The following news article was added to www.red11.org/news on Fri Jan 17 @ 09:17:17 GMT
BLANC'S BLUES REUNION Laurent Blanc will renew acquaintances with some familiar faces at Old Trafford on Saturday. The veteran Manchester United central defender is a former international team-mate of Marcel Desailly and Emmanuel Petit, played with William Gallas at Marseille and spent time under Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri at Italian outfit Napoli where Gianfranco Zola was also in the dressing room. That is not to say the friendships will count for too much come kick-off time when United need to improve a dismal recent record against Chelsea on home soil. On the Blues' last 27 league visits to the Theatre of Dreams, they have lost just three times - their last reverse coming three years ago when Dwight Yorke scored twice in United's 3-2 win. Last term, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen found the net as the Blues romped to a 3-0 triumph during an alarming United dip in form. Three points are vital to both sides tomorrow as they attempt to put some pressure on league leaders Arsenal. But while life at the top of the league is a familiar experience for Sir Alex Ferguson's men, for Chelsea it is a welcome confirmation of their undoubted talent after years of under-achievement. Blanc is certainly impressed - even if the closest he will get to the action is a place on the home bench if Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand are given the chance to cement their partnership at the heart of Ferguson's defence. "Chelsea are a team who have impressed me a great deal this season," said the 37-year-old, who is likely to retire at the end of the current campaign after enduring a mass of criticism over his early-season performances. "They have shown more consistency than last season, and that is proven by the fact they have suffered fewer defeats than we have. "They have an excellent manager and a great team, full of good players who have acquired mental toughness and a winning mentality. "It is a very important game for us, and if we can beat them it might just give us a psychological advantage." Nicky Butt should return to Ferguson's squad for the first time since October after capping an impressive 60-minute reserve-team outing at Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday with a rare goal. Under-fire winger Ryan Giggs should also be available after recovering from the hamstring strain which kept him out of last week's win at West Brom. www.sportinglife.com http://www.red11.org/news Subscription info WWW http://red11.org/list Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] = subscribe to the list. [EMAIL PROTECTED] = unsubscribe from the list. Post message [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
