No team boasted a better defensive record than Manchester United last season, with our lads conceding just 24 goals. We also had the highest number of clean sheets, with us managing not to concede in 24 of the 38 matches. For a team that prides themselves on their attacking football, it’s not too shabby.
For a successful 09/10 season we will need to ensure that our defence are just as strong, if not stronger. With several new faces coming through, I’m sure Ferguson will have a headache over which players will be starting for us as the back.
Goalkeepers
Edwin Van der Sar – Starting what will likely be his last season before retiring (and joining our backroom staff…?) eight to ten weeks later than he should, thanks to breaking a bone in his hand and finger during the penalty shoot-out in our recent trip to Germany. He certainly would have been our first choice keeper, regardless of what Sir Alex Ferguson has to say about Ben Foster, and his absence will likely be a big loss to our defence. After claiming the longest single-season world record without conceding a goal in February and claiming the Premiership’s golden gloves award, it is a real shame he won’t be about at the start of the season to defend his title.
How much playing time he gets next season is entirely dependant on how his replacement gets on…
Ben Foster – Appears to be Ferguson’s preference for our next keeper, given the amount of times he has praised the not so young keeper in the press. Foster is 26-years-old and it is definitely a case of now or never. He has bided his time so far, something we should be appreciate, but the next ten weeks could be the most important of his entire career. If he plays well, he will potentially guarantee himself United’s #1 jersey for the next decade and will certainly be taken to South Africa with the England World Cup squad. If he doesn’t play well, he won’t get much more playing time, will be sold at the end of the season and probably won’t be going to the World Cup. I hope he’s thought about that and I hope he’s up to the challenge. He hasn’t done many favours to his reputation this pre-season.
Tomasz Kuszczak – Will not bow out without a fight, if his performance against Valencia is anything to go by. He pulled off two great saves and clearly has his eyes on the prize – VDS’ shirt! In Germany he didn’t go down too well, with his woeful kicking letting him down time and again. Can we have a number one goalie who can’t kick? But is his general keeping better than Foster’s?
I think Kus is a good keeper but I don’t think he has the potential to be our first choice. Now is the time to make sure we’ve got the right man at the club who can replace Edwin. Ferguson clearly does not see Tomasz as that man so sadly for him, he will be on our bench for much of this season.
Defenders
Wesley Brown – Has to be our first choice right-back if he can maintain his fitness. The injury prone defender had a great season 07/08, playing in more games than any other player the year we won the league and European Cup double. Ferguson has predicted that he will be fit for the first game of the season and hopefully that will kick-start his season, rather than set him back like his return against Boca Juniors.
With Rio and Vidic no stranger to injuries, keeping Wes fit will be important for us to have cover in the centre of defence too.
Rafael da Silva – Enjoyed a great debut season for us last season 
with his strength clearly his ability to attack down our right flank. When he came on as a sub for Gary Neville at the Emirates and scored a great goal, our eyes lit up. Whilst still obviously disappointed to lose against Arsenal, Rafael had staked his claim for our starting right-back position.
Defensively though, his game still leaves a lot to be desired. As you would expect of a Brazilian teenager, far more used to the attacking nature of a full-back position in South America, his positioning is at best a worry, and at worst, dreadful. Whilst the result went our way in the end against Tottenham Hotspur towards the end of the season, it was Rafael’s wandering around in the box which almost cost us the points, with him nowhere near his man Modric when he struck.
I’d have Rafael as our second choice for the position behind Wes and given the latter’s injury problems, we should see a lot of Rafael this season. The only way he will get good enough defensively is to give him experience, so I’d like to see him thrown in to the team as often as possible because the kid has great potential.
Gary Neville – Whilst a great influence to have around, it’s hard to imagine that our captain will get much time on the pitch this season. He’s crocked. After missing out on last season he really needed to have a good pre-season to stand him in good sted for winning his position back. As it is, he got sent back from Asia with a knock and hasn’t played since. Neville’s participation will largely rely on the injuries of others, given that the right-back position has been plagued with injuries over the past year or so. I personally would also take the captaincy of him. No hard feelings but you can’t have a captain who isn’t a first XI player. Had he been anyone else, his United career probably would have ended this summer, but sentimentality has kept him around – I suppose you have to have Neville in the team the year you hope to scoop the 19th title!
Ritchie de Laet – We haven’t seen much of this young full-back yet but his fleeting appearances he has been very impressive and has earnt a lot of praise from our fans. He’s confident on the ball, he’s good at attacking and has a knack for a well-timed tackle. Whilst he will probably start the season low down in pecking order, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him given quite a bit of time next season.
