Shifty's Season Preview Part 7

Manchester United

Going into last Sunday's Community Shield, there were doubts over how Manchester United would cope without Cristiano Ronaldo. Those doubts lasted approximately 9 minutes, at which point Nani cut in from the left wing and smashed a shot past Petr Cech and into the far corner of the net.
United will be targeting a 4th consecutive Premier League title, but much more importantly, a 19th title overall, which would move them ahead of Liverpool on 18, which would well and truly knock them off their (expletive) perch. It's been an interesting summer in terms of transfers for United: the departures of Ronaldo and Tevez were inevitable, so the question was always going to be about replacements. In have come Antonio Valencia (who may not offer the direct goal threat of Ronaldo, but will offer incision and industry on the right wing), Gabriel Obertan (one for the future) and Michael Owen (who better to have to come on should a goal be required), but perhaps more intriguingly it looks like Sir Alex Ferguson has moved from last season's 4-3-3 to a more traditional 4-4-2, with The Boy Rooney set to operate in the number 10 role alongside Dimitar Berbatov, Owen or Kiko Macheda. Defensively, United's have arguably the 2 best central defenders in the league in Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic (one could even make a case for Jonny Evans joining them as the 3 best in the league), and expect Ben Foster to be gradually phased in as 1st choice goalkeeper.

Verdict: They sing a song entitled "Pride of all Europe" at Old Trafford, a crown that, along with a 19th Premier League title, they have every reason to believe they can claim