 |
|
English Premier League Preview: Newcastle V Manchester United [Fri Aug 26th, 2005]
A match between two of the more entertaining teams in the premiership will act as a good barometer of Man Utd’s good form and the real extent of Newcastle’s problems.
BACKGROUND
Newcastle are clearly the Soap Opera of the Premiership with intrigues, battles, plots, sackings and even, last season, a hugely entertaining onfield fight between two Newcastle players.
In recent seasons the Manchester club has had the upper hand and Newcastle has rarely been able to disturb the Mancunian’s superiority, and for most fans Newcastle continue to be notable more for the various off-the-field shenanigans than exploits on the field.
For Newcastle United to finish fourteenth in the Premiership was almost disaster last season. For a time they were flirting dangerously around the relegation places which made the highly premature sacking of Sir Bobby Robson in the very early days of the season seem even more inexplicable. The opening games of this season have seen no improvement.
Three games, two defeats, one solitary draw and only one goal scored is dire form and particularly so for a team with such aspirations. The ignominious exit from Europe at the hands of Deportivo La Coruna in the InterToto Cup put a dampener on the season even before the Test matches had excited the nation, and that downward spiral continued into the season.
Their main problem has been securing new striking talent to take the strain off Alan Shearer’s tiring legs. Failure to sign admitted targets like Nicolas Anelka and Albert Luque have demonstrated how keen Sousness is to solve the problem but the embarrassing Michael Owen saga has demonstrated how low the club has slumped compared to the major powers.
For Manchester United things are substantially better. Four games, four wins and a revitalised Ruud van Nistelrooy means that Sir Alex brings the Reds to the North-East in a decent run of form. Not without problems though. The painful injury to Gary Neville on a wretched pitch in Hungary leaves him out of action for 5-6 weeks, an absence which might be more keenly felt by England than United.
Apart from Neville and long-term absences Quinton Fortune and Olle Gunnar Solskjaer, the Reds should have a full-strength squad to choose from. Above all recent clashes between the two Uniteds have been enjoyable because of the combustible Scots prowling around the technical area, like huge primeval beasts hungry for the next flesh to devour.
Fergie may.... may just be mellowing, and Souness has been a more placid character in recent seasons, but put the pair together in a high-octane situation and you know that sparks are going to fly. The frightening thing for Newcastle fans is that the game, like others this season, might be too dismal to provoke more than a weary shake of the head from Souness.
CURRENT FORM:
Newcastle: Still too early in the season to detect real trends, but even veteran Newcastle fans were dismayed by the lack of heart shown by their team in Wednesday’s match at Bolton. That is becoming a worrying trend which has been in evidence for several weeks.
If the highly public courtship of Michael Own isn’t consummated by the closing of the Transfer Window in just a few days, then the sense of disappointment on Tyneside might become all-enveloping.
It isn’t just that the results have been disappointing. The performances have caused pain and disappointment to the fans. Even the one point gained came in a goalless draw at St. James' Park with newly-promoted West Ham United, who held on for a draw despite playing more than a third of the game with ten men after Paul Konchesky was sent off in dubious circumstances.
This was a noble first point in the Premiership for West Ham, but a shabby result for Newcastle, unable to beat or even score on Premiership newcomers.
The fans are restless and if the match this weekend sees another defeat and, more importantly, another lacklustre display, then Freddie might well be reaching for his axe again and Graham Sousness will be looking nervously over his shoulder.
No such worries at Man Utd. The threatened crisis and disruption caused by the arrival of the Glazer family hasn’t appeared and Fergie seems quietly pleased with the shape and performances of the squad.
Wins and goals put any team in good heart, but for United and Fergie the most pleasing outcome of the first few games has been the return to regular scoring form of Ruud van Nistelrooy. Fans of Man Utd will expect van Nistelrooy and partner Rooney to make hay at the expense of a Newcastle United side likely to be even more demoralised by the likely snub to come from Michael Owen.
TEAM NEWS:
Newcastle: After the shambles at Bolton the beleagured Sousness would like to make changes but can’t bring in the signings he wants and the current squad is too threadbare to allow major changes. Scott Parker should overcome a slight knock but Emre is still out injured.
Manchester United: The injury suffered by Gary Neville in the the Debrecen game is United’s only enforced change, but Fergie will probably resist the temptation to start rotating before the clocks go back.
WATCH OUT FOR:
Newcastle: The signing of Scott Parker was the only bright spot in a dismal close-season and he has impressed in a holding role this season, to the extent that many are voicing the heresy that he should replace either Lampard or Gerrard for England.
Manchester United: The Player of the season returned against Debrence on Wednesday and scored twice. Not Rooney, or Ronaldo, or Van Nistelrooy. It was Gabrielle Heinze, an all-action, up and down the field left back with a tackle out of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and an attitude that screams that he wants to win for United. And he plays with a smile that suggests that he appreciates how fortunate he is to be paid a fortune for playing football for a living.
PROBABLE STARTING XIs:
Newcastle: Given, Carr, Elliott, Taylor, Boumsong, Bowyer, Parker, Jenas, Harper, Shearer, Ameobi
Manchester United: Van der Sar, Brown, Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Fletcher, Keane, Scholes, Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, Rooney
Alan Lawson
News headlines from around the world.