The Carling Cup kicks off for us tomorrow, and unlike the 'difficult' game last season against Coventry City, this time, we simply have to negotiate a home tie against Middlesbrough. Wayne Rooney claims that United's hardest program of the campaign is over so I expect that we use this fixture to announce our return to winning ways. Worryingly for United fans, the squad will be weaker than it should have been as Manucho and Rafael have been ruled out with injuries. The Angolan in particular must be dreading the prospect of picking up the same curse that Saha had in his time at OT. Sir Alex has already promised to put out a side that has a mixture of youth and experience--much to the delight of Southgate I suppose. Danny Welbeck will almost certainly start and I only wish that he is partnered by Carlos Tevez--who did not feature at the weekend. Meanwhile, Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson, Neville and Park should be in line for a role as they all need games behind them to get 100% match fit. There is a small history between United and Boro in the Carling Cup---diving, penalty,etc...but I hope we will do enough to negotiate our passage into the next round. We have enough players to see this tournament through, and who knows, it could be as vital as it turned out to be in 2006! So here's to a United victory...Cheers!
