Half-way stage assessment

With winter well and truly whistling in, we have time to take a look at Manchester United's season so far and evaluate the overall performance of the team.

Firstly, we have had to cope with the sale of Ronaldo which has left a gaping vacancy to be filled at Old Trafford. Although he had a quiet start on the right wing, Antonio Valencia has now warmed to the task by weighing in with seven goals and several assists. The Ecuadorian now looks like he can go from strength to strength as he understands his role in the team and learns how to play the United way.

The downside for United so far has obviously been the unlucky timing of injuries to the entire defence. We have struggled without the twin towers of Ferdinand and Vidic, including the loss of the back-up in Brown, O'Shea and Evans. Playing Carrick and Fletcher in central defence has come at a cost and we need to get Ferdinand and Vidic back to full fitness as soon as possible.

The midfield is perhaps our strongest area in terms of numbers yet it has been flimsy at times as Ferguson has rotated between Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson, Scholes and Gibson. He still hasn't found his best combination. None of the partnerships have really seemed to click. Anderson had a good season last time out with some impressive performances in big games, but this season he has really struggled with mediocre displays. He can't seem to make a forward pass to save his life. Nani is no better. For me he's the worst player on our squad list. He played some matches earlier in the season and was totally awful in each outing. I'm sick and tired of his pathetic performances. A complete waste of time and money. Anderson and Nani would be two good sales for me.

What Man. Utd are really missing in the middle is yet another player with a long-term injury - Owen Hargreaves. A player with aggression, bite, passing ability and somewhat of a free-kick specialist, he never stops running and fighting for the cause. The sooner we can get him back to match fitness the better. It will be like signing a new player.

Wayne Rooney has been the shining star for the Red Devils this term and finds himself at the top of the premier league scoring charts with 14 goals as the second half of the season begins. The sale of Ronaldo has certainly benefited Rooney, as he has now been pushed up into his best position - centre forward - and the goals are flowing nicely. He has struck up decent understandings with Giggs and Valencia. But as good as Rooney is, he can't do it all on his own.

I don't know what to say about Dimitar Berbatov. We know he has the talent, which we saw week in, week out at Spurs, but he just isn't clicking at Old Trafford, and his lazy attitude on the pitch is not helping matters either. To have paid 30 million pounds for a goalscorer, with a return of just five goals this season, is a deal which has backfired terribly. Rooney needs a partner who knows how to put the ball in the net, not try fancy flicks that don't come off. Berba would be the first name on my list of sales this summer.

Michael Owen has neither provided too much accuracy in front of goal, showing too many missed chances and fluffed mis-hits when in good positions. Manchester United need to find another front man to take some of the load off of Wayne Rooney's shoulders. David Villa would be a perfect acquisition. He's a goal machine.

While Scholes has been distinctly off the pace, fellow-veteran Ryan Giggs has been flying and playing some of his best football of his career. He has adapted to his loss of blistering pace by using his super-quick footballing brain to pick out passes, score the odd goal and rip the odd full-back (Micah Richards comes to mind!)

Gabriel Obertan and Darron Gibson have put in some impressive displays and look the best of the younger players to make it through to the first team. Rafael, when playing, looks a pretty excellent right-back too.

So while there has been disappointments and doubts in this strange season, Man.Utd still lie 2nd in the table, a point behind Chelsea, have a semi-final in the Carling Cup fast approaching (weather permitting) with enemies Man. City, and have a mouth-watering tie with AC Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League. Everything is still there to play for. If certain key players can return to the team and stay there (Van Der Sar, Ferdinand, Vidic, Hargreaves) then we may be able to bring some silverware back to Old Trafford this season.

Joy in Germany!

Michael Owen scored the second hat-trick of his career in Germany as an injury-ravaged Manchester United were too good for their German hosts.

Owen nodded home Nani's cross from the left a minute before the interval to give United the lead, only for Dzeko to equalise 10 minutes into the second half in similar fashion. With Wolfsburg pushing for a winner, Obertan displayed some dazzling footwork in the penalty box before squaring for Owen to score into an empty net. But perhaps his best was saved for last, the ex-Liverpool striker running on to a through-ball from the half-way line from Anderson to out-pace the trailing defenders and slot over the goalkeeper to complete a hat-trick.

With Fletcher and Carrick forming the central defensive partnership and Ji-sung Park at right back, Evra was the only recognisable defender on the pitch for the Red Devils. The defensive unit struggled at times with crosses from the wings and should have been punished but for Wolfsburg's woeful finishing. However, it was a great team performance and Ferguson couldn't have asked for more. Obertan looks classier with each game, Carrick could easily have been mistaken for Ferdinand at the back, and Owen gave a loud reminder to Capello that he's still worth a World Cup place.

His last hat-trick on German soil came in an England shirt on that memorable night in Munich where England hammered Germany 5-1 in a World Cup qualifier.

Eight years on, Owen may not possess the lightning quick speed that terrorised the German defence on that night, but he does however, still have the deadly finishing. He scored his three goals from four shots during the 90 minutes, a deadly strike rate for any centre-forward.

