Pick Man Utd’s best 11 for the Porto match

On Wednesday Manchester United play the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against FC Porto and this is your invitation to play Sir Alex Ferguson and pick their starting 11.

Porto is a very strong team and arguably looked the better side in the first leg at Old Trafford which ended in a 2-2 draw.  Certainly Manchester United were not at their brightest that day, but injuries and fatigue from a long season may not have abated in the short time since.

 

They need to win or draw with two or more goals, so scoring will be paramount.  Which 11 players would you choose?

Here is the squad traveling to Porto’s Estadio do Dragao:

GK:  Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak

DEF:  Neville, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Rafael, Fabio, O’Shea, J. Evans

MID: Ronaldo, Anderson, Scholes, Gibson, Carrick, Park, Nani, Giggs

FWD: Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov, Macheda.

While it seems slightly arbitrary to pick a formation for this squad given how much mobility and freedom they typically play with, SAF might nevertheless consider something other than a 4-4-2 for this fixture.  

Here’s my proposed starting line-up, using Rooney as a box to box player.

———-Macheda—Berbatov———-

——————-Rooney——————-

Ronaldo——–Giggs————Nani

Rafael—–Ferdinand–Vidic—–Evra

—————–Van der Sar—————–

Forwards

I’ve included Macheda because the kid is hot, skilled and a bit unknown, so he will worry Porto, and he might have another moment of brilliance.  If Berbatov is fit, I see his style as fitting with Macheda.  I would pull Rooney just back into the hole behind the forwards, giving him a free box to box role that will aid him coming out of nowhere and perhaps forcing a defender to shift off the forwards.

Midfielders

The midfield is more of a worry, you’ve got to include Ronaldo I think for his ocassional life saving brilliance and hope he rises to the occasion rather than fall to his own foibles.  Some people would like to see Scholes in the middle,  but for me his impulsiveness is a liability – in the last two seasons I’ve seen him deliberatively use his hands at either end in front of goal. Giggs seems the quiet thinker who’ll see what needs to be done and can make a brilliant play.  A possibility might be to start Scholes for his tough tackling to set a tone and then bring Giggs on at the half.  On the right, if he’s fit and on his game, I think you have to play Nani.  Nani should be inspired playing in his home country against a rival of his old club Sporting Lisbon.

Backs

Picking the back four used to be easy, but nothing seems reliable with this squad now. Certainly Ferdinand and Vidic must be their best center backs if fit.  I’d go with Rafael if he is fit.  Though one knows Rafael will tend to get forward slightly too much, he is so quick he can come from behind a good forward, get goal side, and take the ball away.  On the right I’d tend to go with Evra.

Bench

On my bench I’d have Johnny Evans  as an injury sub for the center backs and maybe Fabio if he is back to his best;  Scholes or Anderson; Tevez to bring in fresh legs up front, he is at his most dangerous when the defense has a few extra minutes in their legs; and whomever is looking best out of O’Shea, Carrick, and Park.

The team needs energy, attitude, and urgency to get through to the quarterfinals and save their luck for later.  This is a very different side compared to what we’ve been seeing lately.  I’d side with more youth, Sir Alex may pick more experience.

Do you like this line-up?  What changes would you make?