Team of The Week

FORMATION : 4-4-2
GK : David James - Portsmouth
RB : Ledley King -Totenham
CB : Christopher Samba - blackburn
CB : Michael Dawson - Tottenham
LB : Gareth Bale - Tottenham

RM: Michael Brown - Porsmouth
CM: Luis Nani - Man. United
CM: Morten Gamst Pedersen - Blackburn
LM: Will Atkinson - Hull
ST : Craig Bellamy - man. City
ST : Nicolas Anelka - Chelsea


Friday, August 7, 2009

Tricky Decision For Ferguson


Sir Alex Ferguson faces a major dilemma over his goalkeeper as Manchester United take on Chelsea.

The clubs go head to head for the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday.

With Edwin van der Sar sidelined for two months after breaking two fingers during the recent Audi Cup in Munich, both Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak are pushing to replace the Dutchman.

Foster has most to gain given he is expected to be named in Fabio Capello's England squad for next week's friendly in Holland when it is announced on Saturday.

However, Kuszczak is also hoping for a recall to Polish ranks and knows regular first-team action at United is bound to help his cause.

Outstanding Qualities

Both men figured for 45 minutes in the 2-0 win over Valencia on Wednesday.

While Foster did not have much to do in the opening period, Kuszczak made two excellent saves to keep the La Liga outfit at bay after the interval.

And now Ferguson must decide who to trust with the role as the Red Devils aim to land their first piece of silverware of the season at Carlo Ancelotti's expense.

"I do have a decision to make over the goalkeeper for Sunday," reflected Ferguson.

"Both Ben and Tomasz have outstanding qualities. Tomasz made two great saves, as he did against Boca Juniors, so we will see."

The odds remain on Foster getting the nod given Ferguson has already stated his belief that the former Watford man will have overtaken David James as Capello's first choice by next summer's World Cup in South Africa.

Yet the goalkeeping position is not the only one vexing the United manager after suffering a mini-defensive injury crisis.

Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown, Gary Neville and Rafael Da Silva all missed Wednesday's match and have already been ruled out of the Chelsea encounter.

Ferguson rates Vidic and Brown as outside bets at best to overcome ankle and thigh problems ahead of the Barclays Premier League opener with Birmingham City at Old Trafford on 16th August.

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