Berba has got his chances alright, and he's choking with the pressure.

I think at some point (which I'm guessing at the end of the season), we have to admit Berba isn't the player that was intended to be. I'm still hoping that he'll prove me wrong. People said that that is his style, etc but the fact is he doesn't gel with Rooney! Like I said before, Rooney is a Gascoigne-like material. Works hard, strong, fast but lacks that magic in front of the goal. He used to have them with his flicks and finishing but ultimately he's not a finisher. Our only finisher materials are Berba and Owen but I've already laid out my points before.

Our midfielders are not producing the balls because they're playing as centrebacks! Granted that they play in their usual positions, we'll be in a much better shape as shown from early season.

It never hurts to have another striker, an experienced one especially. And as a club like Manchester United, we need great quality strikers. Diouf, Macheda, Welbeck are still in the learning process. For pete's sake, they're only under-20, how much do we expect from them? In the mean time, we only have 3 experienced strikers and one of them is Owen? Not to say that he's no good but he's not exactly as sharp as before, only a 3rd striker material.

I don't exactly care who we get the next round. Either way, it'll be beneficial for our squad. But let's not disregard the fact that we do need the goals. The 2 games we lost vs Villa and Fulham, we scored zilch. Is that only defensive problem or offensive?

Anyway, Merry Christmas all!

We actually bought Carrick because of his passing abilities. He used to provide good long passes from midfield. But now he doesn't do much of it anymore, mostly just normal short passes. Giggs is our playmaker since CR left us and yes, Anderson is our best bet with his offensive part, long passes, moving forward with the ball and aggresiveness.

Personally I like his defensive part more... He's kinda shy offensively 

Manchester United will travel to the KC Stadium to face Hull City on Sunday with the majority of their defence still sidelined.

The champions were thumped 3-0 at Fulham last time out, with their defensive frailties there for all to see as up to six of their backline missed out through injury.

Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson attempted to play three at the back against the Cottagers, with Ritchie De Laet, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher filling in.

United were torn apart by Roy Hodgson's men, but Ferguson admits that he could use the same system against Hull at the weekend.

Despite the heavy loss, United are still just four points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea after the Blues could only draw 1-1 with West Ham last Sunday.

However, United could go into the game seven points behind Carlo Ancelotti's side if the West Londoners beat Birmingham on Boxing Day.

The Tigers will no doubt make life hard for the champions, with manager Phil Brown seemingly easing the pressure off his shoulders after a number of positive results in the past month.

Despite the fact that the club are without a win in three, two of those games have been at Aston Villa and Arsenal, Hull are unbeaten at home in six, although they are still hovering precariously over the relegation zone.

Even though United go into the clash without a number of recognised defenders, it remains to be seen whether Hull will be able to test the visitors' shaky backline having scored just 17 goals in the league this season, the second worst tally in the top flight.

Tigers news

In contrast to their opponents, Hull have just two injuries, albeit to arguably their two most influential players.

The Tigers had looked to be moving up the table thanks to some sterling performances from the charismatic Jimmy Bullard, but the midfielder has been ruled out for six to eight weeks after injuring his knee at Aston Villa.

Although the news came as another blow for the injury-plagued 31-year-old, the fact that scans revealed no ligament damage would have been met with a huge sigh of relief by everyone at the club.

Fellow midfielder Ian Ashbee remains sidelined while he recovers from his own serious knee injury.

Red Devils news

Ferguson admits that he has had to rush back Brazilian twins Rafael and Fabio Da Silva for the clash and both should start. That could mean Patrice Evra moving from left-back to central defence alongside Carrick.

The Scot is also hopeful that one of either Nemanja Vidic (calf) or Wes Brown (hamstring) can return for the trip.

Fellow defender Jonny Evans (calf) remains sidelined but could feature against Wigan in midweek. Gary Neville (groin), John O'Shea (thigh) and Rio Ferdinand (back) look certain to miss out once more.

Goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar looks no nearer to recovering from the knee injury he picked up in the 3-0 win over Everton so Tomasz Kuszczak should continue in goal.

Ryan Giggs (hamstring) looks likely to be absent again while Nani (foot), Owen Hargreaves (knee) and Federico Macheda (hamstring) could all join him in the stands.

Possible starting XIs

Hull: Myhill, Gardner, McShane, Dawson, Zayatte, Geovanni, Fagan, Boateng, Olofinjana, Garcia, Hunt.

Man Utd: Kuszczak, Rafael, Evra, Vidic, Fabio, Valencia, Fletcher, Anderson, Obertan, Rooney, Berbatov

By Nick Teale

Arsène Wenger has chosen Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs as his Premier League Player of the Decade.