Rio Ferdinand – Has gone from strength to strength over the past few seasons and I would like to see the manager hand him the captaincy on Sunday and for him to keep it, regardless of whether Giggs or Neville are playing.
Last season he was a part of our defence which managed to scoop that incredible defensive record but then also the team that lost to Liverpool, Fulham, and conceded two first half goals against Spurs. His concentration has certainly improved but he is prone to lapses and we’re really going to need him to be on the ball next season. Whilst I fancy us to score plenty of goals next season despite Ronaldo’s departure, strong title campaigns always seem to be built on great defensive ability. Whilst Ronaldo bailed us out a few times last year, we can’t afford to be making silly mistakes and rely on someone else to get us out of jail.
Rio organises the defence well and commands respect from the rest of the team. He will be eager to right the wrongs of last season and during World Cup year he should get it right.
Nemanja Vidic – One of, if not our best performers last season, but all his match-winning goals and tackles were forgotten when against Liverpool he allowed the ball to bounce instead of dealing with it straight away. Fernando Torres got the best of him and the rest is history. All players make mistakes but at home to your biggest rivals is the last time and place you want to make them.
Vidic struggled with injuries last season at times and this continued through the summer, with our Serb missing out on the entire pre-season. He was taken to Munich for the Audi Cup but was injured in warm-up. It’s not a great start to a season, particularly when he’s been linked with moves away from the club for the past couple of months! Losing Vidic would be dreadful for the club so let’s hope that paper talk disappears sooner rather than later.
Jonny Evans – Should be a big year for our young defender after showing the fans last season why the manager had been so keen to hold on to him. Gerard Pique was sold in favour of keeping Evans, which was fairly puzzling given Evans never played for us and Pique had been a regular in our European outings. But the £10m we saved in rejecting an offer from Sunderland is looking like a great bit of business, with chances being that this 21-year-old will spend the next ten years or more in the centre of our defence.
He played in big games for us last season and you couldn’t really fault him. Given the way he plays, it’s hard to believe he’s so young. He is so confident and assured when in position and shows no fear when challenging opponents, no matter who they are. I’m looking forward to seeing him in action this season.
Patrice Evra – Aside from his reoccurring problems with Aaron Lennon, Patrice had a good season. One of our best players up until Christmas but he came back a different, less effective player when returning from his unjust ban. He never seemed to fully recover from the run around he was given in the League Cup final but certainly still did a job for us down that left flank.
This season I’d like to see him shooting more (not from the penalty spot though) and putting in more dangerous crosses. He is a great support to whichever winger is playing on the left but I don’t think we see enough killer balls from him in to the box.
Personality wise, he’s quickly turning in to my favourite player. He understands and is interested in our history and just generally seems like a nice chap.
John O’Shea – Was Mr Versatile for United yet again. He got a good run in the team in the second half of the season, mainly playing right-back, and got better as the season progressed. His role for us this season will be much of the same, relying on first choice players to get injured so he can get a game. Given how poor we were in Rome, O’Shea actually did a reasonable job on Henry, but for him to get the best performances out of him, he usually needs at least three or four weeks of regular playing time.
Fabio da Silva – It was his identical twin brother we got to know last season, with Fabio sitting most of the season out of the first team thanks to injury. We were told that Fabio was the better of the two though and if the pre-season is anything to judge by, it’s an 
assessment I would agree with. Still lacking in the defensive know-how like his brother, Fabio seems to be a lot stronger and really does get stuck in to the challenge.
Imagining him bombing down our left flank whilst Rafael takes on the right is a pretty nice thought for the future. I’d never have believed that a teenager would be rivalling Evra for his place, but that should be Fabio’s realistic goal for the coming season.
1st choice: Van der sar – Brown – Rio – Vidic – Evra
Man Utd News 24/7
a great articel!
i want rooney like defender..who can scare the hell out of strikers…ohh yes we git vida…
With the injuries we have, who will be the starting back 5 on Sat?
Foster
Rafael / O’Shea (Not sure which) Rio Evans Evra
Will be back 5
@de_roiste
were playing sunday
I think it will be
Kuzechak
O’shea Rio Evans Evra
de_roiste………FOSTER……..
IM GOING WITH OSHEA RIO EVENS EVRA
foster dropped out of england squad?
is he fit to play sunday?
Talk about strength in depth!