Manchester United have now finished top of their Champions League group and await their Last 16 opponents which could turn out to be either the minnows of Unirea Urziceni or European heavyweights and seven-time winners, AC Milan.

Manchester Derby Day

My throat is still a little heavy and sore this morning. I sound like when I was an adolescent going through puberty with that suddenly deep voice breaking through my voicebox. Thanks to Michael Owen's unbelievable stoppage time winner, this condition might last all day.

It was the return of Carlos Tevez which was one of the main talking points in the lead-up to the match.

He was roundly booed every time he touched the ball which I thought was just a little harsh given the work rate and effort he put into his two years with the red half of Manchester. The Old Trafford crowd were particularly happy when he was cautioned midway through the first half.

And it all started so brightly for Man. Utd with Wayne Rooney ghosting into the box, and in an act which I can only decribe as the parting of the blue sea, Man. City's defenders crumbled around him as he slotted the ball under Given for a rapid start.

Ben Foster made a blunder for Man. City's equaliser, allowing Tevez to chase down a lost cause, nab the ball from his grasp and square for Gareth barry to slot home from 12 yards. It was a day full of mistakes from both sides, but Foster's gaffe was an absolute gift.

United came out of the blocks quickly in the second half, the majestic Giggs crossing perfectly for Fletcher to head home four minutes after the interval. But within minutes, Man. City had levelled again when United's defence simply allowed Bellamy all the time in the world to cut inside and fire an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

Man Utd were dominating the second period though and if it wasn't for Shay Given they would have been out of sight. With ten minutes remaining Giggs sent over a wonderful ball which Fletcher met again for a carbon copy of his earlier goal, to surely give United the three points.

But awfully for Ferdinand, he gifted the ball to Bellamy in the 90th minute as he tried to scoop it over his head, failing miserably. Bellamy ran the length of the United half and calmly tucked it past Foster from an acute angle. How I laid in to Rio after that. I really thought his lazy error had cost us the game.

With four minutes added-on time, United pushed to find a winner. When Rooney stood over a free-kick near the half-way line, the clock had already spilled over to it's sixth minute. When that free-kick was headed away by the first defender, I expected to hear the referee's whistle and two points lost, but it didn't come. Amazingly, the game continued. Perhaps Richards and Wright-Philipps were expecting the same, because they completely switched off in what happened next. Rooney lofted the ball skywards and when Giggs collected the loose ball, he threaded a perfect pass through the gap to the on-rushing Owen. I don't remember him touching the ball once since he came on, but this first touch was elegant and his second touch was even better, slotting the ball over Given's despairing hand and into the bottom corner of the net.

Old Trafford erupted, my apartment erupted, it was the most complete and utter joyous disbelief!

Mark Hughes will be livid about the amount of stoppage time added on, but Alex Feguson was ecstatic at putting Man. City back in their place with a 4-3 win and all bragging rights safely with the red half of Manchester as it should be. Michael Owen proved what a world-class, quality finisher he is with this two-touch cameo to bring the points to Old Trafford. What a fantastic match and a most dramatic ending!

COME ON UNITED!

Manchester United versus Chelsea

The Community Shield Sunday sees two of the most successful managers in the game pit their wits for the first time as opposing managers of Premier League clubs. Carlo Ancelotti, having guided AC Milan to two European Cup triumphs, takes charge of his first competitive match as Chelsea boss and will experience his first taste of an English atmosphere. The latest managerial recruit at the merry-go-round at Chelsea will face the toughest start when his Blues come up against the current and three-time consecutive league winners Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson has been around forever and has all the experience of these sort of 'curtain-raiser' matches. But both managers will be aware that there will be much more important pieces of silverware to play for later in the season. However, this is a last opportunity for both squads to be tuned up and ready for the opening round of Premier League fixtures next weekend. Do not expect this to be a friendly match.

Just over a year ago, tempers bolied over as Rio Ferdinand took on half the Chelsea team in a pushy face-off as United went down 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to a debatable penalty decision. It had no bearing on the title race in the end. United are unbeaten against Chelsea since that day, with a penalty shoot-out victory in the Champions League final 2008, a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge and a 3-0 thumping at Old Trafford. Two seasons ago United beat Chelsea in the Community Shield thanks to a 3-0 penalty shoot-out win after a 1-1 draw.

With Ronaldo and Tevez departed, Sir Alex will have to get the very best out of free transfer signing Michael Owen, and Wayne Rooney, who can expect to be playing in a much-higher-up-the-pitch central position. Together with Berbatov, whose first season at Old Trafford was less than average, these three strikers will have to bag the goals more regularly than they have been doing. Whether they can fill the boots of Ronaldo will remain to be seen.

For Chelsea, it's very much the same playing faces performing under yet another new manager. Expect Drogba and Anelka to give Man. Utd's defence a few shaky moments, especially in the absence of Vidic through injury. Frank Lampard continues to be the most consistent goalscoring midfielder in the world, and John Terry is sure to put in a brave, commanding performance as usual.

This one will be close, as it usually is between these two teams. Expect it to go the distance and Ben Foster to once again shine in a shoot-out.