Weekend Outlook (12 Aug 2007)

Manchester United vs Reading

"...It (ManUtd's current squad) looks top-heavy like a massive body builder with mosquito legs..."

- JayWalk, 11 Aug 2007

Hi and welcome to a brand new season of European football and after months of cold turkey, I am raring to go!

Usually, I would start this off with a quick review of the previous game but given that the last game was played quite long ago (Community Shield and pre-season friendlies don't count as games proper), I decided to use this space to share something interesting.

I would like to introduce to you one of ManUtd's latest signings. It's not Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson nor Tevez but 9 year-old Rhain Davies.

If we can't buy Ronaldihno, we will make one ourselves! Check out the Youtube clip on this little lad. Reuters have an article covering this boy as well. (Click Here). Future is bright for this kid. We will see him on the pitch in less than 10 years. Mark my words!

Anyway, we welcome Carlos Tevez to Old Trafford who only just cleared all paperwork with the FA and is now 100% ManUtd. Again, I have my doubts on South American ManUtd players but I do hope to be proven wrong even though Heinze is still buzzing like an annoying fly. No Heinze on the team lineup for now. *swat*

The 50 million shopping spree came to me as a surprise as I totally did not expect that. That is just Fergie's way of telling us not to rest on our laurels just because we won the league title. Mind you, it was 1 miserable title after 3 years of wilderness. Fergie is making sure that we are going to hang on to the trophy for as long as we can. Hopefully an ECL trophy as well for good measure.

I see 2 potential problems with our current situation. Yes, we are beefy but a tad unbalance. We have strong midfield and attack but I see us still lacking in the back especially when Heinze wants out. It looks top-heavy like a massive body builder with mosquito legs.

Another problem is that while we may have a lot of good players to pick for each match, we can only pick 11 to go onto the pitch at one time. It is not like the strong players go for the Starting XI while the weaker one are contented to wait for the opportunity on the bench. Mind you, these are all super talented players and so who would want to warm the bench?

At the end of the day, we are going to get resentment from the players for not getting enough first team action. Let us not forget that this breeds the opportunity for leeching players who don't play but still get a fat paycheck every week.

Has Chelsea not taught us anything?

JayWalk The Talk: Paul Scholes is sure to start today and the chase for the elusive goal to be ManUtd's outright top scorer of Premier League goals continues. Ryan Giggs would also relish the chance to bang in a couple of goals too, to earn his centenary of career league goals.

Sickbay-wise, Park, Foster, Dong, Saha O'Shea and Neville are still out. Even so, we are still overflowing not only the Start XI but also the subs' bench as well. As a result, I see Ferdinand (150th Premier League game) partnering Vidic holding the back with Silvestre and Brown at the flanks, pushing slight forward to join Scholes, Giggs (or Fletcher) and Carrick in the midfield. Up front, we have Rooney and Ronaldo to provide the firepower with Van dar Sar (100th ManUtd game) holding the fort.

As much excitement as we have of our new signings, I doubt if any of the new signings will feature. It's like not putting the new fishes straight into the aquarium when you bring them back home from the pet store. Word has it, Nani would probably be the only one to feature but the bench is probably his best bet, joining Chris Eagles and if we are like 3-0 up or better, we'd be sure to see them come on for a run-in.

On the side of the Coppell boys, Sidwell has gone to Chelsea and the bunch of Messrs. Cox, Mate, Brown, Little, Lita and Sonko won't be available as a result of injury. Not good when you are traveling to Manchester for the opening game. Not good.

JayWalk The Walk: The good news is that ManUtd opens the season at home and we have not been defeated on our first game of the season in the last 11 except 1 (2004 defeat to Chelsea). The bad news is that as a result, bookies put ManUtd to give 1.75 ball handicap and a decimal odds of 1.975 to beat it.

Also, in the last 4 match-ups against Reading, 2 were draws and we did not win the other 2 by 2 goals or more.

Verdict: ManUtd win is for sure but the handicap odds suck. A 2-goal victory only yield half a win. Not worth punting unless bookie revising the odds down to 1.5 (or even 1.25) ball.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.