Sir Alex looks for his 500th career win with Manchester United against Sunderland on Saturday.

Sunderland is manager-less as Roy Keane stepped down earlier this week.

Darren Fletcher will most likely be able to play after he suffered a hamstring injury last weekend.

As for the striker situation, Sir Alex gave the media insight to his dilemma;

"Carlos Tevez has given me a big selection problem after he scored four goals in our last game.

"I have been doodling on my pad trying to see how I could fit all these players in, but one of the important parts of your team is a proper balance. I am working on that.

"It was a fantastic performance from the lad on Wednesday, full of energy and aggressive running.

"The lad always tries and I admire him for that, even if it does not make my job any easier."
- BBC SPORT

Kickoff is 17:30.
I have no worries, we've gotten more points of Sunderland than any other team in the league.
Glory Glory Man United!
Drew.

Carlos Tevez has not played much this season... in fact, appearing in a total of 20 games for United this season, he has become third preference to Berbatov and Rooney.

However, we know that when he does play, Tevez puts in his 100% into every game. So why the lack of goals? When he started against Aston Villa, he looked as if he didn't fit in well, possibly putting doubts in the mind of Sir Alex.

And if Sir Alex did have any doubts, they were all shattered this afternoon. Tevez started up-front on a typical Carling Cup Manchester squad, an abundance of the young, the few old, and the returning from injury. This time, his hard work payed off as he punished the Rovers with 4 goals. Yeah, FOUR goals! Ok so the first kind of went off a Blackburn defender and the third was because of some really (I mean really, go watch the replay) unselfishness by Anderson, but all in all he was the perfect prowler. His fourth goal was finished in typical Tevez style - powerful, accurate, and on the fly.

So here's my question: Does it really matter?
Well...I'm not sure. It's only Carling Cup, but this is an excellent breakthrough for the 24 year old. I hope, that either Berba or Rooney will be taking a seat for Sunday's game vs Sunderland to make room for Tevez. However, Sir Alex can sometimes be hard to predict...

Do you feel Tevez has earned a starting spot? Who would you put up front?

I say: I like Rooney and Berba, but it's good to mix it up.
Cheers, Drew.

Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Carling Cup
Old Trafford, Wed 3 December

Manchester United 5
Tevez 36, 51 (penalty), 54, 90, Nani 40.

Blackburn 3
McCarthy 48, 90, Derbyshire 84.

Don't let the score fool you, Manchester United put on a wonderful display tonight at Old Trafford! Sir Alex elected to start his young guns Rodrigo Possebon, Rafael, Johnny Evans, and Darron Gibson, who he stated had helped United get this far into the competition. Also starting was third string keeper, Ben Foster, who put on a decent display in a start that was long coming.

United was on the attack from the start and had Blackburn on their heels. A couple chances wasted including Gibson's header cleared off the line, before Carlos Tevez scored his first of four goals on a far post header. It did however seem as if it was an own goal, but Tevez claimed it.

Shortly after Nani scored a cracker to put United in front by two. Early in the second half, United gave up a goal after a slip-up by Gary Neville who had just come back from injury. However, it only took 3 minutes for United to gain the 2 goal lead back when Tevez was taken down in the box and stepped up to score his second goal on a penalty.

By far the prettiest goal of the match was Tevez's third! After playing a one-two with Giggs, Anderson played another one-two with Tevez before walking in all alone on Robinson(Blackburn). When any other player would have selfishly shot - and most likely scored too - Anderson cooly slotted the ball back to an on-running Tevez who had the wide open net!

Late in the second half United gave up two back to back goals to Blackburn which sprung the life back into the side which was heavily deflated for the ladder 45 minutes of the game. As Blackburn pressed forward in injury time, hoping for an equalizer, United caught them on the counter attack, and Tevez scored his fourth to assure his team a spot in the Carling Cup semi-finals.

Of note: Scholes was substituted on in the 66th minutes, returning after being two months out due to injury. Welcome back Scholesy!

Would be happier if United didn't give up three...
Sunderland on Saturday!

Glory Glory Man United!
Cheers, Drew.

Tomorrow, Wednesday December 3rd, Manchester will be playing the Carling Cup quarter final against Blackburn.

Blackburn, who in league are staring relegation in the face, beat Everton and Sunderland in the second and third rounds respectively and will really have to step up to beat United who are in top form.

