Manchester United have announced that Rio Ferdinand has not broken any bones in his foot after being substituted in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough. However, the club have yet to say how long the England defender will be missing from the Reds starting line-up. The fear is that United could be without Nemanja Vidic and Rio on Wednesday when Roma visit Old Trafford for the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final. The Reds have a strong two-nil advantage from the first-leg and so Ferguson will be confident of reaching the semi-finals of Europe's premier club competition. United have been given yet more cause for optimism with the news that reports claim Francesco Totti will miss the second-leg.
The visit of Arsenal on Sunday represents the chance to kill-off Wenger's lingering title hopes and so it's vital that Ferdinand or Vidic makes a swift return to fitness. If the Reds first-choice central defenders do not recover in time for Roma or Arsenal, either Pique, Silvestre and or Wes Brown will deputise.
Pique looks a very good defender. No worries.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Brown or O'Shea, in the centre they didn't make a good show at Middlesborough?
ReplyDeleteI think United are being tested critically here.
Let's just hope we finish our chances in the next few games and take the titles.
Do you think Pique will stay in United in the coming seasons?
ReplyDeleteI just came across your blog had an unrelated question for you. Im carrying you a study on whether player pass attempts is affected by team ie. whether there is any change the in the number of passes attempted by a player, and thus touches by the player, across team lines. The reason Im asking you is because I want you to tell me names of any player, preferably a central midfielder, who either moved to Man Utd or from Man Utd to another EPL club in recent years (I've got Carrick down already).
ReplyDeleteThe findings so far say 'player touches' is almost entirely player dependent, not club dependent. This means a player like Paul Scholes would get around the same number of ball touches if he were playing for Sunderland as he would on Man Utd. Check it out at soccerstatistics.blogspot.com and let me know if you have any names.