I ment to type Tomasz Kuszczak not Foster
i dunno where my head went
in oshea united could play fabio rio evens evra and have cover for every one of them
they also have in the right back Ctrl Alt De Laet and Hargo is coming back at some point
I love cory evens thou i dont know if he’s ready for a call up same goes for wes brown #2 in reece
dont be surprised if the red nev is on the bench or even the starting line up on sunday
I’m always dubious when United players drop out of the England squad to be honest.
The slightest twinge and Fergie would be telling you not to join up with the national team so I think he’ll play Sunday.
jonny Evans is on there
@ManUtdPeople.. Sorry, meant to say Sun…
Seemingly Wes is fit!
WE’RE GONNA WIN THE LEAGUE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8_96Fk8LjE
Good analysis, wonder what the midfield will be like…
we should give de laet a chance the lad is better than o shea and gary
@Sam the kenya red
“we should give de laet a chance the lad is better than o shea and gary”
You know this from a handful of first team appearances???
ffs… I wish people would lay of John O’Shea.. Ungrateful sods. He’s a loyal player.
hi ghtt mate wanna know more about africa???am 17 and you are my role model
Is this kid serious!?
GHTT You’re my hero!
John O’Shea is loyal, but he aint going to set the world alight is he?
I would be loyal to the point of taking a bullet for United, but I would be shit at right back, let me tell you that!
O’Shea makes up in versatility what he lacks in genuine talent.
O’Shea isn’t good enough to make one spot his own, so he doesn’t! He plays where we need him and is invaluable that way.
i did not say o shea is bad but de laet has well timed tackles and good runs everybody at united is quality
Cant imagine Gary Neville playing much.
I always thought O’Shea should have been turned into a holding midfielder.
He has the skill on the ball.
Can’t wait for your preview about the midfield.
This season could be great for Nani
@sam the kenya red
You said quite clearly that Da Laet is better than O’Shea & G Nev.
Surely we’ve not seen enough of him to even think that? He hasn’t played against any World Class strikers yet either. From where I was sitting in the Stretford End against Valencia, he looked good but also got caught out a few times.
He looks good, but let’s not hype up our youngsters too much. They’ve got a long way to go, and that includes Da Laet.
John O’shea < Ronaldo, Tevez, Heinze etc.
Sheasy is valuable to UTD and will always be loyal to us. He ain’t exactly technically gifted but he plays anywhere and when it comes to defending, he is no nonsense great defender.
micky i admire you and i realy love your comments
Great article Scott. That’s such a fantastic blend of experience and youth. Such a shame that so many of them have struggled with injuries over the past 2 seasons but I guess that’s where the strength of the squad kicks in.
I think jonny evans will put pressure on rio and vida this season, the kids a star, of course im biased.
I wonder will we ever consider the wing-back option in the future with the DaSilva bros? Three central halves (from Ferd/Vida/Wes/Evans), two wing backs (Da x 2/Evra) one holding midfielder (Har/Fletch) two attacking midfielders (Ando/Gibson/Carrick) one man in the hole (Lord Rooney/Owen) and a target man (Berb).
Not sure how we’d fit Valencia and Nani into the mix but it’s an interesting thought.
Perfect, Scott. Absolutely spot on. We’ve got Ferdinand and Vidic, who are without doubt, THE two best center backs in world football, as well as the best left back in the world and all round great guy Patrice Evra. No wonder our defence is so solid.
We’ve got a massive squad and certainly a big enough one to field two different teams and still be competing in domestic cups.
It may well be the deciding factor this year. We may not have Ronaldo but we have a squad that can deal with the 40+ games we’ll play this season.
Great article! I would love to see analysis like this in other areas of the pitch, midfield and attack.
VDS
Brown – Rio – Vidic – Evra
Foster
Rafael/Delaet – Evans – O’Shea – Fabio
The depth we have is amazing. Just hope VDS will recover quickly, he’s the main worry for me, I think we can easily cope with outfield defenders getting injured.
Am from kenya too and cant spend a day without loggin in and catchup. am addicted to rom
we should sign macdonald mariga from kenya he is good and strong dm only at 22 fergie has already shown interest
Evens is so young for been such a level headed defender . He shows calmness like rio thou rio didn’t show that calmness untill 3 years ago. Also nice one for the kind words about Emily
finally we have 2 kenyans on the blogg yeeeeeeeeessss!!!
Great article scott. Love comments from ghtt, and mufc religion. My fave player = giggs
Spot on ghtt SAF has said jonny will be rio’s replacement, i remember last season at the san siro jonny was brillant was’nt fazed at all.
