Teams: Manchester United v Crawley Town Competition: FA Cup Fifth Round Fourth Round: Southampton 1 2 Manchester United & Torquay United 0 1 Crawley Town Kick Off: 17 15 on the 19th February 2011 on TV @ ITV please log in to view this image The 2004 FA Cup Side After the pandemonium of the Manchester derby, Old Trafford welcomes non-league Crawley Town on Saturday, in the FA Cup Fifth Round. Sir Alex is looking to win the FA Cup for the first time in six years (during which Chelsea & Arsenal have beat us in the final) and will be optimistic that his team can challenge for it this season. Nonetheless, Ferguson is likely to make widespread changes from the team that faced Manchester City; with a team more similar to the one that overcame Southampton in the last round. With a week to rest and prepare for this match, Sir Alex will be hoping to keep his squad fresh and avoid injury for the tide of fixtures that follow this match: with fixtures against Marseilles, Wigan, Chelsea & Liverpool following in quick succession. Against statistically easier opposition than Southampton, and with the advantage of being at home, Ferguson could justify fielding an even less experienced side on Saturday than in the previous rounds. Personally, I would have no problem with Ferguson playing a few of the very junior players (Pogba, Morrison, Keane) but I think he will play it safely with the second team. However, following his loan spell at Preston and impressive return of 8 goals in 5 games upon his return to the reserves, I would like to see Josh King given a chance as the ââ¬Ëwild-cardââ¬â¢ player alongside the experienced Michael Owen. Ferguson will be hoping to save the legs of as many players as possible but may be hoping to hand a substitute appearance to the returning Antonio Valencia, who started training with the Reserves on Monday- the Ecuadorian is bound to be short of match practise but has apparently maintained a good level of fitness through aqua therapy at Carrington. With Ji Sung Park possibly out for a month, the return of the winger will be a great addition to our team for the run in. Can Gibson Endear Himself to the OT Faithful Once Again? In the last round, Sir Alex deployed Gabriel Obertan (who may/ may not have handed in a transfer request) as a striker alongside Owen based on his impressive scoring record for the Reserves but he failed to make an impression on the match. Instead, I expect the French player to return to the left, with Bebe on the right, who has been give time away from the spotlight to improve his fitness and technical ability. Excitingly, our new keeper, Andres Lindegaard, will be making his home debut and be fulfilling his childhood dream of playing at Old Trafford with what I expect to be an experienced defense in front of him. John Oââ¬â¢Shea will probably captain the side again alongside the outcasted Wes Brown & much maligned Jonny Evans (injury permitting). Fabio, one of my stand out performers at St Maryââ¬â¢s, will play at LB although he has found himself playing more as an attacking midfielder in recent Reserves fixtures. For Predicted Line Ups, Key Clashes, Predictions & the One-to-Watch find the full article @ http://cantheyscore.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/pre-match-line-ups-fa-cup-5th-round-manchester-united-v-crawley-town-old-trafford-19-02-11/ And Follow Me On Twitter @ twitter.com/CanTheyScore
I would like nothing more than Gibson to prove me wrong; but we all know he'll not disappoint. By the way good article and website. Any good NI players in the reserves or on the horizon? God knows we could do with a few after that pathetic display in Dublin the other night.
Well it depends whether you class Cory Evans in that, personally I don't rate him as United quality but he's doing well in the Championship I've heard, was a nice goal against Italy too! I know there is a Rep of Ireland kid, Sean McGinty who is rated very highly but I haven't seen too much of him. Cheers for the follow! and Thanks for the compliments!
Well it depends whether you class Cory Evans in that, personally I don't rate him as United quality but he's doing well in the Championship I've heard, was a nice goal against Italy too! I know there is a Rep of Ireland kid, Sean McGinty who is rated very highly but I haven't seen too much of him. Cheers for the follow! and Thanks for the compliments!
