While everyone else plays, Manchester United don’t have a game next weekend. This means that United fans have a feast of two games in 4 days before a famine of none in 10 – it’s rubbish.
Anyway, anything other than a win against Crystal Palace on Saturday teatime and there will be renewed calls for blood. With all of their rivals playing, what look like, straight forward games this weekend Manchester United simply have to take all three points if they are going to retain any hope of a top four finish.
Above them, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham all have tough run ins. But there is no use even speculating about the others if Manchester United can’t get their own act together. We at soccersweep can’t remember a season in which Manchester United administered so few hidings to their opponents. A fortuitous 5-0 in Leverkusen (who were hammered 4-0 by PSG on their own patch in the week) is the only one that comes to mind.
On the positive side, Manchester United are finally close to having a full strength squad, after a season blighted by mass injury. David Moyes now has more options in midfield with Fellaini and Jones back. Even Tom Cleverley put in a decent shift in Manchester United’s last game against Arsenal.
But we just hope that David Moyes stops mucking about with Juan Mata and puts him and Januzaj either side of Wayne Rooney in a sensational 3 behind RvP. We would actually go one further against Crystal Palace and pop Mata just in front of Carrick, to pull the strings from a slightly deeper midfield role. This would allow Manchester United to shoe-horn Shinji Kagawa into the team too. He’s wasted on the bench.
So, here’s our ideal available team for the game, followed by the one that we think David Moyes will pick
Crystal Palace vs Manchester United 1730 Saturday at Selhurst Park.
soccersweep’s Magical Manchester United 11 – De Gea, Rafa, Rio, Vidic, Evra, Mata, Carrick, Januzaj, Rooney, Kagawa, RvP
Moyes’s square pegs in round holes XI (4-4-2): De Gea, Smalling, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Mata, Rooney, RvP
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peter darwin
Feb 21, 2014 at 6:37 pm
De Gea, Rafa, Rio, Vidic, Evra, Mata, Carrick, Januzaj, Rooney, kagawa, RVP
would even consider Jones in back four to start, or Smalling seems to be getting better.
Either way…….with Kagawa in their this team would gel and start to play inventive soccer with the ball being releasdely……………their is a lot of intuitive solined up here.excitement potential……………..bringing back the risk factor of brilliance not mediocrity that Moyes seems to cherish Kagawa has to be in the middle.hasnt played much so he needs a real run