Big chance for Smalling, Jones, and perhaps Evans
Amazingly, neither Manchester United nor Manchester City qualified for the knockout rounds of the Champions League. That’s good news for fantasy managers, in the long run, as both clubs should put out their first choice lineups in the league from here on out – and with less fixture congestion, it’s bad news for the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal, and Chelsea supporters who will now have to make their Top 4 runs against a “fresh” Manchester City and a “fresh” Manchester United week in and week out…
But nearly as bad for Manchester United fans is the loss of captain Nemanja Vidic for the next four months with medial ligament damage in his knee. The 30 year old Serbian went down clutching his knee against Basel yesterday, and was replaced by Jonny Evans.
In fantasy terms, it means the dirt cheap Evans (4.5M), as well as the youngsters Chris Smalling and Phil Jones should get more consistent opportunities in the first team. Jones is the big enigma – he should start almost every game – but where will he play? Defensive midfield? Right back? Or centrally with Rio Ferdinand now that Vidic is out? Jones could get his chance to partner Ferdinand with Evans (4.5M) staying rooted to the bench, or Evans could slot in at CB (his natural position) with Jones continuing in his role as a “jack of all trades” and staying in midfield or spelling Smalling at RB.
Sir Alex has placed his trust in the young Evans in the past, so it’s not beyond belief that he could get a run at CB over the next few months with Vidic out, and Ferdinand always at the risk of going down to injury…
We’ll keep you updated on the Manchester United defensive situation, but the loss of Vidic is a massive one for the club. What a bad Wednesday.
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well, they’ve got europa league that play on Thursday night..extra pressure on them to rotate squad and play EPL 2 days later..
isn’t it?
Yes, yusry dead right. This is awful news for the Manchester teams schedule, while probably not as bad for City given the depth of their squad. I wouldnt jump to conclusions and say that United will be using their reserves for Europa games.
Last year, for getting to the final, ManU got about 53m euros [£45m] in TV income and this year they got about 18m euros [£15.3m] less. But if they win the Europa League – a big if – you get £4m.
So winning the euro league is just a small bonus
i doubt saf will go first team (valuable experience for the youngsters?) to win the europa league. on the other hand, it is just about the only thing he hasnt won.
i believe city have the roster depth to field a top team regardless of europa league fixtures. united, maybe not so much.
out for the season now…
bad news for Manchester united
I was expecting just some weeks of injury but the captain is out for whole season.
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