Manchester United won third round vs Portsmouth and fourth round against Queens Park Rangers to reach the quarter-finals. Ben Foster, Manchester United's reserve goalkeeper hopes that Sir Alex will give him a chance to start on Wednesday.

Says Foster, "I’ve got to take any chances I’m given and hopefully one will come along soon," - from Manutd.com

JUST IN

Sir Alex says that Paul Scholes may see some pitch during today's game. Scholes has been out since the 30th of September and I'm sure he'll be anxious to get back in. Sir Alex also says that he will continue to play his younger players.

"Although we are now into the quarter-finals, I intend to stay with the young ones who have got us this far. Players like Jonny Evans, Rafael, Darron Gibson, Rodrigo Possebon and Danny Welbeck [will all be involved]." -from Manutd.com

Anyone fancy Welbeck scores another cracker?

No worries, I predict a 2-0 win for United.
Glory Glory Man United!
Drew.

Early this morning France Football honored Cristiano Ronaldo with the Ballon d'Or - otherwise known as the European Footballer of the year award.

Ronny racked up a cool 446 out of 480 points while second place Lionel Messi of Barcalona and third place Fernando Torres of Liverpool racked up 281 and 179 points respectively.

77 journalists from France Football magazine voted Ronaldo as their first and he was the only player to appear on every one of the 96 ballots.

Ronaldo becomes the fourth Manchester United player to win the prestigious award and only the third Portuguese player to take the honor. It was almost a given he would win the award coming off a nothing-less-than-stellar season with 42 goals, the English Premier League Championship and the European Championship (UEFA Champions League).

Visit Here To See Ronaldo's Comments on Manutd.com

Well done Ronny!
Come on United!
Drew.


Ronaldinho won the Ballon d'or in 2005

MANCHESTER CITY 0
MANCHESTER UNITED 1
(Rooney 42)

Oh, what a game.

Rooney scores his 100th goal in a game which United clearly dominated. Ronaldo, Berbatov and Evra all came breathlessly close to goals before Rooney slotted in the Micheal Carrick rebound just before the half. The second half was more mundane than the first with City coming close with only few minutes remaining, but Patrice Evra cleared the ball off the line, securing United's three points.

On a sour note, Ronaldo was sent off after two yellow cards. The first given, in my opinion ( and clearly in Ronaldo's too) undeservedly after a very weak tackle on Shaun Wright-Phillips, and the second for a confusing deliberate handball in the box off a Rooney corner. Ronaldo claimed the whistle blew before he touched the ball, but after mocking referee Howard Webb when given the first yellow, there was no doubt he would receive the second yellow.



More great news for United fans, Arsenal and Van Persie defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, 2-1! Where does that leave United?

United have 28 points, with Chelsea and Liverpool tied at 33.
Both United and Liverpool having played 14, with Chelsea and Arsenal having completed 15.
Arsenal moves to 26 points.

I'll add some more later.
Drew

So, I know this may be a little off topic, but i just wanted to introduce two ways that Manchester United fans can watch highlights of every Premier League game as well as Champions League games!

Facebook
First off, the Facebook group for Manchester United always has videos of the game, usually 24 hours after - sometimes even quicker!



As you can see, this group is also great for all stats on Manchester United, but that`s besides the point =).


FootyTube
FootyTube is a wonderful site that allows users to submit highlights to the websites database. The videos are then sorted by game and put on the site's homepage.


Videos range from really good quality to very poor and also vary in length. The length depends on the uploader of the video; whether they wanted to show just goals, just goals but from every angle available, or even all chances and all goals! [My personal favourite, especially if you miss the game]
Again, you might have to wait about 12-24 hours to find your favourite team's highlights [*cough* Manchester United *cough*] but for free.. its well worth the wait.

Note for non-Manchester Fans: FootyTube offers videos from nearly every league!

Hope this was useful!
Go United!

Drew

The Derby is here!

This Sunday, Manchester United will take on Manchester City at the Eastlands. With a rich history between the two teams and the steadily improving form of City, it's guaranteed to be a show!

"There might be a different focus on the derby this time considering all the prospects and money available to Mark Hughes. But that doesn’t change our side of it or how we approach the match." - Sir Alex

Notables:
- C. Ronaldo played against Villareal and should be able to play in this match.
- Berbatov, out with a hamstring injury, has started training and Fergie will most likely make the call on game day.
- Scholes and Neville both out with injuries, will most likely not play.



Drew