Monday, July 16, 2012

AmaZulu vs. Manchester United: Predicting the Starting XI for Preseason Friendly

Manchester United's preseason tour is almost under way. First on the list is an away game to South African Football club AmaZulu. This will be the first time that Sir Alex Ferguson's men will be in South Africa since 2008.
The preseason tour will give fans the opportunity to witness the team and the new signings. It will be especially interesting to see how Shinji Kagawa performs with the team and what formation Sir Alex will employ in order to accommodate the former Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder.

In most likelihood, a switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation seems to be impending.

Here's picking United's Starting XI against AmaZulu.

 Goalkeeper
I'd give the nod to David de Gea.




Defenders
Nemanja Vidic is probably not fully fit, and Sir Alex would not want to thrust him into the starting lineup at the first opportunity.
The most likely defensive pairing would be that of Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand. However, given the latter's recent outbursts on Twitter, Chris Smalling might be favored to start over him.
Patrice Evra will feature as the left-back, and Brazilian Rafael will be at the right.

Midfielders

Picking the two midfielders occupying the "two" position is a little bit tricky. Nevertheless, instinct tells me that it will be Michael Carrick and Phil Jones.

Jones is great at tackling and holding the ball, while Carrick is a natural distributor. It will be interesting to see how this duo might perform. Jones and Carrick might just form a formidable partnership as ball-winner and deep-lying playmaker.

On the right flank will be United's player of the season of 2011/12: Antonio Valencia. Situated on the left will be Nani, who had a much better Euro 2012 than Ashley Young, who flopped dramatically.


At the center, sitting right behind the striker, will be Manchester United's new marquee acquisition Shinji Kagawa.

Forward
Since the formation only accommodates one striker, that will be United's talisman Wayne Rooney.

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