It’s obviously not just the fans that are hurting though, with Wayne Rooney making his feelings very clear to the Sky Sports camera as he left the field. But they need to bounce back now and for Rooney, there probably couldn’t be a better team for us to face next!

When not playing against Everton, I seem to kid myself in to feeling some sort of affection for them. I think David Moyes comes across well and he’s done a great job with such little money, Phil Neville is their captain, they have former reds I was fairly fond of, Tim Howard and Louis Saha, in their squad, and essentially, we share a common enemy.

But on match day, it’s different. Whilst not Liverpool scouse, you remember they are scousers when they start singing about Manchester being full of shit. You hear the dog’s abuse they give Rooney, chanting about him dying and it suddenly becomes easier to dislike them.

United need all three points today without question, to make sure we keep within touching distance of Chelsea and Arsenal. Our time to over take them will come around February, hopefully, but for now we just need to make sure we’re keeping up. It’s November and therefore pretty daft to think of a game as a ‘must win’ but that is the mentality our players and fans will have as five o’clock nears.

Rooney will of course be centre of attention, as always, when we play Everton. You can already play out the goal and badge kissing that will follow in your head, but the most important thing is for him to keep his cool. He was not a happy chappy at Stamford Bridge and if things start to go against us this evening you can imagine him boiling over. A Rooney suspension is the last thing we need, so here’s to him adding to his goals tally, which currently sees him fourth highest scorer in the league. He’s scored twice in the eight games he’s played against Everton since joining us so will obviously be eager to improve that record.

After becoming Bulgaria’s top scorer with two goals against Malta, Dimitar Berbatov will likely partner Rooney up front and will be looking to better him position within the top 15 scorers in the league this season. Given Everton’s bottom half of the table status, you would be wrong to assume their defence has been at fault. Everton boast a defensive record as strong as fourth placed Spurs so it will be Berbatov’s job to get the ball behind their back line.

Darren Fletcher was given the run around when representing Scotland during the week, with that Welsh lad who turned us down showing him up. But he’s now two games in to his recovery from that fairly lengthy injury so we’ll be relying on him to protect our back four, which could be fairly shakey. John O’Shea and Jonny Evans were both hurt whilst on International duty, with Rio Ferdinand being tipped to miss the rest of 2009 by some areas of the press. That could leave just Patrice Evra, Wes Brown and Nemanja Vidic, hopefully returning, meaning maybe Rafael could come in at right back, with Neville still suspended. We’re very thin defensively though so will need Fletch to help out.

Michael Carrick was one of the several players to travel with England for that friendly against Brazil, although picked up an injury whilst there so unlikely to feature for us this afternoon. Owen Hargreaves may be inching closer but the manager believes it’s his lacking confidence slowing him down. So that suggests a well rested Paul Scholes should return to the first team which means I’d rather see Ryan Giggs left out. Bring Giggsy on if we need him but we should trust our younger wingers today. Nani and Valencia to start for me but of course I’d like to see Obertan get a run out. Much to the dismay of others, I’m sticking with my Nani campaign, although it may be in vain given his recent falling out with the manager and whinge in the press.

Louis Saha should get a good welcome from the crowd. Whilst plenty of fans became frustrated with him because of the injuries, there is no denying he is a quality player who worked hard for our club during a trying period. Louis described his move to Everton as “a step down” which reflects his feelings towards our club. He bided his time on our bench, waiting for his chance, and when it came he took it. He never threw the temper tantrum Ruud did and had it not been for his unreliability in terms of fitness, I’m sure Saha would still be here now. The fact he’s scored as many league goals as Rooney and Van Persie this season is testament to that!

Points are the most important thing, certainly, but I really, really would like to see a performance today. We put on a great display at Stamford Bridge and it would be brilliant if we could build on that today. Everton are not having a good season and we need to take advantage of that, score early, and see what we can do to our goal difference. But United are far too unpredictable these days for us to forecast any possible result!

Wayne Rooney – Once a blue always a red t-shirts

Our manager is famous for wanting to lower the profile of his young stars but this doesn’t seem to be a method the FA are familiar with.

“Every time England go on a trip, who gets on the television? Wayne Rooney. Every blinking time!” said Ferguson. “He must get bored answering the same questions, but that’s because of his sponsors and the FA. They love that kind of thing. But it’s not fair on the same player continually having to go on television and do the Press.”

Back in May, RoM looked at the reasons why Blanc should replace Sir Alex Ferguson, but Eric Cantona wants him to be the next manager of France.

“I think that Raymond Domenech is the worst coach in French football since Louis XVI,” added Cantona, referring to the French king who was executed by revolutionaries in 1793 and is commonly depicted as an indecisive, dithering monarch. “If it was up to me, I’d put Laurent Blanc in charge of the France team. He continues the season with Bordeaux, he wins the league with Bordeaux and he wins the World Cup! I’m not the only one who thinks that.”

The Telegraph: Moyes – Rodwell Staying At Everton

Yahoo Sports: Rodwell Isn’t Going Anywhere

But what did David Moyes actually say?

