Fergies Potential Headache

After the last game against Sunderland, I think Sir Alex finds himself faced with a few potential selection headaches in the next few weeks. Not a bad problem to have, but in todays world of footballers with over pampered egos, I think it is going to take all of his famous man management powers to keep every one happy. But in saying that, he has never been one to rotate excessively, like say Benitez does, so this may even be a new challenge for him. He also has a few more superstars to deal with than Benitez, and that is said in earnest not as some sort of snipe at Liverpool. Both the rotation and 'best team' policies have their own merits and faults. Benitez has a lot of 'squad' players to pick from whereas Fergie has a lot of what would be considered automatic selections.

The first of these headaches is created by Louis Saha's return to fitness and the first team. It doesn't take an expert to work out that he is exactly the type of player that United were lacking and although a lot of doubts exist around his fitness, whenever he plays and gets a decent run of games, he has proved that he is a very good player. We have looked very flat up front, and although Tevez has tried hard, he clearly cannot play the role that Saha does. Even when Rooney comes back it will be very hard to leave Saha out, as he also thrives playing off of someone. If you think back to the worst United performances over the last few years, they have all come with Rooney playing up top on his own. When they are all available, it is going to be interesting to see what The Boss does.

But that dilemma is small compared to the one he has in midfield. Ronaldo and Scholes pretty much pick themselves, especially after last season, which leaves Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Anderson, Hargreaves and Fletcher to fill two spaces. In my opinion Hargeaves needs to play, as he looks to be exactly the kind of player we have been missing. Someone who can protect the back four and turn defence into attack in an instant. Giggs gets the nod too as he still delivers at a consistently high level and is one of the few people in the league who manages to clear the first defender from a deadball situation almost every time. He is also a Fergie stalwart and keeps defying his age. Nani has probably played a bigger role than initially expected and played relatively well at that, so he will be itching to keep his place. Anderson was in and around the Porto first team for a while, both domestically and in the Champions League, so will want to get on and impress too. Darren Fletcher is not exactly the type of player to set the world alight, but has recently proven to be quite capable when called upon. Fergie also seems to have a lot of faith in his potential and will not want to give up on him. So all of these will need to be kept happy.

The biggest loser in this sitiuation looks as though it is going to be Michael Carrick, probably too good to be on the bench, but not consistent enough to displace Scholes or Hargreaves, he may turn into a very expensive substitute or squad player. Even against Sunderland, he didn't looked too impressed to be on the bench and also has his England place to fight for. The midfield is where I think Fergie will need to apply most of his skills.

At the back it is pretty settled. Neville, Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra when they are all fit, with Brown and O' Shea for cover as they can both play anywhere across the back. I haven't mentioned Silvestre as I think he is a liability and will hopefully be on his way in January anyway.

It is going to be very intereseting to see how this problem is tackled, but I am sure it will result in another feather in Sir Alex's cap. It is after all a much better problem to have than last season and sets us up for an all out assault on the Champions League.