Date: 25th February 2010 at 6:18pm
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Mr. O. Goal has stood up to be counted this season and chipped in with his fair share of strikes to ensure the Premier League remains at Old Trafford come May but injury on the other hand has tried it’s level best to derail our title bid and at the moment is doing a very good job.

On Tuesday morning there wasn’t a United fan on the planet that could deny being excited about the prospect of having our first choice central defensive pairing back with Vidic finally returning from injury and Rio Ferdinand returning from a 4 game ban.

But by 8 o’clock kick off we were denied this as Ferdinand experienced a back spasm that kept him out of the West Ham game and could see him miss the Carling Cup final as well as a number of league games but it would get worse as just minutes into the game the returning Brazilian midfielder Anderson broke down. He tried to continue but minutes later he was forced off and a scan yesterday revealed that he had ruptured cruciate ligaments in his knee.

The injury means Anderson will miss not only the remainder of the season but also the World Cup and caps off what has been a horrible year/season for the Brazilian.

Having been pulled off at half time after making no impact in the Champions League, Anderson’s United career has been somewhat under a cloud.

At the start of the season there were rumours of a falling out with Sir Alex that saw Anderson drop to the reserves at his own request. His spell under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did him the world of good and he came back with a better attitude but as his form dipped he saw his playing time decrease. This January the media began reporting stories of a major bust up between him and Fergie and how Anderson had flown back to Brazil to engineer a move to Vasco De Gama. The club never released a statement on the rumour but Anderson was next seen again plying his trade for the reserves adding weight to the rumours that he went AWOL. In the game he put in a solid hour and set up Mame Biram Diouf’s opening goal so it was thought Anderson had turned the corner but unfortunately this injury means otherwise.

Many have questioned Anderson’s position/progression at the club claiming (wrongly) he has gone from some swashbuckling goal scoring midfielder to a water carrier but the reality is despite the fact he is Brazilian and he was compared to Ronaldinho when he first emerged their playing styles are not similar at all.

The position he is employed in at Old Trafford has not stagnated his growth as a player, Andy Brassell merely thinks that he returned from his broken leg ‘a touch sluggish and as if he was carrying a few extra pounds’ and the new role made it easier to conceal this.  Add to this that like many a young player he lacks consistency, one game he can look like a world beater but the next merely a passenger, and there is your answer.

He will come good, I’m sure of it but this injury, like the broken leg at Porto, will just lengthen the process. Sir Alex Ferguson hopes to have him back for the start of next season as he undergoes surgery in 2 weeks. We just hope he can begin the flourish into the quality player he can be.

 

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