So the defence of our English League Cup begins tomorrow as we welcome Burton Albion to Old Trafford. After two convincing home wins against Basel and Everton, scoring 7 goals in the two games, this game can be seen as a welcome relief for the players. This will be one of the easiest games we play this season and owing to the fact that it is a home game, it should be a breeze.
How far can we go in the Carabao Cup, as they refer to it now(why do they keep changing the name?!). We are the champions and no matter how much rivals demean us, they know that at the end of the day, it's the trophies that count. Finishing anywhere but first for the top 6 teams is pointless and to go down in history, you need to be lifting the trophies.
As the reigning champions, it is our moral obligation that we defend the English League Cup and why not. However, this should be far from our top priority. We have spent all this money on all these stars to challenge for trophies like the Premier League and the Champions League. But after the rather unwarranted criticism we received for not defending the FA Cup in 2000, the club will look to put in a decent effort. However, I feel that the value of a trophy or a competition is directly proportional to the amount of effort put in by the top clubs. Last season all four semi finalists were Premier League clubs and one of them was Liverpool. Manchester United Football Club is the most successful club in England and sides from the lower tier would absolutely pounce on the opportunity of playing a top team.
Well, we can't be too confident considering we lost 4-0 to MK Dons not long ago. But hey! That was a different team and Mourinho would never accept a loss like that. This game can be seen as an opportunity for the squad players to rise up and make a point as to why they should be starting the Premier League games as well. Our squad for this season has some fantastic depth and these are the games where we can properly exploit that. So here is my predicted 11 for the game tomorrow:
Goalkeeper: I am more than certain that Romero will start in goal. David De Gea has played all the games this season and it would be unwise to bother him for a fixture of such little asking. Romero is a rock at the back as well and deserves a start tomorrow.
Defenders: I am going for a completely revamped defence from the backline that beat Everton. Right back position should be given to Darmian. The guy has quietly put his head down and played left back for the team and now is his time. Centre backs are the same as the ones that started against Basel. Lindelof and Smalling take their place in the heart of the defence again. Lindelof was shaky against Basel and hopefully this should give him more confidence. Left back is a tough decision as it could go to any one of Blind, Shaw or Mitchell. I personally hope that Shaw starts as he has more talent than Blind and is higher than Mitchell in the pecking order.
Midfielders: This game has to be played on the front foot and hence I am going for a three man midfield of Carrick, McTominay and Herrera. Carrick is the quintessential part of this midfield and McTominay, his understudy. Herrera is the proper warrior who isn't scared of venturing higher and helping out with those key passes. It is a shame that Andreas Pereira is on loan as this would have been the perfect game to start him. He is however playing well for Valencia and grabbed an assist last weekend.
Forwards: I would love to see Wilson and Gomes feature but they played a game on Monday and knowing Mourinho, he is most likely going to start Lingard, Rashford and Martial. Martial and Rashford have been rotated the most so far this season and there should be no issue of fatigue.
So there's my predicted 11. I am giving Matic, Fellaini, Mkhitaryan and Lukaku some well deserved rest. I would love to see Mitchell, Tuanzebe and Gomes come on as substitutes at some point.
Romero; Darmian, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw; Carrick, McTominay, Herrera; Lingard, Rashford, Martial.
So that's about it. I'd love to speak about Burton but I don't know much about them. All I do know is that we have faced them twice, winning on one occasion and drawing on the other. So that's it for this time. We should win this without much effort and so I am going for a comfortable 5-0 win. Come on you Reds!
How far can we go in the Carabao Cup, as they refer to it now(why do they keep changing the name?!). We are the champions and no matter how much rivals demean us, they know that at the end of the day, it's the trophies that count. Finishing anywhere but first for the top 6 teams is pointless and to go down in history, you need to be lifting the trophies.
As the reigning champions, it is our moral obligation that we defend the English League Cup and why not. However, this should be far from our top priority. We have spent all this money on all these stars to challenge for trophies like the Premier League and the Champions League. But after the rather unwarranted criticism we received for not defending the FA Cup in 2000, the club will look to put in a decent effort. However, I feel that the value of a trophy or a competition is directly proportional to the amount of effort put in by the top clubs. Last season all four semi finalists were Premier League clubs and one of them was Liverpool. Manchester United Football Club is the most successful club in England and sides from the lower tier would absolutely pounce on the opportunity of playing a top team.
Well, we can't be too confident considering we lost 4-0 to MK Dons not long ago. But hey! That was a different team and Mourinho would never accept a loss like that. This game can be seen as an opportunity for the squad players to rise up and make a point as to why they should be starting the Premier League games as well. Our squad for this season has some fantastic depth and these are the games where we can properly exploit that. So here is my predicted 11 for the game tomorrow:
Goalkeeper: I am more than certain that Romero will start in goal. David De Gea has played all the games this season and it would be unwise to bother him for a fixture of such little asking. Romero is a rock at the back as well and deserves a start tomorrow.
Defenders: I am going for a completely revamped defence from the backline that beat Everton. Right back position should be given to Darmian. The guy has quietly put his head down and played left back for the team and now is his time. Centre backs are the same as the ones that started against Basel. Lindelof and Smalling take their place in the heart of the defence again. Lindelof was shaky against Basel and hopefully this should give him more confidence. Left back is a tough decision as it could go to any one of Blind, Shaw or Mitchell. I personally hope that Shaw starts as he has more talent than Blind and is higher than Mitchell in the pecking order.
Midfielders: This game has to be played on the front foot and hence I am going for a three man midfield of Carrick, McTominay and Herrera. Carrick is the quintessential part of this midfield and McTominay, his understudy. Herrera is the proper warrior who isn't scared of venturing higher and helping out with those key passes. It is a shame that Andreas Pereira is on loan as this would have been the perfect game to start him. He is however playing well for Valencia and grabbed an assist last weekend.
Forwards: I would love to see Wilson and Gomes feature but they played a game on Monday and knowing Mourinho, he is most likely going to start Lingard, Rashford and Martial. Martial and Rashford have been rotated the most so far this season and there should be no issue of fatigue.
So there's my predicted 11. I am giving Matic, Fellaini, Mkhitaryan and Lukaku some well deserved rest. I would love to see Mitchell, Tuanzebe and Gomes come on as substitutes at some point.
Romero; Darmian, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw; Carrick, McTominay, Herrera; Lingard, Rashford, Martial.
So that's about it. I'd love to speak about Burton but I don't know much about them. All I do know is that we have faced them twice, winning on one occasion and drawing on the other. So that's it for this time. We should win this without much effort and so I am going for a comfortable 5-0 win. Come on you Reds!
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