In A Nutshell: Cottagers Match Preview, Rooney Ban Upheld And More...

Hey everyone I'm back! I know that many of us Manchester United fans are still beaming at the prospect of a Champions League semifinal after beating Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. But then, much work is still to be done when we host them in the second leg next Tuesday. Hope we show them that they are not champions anymore!

Well yes, the weekly feature is back with all that happened in & around Old Trafford this week, keeping an eye on the immediate fixture this weekend. After all, it's been quite an eventful week!

Match Preview: Manchester United vs. Fulham

The Red Devils take on the Cottagers at Old Trafford as they move a step closer to a record breaking 19th league title. Man United currently lead the league table with 66 points from 31 games, seven ahead of second-placed Arsenal, who have a game in hand. Tenth-placed Fulham, who have been steered to mid-table stability by Mark Hughes, haven't really been an opposition who have troubled the Red Devils at OT. In their last 15 encounters at OT, they have lost 14 times. Also, Old Trafford has been a fortress this season, with United not losing a single game at home in all competitions.

On the injury front, Darren Fletcher is still out while Wes Brown & John O'shea have started training this week. Anders Lindegaard is out for the season & injury prone Owen Hargreaves is eyeing a return to save his United career. Rafael, who suffered a knee injury during the Chelsea match, is out for now, with no news regarding his return. 

Rooney will sit out of the next two fixtures on account of a ban imposed on him by the FA. Good news is that Anderson's back from a two month injury lay-off as well. Meanwhile, Jonny Evans & Paul Scholes both return to league action after completing their suspensions.

Regarding the starting line-up, Van der Sar looked bit uncomfortable with a groin strain during the Chelsea game, so I think Kuszczak can don the gloves instead. Ferdinand is back, but keeping in mind the second leg of the CL quarter-final, I think Smalling will get the nod ahead of Evans. Fabio is to replace his twin brother, in case Brown or O'shea fail to recover fully. Anderson, who has returned after nearly two months, will boss cental midfield alongwith the reliable Carrick, while Nani & Valencia taking up the flanks. Michael Owen seems to have not played for a long time & I see him starting ahead of Chicharito on Saturday.

As for the scoreline prediction, I'm going for a 3-0 win for the Red Devils - Berba, Owen & Nani getting the goals!

Rooney's Two-Match Ban Upheld

Man United striker Wayne Rooney's appeal against the two-match ban handed to him was rebuffed by the FA on Thursday. This means Rooney will have to sit out of the league game against Fulham & then the FA Cup semi aginst Man City at Wembley. However, he is free to play in next week's crucial second leg Champions League quarter-final vs Chelsea. Rooney had earlier accepted the charge imposed on him after he appeared to mouth cuss words live on a Sky Sports camera after scoring a hat-trick against West Ham, but contested the length of the ban.

Rooney has expressed his disappointment towards the decision as he made it clear through the following press release - 

"I am gutted to miss two matches, one of which is an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. I am not the first player to have sworn on television and I won't be the last. Unlike others who have been caught swearing on camera, I apologised immediately. And yet I am the only person banned for swearing. Whatever, I have to accept that what's happened has happened and move on from here. That's what I intend to do."

Anderson Returns To First Team Action

Brazilian midfielder Anderson is fit to start this Saturday's game against Fulham, after he came on a substitute in a Reserves game against Man City. He made it quite phenomenal, given that he scored a brace to win it 3-1 for United. Anderson's return couldn't have been timed better as the team enters into a crucial phase in their pursuit for a second 'Treble' since 1999. It also gives Sir Alex the required resources & depth in the squad in their quest for silverware this season.

Neville Testimonial Confirmed

United legend Gary Neville, who retired from all forms of football in February, is all set to make a final appearance in Man United colours. Manchester United will play Juventus on Tuesday, 24th May in what will be a testimonial game for Neville. On the announcement, Neville said:

"I am delighted to be given this game by the club, it is going to be a very emotional night, especially as I pull on that red shirt once more. I intend to savour every moment and I hope the fans can share in my special night."


Gary Neville spent his entire professional career at United, making 602 appearances for the club since 1992. He was part of the United team that won eight Premier League titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups & the Champions League in 1999.

What d'you think of this week's events? Think Rooney's ban was unjustified? Or have any pre-match thoughts  on the Fulham game? Feel free to leave your comments below or drop me a line on Twitter @AbhinavCJ. And don't forget to check out the poll question of the blog & vote!

