otelul-galati

Rio Ferdinand will return to Sir Alex Ferguson’s team as Oțelul Galați visit Old Trafford for Wednesday’s Champions League Group C clash. But the defender’s recall comes with a stark warning from his manager and an admission that Ferdinand is no longer an automatic selection following United’s hammering by Manchester City recently.

Despite being fit the 33-year-old defender was dropped by Ferguson for United’s trip to Everton last weekend, marking a potential watershed in Ferdinand’s career after nearly a decade at the club. And Ferguson has warned the £30 million defender that he must adapt his game if the former Leeds United man is to compete with competition from United’s younger players.

Ferguson has five central defenders at his disposal, with Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones each under 23-years-of-age, and vying for a place in the Scot’s side.

“I explained to Rio the other day simply this – we have two young centre-backs coming through and I’m happy to have four and hope I can keep four of them for a long time,” said Ferguson on Tuesday.

“Rio’s almost 33 and has obviously lost the yard of pace he had five years ago but that doesn’t mean to say he can’t tailor his game into a different game where he doesn’t rely on pace. We’ve all faced that, the decisive moment in your career when you realise you have to change your game. I did that myself when I lost some sharpness so I tailored my game differently.

“In his time with us, eight years or so now, he’s been a fantastic, consistent performer, top-class and absolutely brilliant. Rio will rearrange his game a little bit but not drastically. He’s still one of the best footballers in the country in terms of his use of the ball. He has a great presence and can still tackle and head the ball. He’ll change, there’s no problem with that, and he’ll play a big part.”

Ferdinand will start alongside Evans on Wednesday, with Phil Jones or Fabio da Silva likely to come in at right-back as United seek to tighten up a back-four that has conceded regularly this season. Chris Smalling will miss the next month with a broken bone in his foot, while Rafael da Silva may play United’s reserve fixture on Thursday night.

“That we were loose is borne out by the statistics that have bandied about over the last few weeks,” added Ferguson.

“There has to be a balance in these matters. Nobody likes losing goals first of all and we have lost a few this season. But we also want to make sure the attacking part is always threatening.”

Although the temptation may be for Ferguson to make wholesale changes ahead of the international break, United’s need for points means that a strong selection is likely. Ashley Young will miss the fixture with a toe problem, meaning that two of Antonio Valencia, Park Ji-Sung and Nani are likely to start against the Romanian champions.

Meanwhile, in midfield Ferguson will be without Tom Cleverley once again, with the 22-year-old suffering a reaction to the ankle injury sustained in September. Cleverley played 55 minutes of United’s Premier League win at Everton but will sit out the next two Untied fixtures and England’s friendlies with Sweden and Spain next week.

The injury means a recall is likely for either Michael Carrick or Anderson to play alongside Darren Fletcher in midfield. The Scot missed around six months of last season with a mysterious viral infection but is now fully fit and central to Ferguson’s mission to tighten up United’s defensive game.

“I feel fine. I knew I would be, my natural fitness is always very good,” said the midfielder.

“I worked hard with the fitness coaches whilst the rest of the lads were away on tour. I reached my level fairly quickly, then it was a question of matches because the more you play, the more you get your sharpness back and awareness back. I was lucky in the respect I was able to get a few games for Scotland before I played for United, which definitely helped me. I have played 10 games so far this season and I feel as though I am back to the level I should be at.”

Oţelul arrive at Old Trafford seeking the first points of an inaugural Champions League campaign. Defeat to United in Bucharest, courtesy of two Wayne Rooney penalties, came after a suicidal defensive performance in the second period. Yet the Romanians will see an opportunity to finish third in the group and qualify for the Europa League, with Basel in disarray following Torsten Fink’s departure to Hamburg.

“We need to win, that’s for sure,” added Ferguson.

“Going on our experience from the last game, they’re a very organised, committed, strong and aggressive team. We’ll need a good performance to beat them. We may make one or two changes, not a great many, and they’ll be mainly because of injuries and things like that. But hopefully we’ve still got a strong enough team to win.”

It’s a tough ask for the Romanians whatever Ferguson’s selection. Including UEFA Intertoto Cup ties and UEFA Cup qualifying rounds, Oţelul have played 11 away matches in Europe and lost seven of them. Oţelul  will be without Laurenţiu Buş, sidelined since October with an ankle problem, although defensive midfielder Ioan Filip and Adrian Sălăgeanu are both available. Summer signing Daniel Chávez is still not fit.

Match Facts
Manchester United versus Oţelul Galaţi, Champions League, Old Trafford, Wednesday 2 November 2011, 7.45pm

Likely Line-ups
United (4-4-1-1): Lindegaard; Jones, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Nani, Anderson, Fletcher, Park; Rooney; Hernandez. Subs from: De Gea, Fabio, Pogba, Carrick, Giggs, Berbatov, Welbeck, Valencia, Owen, Diouf.

Oţelul Galaţi (4-2-3-1): Grahovac; Perendija, Salageanu, Râpă, Costin; Filip, Neagu, Frunză, Antal, Giurgiu; Punoševac,  Subs from: Viglianti, Pena, Ilie, Skubič, Filip, Ljubinković, Antal, Ibeh, Frunză, Sălăgeanu, Paraschiv, , Benga, Iorga, Ilie, Cojoc, Chavez, Buchta, Novac.

Form
United: WDWLWW
Galati:DLWWWW

Officials
Referee Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant referees: Sinisa Premuzaj, Zeljko Novosel
Additional assistant referees: Igor Pristovnik, Damir Batinić
Fourth official: Ante Vučemilović-Šimunović Jr.

