The much anticipated new 25 player squad rule which came into being at 5pm on Tuesday has been little more than a non event as far as Manchester United were concerned. As the club reported on its official website “All United players, barring those currently out on loan, are eligible to play for the Reds in the Premier League this season. United’s Champions League squad has also been submitted to UEFA, European football’s governing body and now has to be verified before being confirmed.”

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Despite critics writing off Manchester United’s recent signing Bebe as a failure within days of arriving at Carrington, the 20 year old was given a vote of confidence by Portugal with his inclusion in the Under 21 squad to face England in the European Championship match on Friday night. It should be an interesting clash for United fans as the striker may well be lining up against team mate Chris Smalling who will be in the centre of the English defence.

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It has only been one week since Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson declared that his young midfielder Tom Cleverley was remaining at Old Trafford this season rather than being sent out on another loan spell. It therefore came as a surprise when it was announced on the final day of the transfer window that the 21 year old agreed to spend the remainder of the 2010-11 season on loan at Wigan Athletic. That decision has caused a certain amount of anger towards Sir Alex amongst some United supporters, an anger that Truly Reds believe is totally unjustified.

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If previous meetings between Manchester United and West Ham are any indication, there should be plenty of goals put away on Saturday. The two clubs have often turned on the entertainment with scorelines of 5-3 at Upton Park and 6-0 at Old Trafford but the 7-1 on the first April Fools day of the ‘noughties’ stands out as the biggest defeat the Hammers ever suffered at the hands of United. One of the highlights was Paul Scholes’ first hat trick for the club but a young Rio Ferdinand lining up in the West Ham defence must have wondered what hit him. Perhaps the biggest sympathy must go to Hammers goalkeeper Craig Forrest who was on the receiving end of the heaviest Premiership defeat in history when Ipswich went down 9-0 to United five years earlier.

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Much like Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick is a player that seems to divide opinion amongst the United faithful. Ask many fans for their opinion of the midfielder, and the first response you will probably receive is “big-game bottler”, a reputation that was firmly cemented for Carrick following his performance against Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final.

Such criticism is harsh though, any good United fan will tell you that things could have been different in that final were it not for the ridiculously cruel suspension of Darren Fletcher, who would have been able to press the Barcelona midfield and free Carrick up for more creative duties. As Henry Winter pointed out in his post match analysis:

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Promising Manchester United ‘play anywhere’ Tom Cleverley has insisted England have their pick of a bright bunch of talented youngsters saying that the talent is in place to replace the old guard. The 20 year old Bradford raised utility player has received a huge boost after Sir Alex Ferguson declared he wasn’t releasing him on loan again following successive stays at Leicester City and Watford. The manager is prepared to give Cleverley every chance of staking a claim for a place in the senior side.

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