Manchester United venture into Europe again tomorrow night, facing Marseille in the Stade Velodrome but do so sans a number of stars.
As United checked in for their flight to the south eastern coastal city it became evident that Rio Ferdinand, Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Jonny Evans and Michael Owen had all failed to make the trip.
Whilst Ferdinand and Evans have been out since the Wolves game, the absences of Owen and Anderson are a tad more worrying especially considering the injury news that has emerged about the two in the last few days.
Whilst it was reported that Owen had suffered a groin injury that would bring an end to his United career, Sir Alex rejected that stating he may be available for this game whilst Anderson has suffered a hamstring/knee injury and although no specific time span has been given by the club the prognosis of 2 months on the sidelines being mentioned in the press doesn’t bode well.
The reason behind Ryan Giggs’ absence is still unclear and with a plethora of fixtures coming up I hope it is in order to rest him rather than injury enforced.
On a side note it is encouraging to see Josh King and Ryan Tunnicliffe remain with the first team as they travel to France for the game and even if like Saturday they don’t get any playing time, the experience will still be beneficial.
22 Man Squad:
Goalkeepers: Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Lindegaard;
Defenders: Vidic, O’Shea, Brown, Rafael, Fabio, Evra, Smalling;
Midfielders: Scholes, Gibson, Nani, Carrick, Fletcher, Bebe, Obertan, Tunnicliffe;
Forwards: Rooney, Berbatov, Hernandez, King.
It’s a damn shame King & Tunnicliffe are just there to make numbers. Would love to see either of them make an appearance. Specially that young Ryan, if Fergie starts Scholes Carrick AND Fletch there just might be a chance. Poor King though, cant see him getting a look in ahead of super sub!