Ferguson must guide his team past Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan on Wednesday night to keep alive his dream of retaining the Champions League title.
To do this he will have to find a solution to his striker "crisis". Which two of Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov and Tevez to pair upfront. If Manchester United did crises, they'd probably be the best crises in the world.
In reality Ronaldo is likely to slot into midfield. And then there were three. Rooney and Tevez in the bullish genius camp, and Berbatov, who represents the sublime or the non-existent, depending on his mood.
Rooney is a likely starter having returned to full fitness and goal-scoring form against Fulham on Saturday. And Tevez should join him.
For a start he too is in goal-scoring form, bagging a brace at the weekend. More significant than that on Saturday were the sparks flying between Rooney and Tevez. Finally Manchester United were able to produce the ruthless demolition they've been searching for all season, and Ferguson must seize the moment and bottle it.
Ironically, Berbatov has proved a more uncomfortable fit at United than Tevez. Seen by many as the final piece in the Old Trafford jigsaw, the unpredictable Bulgarian has complicated Ferguson's front-line options in a way that few predicted, and to the extent that the Scot is still undecided on his first choice pairing. Such problems were predicted upon Tevez's arrival with popular opinion assuming the Argentine dynamo would struggle to link with Rooney due to their almost identical approaches to the art of attacking.
They are remarkably similar, but this consensus overlooked two key facts; such similarity fails to pose a problem when the forwards in question are complete strikers - muscular, capable in the air, strong on the ground - and when both possess world class ability.
Despite being the better team in the first leg, an inability to score an away goal places United in a precarious position this week. Concede and they must score two. The situation will require defending from the front. Pairing Rooney with Tevez will ensure this. Berbatov is capable of many things on a football pitch, whether or not defending is one of them remains to be seen, he has yet to trouble himself with trying.
Of course Tevez is no less capable of having an ineffectual night than Berbatov, but at least he'll die trying. If Inter's defenders leave the pitch on Wednesday having faced 90 minutes of Rooney and Tevez, they'll know all about it. If in doing so they are victorious they'll fully deserve their Quarter Final berth. After all, one of the few things more terrifying than facing Wayne Rooney, is facing him in tandem with a clone.
Well said, I've seen Tevez on various occasions this season and he's been a nightmare, especially when the opposition have the ball. His hassling and Rooney's tracking back (which inevitably result in a rash lunge and ironic clapping to the following yellow card) are a massive defensive bonus.
ReplyDeleteI am very much behind Inter tonight; apart from the fact that I hate United, what would be sweeter than another celebratory sprint down the touchline from Jose in front of SAF?