Manchester United will look to defend their Carling Cup crown when they kickoff their 2009/10 campaign against English Premier League newcomers Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford.
Sir Alex Ferguson has always seen the Carling Cup as an opportunity for the United youngsters a to show their abilities and that they deserve a chance at the first-team.
With so many full-international players through the United first-team, it is hard for the young players to get a chance to prove their worth, but this competition gives them that.
Theirs
Last year’s Carling Cup triumph allowed youngsters like Danny Welbeck, Darron Gibson and Rodrigo Possebon show that they have a future in the United first-team.
Along with those players, with the exception of Possebon who is out on a season-long loan to Portuguese side Braga, Richie De Laet, Fabio, Federico Macheda and Zoran Tosic are fresh set of players are going to be looking to make a name for themselves.
Who
Richie De Laet, who could not get a game at Stoke City before transferring to United, has looked quite impressive since joining in January. He is natural left back and will offer good competition to Fabio for being the successor to first-team left back Patrice Evra.
Fabio, who endured an injury-plagued first season at United, will look to make this his breakout season. The young Brazilian is a naturally right-footed player that can play either right or left fullback, so being versatile can only increase his chances for a breakthrough.
Macheda is a player that all United supporters know very well for his significant contributions last season. He scored two match-winners against Aston Villa and Sunderland to propel United to their 11th Premier League title. Macheda has yet to make a first-team appearance this season, but he is still only 17 years of age, so he plenty of time to develop into a top-class center forward.
Tosic arrived at United in the January from Serbian powerhouse Partizan Belgrade, but he has only made three first-team appearances. The young Serb lacks the size to compete week-in and week-out for a place in the United first team, but he has one most lethal left footed shots in the United squad.
About
Wolverhampton comes into the match sitting in 12th place on seven points. A lot of experts had picked Wolves to struggle in their return to the top-flight. Mick McCarthy’s side reflect the manager’s grit and determination, and will not be a pushover for any of team in Premier League – and the same thing can be said for them in this competition as well.
They have scored five goals this season from five different players, which is a great balance for a new team to have. They broke their transfer record bringing in Republic of Ireland international Kevin Doyle this summer, and the former Reading man has scored against United before (albeit a penalty in the opening match of the 2006/07 season.
Win, Win
This is a healthy situation for Sir Alex to be in, because not only does the opportunity to field a team of youngsters who are looking to impress, he can also give a much-needed rest to most of his first-team members
With a tricky fixture coming up this weekend against a stingy Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, Ferguson will welcome this opportunity rest players like Wayne Rooney, Darren Fletcher, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand.
Treatment
Out: E. van der Sar, Rafael, G. Obertan, O. Hargreaves
Projected
T. Kuszczak; G. Neville, J. Evans, W. Brown, Fabio; D. Welbeck, D. Gibson, M. Carrick, J.S. Park; M. Owen, F. Macheda
Prediction
Manchester United 2, Wolverhampton 0
No comments:
Post a Comment