Foster
Brown Rio Evans Evra
Valencia Carrick Fletcher Nani
Rooney Berbatov
3-0 Man Utd
3-0 is too optimistic. Would love it though! Anybody know exactly what is Vida’s injury?
With everyone fit, the defence picks itself. Gary stays in the squad for his invaluable experience and to mentor the likes of Rafael. Like someone mentioned before De Laet could actually progress to be a DM. Maybe a few outings in the reserves to try it out?
As for Foster, I still think he can do it. He showed at Watford he has the talent and 26 is still very very young for a keeper. I wouldn’t be too hasty in judging him or selling him at the end of this season if he doesn’t make the step up.
gotta hate – You too are my hero!
MUFC The Religion – What did you mean “Jonny Evans is on there”??
Talking of Rio the cunts on talk sport are saying his Ingerlund place could be in jeopardy after last night. ONE mistake in a fucking friendly. One cockney caller said that Terry was superb and Rio struggles with him. Yes that is because Tiny Tears aint fit to lick Vida’s boots.
Regarding Vidic I haven’t seen any rumours linking him away for weeks now. If the worst comes to the worst big Jonny Evans is more than capable.
Seems we are man united crazy here in Kenya. On the topic totally agree with scott that Rio should be captain permanently. Only the RB spot is up for grabs when everybody is fit. That should go to Wes. The goalkeeping options worry me. Foster will make our defenders jittery with his inability to deal with a backpass. Great shot stopper but uncomfortable with his feet. I prefer Kuszack. VDS is still no 1.
@Scott the Red
What a quality post.
Out of all that i would give anything to see a completly match fit gary nevile in the team.
For me one of the main things that stands gary out is his crossing, in the last few years he developed his crossing that well that he was better at crossing the ball than some wingers are for other teams!
In addition he is Mr United, he puts so much effort in behind the scenes its unreal.
Would be nice to see him kissing his badge infront of the kop again!
I think Rio has ‘gone’. Injuries, pampered lifestyle age etc have taken its toll. Last season I thought he was pretty poor at times. Concentration levels getting worse and he’s lost some of his pace. His display in the champ league final was woeful and his performance in the Eng game last night was worrying for the season ahead. Evans is the future with Vidic. I would take the money for rio at the end of this season whilst he still has a resale value.
Oh my god. I just realized now upon seeing the pictures of Rafael holding to the trophy. In his first season, he got the trophy which our rival compete for many many years and still not get one and we are level with them on number of PL trophy won. They are lucky to join us rather than joining arsenal.
The only problem with the Da Silva twins, defensivley at least, is that they are too eager to try and press for the ball too early , they dont take their time let defenders run at them, and sometimes thats a good thing, but that often leads to them being easily beaten early up the pitch.
Anyways, its all good with the twins, I would really love to see more of them, they suprise me every time.
Ronaldo would probably rape the twins time and time again if we played Real Madrid.
I get warm tingly sensations just reading this. I can’t wait for the season to start!
@Steve99
Do you even watch the games or have you just got a shit memory?
Rio was one of our best performers last season. Just because you fucked up pre-season and played shit in the CL Final (name me one player who didn’t) he’s suddenly ‘lost’ it?
Fuck off back to your armchair
Because *HE fucked up pre-season sorry, not you. Although you ARE off your tits for saying he’s past it
Cant believe there is a debate about RB. If Wes is fit, that is his spot this season! It is in midfield that there should be a debate, in my humble opinion, cos there may not be enough goals coming from central midfield. That may lead to Fergie having to play Giggs a lot more than he may like, to add some creativity. I think we will be super solid in defence, esp after VDS gets back, but until then, Foster gives me the shakes.
Micky – Whilst I do not agree with Steve99 at all about Rio I have to admit his concentration at times last season was shocking.
@King Eric
At times yes, but that’s always been the Rio Ferdinand we know – he falls asleep from time to time. But to say he’s lost it is unbelievable. He’s one of the best centre backs in the world.
Micky, thanks for telling me to fuck off to my armchair (20 yrs season ticket holder) but the point I was making is that I believe he has not been the player he was in the 2007/08 season (during which I accept he was superb) due to injuries and lack of concentration. The fact is that Rio has never been a great reader of the game but has been a great defender due to his pace and physique. Once his pace goes, and it probably has already started to go, he will be out. One of Fergie’s strengths is that he knows when to get rid of a player and my belief is that this will be Rio’s last season at Old Trafford with Evans replacing him. I hope that I’m wrong and Rio gives us another 2-3 years but I doubt it. Time will tell.