Do check out the best footballing insight (including mine!) on the excellent football blog 'BigFourZa' - the ideal one-stop-shop for all die-hard football fans! In case you're interested in knowing what I write there, you can click here.

That's all Folks!

Yours,

CJ

Blog Stats: Thank You Readers & Now Your Chance To Write For Us!

It's around 5 months & 6 days since I started this blog, back in October. It was on a whim, a totally spontaneous decision, founded on the need to express my thoughts, my opinions, my views (alright, they are all the same thing!) on the Wayne Rooney saga. I wasn't even a guest author on some established blog, so it seemed the only way to do that. So I started this blog, which was first called 'Traffordshire.com' - a name I had in mind way back since 9th grade. Then one friend told me (like Justin Timberlake tells Jesse Eisenberg in 'The Social Network') that cut the 'dot com' part in the name, coz in the end I'd confuse the handful of readers, who would type in the name as the URL next time only to get the 'Error. Page Not Found' result. Since the name Traffordshire alone did not suffice for me, Traffordshire County was born.

I know I haven't been able to write more of late, as regular readers (if there are any!) might have observed the decline in the frequency of posts as every month passed. But then, my schedule doesn't allow me either to write as frequently as the best guys in the business, say Republik of Mancunia, The Busby Way, United Latest or someone like them. Honestly, I would've written more had my current routine not been so exhausting. But then, everytime I get down to write something on the blog, it's always felt great!

Now as the headline may have indicated, this post relates to the stats of the blog. Ideally, I would've written this when I'd have completed 6 months, but my super-occupied pre-exam time during the next one & a half months will probably stop me from writing much, or anything to be precise. So I present to you, the readership results of Traffordshire County, at the end of 5 months!

I'm pleased to say that Traffordshire County achieved 5500+ visits (courtesy Blogger Stats) as on 20th March 2011, with a substantial rise in readership from late December 2010. The first 2 months had some 900+ visits, but the last 3 months have recorded 1500+ visits each time to propel the figure beyond the mark of 1100+ readers every month! Thank you so much all of you readers!

The readership of my blog is highest in the United Kingdom (900+), followed by the United States (650+) and my native India coming third (500+) on the list. Also, notable mentions to our readers from Indonesia, Denmark, Singapore & Malaysia (250+ each). I'll say I'm not surprised by the highest numbers coming from the UK, given the fact it's the birthplace of football. But India coming below the US? That's not something I anticipated. Where are you my dear Indian readers? I need my countrymen to read my blog! Looks like I'll have to fare much better in reaching out to more United fans in India. Maybe Sid of 'Bangalore To Old Trafford' (read his awesome blog) gobbled up all of them before I even started writing!

The most popular post has been the one which reported the fact that Man United was the most supported club in India. The post was liked so much that it even got a reckon from 'EPL Talk' (listen to their weekly podcast, it's simply awesome!), which actually helped push further traffic onto the site! Only a small bunch bunch of Scousers came out denouncing this, as expected. Apart from that, I'm pleased to tell that the unique (yes, I can claim it) blog feature 'EPL Weekly Round-Up' has been very popular, alongside other blog features 'Rival Rendezvous' & the club transfers special 'In & Out'. I plan to convert the buzzing weekly feature 'In A Nutshell' into a sort of newsletter soon, given the fact that it's been attracting readers in recent times. It's my promise that Traffordshire County will keep bringing new & innovative features to all the readers of our blog!

This blog has also helped me gain some standing on other blogs. I first got an opportunity to write a guest column for the blog 'Bangalore To Old Trafford', and then I was given the chance to co-write the United section of the excellent football blog 'BigFourZa' on a regular basis! And all of this because of you, readers. Had the readership of the blog dwindled, I would've left writing out here long time back. But since you guys kept coming back, it gave me great encouragement to continue my passion for writing. Thank you so very much!

As to the feedback part, it's not very often that I get comments on my blog. I've written over 45 blogposts, but the total number of comments till date is just 13. I've always held that readership is important, but if a reader tells the writer how good or bad he is, the writer can only go on to become a better one. So it's my humble request to you, if you feel like commenting, please do comment! It's a gesture I believe even the most popular blogger in the world would appreciate.

