Clash of the Titans: Man United vs Real

Champions in the making?

Mouthwatering is an understated way to describe the match-up in tomorrow's Champions' League 2nd leg between two giants of the game. After a difficult start to the season, Jose Mourinho's team is beginning to click into high gear and this can only bode ill for the Red Devils. Yet, United are on a peach of a run themselves coming off a 4-0 trashing of the Canaries in the league and in the process witnessing Shinji Kagawa score the first ever hattrick by an Asian in the BPL. More importantly perhaps for the Mancunian squad is another clean sheet and the prospect of a stubborn goaless draw to qualify on the away goals rule.

But before we even start placing undue merit on Danny Wellbeck's headed goal at the Bernabeau, prospects are high that Real Madrid will score based on their recent back-to-back wins against Catalan magicians Barcelona. With that in mind, how will United line-up against the Spanish marauders?

I think a balanced and tight unit will be the priority for the Red Devils. To start, Vidic and Ferdinand will play at centreback supported by Rafael and Evra. While staying tight seems to suggest the revocation of licenses to thrill by our flying wingbacks, I would suggest that such a tactic would backfire. I think Rafael and Evra will be needed to help pin Madrid's own overlapping fullbacks - which would mean that 2 defensively hardworking wingers may be utilized. I would suggest Valencia and Rooney in the right and left wings respectively with instructions to backtrack.  Ashley Young could be played in the left but I sense Rooney gives them more tenacity and tactical flaxibility. Plus I can see him cutting in from the left to mix-up the attacking flavour for United.

Giggs would start in central midfield in an offensive role supported by Carrick with Kagawa in a no.9 position behind RVP. Under such a formation, be prepared for Rooney and Giggs to play interchanging roles and the try to exploit the potential defensive frailties of Real - which is why someone with the passing pedigree of Kagawa will be used upfront.

Personally I wish Anderson and Nani would be in better form because they would be my goto players if we fall behind. Anderson for Giggs and Nani for Valencia if the latter puts in another poor performance. That leaves Chicaritto for Kagawa if the Japanese fails to light up Old Trafford.

Without Phil Jones, I think Rafael will have to find his second half form displayed in the first leg to deal with Ronaldo. With Angel di Maria in good form, Real Madrid can be confident with a steady supply of crosses and in such a situation, Captain Nemanja Vidic will need to put in a titanic performance at the back to keep us in the game.

So the stage is set. My final prediction: Manchester United to win 2:1 with Giggs scoring the winner in his 1,000th game - he always does history very well and I expect tomorrow to be no different. 

A Brief Stop in Hanoi

I will be heading to the Noi Bai International Airport in a couple of hours. In the last 24 hours, I have spoken at an industry seminar, met with officials from the largest news portal in Vietnam, exchanged notes with the operators of the biggest social media platform here and dined with the founders of the newest celebrity website. Along the way, I also found the time for two memorable local meals to boot!

As I tweeted yesterday, Hanoi is hot, humid and crowded. Today it is just crowded. Apparently warm winds from Laos was the cause of yesterday's heat blast and its effects have largely worn off.

Don't ask me why, but the first thing that struck me about Vietnam was that the cars were left hand drive. I always associated Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia with Thailand and for some reason, this little bit of information threw me off a bit. There are many similarities to Thailand in my mind, but things here feel a bit dated - as if fashion and development froze in the 70s. Like all cities, land is a premium. Houses and buildings are packed together in one giant patchwork of confusion. This confusion extends to the streets where cars and (lots and lots of) motorcycles dance around each other in some form of orderly chaos.Compare this to Delhi and Shanghai but replace half of those cars with ten-fold  the number of bikes and you get the idea. What surprised me was the calm demeanor of drivers and motorcyclists. Despite traffic conditions, people went about navigating traffic as if driving in the countryside on a quite Sunday morning.

