Week one of the English Premier League was bitter-sweet for Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United. On the bright side, the Red Devils started their 2011-12 league campaign with a victory, after struggling to win matches away from home in the early stages of last season. On the contrary, United lost three of their first team defender to injury, with Rafael da Silva, Rio Ferdinand, and captain fantastic Nemanja Vidic all set to miss time in the coming weeks.
Luckily, Vidic’s calf injury will only sideline him for two weeks. The Serbian’s centre-back partner Rio Ferdinand was not as fortunate and he will miss approximately six weeks with a hamstring problem. Both Ferdinand and Vidic suffered their injuries during the Red Devils clash with West Bromwich Albion. Brazilian right-back Rafael da Silva dislocated his shoulder in training and will miss ten weeks.
Overall Depth
The Red Devils arguably have the most back four depth in Europe. With Vidic, Ferdinand, and Rafael all injuried, Sir Alex Ferguson can turn to the likes of Fabio, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, and Jonny Evans to fill in for his injured stars.
United do not only have depth at the back, but they also have tremendous depth in attacking positions. Fergie has seven striker on his roster for this season: Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen, Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf.
Though Sir Alex has an abundance of front-men, the vast number of his attackers does not stop their. The Red Devils also have a plethora of wide players, so many that the club was forced to sell the pacy French winger Gabriel Obertan to Newcastle United for just 3 million quid, I mean…pounds. Nani, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Park Ji-Sung, and Tom Cleverley are the many wingers Sir Alex has at his disposal.
Experience
Been there, done that. Many of United’s current players have already won multiple Premier League titles and other silverware. The fact that Sir Alex Ferguson has been with the Red Devils since 1986 also bodes well for the Premier League champions. Continuity, chemistry, and tradition are extremely underrated factors that must be taken into consideration when predicting possible champions, and United have all of the above as they say. The Scottish boss has won 37 trophies at United, an average of about 1.5 trophies per season. Take a bow Sir Alex, take a bow.
Wayne Rooney
Despite returning to form in the latter stages of 2009-10, Wayne Rooney still had his worst statistical season since joining United in 2004-05. Expectations will be much higher for the England star, who scored in United’s opening fixture versus West Bromwich Albion. Look for Rooney to have a brilliant season. Twenty-plus goals and ten assists seem a formality for United most talented playmaker.
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