As I told you before, I've been busy of recent. So I think I won't mind having another writer on my blog, either a regular one or even as a guest author. I know there are many guys out there who have it in them to write, but for some reason haven't done it yet. So if you got something to say to the world (including non-United fans), you can write in to me anytime at abhinav.c.208@gmail.com & I'll see to it that it gets published to the modest readership of Traffordshire County.

Hope you liked the new 'RED' look of the blog. Even if you didn't, feel free to tell me that by leaving your comments below or drop me a line on Twitter @AbhinavCJ & I'll get back to you right away! And don't forget to check out the new poll question on the blog!!!

In case you want to read the best football insight ever (including mine!), you can check out my writings on the excellent football blog 'BigFourZa' by clicking here.

That's all Folks!

Yours,
CJ

Amazing Deals on Amazon.com - get the excellent book 'Owen Hargreaves: Biography of Manchester United's Midfield Maestro' written by Ian Macleay for a best price of just $1.29!!! And even if you don't buy it, do spare a thought & pray for his return to football action for the Red Devils!

Champions League Preview: Manchester United vs. Olympique Marseille

Hey everyone! Great to be back out here after a space of around two weeks. Must confess that I've got a college exam tomorrow, but just felt like writing, you know? So, here I am...

Like every other Manchester United fan, the 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Saturday provided great relief to me, given the way we lost 2 consecutive away games at Chelsea & Liverpool. More striking was the manner we beat the Gunners - with a team of 7 conventional defenders in the starting line-up! Good news also in the event of Luis Antonio Valencia making his first appearance since injuring his right ankle back in September. And then, a mouth-watering FA Cup semi-final clash versus Man City at Wembley awaits us in mid-April!

Now onto the game on hand. Tomorrow, Manchester United play French side Marseille in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 at Old Trafford. The first leg, as you will possibly know, ended in a dull 0-0 draw, with neither side able to find the back of the net. United especially were guilty of not making most of their chances. Tomorrow's game stands as an opportunity to make amends & advance to the last eight of the European competition.

On the injury front, United have quite a no. of players missing. Ferdinand & Jonny Evans are out, which means that the young (and brilliant, of course) Chris Smalling will again partner skipper Nemanja Vidic in the heart of the defence. Given Sir Alex's reservations about playing Rafael in crucial European encounters, I think John O'shea will take his place at right-back. Given the fact that Fletcher & Carrick both are injured & will not return till the weekend, Ferguson will probably play a 4-4-2 formation despite his preference for the 4-5-1 in Europe. Scholes & Gibson will man the central midfield, with Giggs & Valencia taking up the flanks. Manchester Evening News reported that Nani may play some part in tomorrow's game, however it is unlikely that he will start since Sir Alex won't risk rushing him back & aggravating his injury. Berbatov & Rooney will be paired upfront, with Rooney playing that free-roaming role he executed to such good effect against Arsenal. I expect Michael Owen to make an appearance from the bench - it's been sometime that he has spent time on the pitch.

Marseille are undoubtedly stronger than they were in Marseille, with two of their main offensive players back in the form of Mathieu Valbuena (see pic) & Andre-Pierre Gignac. Gabriel Heinze, for whom it will be an emotional return to one of his former clubs, will play in central defence rather than as a full-back coz of his obvious lack of pace against speedy wingers. It will be interesting to see how the Old Trafford faithful welcome him back, given the manner he left the club back in 2007.

The Red Devils need to win at all costs to go through, as a draw won't do. As Sir Alex Ferguson rightly put it - “The name of the game is to win and I’d be quite happy if it’s 4-3 or 1-0. We defended well in Marseille and that will be the key again. That’s going to be the main element in all of the big games now.”

My Starting XI: Van der Sar, Evra, Vidic, Smalling, O'shea, Giggs, Scholes, Gibson, Valencia, Rooney, Berbatov.

Scoreline predictions??? I'm going for a comfortable 2-0 win for United - perhaps Berbatov ending his barren run in Europe with a brace?

Tell me your pre-game thoughts by leaving your comments below or drop me a line on Twitter @AbhinavCJ & I'll get back to you right away!

In case you want to read the best football insight (including mine!), you can check out the excellent football blog 'BigFourZa' - the one-stop for all die-hard football fans! If you want to read my columns out there, you can click here.

Red Devils Reign, United Again!

That's all Folks!

Yours,
CJ

Amazing Deals on Amazon.com - get your personalised 'Van Der Sar Gift Mug' for a best price of just $10.99!!!