Carlos craves early opener

Assistant manager Carlos Queiroz hopes United can draw first blood against Roma on Tuesday evening, in order to make the game a more entertaining spectacle.

With goals at a premium in United's games so far this season, the Portuguese wants a quick strike to help both sides step out of what could otherwise be a cagey affair.

"If we go in front that will change the overall picture of the game and you'll see the opposition take more risks," Queiroz told United Radio. "They'll need to involve more players in their attacks and that stretches the game.

"If we score early, Roma don't have anything to lose and they'll open up the game to try and score. That will be a better spectacle if the two teams play an open game and we know that when the game turns open it's always easier for us to get a good result."

Just as Sir Alex Ferguson, Wayne Rooney and countless other squad members have stated in the run-up to Tuesday's game, Queiroz is aware that there will be no repeat of last April's 7-1 mauling of the Italians.

"Roma are a better team this time around," he said. "There has been a lot of progress – they're more consistent and I think the players know each other much better.

"Both sides have a few injuries. It's always difficult to predict football and we don't know what will happen. They have added a few new elements and those players also have great motivation and desire to prove themselves, so it won't be easy."

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Sir Alex trusts Tomasz

Sir Alex Ferguson insists he has no qualms about handing Tomasz Kuszczak his Champions League debut against Roma on Tuesday evening, after Edwin van der Sar was ruled out through injury.

The 25-year-old stopper made his first league appearance of the season as a half-time substitute at Birmingham on Saturday after van der Sar had injured a toe.

The Polish goalkeeper looked confident between the posts and made a superb reflex save from Gary McSheffrey's deflected shot soon after Cristiano Ronaldo had given the Reds the lead.

He now faces his biggest test of his Reds' career so far as he prepares to make his European bow. But Sir Alex is confident he'll rise to the challenge.

"I'm very confident that Tomasz can step up [to the Champions League]," said Sir Alex at his pre-match press conference. "The boy just needed the opportunity.

"Especially with the ability and experience of Edwin van der Sar, it is difficult for any young goalkeeper to get games.

"But he showed on Saturday against Birmingham, as he has done in the past, that he can do very well. I was very pleased with his performance against Birmingham." Read more...

Totti: We can avenge defeat

Roma superstar Francesco Totti has sent a blunt message to Alex Ferguson: “I’m coming to get revenge.” The former Italy idol is desperate to get even for the worst defeat of his career - in last season’s Champions League quarter-finals when Manchester United tore apart Roma 7-1. He said: “We want a great and beautiful revenge. We have all been thinking of the game after what happened last year at Old Trafford. It was a complete disaster.”
Antony Kastrinakis, The Sun Read more...

Hargreaves: No Roma repeat

Owen Hargreaves says any thoughts of repeating last season's 7-1 thrashing of AS Roma should be instantly disregarded.

The 26-year-old could finally make his return from a thigh strain as the Serie A side head to Manchester on Tuesday, intent on reeking revenge for the defeat in April. Hargreaves, however, simply wants three points, whatever the scoreline.

"There will be no repeat of the 7-1," he said. "Those results happen perhaps once every four years in the entire competition. It's not going to happen again. As long as we get the three points, I'll be happy."

Hargreaves watched the game on television with his then team-mates at Bayern Munich, as they would have played the winners of the game if they beat AC Milan the following night.

Milan eventually knocked Bayern and United out. A tired, injury-ravaged Reds side were overpowered by a Milan team putting its entire efforts into the Champions League, while Sir Alex's men fought on two other fronts - the league and FA Cup. As a result, there's a clear determination to go a step further this year. But Hargreaves, a past winner with Bayern in 2001, says that's too far in the future.

"We're obviously one of the key teams in the Champions League but we can't think about winning it right now," he said. "We are in the same position as everyone else. It is only September, so the final is a long way off. The aim is to reach our peak later in the season. Hopefully we will get into the latter stages and then get the breaks any team needs to progress beyond that." Read more...

Defensive injury blow for Reds

The Reds have some defensive injury concerns ahead of AS Roma's visit to Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Edwin van der Sar had already been ruled out with a toe injury, he is now expected to miss the next "couple of weeks". Just as worringly, Sir Alex Ferguson is waiting anxiously to learn of the fitness of Nemanja Vidic and Wes Brown, who both picked up knocks during the 1-0 win over Birmingham City on Saturday.

"They are both doubts," he said at his pre-match press conference. "We'll have to wait on them. Neither trained Monday morning, and you don't really want players missing training the day before games. It will be difficult for us [if they don't play]."

With Gary Neville still out, Sir Alex will call on John O'Shea at right-back, while Vidic would be replaced by 20-year-old Spanish defender Gerard Pique.

The Reds could, however, be boosted by the return of midfielder Owen Hargreaves. The 26-year-old trained on Monday and is rated as a “possibility” by Sir Alex. The United boss did admit that he would have preferred Hargreaves, who hasn’t played since the start of September, to have more playing time under his belt.

“Owen trained on Monday with the team. He’s a possibility,” added Sir Alex. “I’d like him to have had some more football ahead of what is an important game. European football is a different game of course, in terms of speed and tactics. But we’ll see.”

But given the absence of van der Sar’s wealthy experience and the potential lack of Vidic and Brown – both outstanding so far this season – the manager may be tempted to throw Hargreaves into action to protect United’s back four. Read more...