“Of course Jack is a talented young player who is English and already established in the Premier League at a top-six club, so there is bound to be interest from other clubs,” Moyes said. “But that is hypothetical, for the future, and yet people are saying it has come now. It hasn’t. We are not sitting on an offer, and really, what is the point in answering, because there is nothing there at all. I could say I want Jonny Evans or Jack Wilshere, but people will say I’ve no chance of getting them, and that’s how I feel about Rodwell. It is frustrating because it has been presented as fact, when it isn’t. I don’t doubt he is on other teams’ radars, but he’s on ours, and we have had nothing, and that’s the end of the matter. You can check my phones, you can come and sit at my desk and have a look, and there has been nothing, not a call, not a conversation and certainly not a bid on the table. He has a five-year contract and he’s very level-headed. There’s no point in me turning round and saying he’s not for sale, because we said that with Lescott and had to sell in the end. But what I can tell you is – 100 per cent – we have had nothing. It’s hard for me to talk about these things because of Lescott and, to be honest, I don’t even want to go there because it’s rubbish.”

1. Everton are 12th in the league so Rodwell isn’t currently at a top six club. I’d fancy Spurs, City and Villa to make the top seven spots, putting Everton 8th at best.
2. The fact Everton aren’t sitting on an offer doesn’t mean one isn’t coming.
3. Jonny Evans plays fairly regularly for the Champions of England in the league and in the CL. Wilshere plays for a club in a CL spot.
4. Moyes said Lescott wasn’t for sale and he was sold. Moyes does not say Rodwell isn’t for sale, rather they haven’t had any offers.

Sir Alex Ferguson claimed he would dip in to the transfer market if the price was right. Chances of getting Rodwell for a good price in January is slim to none but I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Rodwell heading to Old Trafford sooner or later, given the quality he has shown in the defensive midfield role, a position we desperately need to bulk up in.

Studs Up looks at the Henry handball conspiracy theory

Oliver Holt writes for The Mirror about Henry’s loss of reputation

The Times looks at how referee’s favour the home team

When The Seagulls Follow The Trawler has a chat with Oliver Kay

Eric Cantona is the latest to give his opinion on Henry and seems to imply if he had been playing, and if was Irish, he would have kicked the shit out of the smarmy twat.

“What shocked me most wasn’t the handball, honestly,” said Cantona. “What shocked me most was that at the end of the match, in front of the television cameras, this player (Henry) went and sat down next to an Irish player (Richard Dunne) to console him, even though he’d screwed them three minutes earlier. If I’d been Irish, he wouldn’t have lasted three seconds.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has reflected on this decision and also weighs up the chances of Rooney becoming our captain one day.

“You can see the qualities Wayne would bring to the captaincy,” said Ferguson. “His determination, his hunger and his desire to do well. He always tries, no matter how the team is playing. He always gives 100 per cent and these are wonderful qualities for a captain. He exemplifies the spirit of the whole team and other players can take that on board. So there are good reasons for making him captain. I think Fabio Capello made him England captain against Brazil because Wayne was the one regular player left. That was the key to it. But top players can take that responsibility. They’ve got their ego, reputation and pride to defend in that respect. As captain, you don’t want to let anyone down. And Wayne would be very much like that.”

Ferguson concedes that Rooney isn’t the ideal captain though, given his position, although recognises sometimes there can be exceptions to the rule.

“I’ve never been a real advocate of centre-forwards being captain, even though Eric Cantona did a fantastic job for us,” he added. “You tend to look at central defenders, midfielders or even goalkeepers. But there was one game when we were short of Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Edwin Van Der Sar. I was thinking of Wayne but I made John O’Shea captain, simply because of his longevity. He’s been with the club a long time and been a great servant. John’s a good type, captain material, which is why I chose him. But the next one in my mind in that game was Wayne.”

Ideas for Christmas: El Blanco Pele t-shirts

“Having lost Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, myself and the other forwards have to step up to the plate and score more goals,” said Rooney. “Hopefully, with the way I’ve started the season, I’ll end up with my best scoring total for United. I’ve always scored in bursts throughout my career. I want to become more consistent and start scoring on a more regular basis. We’ve had to adjust and try to play a different way without Ronaldo. Other players have to fill the gap he’s left. Hopefully, by the end of the season, we’ll have proved we can cope without him by carrying on winning trophies.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has today likened our situation to that of Ireland, who were denied the chance to go to next summer’s World Cup after former Arsenal striker, Thierry Henry, purposefully handled the ball twice in the lead up to France’s crucial goal. He says the Chelsea game may have cost us the league, although unlike Ireland, we have the opportunity to recover.

“My thoughts were with Trapattoni,” said Ferguson. “He prepared the Ireland team and got an absolute magnificent performance from them. You couldn’t ask for better from a coach and it’s been taken away from him. It’s denied a couple of our players the chance to play in the World Cup and you can’t get a better experience than that. But two weeks ago Drogba pulled down Brown and there was obviously not a hullabaloo like this. But does that incident cost Manchester United the League? It could very well cost us it. That’s how important decision-making can be. But you just have to get on with it. We’re capable of recovering from it but Ireland can’t recover. The World Cup Finals have gone for them. It begs the question about technology. Uefa and Fifa’s stance is they prefer human decision-making rather than technology. Until they change their stance there’s nothing you can do about it. If you asked every manager and player, you’d probably get the same answer. They all think, as I do, that technology can play a part. It can help referees. We can take comfort from the performance against Chelsea because we outplayed them. We dominated the match and worked very hard on our tactics that week to get it right. We should have won. Ireland were the same. They had opportunities. It’s just disappointing when you put a lot of work into a game and then it’s taken away from you.”

“Ben has got the best presence of all the English goalkeepers at the moment and he’s also the quickest,” said Ferguson. “I’m not protecting the lad because he’s my goalkeeper. But I look at the abilities of the other English keepers in the Premier League and I don’t think they’re as good as Ben.”