Charity Case

More praise from our Fa Cup tie in the papers today, but we'll start by looking into the future and see what's being said about our game with Inter on Wednesday.
Rio is a doubt for the game, but I think Mike Phelan sums it up best when he says:

“There’s a small swelling to his ankle. I don’t know if he’ll be fit for Wednesday, but Jonny Evans is more than a substitute for Rio if he doesn’t make it.”

He looked the part in the first leg so, loss that Rio would be, there needn't be too much worry, especially if we have the ball in their half as much as we did in the first half. Plus, Inter have a defensive injury crisis of their own to worry about:

Inter, who were held to a goalless draw by United in the first leg at the San Siro, have injury problems of their own in central defence. Marco Materazzi and Nicolas Burdisso were injured during the first half of Inter’s 2-0 win away to Genoa on Saturday and have been ruled out while José Mourinho, the Inter coach, said that Cristian Chivu and Walter Samuel, the central defenders, would also miss the game.

Which Mourhino says is going to give him sleepless nights while trying to sound postive:

"We are confident ahead of the game even if I might not be able to sleep well because of the problems in defence against a very strong team from an attacking point of view," Mourinho said. "But our team has always overcome every problem."

The Guardian have some quotes from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and one, possibly surprising given the amount of time people seem to spend on bigging him up, fact about him: he "has not found the net in 15 Champions League knockout stage games with Ajax, Juventus and Inter". A great player indeed... And, seeing as he was on the pitch as we demolished them in the first leg, his analysis of the situation is a little fantastical:

"If we play as a team, compact, concentrated and with belief, I am not at all worried"

There's some great quotes from Sir Alex today on the Inter game. Echoing Mourinho's predicting how we'd play in the first leg, Sir Alex tells us how Inter will play, from The Guardian:

"Could he really have believed that we wouldn't attack at the San Siro?" Ferguson said in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. "Well, I'll tell you that at Old Trafford Inter will play for penalties. There is always that Italian mentality. Even with Argentinians and other foreigners, that remains the idea. They will look to suffocate the game and aim for 120 minutes of goalless football. But I'm not worried about anything. My players have shown they have what it takes when it comes to penalties. I hope it continues like that."

Which is a great response: even if you take us to penalties, we'll still beat you. Brilliant. His other quote on Mourinho is just as good:

"We are used to Jose," he said. "I'm not a little lad from the Govan alleys who finds himself on Fifth Avenue in New York. I'm not shocked by anything any more. Mourinho has a magnetic power over the media; everyone wants him because he goes from the amusing to the spirited to the offensive. He's a great media tactician. But he also know that when the game begins it will only be Inter against the Reds, he can't do anything more. Personally I trust in those I send out on the pitch."

Back to the FA Cup. Alyson Rudd comments on the strength of our squad in The Times (as do quite a few other reports):

Ferguson, though, could debate his best XI for weeks on end and never discover a final truth. “I’m leaving out great players all the time and that is not easy for me,” the Scot said, having watched a side shorn of Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimitar Berbatov, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes disembowel their opponents and look like the best United side ever.

There's quite a few quotes from various players in this report from The Mail:

Evra said: ‘I am happy for Carlos because it is not easy for him. He does not play every game but when the boss puts him on the pitch he is a different class, an unbelievable player. Now, against Inter, the boss has a problem to pick the team.’

The Sun invoke Harry Hill in their report:

Does Alex Ferguson sacrifice £32million Carlos Tevez or £28m Wayne Rooney for Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan?

The two strikers are vying for an attacking berth alongside £100m-rated Cristiano Ronaldo, who was given the weekend off, and £31m Dimitar Berbatov, who spent the entire game on the bench at Craven Cottage — a sure sign he will be starting too.

So Tevez or Rooney? As comedian Harry Hill might say, there’s only one way to decide: FIGHT!

Steven Howard in The Sun has a piece looking at how content Sir Alex is:

At this time of year, Ferguson is usually throwing assorted spanners into the works as he seeks to destabilise his rivals.

Complaining about Arsene Wenger (any subject will do), suggesting Chelsea are showing signs of wear and tear — and helpfully pointing out that it’s been a long time since Liverpool won the title and how it’s players ‘who have been in this situation before’ who come good.

And poking round in the pasta to see what’s hidden under the sauce.

Not a sign of it. Rather, we have amiable, avuncular Alex — the grand old man of English football, joshing with journalists as if they were old mates rather than a breed who should be treated with the utmost suspicion.

The Mirror report that Ronaldo is actually a damn fine chap really:

Cristiano Ronaldo has donated £100,000 toward building a cancer centre at a hospital that saved his mother's life.

The Manchester United star made the gift to the Portuguese League Against Cancer in his native Madeira.

It will be used to help build a centre in the Hospital Central in the island's capital Funchal.

Charity - the perfect way to win people over...
And finally, speaking of charity, Arsenal beat a Championship team by a few goals and the journalists start wishful thinking - Paul Doyle on The Guardian Blog:

Arsenal are limbering up nicely for a late-season surge.

I'm sure they are...