Introduction
Manchester United resume their quest for a third League Cup
in four years when they take on Aldershot at the The Recreation Ground in the
fourth round on Tuesday night. The
League Two side were rewarded for their 2-1 win over Rochdale in the previous
round with a tie against the Premier League Champions who convincingly
dispatched of their fierce rivals Leeds United 3-0. It is a glamour tie for Town and an
opportunity for their young manager, former Wimbledon and Bolton striker, Dean
Holdsworth to pit his wits against the most successful manager in English
football history.
The game comes at the perfect time for both United and
Aldershot but for differing reasons.
Aldershot halted a 5 game losing streak at the weekend with an excellent
5-2 away win at Dagenham and Redbridge. They will go in to this tie high on
confidence after that result. Contrastingly, the Reds will be happy to have a
game so quickly after an utterly humiliating defeat at the hands of their noisy
neighbours on Sunday. A cup game against
a lower league side should present the perfect opportunity to get back to
winning ways and to put in a good performance to appease the fans.
The Opposition
Aldershot Town – The Rising Phoenix. Formed in 1992 after
the demise of Aldershot FC, who were the first football team to fold during a
season since Accrington Stanley in 1962, they regained their Football League
status when they were promoted from the Conference in 2008. They made the play
offs in their second season in League Two but lost out in the semi finals. The following season they were at risk of
relegation which prompted a change of management. This saw Holdsworth take the reigns and he
guided them to the safety of 14th place.
This season has been more a struggle for The Shots. They
currently languish in 15th place having lost half of their 14 league
games. More than half of these defeats
have come at home which must be a concern for them as the might of Manchester
United come to visit. They have fared
better in the Carling Cup at home though, having beat League One opposition in
the last two rounds at The Recreation Ground.
These followed a giant killing at Upton Park when they beat the Hammers
2-1 with a last minute winner.
Those results will pale in to insignificance if they can get
a result against the Reds. They will
look to last year’s Player of the Year, Luke Guttridge, to inspire them in midfield
and hope Danny Hylton can continue his decent goal scoring form this season
which has seen him bag 10 goals already.
Two of those ten came in the Carling Cup; winners against West Ham and
Rochdale.
United
The Reds propensity to blood youngsters in this competition
continued in the last round with Zeki Fryers making an impressive debut at
centre back. There were also debuts for Paul Pogba and Larnell Cole as second
half substitutes but the importance of the game in terms of who the opposition
were probably restricted Ferguson from giving more full debuts to a few other
youngsters. For this game there is no
excuse to not introduce more promising Reserve team players to first team
football. With the utmost respect to
Aldershot, they arguably face sterner opposition in the Reserve league than
they will against a mid table League Two side.
However, first team squad players need minutes on the pitch and Ferguson
might also treat this game as a punishment for some players after the woeful
display on Sunday.
Macheda ruled himself out of the game on Twitter due to an
elbow injury and Rafael is also unlikely to feature as there has been no update
on his shoulder injury. Unconfirmed rumours suggest Giggs is injured and that
is why he missed the last two games so will possibly miss this one too. One player who could make his return is Tom
Cleverley. Ferguson had hoped he would
be ready for Liverpool which suggests he has been training. He might have made
his return at the weekend had the opposition not been City so this match could
provide the perfect opportunity for him to get match fit. Vidic is also likely to feature after being
left out of the squad on Sunday due to concerns over his fitness and ability to
play three games in a short space of time.
Other first team players who could be doing with a game are Antonia Valencia,
who has been awful since his return from injury, and Dimitar Berbatov and
Michael Owen who have only featured once since the last round of the Cup.
The only reason the above named players should feature is
because they need minutes. We shouldn’t need their experience against
Aldershot. Instead this game should be
used to showcase the talents of Pogba, Morrison, Cole et al. I will be surprised and extremely
disappointed if there are not more youngsters involved than there was against
Leeds. Zeki Fryers, if fit after
suffering whiplash in a recent Reserve outing, deserves to take his place in
defence again after an outstanding performance against Leeds. Pogba should get his first start in the
centre of the park which could prove exciting if his partner is indeed Tom
Cleverley. Tom Thorpe or Michael Keane
should get the nod to play at centre back.
There probably isn’t a better chance to play Ravel Morrison but I doubt
he will start. Hopefully he’ll be on the bench and at least get 45 minutes.
Larnell Cole and Jesse Lingard have made timely returns from injury and could
feature in the squad after Ferguson name checked them before the third round
draw was made. Davide Petrucci may also be a contender after finding his form
for the Reserves in the last few weeks.
Once again though, the team will be impossible to correctly
predict. We’ll most likely go with a
4-4-2 formation but the player’s to fill those positions is anybody’s guess. Here’s
mine:
Bench: Lindegaard, Thorpe, Brown, Morrison, Cole, Petrucci,
W.Keane
Scoreline Prediction
I expect nothing less than a victory. It should be convincing but knowing United in
recent weeks, it won’t be that. Nevertheless,
I’ll go with a 4-0 win with Owen bagging a hat trick and Morrison coming off
the bench to seal the win.
By Mick Higgins (Follow me on Twitter)
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