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Wigan Athletic v Man Utd: Preview

It all boils down to today. All year’s work being reduced to a cup final. Ideally, we should have never let it come to this. But, as they say, given this situation at the start of the season — a final game against Wigan and a Champions’ League final — we’d have gladly taken it. So win the title today, and it would give the players a big boost going into the Champions’ League final. Lose it, and it will be a long ten days in the run up to the Champions’ League. I suspect, that conceding the Premier League title would rankle in the minds of the players more than conceding the CL simply because we have been the most free scoring team in the league and should be beating a side like Wigan almost always.

Anyway, let’s move on to news in the run up to the game.

First of all some words from the boss dismissing his retirement speculation: ‘I’m carrying on, I still have a bit of damage to do yet’, is what the great man had to say in response to the questions posed to him. We all know that some day he would have to leave but somehow I don’t seem to be able get myself to subscribe to that notion. It reminds me of a story I read somewhere:

A priest in a church was giving a sermon.

“How many of you want to go to heaven?”, he asks, to which almost everyone raises their hand. Except one bloke.

Puzzled, the priest asks him, “Son, don’t you want to go to heaven?”. And the young man says, “Father, I do, but not now. I enjoy my life as it is at the moment.”

Fergie reminds me of that man. He knows he’ll have to let go one day and retire to his ‘heaven’ and glory. But he enjoys his life at United so much that he just can’t just seem to let go. And we must feel eternally grateful to that. It would be a terrible, terrible day when he leaves.

Right, on to the team news now. And it still looks like Rooney would be on the bench while Vidic could start. That would mean Brown would move back to his right back position, with Hargreaves on the bench — the defence getting a more familiar look. It would still be 4-4-2, I suppose. Tevez and Ronaldo up front. Nani would have made it if it wasn’t for his moment of madness against West Ham. So Park and Giggs will start on the wings. Carrick and Scholes will be in central midfield.

The players looked focused on this game, and they ought to be. I don’t think, even for a moment — and I shouldn’t even be thinking of it, that Bolton will give any fight to Chelsea. We’ve always had Wigan’s number, and considering how much is at stake I would expect nothing short of a resounding victory that will bring the curtains down on another season to be proud of.

Prediction: 3-1 to United.

Come on you REDS!!! Do it once more: for your manager, for the fans, for your loved ones, for your wives, girlfriends (favourite hookers) or even your favourite power rangers character. Just do it — as your kit sponsor would say.