NANI SHOULD BE OFFLOADED IN JANUARY

Ever since the start of the current season (2012/2013), Nani's performance in the colours of Manchester United has been at a very low ebb. In fact, he has hardly put a foot right and if not for Ashley Young's injury, I am very sure he would have been permanently relegated to the bench by now.

His second to none abysmal performance hit top gear after his contract extension talks fell through and from the look of things, cashing in on him seem a rational option. I believe Fergie would have sold him during the summer if he bought Lucas Moura from Sao Paulo or Neymar (a deal he started and almost consumated on transfer deadline day) from Santos.

Zenith St Petersbrough of Russia is very keen in securing his services and Zenith's interest presents us another ample opportunity of cashing in on Nani when the January transfer window opens.

UNITED INJURY WORRIES!!!

Let me begin by taking you back to 2009/2010 season. A season which was started on a good note with almost all our players available.  Halfway through the season, injury rocked our defence line with Neville, vidic, Ferdinand,O'shea and Brown all injured. We played not less than two matches with Fletcher playing at right back, Anderson and Carrick playing at centreback (Aston Villa and Fulham). we lost those matches and that made us lose the title to chelsea on the last day of the season.

In 2011/2012 season, we started the season on a high note firing all cylinders until our best midfield pair (Anderson and Cleverly) got injured. Our injury woes got compounded when Fletcher and Vidic were ruled out for the rest of the season. Eventually, we lost the tittle to City on goal difference. What irks me most is if not for the injury problem, we would have at least drawn some matches we lost, reduced the margin at which we lost (against City) and won some matches we drew.

It is still the same injury story this season as usual. Prior to the start of the season, jones, Smalling, Evans and Ferdinand got injured and this made Carrick play at centreback in our first two matches of the season. Everton capitalised on Carrick and won the match but we were able to win Fulham.

It is less than a month into the season and we have Rooney as another casualty. Shinji and RVP both sustained injury while on international duty ad when they will be available remains a doubt. I hope by the time the season goes halfway, our injury worries will be more compounded and that makes me ask this question WHEN WILL UNITED HAVE CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH???

United's performance/player rating in AUGUST.

The month of August marks the beginning of another premier league calendar year and as such, every club always prepare ahead of the season so as to ensure a perfect start to the season.

Manchester United as a team had a fairly good pre-season and started the season on August 20 at Goodison park against Everton. Owing to injury sustained by some key defenders, Antonio Valencia was deployed to the right back position while Michael Carrick partnered Vidic at centreback. Paul Scholes and Cleverly paired at the middle of the park while Nani and Kagawa operated from the flanks with Rooney and Welbeck pairing upfront. RVP started on the bench and later came on as a substitute but he could do nothing to salvage the loss. United lost the match due to our defence frailties and Wayne Rooney's loss of form.

The second match of the season was against Fulham at home. Several changes were made to the team that started against everton. Manchester United won the match 3-2 and the match was highlighted with RVP's trademark volley, David De Gea's blunder and Wayne Rooney's injury.

UnitedEcho's player rating for the month of August is as follows:
De Gea - 6
Rafael  - 6
Evra     - 5
Vidic    - 6
Carrick- 5.5
Valencia- 6.5
Anderson- 4
Scholes   - 5
Cleverly  - 6
Nani       - 3
Young    - 5
Giggs     - 4
Kagawa - 8
Rooney  - 4
RVP       - 7

ASSESSING UNITED"S NEW SIGNINGS

Wow! How time flies. It seems like yesterday that the transfer window opened and before we could blink our eyes, BAM! The transfer market has gone and the season has fully begun. The transfer market exhibited a lot of twists, turns, suspense, speculations and controversial moves.

Manchester united like any other ambitious football club was very active during the transfer window and United’s activeness in the transfer market owes to the fact that the club wants to reclaim back the English premiership title (which was lost on goal difference last season) from the hands of arch-rival Manchester City and the club’s intent to reclaim its dominant force in Europe following a dismal performance at the uefa competitions (Champions league and Europa cup).

Here is UnitedEcho’s assessment of Manchester United’s summer signings:

SHINJI KAGAWA

The 23 year old Japanese playmaker was bought for an amount in the region of 12 million pounds after being monitored for over a year at Dortmund. Shinji was bought for 2 reasons:

1)   To penetrate more into Asian market following the imminent departure of Ji Sung Park.

2)   To add to our attacking options.

So far, he has shown us a glimpse of what made Fergie acquire him via his passing ability, quick vision and scoring ability. He has adjusted to life fairly in England and from UnitedEcho’s assessment of him, there is more to come from him.

At present, he is playing behind striker but in the near future, I think he will play deep in our midfield.

ROBIN VAN PERSIE (RVP)

Robin VanPersie ended the 2011/12 season as the league’s top scorer banging in 30 premier league goals with 37 goals in all competitions.  He started his Manchester United career on a bright note by opening his goal scoring account with a trademark volley in first start of the season at home against Fulham which was followed by a spectacular hat-trick away at Southampton. He has been compared to his fellow compatriot United legend (Ruud VanNistelrooy) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (whose shirt number he wears).

Pundits have tipped him as a major contender for the EPL top goal scorer award with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero. RVP is a real value for money. He will fill the goal scoring void left unfilled by Wellbeck and Chicharito if he remains injury free.

NICK POWELL

The 4 million Pound United signing from Crewe Alexandra is still a work-in-progress. Though he had decent games during the pre-season matches, only time will tell where and how he will fit-in in United’s plan.

ALEXANDRE BUTTNER

He was bought in as a cover for Patrice Evra at the left back position and impressed in the match against Spurs under 21 team. He has the potential to succeed at Man Utd but I doubt if he can cope with the pressure of playing for a big club like United.

ANGELO HENRIQUEZ

The fact that Arsenal, Chelsea and other big clubs in Europe were in the race to sign the former Universidad de Chile starlet goes to show he is a promising player. He can’t really be judged for now in that he has not kicked a ball for United but all I can say is he is far from being a finished product but under the tutelage of Sir Alex, the star in him will be brought out.