Backs Against The Wall Time

Manchester United 1 - Bursaspor 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Nani (7)

Team: Kuszczak, Vidic, Smalling, Rafael, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Park (Obertan 70), Anderson, Nani, Macheda

Should have been a good victory, but the shadow of Rooney's impending departure puts a dampener to the celebrations.

Determined to put our worries about the immediate future aside, Ferguson opted to put up a youthful looking team to A) blood them and to B) show the Old Trafford faithful that our young players can stand on their own on Europe's largest stage.

Well, apart from Nani's screamer in the 7th minute, we really had little to show. On the flip side, the Turkish champions hardly threatened either. Their best chance came in the first half when Vidic slipped, but Rafael recovered his captain's error superbly. Both sides played to a dull finale in the second half. Bursaspor were happy to come away with a one-nil loss, and I suppose we were happy just to win amidst all the furore surrounding a want-away star.

Personally I don't see what the entire fuss is all about. The past two days have been filled with Rooney headline after Rooney headline. It's almost having a life of its own. To make matters worse, we're probably going to have to live with it until Rooney finally leaves, either in January when the transfer window opens or next summer, by which time we'd probably have gotten peanuts for him.

At the end of the day, the most disappointed person at United is probably Ferguson. Having watched his interview, you can tell he's terribly disappointed that he's been unable to turn Rooney's thinking around.

Granted on his day, Rooney is a special player, however he's more of a feast or famine player. When he's on form, he's unstoppable, but as seen throughout his career with us and Everton, when he's off, he goes on long stretches without scoring.

Since he's expressed his desire to bugger off, we really should milk him for whatever we can get, even though the value would no longer be at it's peak. It's all about cutting losses, unless by some miracle Ferguson manages to keep him around. Whichever the case is, I think he's lost alot of ground with the supporters and with bridges burnt, it's never going to be the same. In this aspect, I have alot more respect for someone like Ronaldo. Hell, I'm even growing some grudging respect for Invisible Man and Berbatov.

Hopefully with all the negative news surrounding the club, the players would close ranks and consolidate. With threats coming externally from wealthy clubs and the media, and internally from our owners and Rooney, it's about time to have that siege mentality back, the us-against-the-world attitude back. Time for Ferguson to work his magic again.