OUT ON THE LEFT FLANK

With Antonio Valencia out for the majority of the season, Manchester United will be short on players who can play on the left wing, so could Sir Alex Ferguson revert back and select someone that used to play out there?

Meaning, Fergie could very well place the out-of-sorts Wayne Rooney back out on the left wing - a place he occupied prior to the 2009/10 season - and help him get back to enjoy playing the sport he said he would play for free.

Of course the Gaffer would prefer to have a natural left-footed player to rip down the left wing, but if he does not have one at his disposal, which Ferguson clearly does not, then the next best option is putting a player that has the ability to cut inside on his favored foot.

Prior to Valencia's injury, Nani somewhat reluctantly occupied the position, because it gave him a place in the starting XI, but before that Rooney showed that he has the ability to do the job out there.

Having Rooney out wide definitely does not mean that he has to sit out on the left wing and wait for the ball to get to him, because he could easily swap wings with Nani or play through the middle and provide support for Dimitar Berbatov.

As he learned against Rangers, leaving Berbatov out of the squad is not an option for Ferguson - unless United is playing a team like their Carling Cup opponents Scunthorpe United.

Help
A lot of players would like to see Rooney get back to his goal scoring ways, but playing out on the left would help him regain his confidence as he would see much more of the ball.

The distribution of Rooney is one of the most underrated aspects of his game, and the crosses that were missing their targets against Rangers would be better supplied by him.

Thirdly, the three-prong attack of Berbatov, Rooney and Nani would wreak havoc and force defenders to be constantly on their toes, because all three of these players can interchange with one another.

The final reason Ferguson should make that adjustment and play Rooney out in a wide position is because he has an influx of forwards at the club, and he could simply go back to his mindset of beating teams 6-4 rather than 2-0.

Other
Critics will argue that we have three other players - Ji-Sung Park, Gabriel Obertan and Ryan Giggs are not the short-term answer - or in the latter's case not the long-term answer.

Park showed against Rangers that he struggles linking up playing out wide, and does not have very good crossing ability.

The energetic midfielder prefers to play in the middle just behind the forwards, which is where he has had some of his best matches in a United shirt (i.e. Arsenal away and Liverpool home last season).

Another option for Ferguson is to play the aging Giggs out there, but the soon-to-be 37 year old does not have the legs to play their every match - or a full 90 minutes for that matter.

Giggs is better served playing as free-flowing midfielder in behind the strikers, and you do not want to wear him out so early in the season either, because his fragile hamstrings cannot take the quick movements anymore.

Obertan is the player that most supporters would like to see out on the left wing after he played some good football during United's Tour 2010 in America.

The young French winger is just returning from an injury that he suffered against the MLS All-Stars at the end of July, so it might not be wise for Ferguson throw him right into the mix.

It will be interesting to see who Sir Alex Ferguson decides to select to play in that position, because Manchester United need to quickly turn around their season - and what better way to do that than against their most-hated rival, Liverpool.

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