I have not seen a single fat person here. Food is not especially oily and they use a lot of herbs and sauces. Dinner was a fish dish called cha cha... or something to that effect. A traditional favorite, slices of fish were served with greens and fish intestines on a small wok placed on top of a gas cooker. The fish was then dipped into a bowl of shrimp sauce and eaten with a small helping of rice noodles. I understand the shrimp sauce is an acquired taste but if you fancy fish sauce, this should go down fairly easily.  

Lunch destination was a spring roll shop located a few doors from last night's diner. This shop is famous for square spring rolls filled with crab meat before being deep fried. Felt more like a traditional fried dumpling but it was tasty nevertheless. This was served with a bowl of fish sauce and slices of preserved carrot. The side dish, if one could called it one, was a plate of pork slices. Everything was dipped into the fish sauce but the end product was simply excellent! My one regret was having breakfast this morning...  
     
Vietnam is supposed to be a communist government system. Looking around, you don't get any sense of that except for the occasional uniformed officer clothed in unmistakable red army cuts.

One can only do much on a 24-hour business trip but Hanoi seems interesting enough for another trip...

Running the Rule over BPL Contenders

Now that the transfer ruckus is over and hopefully the dust settled, let’s look at the top teams and how they fared…

1. Arsenal – Early results aside, this team has enough talent to challenge for top 4 when fit, but the squad feels lean in the absence of so many quality departures. I am keen to see how Arteta gels with Jack Wilshere in the centre of the park. Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker add some options to the back but I am not convinced that injury prone Van Persie will be able to play as many games as Wenger would like while Gervinho is good, perhaps not great. If they do keep their top 4 place, it will be due largely disappointments at Anfield and White Hart Lane.

2. Chelsea – Having missed out on Modric, I am not sure that Raul Meireles is better than the midfield that they already possess. Juan Mata on the other hand gives them a creative wing one hopes, with a bit more consistency than the likes of Malouda. If that happens, Torres may be in a happier state as this team learns to play on his strength rather than Drogba’s. An aging team that will start well, but may not last the pace.

3. Liverpool – No one doubted Kenny Dalglish’s managerial abilities and any lingering thoughts about his motivation are largely gone. He has pruned the team and added some quality in the side. His best signing after Suarez may well be Sebastian Coates, although adapting to the pace of the league may well take time. Bellamy offers pace on the wings and in the short term at least, I think the loss of Meireles may not be as significant as first thought. If they play up to expectations, I think it will be neck and neck with the Gunners and Spurs all the way to till March when the squads start feeling the strain and here I expect Dalglish and Redknapp to make full use of their midfield numbers to good effect. If I were a betting man, I’d say top 5.

4. Manchester City – At the start of the 20th century, the blue half of Manchester had the most potent attacking team in the league with the likes of Welsh wizard, Billy Meredith. Financial impropriety led to their best being snared by Ernest Mangnall resulting in Manchester United’s maiden league title. In a resurgent Dzeko combining with Aguero, Tevez and David Silva, to name a few, City have assembled arguably the most potent forward line in the world – yes, I must admit. The key for Roberto Mancini will be managing those egos and developing a winning mindset – easier said than done. Top 3 almost certain given the strength and quality of their squad.

5. Manchester United – Nothing to say that’s not already been eulogised which is an irony since this young team has not achieved any honours as of yet. What excites though is where these kids are at the moment and where they can go from such lofty heights. Consistency will be the key for this team and if that happens, I can only see Manchester City challenging for the BPL.

6. Tottenham Hotspurs – Keeping Modric is their best business of the season. Signing Parker is a close second. Scott Parker will do what Palacios failed to do and free Modric to weave his magic. I honestly think losing Crouch is not a loss and getting Adebayor will give them muscle with purpose upfront. Brad Friedel offers more certainty between the posts but I am sure he would sleep better with more defensive cover – something the big teams will take note of. City and United will be happy to have played them before these new additions. I think a top 4 is possible with Spurs clinching the last spot in that exclusive ladder.

Finally, here is now it may end up: 1. Manchester United, 2. Manchester City, 3. Chelsea, 4. Tottenham Hotspurs, 5. Liverpool and 6. Arsenal.