scholes makes all the negotiations with regards to his contract, face to face with the club. So important has been Scholes’ contribution to United that he has also found a mention for himself in the autobiography of Sir Bobby Charlton where he claims Scholes to be one player who truly epitomizes the spirit of Manchester United. Scholes made his return to action recently after the long lay-off he suffered due to a knee-ligament injury, and looked as though he had been playing all along, hardly putting a foot wrong. Sir Alex echoed these sentiments when he said, ‘Scholes coming back is like signing a new player’, not the first time that we have heard it either.

It has been long speculated that he would like to end his career with his boyhood club; Oldham Athletic but we know how much he loves being a Republikan of the nation of Mancunia, so don’t expect him to hang his boots just as yet.