Manchester United hasn’t face Romanian opposition in seven years, with the Eastern European nation failing to produce a side of note since Steaua Bucharest made the European Cup final in 1986. But following Saturday’s timid draw with Liverpool, Sir Alex Ferguson has promised a full-strength side will face Romanian champions Oțelul Galați on Tuesday night.

With just two points from the side’s opening games, United is under surprising pressure to deliver victory in one of the Champions League’s easier groups. Indeed, anything bar victory could leave the Reds vulnerable to the unthinkable: elimination at the group stage.

Ferguson’s quest to end that line of thinking is boosted captain Nemanja Vidic’s return to the side, with the Serbian recovering from a longstanding calf problem. The defender’s return will compensate for the loss of Rio Ferdinand, who has been left in Manchester as a precautionary measure ahead of the derby next weekend. Jonny Evans is likely to start alongside captain Vidic, with Phil Jones reprising his recent role at right-back.

“I think we have to win tomorrow and I’ll play a strong team,” said Ferguson.

“I could play several teams and I’d consider them strong enough to win. This isn’t a tournament you can afford to be complacent in. Tomorrow’s game is very important for us. I guess it depends on what happens in the other tie [Basel v Benfica]. The important thing is for us to win. That solves all the problems.

“We have to progress in the Champions League and then we have four or five days to recover for the Sunday game against City. The timescale for recovery is perfect for us and it’s the same for City as well.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson says Wayne Rooney will start in Romania, after overcoming the apparent mental anguish that the striker suffered in the wake of UEFA’s Euro 2012 ban. Rooney will sit out all of England’s group matches in the tournament, with Fabio Capello reportedly undecided whether to take the striker to Poland and Ukraine at all.

Ferguson left Rooney out of United’s starting line-up at Anfield, ostensibly under the banner of Rooney’s mental health, although a string of poor performances in the past against Liverpool will presumably have made the decision easier.

“I think he’s OK,” the United manager said on Monday.

“Actually when he came on he was quite bubbly. He was full of energy and enthusiasm. He was desperate to get on actually ,which is good because when he sat watching the game he probably said: ‘Christ I could be out there.’ He’ll be playing tomorrow.

“The initial news was a definite blow for him. He didn’t expect that. I don’t think any of us did. To me it was a silly action but it wasn’t seriously dangerous. It was a slight reaction but to get a three-match ban. When he realised getting three-match ban meant missing all the games for England and that he might not be involved at all, as England know how difficult it is to get out of a group, that resonated in Wayne’s mind.”

Ferguson should start the Scouser alongside Mexican striker Javier Hernandez for the match, which will be played at the National Stadium in Bucarest, and not at Galați’s 13,000-capacity local ground. Winger Nani is also in line for a recall in what promises to be a far more attacking line-up than the one which began against Liverpool on Saturday. Indeed, with Galați having lost its opening games against Benfica and Basel many regard the Romanians as the Champions League’s weakest team.

“We’ve watched Galați a few times and I watched the video of them against Benfica,” added Ferguson.

“Their system is like a lot of systems in Europe – they play with two wide men and one through the middle, one midfielder in the hole… a lot of European teams are playing this way now. We’ve got a good idea about how the game should be played tomorrow and we hope we can get the result we want.”

To do that United must defend better than Ferguson’s team has in the tournament to date. Last season’s runners-up did not concede a single goal in 540 minutes of away action en route to the final.

Yet history bodes well, with United having beaten Dinamo Bucharest on the only previous occasion on which the club has met Romanian opposition. Goals from Alan Smith, David Bellion and Ryan Giggs contributed to a 5-1 aggregate win in the 2004 third qualification round, which included a 2-1 win in the Romanian capital.

Moreover, the last time United failed to win either of its first two games in the Champions League group phase was in 1998/99 when Ferguson’s ended up lifting the trophy at Camp Nou. Mind you, those opening draws included a 3-3 with Barcelona at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, Oţelul may have never previously met at English club but the club’s coach, Dorinel Munteanu, has enjoyed two high-profile victories over the national team. He scored in a 3-2 win against England at Euro 2000 – a result that knocked England out – while Munteanu also played in Roamnia’s 2-1 defeat of the English at the 1998 World Cup.

Galați will begin the game in rude health too, with Cornel Râpă and Gabriel Paraschiv returned to action last Friday.

Yet all eyes will be on Rooney and yet another dramatic return to the United side in the striker’s ever turbulent story.

Match Facts
Oţelul Galaţi versus Manchester United, Champions League, National Stadium Bucharest, Tuesday 18 October 2011, 7.45pm

Likely Line-ups
Oţelul Galaţi (4-2-3-1): Grahovac; Skubič, Filip, Ljubinković, Antal; Ibeh , Buş; Costin, Pena , Giurgiu; Perendija. Subs from: Viglianti, Frunză, Punoševac, Sălăgeanu, Paraschiv, Râpă, Benga, Iorga, Frunză, Ilie, Cojoc, Chavez, Buchta, Novac.

United (4-4-1-1): Lindegaard; Jones, Vidic, Evans, Evra; Nani, Anderson, Fletcher, Young; Rooney; Hernandez. Subs from: De Gea, Smalling, Fabio, Pogba, Carrick, Park, Giggs, Berbatov, Welbeck, Valencia, Owen, Diouf.

Officials
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant referees: Thorsten Schiffner, Mark Borsch
Additional assistant referees: Christian Dingert, Tobias Welz
Fourth official: Peter Gagelmann