Fergie no nearer solving striker conundrum as big kick-off looms large...

United were in action last night in another pre-season friendly as the champions ran out two-nil winners over Valencia at Old Trafford, the star of the show was Antonio Valencia who helped to create a glut of goal scoring opportunities. Michael Owen spurned four good chances, but he was eventually replaced by Macheda on the hour. Wayne Rooney and youngster Tom Cleverly were on target as the Reds enjoyed another useful work-out.

While Fergie will have been delighted with his new signings, the most serious pre-season test will come this weekend when United take on Chelsea in the Community Shield at Wembley. Ahead the traditional curtain-raiser to the season proper Fergie is still without Nemanja Vidic which must now be a major concern for the United manager. Edwin van der Sarr is also out with a broken finger, but the champions have decent cover in the form of Ben Foster.

Injury problems aside, the most intriguing questions about the new United, post Ronaldo and Tevez, concern how Ferguson will set about re-shaping his team. We have been told that United will play a different way this season, no one (including Fergie one suspects) knows what this actually means, because prior to the Valencia clash Rooney and Owen hadn't featured on the pitch at the same at any point during pre-season, let alone been paired together in tandem as the main strike pairing.

However, last night Owen and Rooney were up front for United and the conclusion is Fergie is still tinkering with his forward-line in search of the most productive combination. It begs the question, who will play up front against Chelsea on Sunday and what will the United formation be?

With Owen being withdrawn on the hour against Valencia it seems almost certain that he will get the nod to start against Chelsea. As for the champions formation, given Chelsea's power in midfield and knowing that Fergie is unlikely to dare to play 442, it's a knocking bet United fans can look forward to Wayne Rooney playing wide left again with Antonio Valencia on the opposite flank in a 433 formation.

Ferguson isn't renowned for his tactical nouse and so can the fans look forward to more of the same regarding tactics ; will United play differently this coming season? For the toughest looking games, Rooney could once again find himself on the left flank; there will also no doubt be question marks about the strength of United's central midfield, as exposed by Barcelona in the Champions League final.

We cannot rule out that Ferguson will surprise us all by opting for a different formation in a bid to get the maximum from his squad, but so far this summer there's been no signs of that actually happening, so chances are we can expect more of the same.

Prestige aside, Sunday's result means little, but onlookers will be looking for signs that Ferguson does indeed have a post-Ronaldo plan, because it's one thing to write off rivals like Liverpool and Manchester City, quite another proving it on the pitch where off the field talking counts for nothing.

United know what to expect from Chelsea and the fact that Fergie is still striving to find his strongest team is no bad thing in some ways; the players will be only too aware that places are up for grabs, so players like Macheda will no doubt be relishing the opportunity to prove that he is worthy of a starting place.

I personally expect United to come off second best on Sunday, but it could be an interesting game if Macheda enters the scene and he is given enough time to show what he is capable of.