During Tuesday's exclusive webchat with Arsenal.com the manager opted for the Welsh midfielder after being asked who he would select as the best player to have graced England's top flight over the last 10 years.

Giggs was awarded PFA Player of the Year at the end of last season and recently collected the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. Now he has been named as Wenger's Premier League Player of the ‘Noughties'.

"As a non-Arsenal player I would say Ryan Giggs because he has combined style with winning," explained the manager.

"Also I feel sorry he could never attend the World Cup, somewhere where people get a lot of compliments when they do well. But despite that if you look at his club record it is quite impressive."

[Wednesday, December 23, 2009]

As for Berbatov.. sure he doesn't get enough goals right now and he should improve that. 20-25 would be a good return. But anyone thinking the reason we brought him in for his goals is seriously mistaken. He's a creator, the link man. And that he does well, although in the big games that doesn't quite happen for him yet. SAF said he was looking to him to take over from Giggsy.. someone with composure in the final third, and he has that in abundance. We play better with him in the side.. we just doesn't look as fluid going forward when he's not around.

Ferguson admits that he has had to rush back Brazilian twins Rafael and Fabio Da Silva for the clash and both should start. That could mean Patrice Evra moving from left-back to central defence alongside Carrick.

The Scot is also hopeful that one of either Nemanja Vidic (calf) or Wes Brown (hamstring) can return for the trip.

Fellow defender Jonny Evans (calf) remains sidelined but could feature against Wigan in midweek. Gary Neville (groin), John O'Shea (thigh) and Rio Ferdinand (back) look certain to miss out once more.

well if berbatove is playing the linking man, then rooney playing defense and generally running around ........ who the heck is gonna score the goals?
that's our main problem. everyone wants to be a link-up man and noone is disciplined enough to stay in front of goal.

leave up the playmaking to the midfielders and be a striker for santa's sake

merry christmas again weeeeeeeeeeeee! off to church for service.

Exactly my point dude!

Berbatov is not playing where he should be playing. Rooney is not a centre forward, he doesn't stick inside the box and wait for chances. He creates them. We've seen in the past how he links up well with a finisher like Ruud/Saha, even Ronaldo. That's the poacher/finisher that we need. Rooney will never be a target man nor a finisher. Someone else will have to be and we have that perfect man in Berbatov but somehow I don't know what is happening? Linkman alright. That's because we had Tevez, Rooney, and Ronaldo, an additional 3 striking options upfront last season but we've lost two this season. Now that we've only 2 striking which are hardworking and skillful but no final delivery, that's gonna hurt in the later stage of the season and it's already showing signs.

I hope you guys don't get me wrong, Rooney is banging in the goals but if you look at how many chances he's had and take away the penalties, that's not a lot. Plus, he haven't even scored in the UCL correct me if I'm wrong. Rooney can only play well up to a certain level because he's not the finished product like a Drogba/Torres who has the technical skills and that finishing that we so sorely miss this season. Unless Berbatov bucks up with his confidence and shoot more rather than pass, Rooney will be exhausted.

Exactly my point dude!

Berbatov is not playing where he should be playing. Rooney is not a centre forward, he doesn't stick inside the box and wait for chances. He creates them. We've seen in the past how he links up well with a finisher like Ruud/Saha, even Ronaldo. That's the poacher/finisher that we need. Rooney will never be a target man nor a finisher. Someone else will have to be and we have that perfect man in Berbatov but somehow I don't know what is happening? Linkman alright. That's because we had Tevez, Rooney, and Ronaldo, an additional 3 striking options upfront last season but we've lost two this season. Now that we've only 2 striking which are hardworking and skillful but no final delivery, that's gonna hurt in the later stage of the season and it's already showing signs.

I hope you guys don't get me wrong, Rooney is banging in the goals but if you look at how many chances he's had and take away the penalties, that's not a lot. Plus, he haven't even scored in the UCL correct me if I'm wrong. Rooney can only play well up to a certain level because he's not the finished product like a Drogba/Torres who has the technical skills and that finishing that we so sorely miss this season. Unless Berbatov bucks up with his confidence and shoot more rather than pass, Rooney will be exhausted.

been reading the saga about Hughes sacking.
seems like all the united old boys are trying to cheer him up and backing him up.
saf also tikam city liao saying there is no loyalty there.

england partnered rooney with heskey. heskey was just like berbatov, supportive more than finish. I guess he must have good finishes then.

---

Added on December 25, 2009, 3:26 pm
despite the fact that he joined our local rival, he was one of our top player(was he?) And like wat Bruce said, u cant expect to win anything at the first year of management.

anybody know why MU doesnt play during boxing day?