The Tournament of Champions came to a premature end when the United-Urawa match was abandoned because of adverse weather conditions. Ferguson noted it was the first time in his long career he had a match cancelled due to lightning. It was also the first time I had a live telecast of a match cancelled on me after I had stayed up until 4 a.m. for it. (Oh, how the expletives flew.)
Looking on the bright side, United’s players will be fresher for Sunday’s Community Shield match against Arsenal. The season curtain-raiser might be meaningless on the grand scale of things but I’m looking forward to United feeding Arsenal some humble pie.
United will have to attempt that without some big names, though. Van Nistelrooy is out for four weeks and Ronaldo is on Olympic duty. This is an opportunity for Saha and Smith to prove their worth to the manager. Both strikers are strong in the air but I’m concerned they might not get the kind of the supply they’ll thrive on. Here’s hoping Giggs and Fletcher have practised their crossing.
