The International break is finally over, and now premier league action can finally resume. Why so anxious you ask? What United fan wouldn’t be!! After the controversial manner in which our last game away to Chelsea ended a couple of weeks ago, the fans and players alike must’ve been dying for a quick response to that frustrating result. As a matter of fact, the international break couldn’t have come at a worse time for us, as a quick game right after that painful loss would’ve served to cheer us up and would’ve given the players a chance to vent their frustrations after being screwed by the referee in a game they should’ve at least drawn. As it stands, we’ve had to be patient and wait, as the boring international games took place, and now we finally resume our mission: reducing that fucking five point gap against Chelsea!!
The international break however, has served us in a couple of ways, as it provided our injured defender Nemanja Vidic with a chance to slowly make his comeback and regain his fitness, as he returns to the team this week ready to start again. It couldn’t have come at a better time, as we find ourselves decimated by injuries right now, with both John O’shea & Johnny Evans doubtful for the clash against Everton, Fabio Da Silva also injured, and Rio Ferdinand out of action with a calf injury until at least New Years. Furthermore, star striker Dimitar Berbatov, who’d been injured for our game against Chelsea a few weeks back, found himself a great platform to regain his fitness, when Bulgaria took on international lightweights Malta in midweek, and berba proceeded to announce his return from injury with two goals that made him his country’s all-time scorer with forty-eight goals to his name. Surely the confidence boost he gained from this great achievement should carry over into his club performances for United, as we desperately seek to find our goal scoring touch and kick into fifth gear as we attempt to close the deficit with Chelsea at the summit. The international break has also provided a chance for weary veterans Paul Scholes, Gary Neville (suspended for this game), and Ryan Giggs, to rest and increase their fitness in training, Anderson wasn’t called up for Brazil as well, and the upside of Michael Owen not getting a call up to play for England, is that he’s ready, fresh, and still very much motivated to prove his doubters wrong, which is nothing short of great news for us. French winger Gabriel Obertan should be nearing full fitness by now, so expect him to at least be on the bench for this game, as he continues his quest to compete with Nani for the starting spot on the left wing.
Everton on the other hand are a team struggling to find their rhythm, as they’ve had a shaky start to this season, and have fallen below their usual expectations, as they used to pressure the top four teams year in year out, threatening to break the big four monopoly (they actually did that in the 2004-2005 season). This season they’ve been decimated by injuries to key players, and with teams like City and Aston Villa on the rise, they’ve struggled to keep pace with the league’s elite. They enter Saturday’s game against us missing their Russian international Diniyar Bilyaletdinov through suspension, and their midfield trio of Phil Neville, Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar are all expected to miss out with various injuries. However, it’s never a good idea to underestimate a team like Everton, built around players with a fighting mentality and team spirit, so don’t expect them to roll over for us; this will be a tough game.
With the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea having easy games this week, we can ill-afford to drop points today, and I’d say the player to watch out for would Wayne Rooney, who’s relationship with Everton fans has been nothing short of controversial lately, which should give him an extra motivation to bring his A-game today.
Remember this? I bet Wazza does!! Bring on the Toffees.
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